April 23, 2024 • 30 mins
Episode Summary:
Can You Truly Be Healthy at Every Size? Aimee explores the concept of being "healthy at every size" (HAES). She discusses the original intentions of the HAES movement and how it has been distorted on the internet. Aimee delves into the importance of looking beyond weight as the sole determinant of health and emphasizes the need for comprehensive and compassionate healthcare for all body types, but highlights a key factor not typically included in body positivity and HAES that is worth taking into account. Aimee reflects on how HAES has been co-pted and distorted into more extreme messaging and the unintended consequences this will have. A thought-provoking episode that challenges popular narratives and encourages self-advocacy.
Notable Quotes:
- "Food does matter to our quality of life, to our mental health, to our physical health. And we can't ignore that. We can't throw that out in an attempt to get the world to accept us for whatever size we happen to be. That's just stupid." - Aimee
- "Staying healthy requires questioning the popular wisdom of the day and pretty much doing the opposite of going with the flow." - Aimee
- "Pushing back and advocating for yourself persistently increases the odds that you will find someone who will hear you and help you. Very few people are going to be able to care for your health as much as you do." - Aimee
Resources:
Healthy at Any Size's Approach
As Obesity Rises, Big Food and Dietitians Push 'Anti-Diet' Advice Washington Post, Published 3 April 2024
Photography by: Dai Ross Photography
Podcast Cover Art: Lilly Kate Creative
Blasphemous Nutrition on Substack
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey Rebels, welcome toBlasphemous Nutrition.
Consider this podcast yourpantry full of clarity,
perspective, and the nuanceneeded to counter the
superficial health advice sofreely given on the internet.
I'm Aimee, the unapologeticallycandid host of Blasphemous
Nutrition and a double degreednutritionist with 20 years
experience.
(00:22):
I'm here to share a more nuancedtake.
On living and eating well tosustain and recover your health.
If you've found most healthadvice to be so generic as to be
meaningless, We're so extremethat it's unrealistic, and you
don't mind the occasional Fbomb.
You've come to the right place.
From dissecting the latestnutrition trends to breaking
(00:43):
down published research andsharing my own clinical
experiences, I'm on a mission tofoster clarity amidst all the
confusion and empower you tohave the health you need to live
a life you love.
Now let's get started.
I want to start today's episodewith a listener review.
(01:04):
I've got my first bit of shadethrown at me.
As a lonely meercat in Germanywrites, among other things,"I'm
glad to listen to a podcast thatis not regurgitating the
misinformation about nutritionthat is plaguing social media
today.
I've always wondered, where isthe person negating the lies?
Well, here she is.
(01:25):
Aimee is informative andengaging, not blasphemous on
enough, in my opinion.
Doesn't go off on a tangentwithout reeling herself in."
Okay, lonely meercat.
I hear you.
And you're right.
I haven't been watching myselfrein it in a bit, and honestly,
I'm still struggling withbalancing the unapologetic
(01:47):
asshole that lives within mewith the other more sane and
balanced parts of me as well.
I'm still censoring a bit as Iwork to unshackle myself from.
Heavily censored city.
I lived in for nearly 20 years.
Bit by bit, my friend I'mworking on it and damn it.
Thank you for listening andcalling me out on my shit.
(02:09):
I totally appreciate it.
Hey, if you're a regularlistener and you have yet to
leave a review, please do.
So it seriously means the worldto me.
All right, let's get onto thegood stuff.
You Today, I'm going to talkabout whether we can truly be
healthy at every size.
(02:31):
And I want to start by givingsome context around.
What healthy at any size is whatit originally intended to be and
how like nearly all wellintentioned movements in the
Western speaking industrializedworld, healthy at every size has
also been co-opted by the idiotsand freaks on the internet.
(02:55):
Who have morphed it intosomething.
That it is not.
So healthy at every size, whichI'll refer to in the rest of
this episode by its acronym, H aE S or HAES.
Is broadly speaking.
A movement to eliminatediscrimination against people.
(03:15):
That society would perceive asbeing fat.
While, predominantly focused onimproving the quality and access
to health care that these peopleneed to have to be on par with
what we call normal weightindividuals.
