Food Psych #263: Update on COVID-19 and Weight, and (Re)claiming Queer, Trans, and Autistic Identities in Eating-Disorder Recovery with Haley Jones
Introduction & Guest Bio:
Anti-diet therapist Haley Jones joins us to discuss how their queer and trans identities affected their relationship with food and body, how autism gave them a different perspective on authority and hierarchical relationships, how fatphobia shows up in training programs for counselors and therapists, being “in recovery” vs. being “recovered,” and so much more. Plus, in “Ask Food Psych,” Christy discusses the state of the science on COVID-19 and weight.
Haley Jones, MS, LPC-intern is a therapist and Certified Body Trust Provider in Portland, Oregon serving queer and trans folx dealing with eating disorders. They work from from an anti-racist, anti-colonial, sex-positive, pro-disability justice, kink positive, fat positive, polyam-friendly, trauma-informed, Health at Every Size®, and strengths-based foundation. As a white, queer, trans & non-binary, neurodivergent, disabled, documented, currently in a smaller body, low-income, first-generation college student & service provider, Haley holds both privileged and oppressed identities. Find them online at TheQueerCounselor.com.
This episode is brought to you by ThredUP, the world’s largest online consignment and thrift store. Sell your old clothes and get new-to-you pieces at up to 90% off retail prices. Visit thredup.com/FOODPSYCH for 30% off your first purchase. Terms apply.
We Discuss:
How Haley’s queer and trans identities affected their relationship with food, body, and movement growing up
The moment that they first believed that their body was “wrong”
How their queerness compounded their internalized fatphobia
The external forces that fed into Haley’s eating disorder
What led them to their career as a counselor
Haley’s experiences of fatphobia in their counseling training, and the role of community and advocacy in helping them get through it
Autism, and how it relates to anti-authority and anti-hierarchy
How Haley encourages their clients to question authority and hierarchical relationships
The practice of setting boundaries and pushing back
The foundations of Haley’s work, and how they apply at the individual and societal levels
How capitalism reinforces body hierarchies
How to contribute to anti-capitalism efforts while still living in capitalism
Being “in recovery” vs. “recovered”
Community care and mutual aid
Resources Mentioned
Some of the links below are affiliate links. Affiliates or not, we only recommend products and services that align with our values.
Submit your questions for a chance to have them answered on the podcast
My online course, Intuitive Eating Fundamentals
My book, Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating
Help spread the anti-diet message by subscribing to the podcast
Be Nourished, and co-founders Dana Sturtevant and Hilary Kinavey’s Food Psych® episodes, #76 and #90, respectively
Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings (Bookshop) (Amazon)
Expect Resistance: A Field Manual by CrimethInc. Workers’ Collective (Amazon)
This episode is brought to you by ThredUP, the world’s largest online consignment and thrift store. Sell your old clothes and get new-to-you pieces at up to 90% off retail prices. Visit thredup.com/FOODPSYCH for 30% off your first purchase. Terms apply.
Ask Food Psych
Listener Question:
“What is the latest in the state of the science on COVID-19 and weight?”
We Discuss:
How current studies do not show a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 for people of higher weight, but questions remain as to outcomes for higher-weight people with COVID-19
A review of a recent study on COVID-19 outcomes that controls for various confounding factors, including its findings, limitations, and how it compares to other studies
Recent reports that people in larger bodies may be prioritized for vaccinations
How diet culture and the weight-loss industry is responding to the research linking COVID-19 and weight
Bariatric surgery and COVID-19 outcomes
Confounding factors for studies that look at hospitalization rates
What to do if you are in a larger body and concerned about COVID-19
Resources Discussed:
Food Psych episode #251
"Risk Factors for Hospitalization, Mechanical Ventilation, or Death Among 10131 US Veterans With SARS-CoV-2" (TW: weight-stigmatizing language, o-words, BMI numbers, death)
“[O-word] and Mortality Among Patients Diagnosed with COVID-19: Results From an Integrated Health Care Organization” (TW: o-words, weight-stigmatizing language and images, BMI numbers, death)
“Weight and prognosis for influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 infection during the pandemic period between 2009 and 2011: a systematic review of observational studies with meta-analysis” (TW: o-words, BMI numbers, death)
Association of prior metabolic and bariatric surgery with severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with [o-word] (TW: o-words, bariatric surgery, weight-stigmatizing language, BMI numbers)
“COVID-19 and its severity in bariatric surgery operated patients” (TW: o-words, weight loss surgery, weight-stigmatizing language, BMI numbers, death)
"[O-word] is associated with increased severity of disease in COVID-19 pneumonia: a systematic review and meta-analysis" (TW: o-words, weight-stigmatizing language, BMI numbers, death)
Early antiviral treatment contributes to alleviate the severity and improve the prognosis of patients with novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) (TW: weight-stigmatizing language)
"Covid-19 Does Not Discriminate by Body Weight" (Christy’s op-ed for Wired)