Food Psych #237: COVID-19 and Food Shopping/Prep, Plus Fat-Positive Fertility with Nicola Salmon

Photographer: Khali MacIntyre

Fat-positive fertility coach and author Nicola Salmon joins us to discuss common myths about fertility, food, and weight; how to advocate for your health needs; the real reason why IVF clinics have BMI cutoffs; tips for preparing for pregnancy if you’re in a larger body; and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to handle being in charge of family food shopping and preparation during COVID-19, while navigating eating-disorder triggers like food scarcity and orthorexic messages. 

Nicola is a fat-positive and feminist fertility coach and author of Fat and Fertile. She advocates for change in how fat people are treated by the healthcare system when they want to get pregnant and access fertility treatment. Nicola supports fat people who want to get pregnant using her unique FAT+ve fertility framework to find their own version of health without diets, advocate for their bodies, relearn how to trust their body and believe in their ability to get pregnant in their current body. Find her online at NicolaSalmon.co.uk.

We Discuss:

  • Nicola’s exposure to dietary restriction from a young age

  • How being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affected her relationship with food and body

  • Intergenerational trauma from diet culture

  • Nicola’s experiences with yo-yo dieting

  • Being in a relationship and getting pregnant while in a larger body

  • The power of self-advocacy

  • Nicola’s training in science and alternative-health modalities

  • What led her to do the work that she does today

  • Diet culture and fertility

  • Common myths about fertility, food, and weight

  • The correlation between higher weight, anovulation, and subfertility, and how PCOS is a potential mediator

  • Weight stigma, and how it can cause a stress cycle that harms health

  • Taking the stigma off of bingeing

  • Why dieting and intentional weight loss can decrease fertility

  • Malnutrition in larger-bodied people

  • The benefits of not restricting

  • How Health At Every Size® changed Nicola’s life personally and professionally

  • The four pillars of her FAT+ve framework

  • How to advocate for your health needs

  • Whether getting weighed during pregnancy is necessary

  • Focusing on true holistic health versus the physical

  • The real reason why IVF clinics don’t serve people with higher BMIs

  • The role of fatphobia in the lack of accommodations for larger-bodied folks

  • Tips for planning to get pregnant

  • The benefits of surrounding yourself with positive images of plus-size pregnancies

  • Nicola’s contrasting experiences between her two pregnancies

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 handle being in charge of food shopping and preparation for their family during COVID-19 while recovering from an eating disorder? What are some signs that you are being triggered by eating-disorder thoughts and/or diet-culture messaging? What are some ways that a person can get support with food shopping and preparation? What are some additional ways that a person can care for themselves during COVID-19?

 
Christy HarrisonDieting, PCOS, restriction, trauma, diet culture, pregnancy, fertility, advocacy, self-advocacy, weight stigma, fatphobia, health, healthcare, malnutrition, Health At Every Size, intuitive eating, IVF, anti-diet, eating disorder, COVID-19, pandemic, groceries, food shopping, food preparation, support, S720