It also acknowledges the biasagainst large people in job
acquisition and other areas oflife.
(03:36):
And has more recently taken on asocial justice theme to expand
on inclusiveness for all.
And to say, as everyone likes tosay right now that they believe
in inclusion for all.
Now the original components ofHAES advocated for moving away
from a simplistic weight centricmodel of health.
(03:58):
Which really has operated onthis assumption that thinner
bodies are inherently healthierto a model of health that
emphasizes overall wellbeing andoverall health, regardless of a
person's physical size.
Key principles of the HAESapproach include weight
inclusivity.
Health enhancement.
(04:20):
Respectful care.
I mean, these aren't big askshere.
Eating for wellbeing, as opposedto, um, any externally regulated
eating plan, focusingexclusively on wait.
And life enhancing movement.
Regardless of size and ability.
there are expanded definitionsof these original principles
(04:43):
available on my sub stack, aswell as on the HAES website,
which I've linked to in the shownotes.
So these original principles arestrongly focused on access and
inclusion without judgment orrigidly defined rules attached
to them.
And these principles do notstate that you can retain
optimal health regardless ofsize.
(05:07):
HAES advocates argue that healthoutcomes are primarily the
result of social, economical andenvironmental factors.
And are not solely determined byweight or body size.
And there is a lot of ourmedical system.
That, has, and in some areascontinues to focus on weight,
(05:30):
BMI and body size.
As a key determinant of healthand health outcomes.
But HAES rather a stresses, theimportance of looking at a
broader range of indicators toassess health rather than
focusing exclusively on weight.
The original focus of HAES is toreduce stigma and discrimination
(05:51):
against overweight and obeseindividuals by effectively
promoting size acceptance.
And acknowledging that peoplecome in different sizes.
And that is not necessarilyindicative of their quality of
health.
Okay.
And essentially.
Encouraging and pressuring ourmedical care and healthcare
(06:13):
systems to shift the focus fromweight loss to overall expanded
indicators of health andwellbeing.
Now social media influencershave twisted the original HAES
principles, or honestly, they'vekind of neglected to acknowledge
them completely.
And reduced healthy at everysize to effectively be a very
(06:37):
simplistic movement.
With really one objective inmind.
And this is not the first time awell-intentioned movement went
sideways and created someproblems.
One day.
I'm really, really hoping to getsomeone on the podcast.
One of these big fish in a smallpond folks who created, who was
like a key instigator increating a certain movement
within the health sphere.
(06:57):
And bring her onto the podcastto share her personal story of
well-intentioned movements goinghell is sideways, but I need at
least a hundred reviews oniTunes before I think I even
stand a chance to get an hour ofher time.
And yes, that is your cue toleave a written review in
iTunes, if you haven't done soalready again, these reviews
(07:21):
helped me to establishcredibility and a sense that
this podcast is worth listeningto not just for people who
haven't found me yet, but forsome of those larger names in
the health and wellness sphere,who I would love to bring onto
the podcast and get them to talkabout some more nuanced.
approaches to health.
(07:42):
So that way we can get moreinformation out there to more
people.
Anyway, in regards to the storyof a narrative, taking a life on
its own and going bonkers.
We have these influencers whoclaim that to be healthy at
every size advocates statingthat.
weight.
Is irrelevant to your health.
(08:04):
They pontificate on how fatshaming is inherently a product
of the patriarchy and racism.
Because everything that we don'tlike about our society is racist
in some way, and obviouslydirectly caused by white dudes.
So throw away the scale.
Don't worry about your weightand push back against fat
shaming and diet culture byboldly loving your fat self and
(08:25):
enjoy all kinds of foods.
Nothing is off the table.
So you can see in that message,there are some of the original
principles.
Of HAES, but you can also seethat it is feeding into this
kind of rebellious devil maycare attitude that will
ultimately end up biting a lotof people in the ass.
If they take it as gospel.
(08:45):
In the simplistic message thatthere are no bad foods.
Are assessed me street, childmind interprets this as all
foods are good foods.
And that's categorically false.
I'm sorry.
That's just not true.
I mean maybe you're smarter thanI am in this area, but I still
catch myself playing this kindof knee jerk opposite game in my
(09:07):
head when I hear messages likethis.
