What Is ‘Healthy Eating,’ Anyway?
Hi. I’m Carolyn. I’m the editor in chief of SELF and the host of our wellness advice podcast, Checking In. In this week’s episode, we’re talking about weight, health, and healthy eating—and how a lot of our beliefs about eating for good health may actually be pretty harmful.
Today’s question comes from Robert. He’s dealing with a lot of confusion and conflicting emotions around the ideas of weight loss and healthy eating. His doctors and loved ones keep telling him that he needs to lose weight to be healthy, in order to address his high blood pressure. But he’s got a nagging feeling that might not be the full picture. He’s curious: “What could the other options be that could be equally as valuable and beneficial?” And it’s a great question.
New episodes of Checking In come out every Monday. Listen to this week’s episode above, and get more episodes of Checking In on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
A lot of people have been in Robert’s shoes before. Being told by a doctor, or a loved one, or even by a stranger on the street that weight loss is the most important thing you can do to achieve better health.
That’s how a lot of health care providers are trained, for starters. Our society is fatphobic in a lot of ways, including in how we view health. And it’s a message that’s constantly and pervasively reinforced—this idea that you can tell how healthy or unhealthy someone is just by looking at them, or knowing their weight. And also that the best and most effective way to become healthier is to become smaller, to lose weight.
The truth is that this is a misguided, incomplete, and genuinely harmful way of thinking about health, wellness, and healthy eating. Luckily, a growing number of experts are recognizing that there are probably better, more effective, more humane approaches to helping people live healthier lives.
This is something we’ve covered pretty extensively at SELF over the years, so when I heard Robert’s question, I knew exactly which experts I wanted to talk to: Wendy Lopez, R.D., and Jessica Jones, R.D.
Lopez and Jones are SELF columnists, registered dietitian/nutritionists, and certified diabetes educators. They also host their own podcast, Food Heaven.
Our conversation covers a wide range of topics, from the basic principles of Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size; to how to incorporate gentle nutrition into your relationship with food when you’re managing a health condition; to techniques that people can use to deal with fatphobic comments from loved ones and medical professionals.
For listeners who are new to ideas like intuitive eating and health at every size, the advice that Lopez and Jones give in this episode may seem radical. But for anyone who has felt like a failure because they can’t seem to lose the weight that they’ve been told they should, it also may provide enormous relief. I hope these takeaways are helpful for Robert, and for all of you who listen to the episode.
Show Notes
To connect with Wendy Lopez and Jessica Jones, you can check out their website, follow them on Instagram @foodheaven, read their columns for SELF here and here, or listen to their podcast, Food Heaven.
SELF also has lots of information about Intuitive Eating, including debunking myths about what intuitive eating can actually do, and a personal essay from someone who’s tried it.
You can also read work from self-proclaimed “anti-diet dietitian” Christy Harrison here, or listen to her podcast, Food Psych.
Lindo Bacon, who Wendy and Jess mention during the podcast, is the author of Health at Every Size, and is an intersectional body liberation advocate. Follow them here.
Writer Aubrey Gordon, who, at the time of this podcast recording, was identified only by her pseudonym Your Fat Friend, writes a column for SELF here. You can follow her on Instagram @yourfatfriend, read more about why she decided to go public with her name, and check out her book, What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat.
If you or someone you know is struggling with an eating disorder, for support, information, and treatment options, contact the National Eating Disorders Association helpline. For crisis situations, text “NEDA” to 741741 to be connected with a trained volunteer at Crisis Text Line.
You Might Also Like
6 Myths About Intuitive Eating—And What It Can Actually Do for You, by Christy Harrison, M.P.H, R.D.
So You Want to Try Intuitive Eating, but If You’re Being Honest, You Still Want to Watch Your Weight. What to Do?, by Jessica Jones, R.D.
Healthy Eating Should Include Your Emotional Health Too—Here’s How, by Wendy Lopez, R.D.
We Have to Stop Thinking of Being ‘Healthy’ As Being Morally Better, by Your Fat Friend
Weight Stigma Kept Me Out of Doctors’ Offices for Almost a Decade, by Your Fat Friend
The Science on Weight and Health
Why It’s Not Productive to Just Tell a Patient ‘You Have to Lose Weight’
What the Dietitians Who Invented Intuitive Eating Think About Diet Culture Today
9 Books That Will Change Your Relationship With Food
Originally Appeared on SELF
