Food Psych #225: Intuitive Eating & Health At Every Size FAQs, Part 2 with Ashley Seruya & Christy Harrison

Photographer: Khali MacIntyre

Social worker and anti-diet activist Ashley Seruya joins us for a second FAQ episode, where she and Christy respond to more questions about Health At Every Size®, including what to do if you feel uncomfortable in your body at a higher weight, how to handle chronic illness, why food-intolerance diagnoses are often problematic, the effect of health behaviors versus social determinants of health, what to make of weight-loss “success” stories, the importance of rest, and so much more. 

Ashley M. Seruya is a virtual assistant, graduate-level social work intern, and content creator specializing in Health at Every Size, eating disorder recovery, and weight stigma. Her work can be found on her website at ashleymseruya.com and on Instagram at @fatpositivetherapy Digital prints available for purchase at ashleymseruya.com/shop. Join her Patreon to get access to monthly downloads, peer support groups, and more!

We Discuss:

  • What Ashley has been up to since her last appearance on Food Psych®

  • What if I’m just “uncomfortable” at this weight?

    • The role of weight stigma and diet culture

    • Acknowledging diets don’t work while acknowledging the real physical discomfort that some larger-bodied folks feel

    • Exploring what “discomfort” means

    • The pillars of athletics

    • Comfort and accessibility

    • Increasing comfort in weight-neutral ways

    • HAES as a form of self-care

    • How people with size privilege still experience discomfort

  • What if I “need to lose weight for my health?”

    • The harmful side effects of dieting

  • The link between negative body image and self-hatred

  • Body autonomy and agency

  • How does HAES address health?

  • The effect of health behaviors versus social determinants of health

  • Oppression and its effect on health

  • Disordered eating and weight-loss “success” stories

  • Individualism versus collective care

  • The social-justice roots of the concept of self-care

  • The importance of rest

  • The role of flexibility in self-care and well-being

  • What does the anti-diet and HAES movement really say about chronic illness and medical nutrition therapy? Why is calling out anti-diet folks for a lack of nuance often a cover for diet culture and disordered-eating behaviors?

    • The difference between social-media messaging and individual therapy

  • Stepping outside of diet culture and into intuitive eating

  • The co-opting of anti-diet and social-justice messages by diet culture and capitalism

  • The “nocebo” and placebo effects

  • Why there needs to be more education on critical thinking

  • Why the democratization of storytelling is a double-edged sword

  • Food intolerances, their diagnoses, and treatment as an example of diet culture in action

  • The reductivist nature of science

Resources Mentioned

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Christy HarrisonFAQ, comfort, discomfort, weight stigma, diet culture, athletics, accessibility, self-care, privilege, health, Health At Every Size, diet industry, dieting, body image, self-hatred, body autonomy, oppression, marginalization, social determinants of health, individualism, collectivism, collective care, social justice, chronic disease, nuance, social media, capitalism, nocebo, placebo, storytelling, anti-diet, S720