Oh, if there is no bad foods,then that means that all foods
are good.
Right.
And the reality is.
The reality is, is that puttinga value judgment on food?
It's just, it's the wrongapproach.
It's neither bad nor good.
(09:28):
It's an edible substance thatwon't tell you.
Okay.
But in my opinion, somethinglike hyper processed, highly
palatable food.
If I consume it.
Doesn't do my body much goodthan if I was eating like a
racers or pages out of a book.
It's not going to give me thevitamins and minerals.
(09:49):
I need.
And in the case of hyperprocessed palatable food, it's
going to have fucking less fiberthan the textbook that's sitting
next to me.
So, you know, But.
We need to take these religiousvalue judgments out of foods
altogether.
So when you say there's no badfoods, That also means there's
(10:11):
no good foods and food is food.
And so nothing is bad, but.
As with everything in nutrition.
And almost everything in theworld.
It is far more nuanced thanthat.
Now some of this interpretationof HAES, you know, that there
are no bad foods.
(10:32):
Dovetails with.
Mindful eating principles.
And in mindful eatingprinciples, people are
encouraged to tap into theirfeelings and their body
sensations as a guide for theirfood choices.
Now while mindful and intuitiveeating, definitely play an
important role in certaincircumstances.
Influencer messaging is incomplete denial of consequences
(10:55):
of just relying on how you feelin the moment.
And it's also a subtle messagethat you can ignore any dietary
advice at all, because anythingthat resembles a boundary is
conflated with oppression andracism.
It's all very adolescent.
I mean, if you want,well-meaning white people to
turn away from an idea, call itracist.
(11:16):
It is an extremely effectivestrategy at this moment in
history.
This alert racist is today.
What communist was in the 1950s.
The problem with relyingexclusively on intuitive eating,
is that what we feel?
Our intuition is may not bestrong enough to override the
marketing, the hyperpalatability and the
(11:38):
pervasiveness of foods, whichare strongly linked to increased
disease.
And for some people who havedealt with long-term dietary
restriction, Something likeintuitive eating.
Particularly how it is presentedin these like 15 to 32nd video
snippets on Tik TOK.
(11:59):
Might feel like permission torebel and effectively throw the
baby out with the bath waterrather than find more realistic
and sustainable changes that canimprove their health.
Regardless of their physicalsize.
I sometimes see these people inmy office after they've tried
working with a mindful eatingcoach and they're none the
better off for it.
(12:21):
And all or nothing mindset.
Usually leaves us with nothing.
There was a recent Washingtonpost article discussing how the
food industry has jumped on thebandwagon with healthy, at every
size and mindful eating.
And is using these ideas, theseideologies, these concepts to
promote and market their foods.
(12:43):
I mean, Jesus fucking Christ.
What.
Just.
There is nothing sacred in theUnited States anymore.
There's like, there's no fuckingguardrails.
It's.
So infuriating, I don't havewords to properly express the
amount of rage in my body.
(13:04):
Kela Nova and general mills islooking out for you really well.
That's what they're telling you.
My friend.
They're sensitive, progressivecompanies, and they really,
really care about yourwellbeing.
Now, what they care about istheir fucking bottom line.
And as they saw, when theyadopted breast cancer awareness
month and pink washed everyfucking thing every October for
(13:27):
15 years, If they claim to be onboard with a good cause they
know you're going to buy theirshit up.
They're using you is whatthey're doing.
Honestly though, if candy barand processed cereal companies
adopting a health advocacystance that aligns their product
with morality and virtue,doesn't cause you to raise an
(13:48):
eyebrow or both of them.
This podcast might not be foryou..
Now I can't speak to theBritish.
And I can't speak to theAustralians.
Because I was born and raisedand I've lived my adult life in
the United States.
What I can say is that Americansare absolutely captured by
(14:10):
extremism.
And we fucking love to take aconcept way too far.
And this precedes the internet.
If you'll remember McCarthyismfrom history class.
Okay.
But as we love this concept ofextremism and going way too far
on one end and then swinging allthe way over to the other end.
We have naturally pushed backagainst body size ideals that
(14:32):
peaked with the goddamn KateMoss and heroin chic in the
nineties.
