Food Psych #249: Healthism, Fatphobia, and Redefining Well-Being with Confidence Coach Victoria Welsby, and How the Anti-Diet and Intuitive Eating Frameworks Address Health with Dietitian Vincci Tsui
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Introduction & Guest Bio:
SEASON 7 FINALE! Fat activist, author, speaker, and podcaster Victoria Welsby returns to the podcast to discuss the intersection of fatphobia and healthism, why all weight-loss advice is a form of weight stigma, the moralization of different health conditions, the role of thin allies in fat activism, and so much more. Plus, in our new “Ask Food Psych” segment, co-host Vincci Tsui answers a listener question on how the anti-diet and intuitive eating frameworks address health.
Victoria Welsby is a world-leading expert on body image and confidence, TEDx speaker and best-selling author. She went from being homeless, abused with self-esteem that was achingly low into the courageous fat activist and change maker she is today. Victoria helps people fall in love with themselves and is dedicated to shifting the way society views fat bodies. Find her online at FierceFatty.com.
Vincci Tsui (she/her) is a former bariatric dietitian turned certified intuitive eating counselor and Health At Every Size® advocate. She is the author of The Mindful Eating Workbook: Simple Practices for Nurturing a Positive Relationship with Food, and is the Community and Content Associate for Food Psych Programs Inc.
Vincci is passionate about helping people find freedom in their relationship with food and with their body, so that they can confidently step away from diet culture and live life on their own terms. She believes that health and happiness have little—if anything—to do with weight. Ultimately, Vincci is on a mission to make dignity, respect, happiness, and health accessible to all bodies. Find her online at VincciTsui.com.
We Discuss:
What Victoria has been up to since her first appearance on Food Psych®
Her experiences of interpersonal and intrapersonal fatphobia while participating in a documentary on fatness
Why pathologizing fat bodies is harmful
The insidiousness of diet culture
Why many fatphobic people don’t realize that they are fatphobic
How weight loss advice, even when shared in a compassionate way, is a form of weight stigma
Weight stigma as a form of violence
Changing our family members’ weight-stigmatizing beliefs
Navigating anger in the face of diet culture and injustice
Setting boundaries as a form of self-care
The intersection between fatphobia and healthism
Redefining health
The moralization of different health conditions
Why concern trolls don’t really care about your health
How weight stigma influences health
The role of thin allies in fat activism, and the importance of listening to marginalized voices
Identifying and questioning our own implicit biases
Finding voices and experiences that you resonate with
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
Victoria’s first Food Psych episode
Victoria’s TedX Talk
Who Are You Calling Fat? (BBC documentary featuring Victoria - TW: o-words, fatphobic language, dieting thoughts/behaviors)
Victoria’s podcast, Fierce Fatty
Ragen Chastain’s work (and her Food Psych episodes #58 and #119)
Health At Every Size by Lindo Bacon (Bookshop) (Amazon) (TW: individualist health beliefs. Dr. Bacon no longer stands behind this book and recommends that people read Body Respect, which they co-wrote with Lucy Aphramor)
Ask Food Psych
Listener Question:
“What does the anti-diet approach have to say about health, particularly to people who have done nothing to improve their health?”—Lee
We Discuss:
Relationship between lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes
Social determinants of health
Intuitive eating and health
Gentle nutrition
Resources Mentioned: