Food Psych #222: Orthorexia Recovery, Joyful Movement, and Sports Nutrition with Heather Caplan

Photographer: Khali MacIntyre

Fellow anti-diet dietitian and podcaster Heather Caplan joins us to discuss her experience with orthorexia (aka obsession with “healthy” eating), how to bring joyful movement into eating-disorder recovery, the intersection of pregnancy and diet culture, sports nutrition from an intuitive-eating perspective, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to know if you’re TRULY craving something or just eating it to rebel against diet culture. 

Heather Caplan is a Washington DC-based dietitian with a virtual private practice. She is founder and director of Weight Inclusive Nutrition and Dietetics (WIND) events, working to reduce and dismantle weight discrimination in healthcare and dietetics. In her practice, she primarily works with active women, disordered eating, and eating disorders, using non-diet and weight-inclusive practices. With fellow dietitian Kelly Jones, Heather hosts an online course (Fit Fueling) for all-level athletes, and fellow dietitians, teaching a combination of sports nutrition and intuitive eating. Additional projects Heather spends time on include her podcast RD Real Talk, highlighting how to use the non-diet approach in various dietetic disciplines, and the nonprofit she co-founded, Lane 9 Project, which raises awareness of eating disorders and reproductive health issues for women. Heather has been featured on the TODAY show—sharing her personal experience with orthorexia—and in national publications such as The Washington Post, Runner’s World, Outside, and Women’s Running. Find more of her writing and real talk at HeatherCaplan.com.

We Discuss:

  • Growing up in a health-conscious household

  • Heather’s experiences with dieting as a teenager

  • How her disordered eating influenced her decision to become a dietitian

  • Media, and its potential to promote disordered eating

  • How Heather’s disordered eating spiraled into orthorexia/anorexia

  • Heather and Christy’s experiences of losing their periods and having their eating disorders being overlooked by healthcare providers

  • Food activism, and its connection with The Wellness Diet

  • The role of movement in Heather’s recovery

  • Preserving boundaries and staying safe during eating-disorder recovery

  • Finding joyful movement

  • The intersection of pregnancy and diet culture

  • Plant-based eating, and unpacking the motivations behind that choice

  • How pregnancy can shift a person’s relationship with food

  • How Heather began incorporating intuitive eating into her work

  • Sports nutrition from an intuitive eating perspective

  • The importance of having enough food

  • How hyper-focusing on food can hinder athletic performance

  • The role of privilege on health and performance

Resources Mentioned

Some of the links below are affiliate links. Affiliates or not, we only recommend products and services that align with our values.

Listener Question of the Week

How can a person tell if they’re truly craving a certain food as opposed to simply rebelling against diet culture? How can a person break “habitual” eating habits? How might these concerns be a form of diet mentality? What are some strategies to help answer those questions for ourselves? What is the Honeymoon Phase, and what role does it play in intuitive eating? How can “rebelling” help a person eventually return to intuitive eating?

 
Christy HarrisonDieting, disordered eating, eating disorder, orthorexia, recovery, healthcare, food activism, joyful movement, boundaries, pregnancy, plant-based, vegan, vegetarian, intuitive eating, sports nutrition, privilege, cravings, rebel, habit, diet mentality, Honeymoon Phase, anti-diet, S720