To the opposite end of thespectrum, which is where we are
now.
The internet conversation aroundHAES has taken the original
correct argument that body sizeleads to less quality medical
care and that this needs to bechanging.
(14:53):
And it's pushed it to a placewhere people are being told your
weight's not a factor in yourhealth at all.
And what you eat doesn't impactyour health.
Well, those of us who have beenaround the sun a couple dozen
times, or who have an interestin health and might know this is
not true.
There are millions for whomthere is no counter-argument to
this prevailing narrative.
(15:14):
That's in part because thealgorithm is just going to keep
affirming this message to thembecause they liked it and they
keep liking it.
So that's going to become theirtruth.
Until they get a diagnosis ortheir health completely breaks
down.
They're going to skip merrilydown this path of obliviousness
and the majority of them willend up ill.
(15:35):
This is the preordained path formost of the population in any
Western industrialized nation asis reflected in our year over
year worsening health statisticsfrom chronic diseases of
lifestyle.
And I've discussed that in otherepisodes.
I will discuss that in futureepisodes, but I'm not going to
discuss that today.
(15:55):
Now with the food industry inthe United States, being
strongly embedded in nutritionresearch that comes out of the
United States as well asmarketing, and then using expert
influencers on social media,there is no fucking happy ending
in our future.
Staying healthy requiresquestioning the popular wisdom
of the day and pretty much doingthe opposite of go with the
(16:19):
flow.
That said.
There is a slice of thepopulation.
Small, but not insignificant.
For whom obesity comes with nodisease markers.
I'd see this now and again, inthe obesity clinic that I once
work at.
Now, these people havedefinitely been harmed by the
(16:41):
medical community in theirlifetimes.
As they're quite heavy.
And despite having likeseriously gorgeous lab work,
perfect glucose levels.
Excellent cholesterol.
No sign of heart disease, noimpeding diabetes.
Their doctors would stillchastise them for their weight.
(17:01):
Anyway.
Super not okay.
So it is important.
That everyone listening to thispodcast, understand these people
are out there.
Not everyone.
Who's obese is going to dropdead of a heart attack.
Not everyone.
Who's obese is a huge burden onour healthcare system.
However, it's not typical.
(17:24):
Most of us are not blessed withthe genetics that allow for an
extra a hundred to 150 pounds offat to be placed outside the
organs, where it does relativelylittle damage.
For most of us.
Our extra fat begins toaccumulate around the organs and
that leads to fatty liverdisease and a significantly
increased risk of cardiovasculardisease and diabetes.
(17:48):
So these people who truly arehealthy.
Despite being obese will go totheir doctor to get a pap smear.
And their pap smear is fine.
It's normal, but the fuckingdoctor keeps him in the room for
an extra 20 minutes to lecturethem about the importance of
weight loss, when that is notwhy they are there.
(18:08):
These are the people that wouldsit in my office and weep when I
believed them about how hardthey have tried to lose weight.
Rather than telling them theyneed to try harder.
Like every other provider theyhad encountered in their life.
These are the individuals whowill benefit most from increased
acceptance of all body types.
However, some of these people,despite having stunning lab work
(18:31):
may end up having problems inthe future because at some point
in time, gravity itself can endup being a problem for your
joints.
Simply due to the weight thatyou carry.
When your bones begin to buckleunder your weight, that stress
sheers at the joints and createsalterations in mobility that can
(18:52):
lead to all sorts of structuralissues that are extremely
painful, inhibit mobility, andreally fuck up your quality of
life.
I have seen this in my office aswell.
And while healthy at every sizeinfluencers don't acknowledge
this reality.
The original HAES movement wouldadvocate for this person to
(19:12):
receive proper, comprehensiveand adequate care for this
condition, regardless of theirsize.
And that is absolutely a propertenant of compassionate
healthcare.
I also want you to know that onthe backend here.
Many healthcare providers arebeing discouraged from having
(19:34):
honest Frank conversations aboutweight.
I've heard in some nutritionschools, future nutritionists
and dieticians.
Are explicitly told they shouldnot ever mention weight to
someone they are working with.
This reminds me of when I wasgetting my personal trainer
certification, 25 years ago, Iwas explicitly taught not to
(19:56):
ever touch a client I wasworking with because it could be
misconstrued as inappropriateand set me up for a lawsuit.
