Christy Harrison - Intuitive Eating Dietitian, Anti-Diet Author, & Certified Eating Disorders Specialist

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Food Psych #260: Redefining Health and Wellness, Hearing Your Own Voice, and Why Fear Isn't a Good Motivator with Melissa Toler

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#260: Redefining Health & Wellness, Hearing Your Voice & Why Fear Isn't a Motivator w/ Melissa Toler Food Psych Podcast

Introduction & Guest Bio:

Anti-diet writer, speaker, and podcaster Melissa Toler returns to discuss her new podcast, Hearing Our Own Voice; redefining health and wellness to be more inclusive; why fear is not a motivator for behavior change; finding intrinsic motivation for movement; and so much more. Plus, in “Ask Food Psych,” Christy answers a listener question about what to do if you find yourself consistently bingeing on the weekends. 

Melissa Toler is a writer and speaker. Her work encourages people to make the connection between our culture's oppressive health and beauty standards and our personal struggle with self-acceptance. Her goal is to help people use expressive writing to unlearn harmful messages and behaviors from years of chronic dieting. Melissa also has a background as a pharmacist and certified wellness coach. Find her online at MelissaToler.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:

  • What Melissa has been up to since her last appearance on Food Psych

  • How Melissa and Christy’s writing have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic

  • The uptick in healthist and fatphobic content during COVID-19

  • Melissa’s new podcast, Hearing Our Own Voice, and why she chose that name

  • Redefining health and wellness, and how current definitions are often exclusionary

  • Harmful health messages that Black people often receive

  • Why fear is not a good motivator for change

  • Health-related factors that are often missed in traditional healthcare settings

  • Motivational interviewing and behavior change

  • How Melissa’s training and work as a pharmacist informs her anti-diet work

  • How her relationship with exercise and movement continues to evolve

  • Finding intrinsic motivation for movement

Resources Mentioned

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Ask Food Psych

Listener Question:

“How can I stop bingeing when I know it’s out of habit and not a response to restriction?”—J

We Discuss: 

  • Physical and mental restriction of food, and how they can lead to binge eating

  • How to manage binge eating

  • Working with an eating-disorder treatment team

Resources Mentioned: 

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