Food Psych #98: How to Rediscover the Joy in Food and Movement with Kylie Mitchell
Food blogger and fellow anti-diet dietitian Kylie Mitchell shares how she overcame dieting, disordered eating, and compulsive exercise; why she wanted to start a food blog that celebrates food and eschews the orthorexic messages of other "wellness" blogs; the insidious ways in which diet culture is woven into the fabric of how we talk about food and health; why non-diet approaches like Health at Every Size and intuitive eating are important for *everyone* of *every* body size; how she improved her relationship with movement and let go of compulsive exercise; what the transition from an eating disorder into intuitive eating looks like; and lots more!
Kylie Mitchell is a Registered Dietitian with a Masters of Public Health. She is the founder of the food/lifestyle blog immaEATthat.com, which she started six years ago in an effort to stop disordered eating and help people fall back in love with a healthful relationship with food and their body. Kylie works to promote positive body image, intuitive eating and Health at Every Size. Kylie also specializes in creative recipe development and high-res food photography. When not behind the computer or camera, Kylie works as an eating disorder dietitian. Kylie lives in Houston, TX with her husband and puppy, where she likes to over-share on Instagram. Find her online at immaEATthat.com.
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We Discuss:
Kylie’s relationship with food growing up, including living in a household obsessed with dieting and the thin ideal
Body trust and the pregnancy experience
Eating disorders and disordered eating as coping mechanisms
Kylie’s experience with restriction, binge eating, and overexercising to compensate for bingeing behavior
The lack of Health at Every Size and intuitive eating instruction in dietetics and nutrition education
Disordered eating within the nutrition and dietetics field
The spectrum of eating behavior
Diet culture, the diet mentality, and how our world perpetuates disordered eating
The importance of non-diet, intuitive eating, and HAES resources in recovery from eating disorders and diet culture
Kylie’s work on her blog, how it started from a disordered and obsessional place, and how it eventually became a place of healing and recovery
“Healthy” food blogging and orthorexia
The responsibility that all dietitians have to show that all foods fit and the ways in which they often fall short
Breaking down the morality around food choices
Making peace with movement and finding a body-positive, weight-neutral movement practice
The role of yoga in Kylie’s eating disorder recovery and finding embodiment
Body dissatisfaction, fatphobia, and finding body acceptance
Navigating relationships in recovery and seeking outside support when we need it
Resources Mentioned
Some of the links below are affiliate links. Affiliates or not, we only recommend products and services that align with our values.
Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder: Effective Strategies from Therapeutic Practice and Personal Experience by Carolyn Costin
Katie Dalebout's Food Psych Podcast episode
Fellow HAES dietitian Marci Evans