Do you know how hard it is toteach proper form without laying
your hands on someone?
Like seriously, it makes the jobso much harder because.
You can physically shift abody's position to get it the
(20:16):
way that you want to much moreeasily and effectively.
Then using words.
I think now they actuallyencourage people to ask and get
explicit permission beforetouching them.
But way back in the day, we weretold to avoid it entirely.
And this is what many of today'snutrition students are
(20:36):
reportedly being told about thetopic of weight.
Now here's the deal.
Everybody's got their undies allwadded up in their unwashed
asses about how any mention ofweight as analogous to being a
fucking Nazi.
And the state of medical rightnow is that a provider's
livelihood and ability topractice without being harassed
by the administration issometimes directly tied to those
(21:00):
customer service questionnairesthat you might receive after a
visit.
We get ranked by a patient'sperception of our care, rather
than the outcomes of the carethat were given.
Most people will not bother torock the boat and raise a
sensitive topic, especially ifthey are newer to their
profession.
Providers are covertly pressuredto be silent.
(21:23):
And refer out to a nutritionprofessional, which in and of
itself is actually a betteroption until you come to find
out that most of us in thenutrition space are avoiding the
topic of weight loss as well.
In many nutrition groups thatI'm a part of online, people are
actively avoiding and refusingto take weight loss clients or
patients because this topic issuch a loaded gun and they don't
(21:44):
want to touch it.
Other people genuinely haveantiquated misconceptions of
what someone looking to loseweight actually wants.
Like.
You know, looking good in abikini for summer and shit like
that.
And still others are drinking.
The tick-tock Kool-Aid are notgoing to prescribe feel-good
nutrition, tactics that are notvery likely to get you the
(22:04):
results you're looking for.
We are also seeing the loudestand most extreme voices on the
internet.
And by and large, we're justsaying thanks, but no, thanks.
Don't want to deal with thatshit.
Since I really hate social mediaand hate trending group.
Think even more.
(22:26):
I have been spared this fate.
I've also been in the field solong that I remember ancient
history before Facebook.
And I've worked in weight lossfor so long that I know the
reality of it, that many of youdo not feel okay with the extra
weight.
But now you're shaming yourselffor having that feeling.
(22:47):
And you're also not openlytalking to anybody about how
nice it would be to get thoseextra 25 pounds off your knees.
I will speak to that in a futureepisode because I see you and I
know what's happening.
This has been going on since2018.
But again, I don't want toderail myself talking about that
because today it's about healthyat every size.
(23:11):
I do want to say that the onehope I have for the genuine OG
healthy at every size movementis expanded access to those
seeking joint replacementsurgery and still living with
obesity.
I've had several firsthandexperiences of people I work
with being denied this surgerydue to weight.
(23:32):
And being over a very specificnumber that a surgeon has
predetermined is a quote, safe,wait for the surgery to occur.
This scale number is usuallybased upon their BMI, which is
an utter crock of shit and amultitude of ways that I really
should take note of to discussin a future episode.
(23:53):
That number is the only thingthat is keeping them from
improved mobility and quality oflife.
It's not their inflammatorymarkers.
It's not their immune status andthe ability to withstand
surgery.
It's simply their body weight.
In one case with someone I wasworking with, it was 10 fucking
pounds.
And this person had already lostquite a bit of weight, but the
(24:14):
surgeon.
Didn't give a shit.
It wasn't enough.
I consider this a Bismalbehavior and apportioned medical
care.
In one instance.
I was able to get help a patientget surgery.
By sharing her stellar adherenceto dietary recommendations.
The improved health that she hadhad as determined by her lab
(24:37):
markers.
And her continued lack ofadditional weight loss that was
needed for a surgery in part,because she was in too much pain
to move.
When her primary care providerreceived that message and looked
over her medical records.
He was Seeing what I was seeingand referred her to a second
surgeon who was able to give herthe care that she needed.
(24:58):
Now, once she recovered from hersurgery, she was able to be more
mobile than she had in over ayear.
Unfortunately, I was unable tosee if this had any impact on
our physical weight, but I knowthe impact on her quality of
life.
Which let's be honest is moreimportant Was profound.
(25:20):
And that was one.
Of the most meaningful andrewarding moments that I've had
in my career.
To be able to be an advocate forsomeone in this way.
And see them get what theyreally, really needed.
People it is so important toadvocate for yourself.
And to find providers who willadvocate for you as well.
(25:43):
And I know how hard that is.
I know, I know what a messhealthcare is but I share this
because pushing back andadvocating for yourself,
persistently increases the oddsthat you will find someone who
will hear you and help you.
Very few people are going to beable to care for your health as
(26:06):
much as you do.
So you have to be the loudestand most persistent voice to get
what you want, especially now.
So to summarize today's episodehealthy at every size started as
an advocacy movement.
To allow overweight and obesepeople to get adequate,
(26:26):
comprehensive quality medicalcare, because that is a way we
have been shortchanging them.
For generations.
However the internet.
And the game of telephone.
With all its fucking bullshit.
Has co-opted that movement to alarge degree and turned it into
(26:47):
this hedonistic, eat whateveryou want.
It doesn't fucking matter andyour body weight has no
relevance to your health.
So.
Just have fun.
That is not true.
And even for those who do haveexcellent blood work, And no
chronic disease markers.
(27:08):
There is still a point whereyour physical size will become a
detriment to your health, simplybecause of gravitational forces
on the joints.
And that's something to takeinto consideration if you're 20
or 25 years old right now, andyou're 50, a hundred pounds
overweight.
Particularly if you are a femaleand you're going to enter
peri-menopause at some pointwhere a weight tends to
(27:31):
accumulate more, you may belooking at facing joint
replacement surgery earlier thanyou would want to because those
often don't last, as long as wedo.
And if things don't change withthe way that surgeons are
assessing, who is fit to gounder the knife, you might be
living with extreme chronic painfor years.
(27:53):
Nobody wants that for you.
You don't want that for you?
And food does matter.
Food does matter to our qualityof life, to our mental health,
to our physical health.
And we can't ignore that.
We can't throw that out.
(28:13):
In an attempt to get the worldto accept us for whatever size
we happen to be.
That's just stupid.
All right, folks, I'm going towrap this up.
A special, thank you to Chrisfor riding my ass and get me to
record this episode.
All right.
You didn't really ride my ass,but you put the bug in my ear
and I'd been thinking about itanyway.
(28:34):
And thanks for sharing that YPOarticle with me.
Super-duper appreciate it.
I have linked to that article inthe show notes.
If you want to take a look atthe Washington post article on
how the food system isintegrating itself into healthy
at every size movement andmindful eating movement and
fucking shit up sidewaysbecause.
Because they got the power onthe money to do so.
(28:55):
If you like this show and youwant more, be sure to subscribe
so that it drops into yourpodcast app each week.
Thank you again for listeningfolks.
And I'll talk to you next week.
Any and all information sharedhere is for educational and
entertainment purposes only andis not to be misconstrued as
offering medical advice.
(29:16):
Listening to this podcast doesnot constitute a provider client
relationship.
Note, I'm not a doctor nor anurse, and it is imperative that
you utilize your brain and yourmedical team to make the best
decisions for your own health.
The use of information on thispodcast or materials linked to
this podcast are at the user'sown risk.
(29:37):
No information nor resourcesprovided are intended to be a
substitute for professionalmedical advice, diagnosis, or
treatment.
Be a smart human and do notdisregard or postpone obtaining
medical advice for any medicalcondition you may have.
Seek the assistance of yourhealthcare team for any such
conditions and always do sobefore making any changes to
(29:58):
your medical, nutrition, orhealth plan.
If you have found some Nuggetsof Wisdom, make sure to
subscribe, rate, and shareBlasphemous Nutrition with those
you care about.
As you navigate the labyrinth ofhealth advice out there,
remember, health is a journey,not a dietary dictatorship.
(30:21):
Stay skeptical, stay daring, andchallenge the norms that no
longer serve you.
If you've got burning questionsor want to share your own flavor
of rebellion, slide into my DMs.
Your stories fuel me, and I lovehearing them.
Thanks again for tuning in toBlasphemous Nutrition.
Until next time, this is Aimeesigning off, reminding you that
(30:44):
truth is nuanced, and any dishcan be made better with a little
bit of sass.
Hey Rebels, welcome toBlasphemous Nutrition.
Consider this podcast yourpantry full of clarity,
perspective, and the nuanceneeded to counter the
superficial health advice sofreely given on the internet.
I'm Aimee, the unapologeticallycandid host of Blasphemous
Nutrition and a double degreednutritionist with 20 years
experience.
(00:22):
I'm here to share a more nuancedtake.
On living and eating well tosustain and recover your health.
If you've found most healthadvice to be so generic as to be
meaningless, We're so extremethat it's unrealistic, and you
don't mind the occasional Fbomb.
You've come to the right place.
From dissecting the latestnutrition trends to breaking
(00:43):
down published research andsharing my own clinical
experiences, I'm on a mission tofoster clarity amidst all the
confusion and empower you tohave the health you need to live
a life you love.
Now let's get started.
I want to start today's episodewith a listener review.
(01:04):
I've got my first bit of shadethrown at me.
As a lonely meercat in Germanywrites, among other things,"I'm
glad to listen to a podcast thatis not regurgitating the
misinformation about nutritionthat is plaguing social media
today.
I've always wondered, where isthe person negating the lies?
Well, here she is.
(01:25):
Aimee is informative andengaging, not blasphemous on
enough, in my opinion.
Doesn't go off on a tangentwithout reeling herself in."
Okay, lonely meercat.
I hear you.
And you're right.
I haven't been watching myselfrein it in a bit, and honestly,
I'm still struggling withbalancing the unapologetic
(01:47):
asshole that lives within mewith the other more sane and
balanced parts of me as well.
I'm still censoring a bit as Iwork to unshackle myself from.
Heavily censored city.
I lived in for nearly 20 years.
Bit by bit, my friend I'mworking on it and damn it.
Thank you for listening andcalling me out on my shit.
(02:09):
I totally appreciate it.
Hey, if you're a regularlistener and you have yet to
leave a review, please do.
So it seriously means the worldto me.
All right, let's get onto thegood stuff.
You Today, I'm going to talkabout whether we can truly be
healthy at every size.
(02:31):
And I want to start by givingsome context around.
What healthy at any size is whatit originally intended to be and
how like nearly all wellintentioned movements in the
Western speaking industrializedworld, healthy at every size has
also been co-opted by the idiotsand freaks on the internet.
(02:55):
Who have morphed it intosomething.
That it is not.
So healthy at every size, whichI'll refer to in the rest of
this episode by its acronym, H aE S or HAES.
Is broadly speaking.
A movement to eliminatediscrimination against people.
(03:15):
That society would perceive asbeing fat.
While, predominantly focused onimproving the quality and access
to health care that these peopleneed to have to be on par with
what we call normal weightindividuals.
It also acknowledges the biasagainst large people in job
acquisition and other areas oflife.
(03:36):
And has more recently taken on asocial justice theme to expand
on inclusiveness for all.
And to say, as everyone likes tosay right now that they believe
in inclusion for all.
Now the original components ofHAES advocated for moving away
from a simplistic weight centricmodel of health.
(03:58):
Which really has operated onthis assumption that thinner
bodies are inherently healthierto a model of health that
emphasizes overall wellbeing andoverall health, regardless of a
person's physical size.
Key principles of the HAESapproach include weight
inclusivity.
Health enhancement.
(04:20):
Respectful care.
I mean, these aren't big askshere.
Eating for wellbeing, as opposedto, um, any externally regulated
eating plan, focusingexclusively on wait.
And life enhancing movement.
Regardless of size and ability.
there are expanded definitionsof these original principles
(04:43):
available on my sub stack, aswell as on the HAES website,
which I've linked to in the shownotes.
So these original principles arestrongly focused on access and
inclusion without judgment orrigidly defined rules attached
to them.
And these principles do notstate that you can retain
optimal health regardless ofsize.
(05:07):
HAES advocates argue that healthoutcomes are primarily the
result of social, economical andenvironmental factors.
And are not solely determined byweight or body size.
And there is a lot of ourmedical system.
That, has, and in some areascontinues to focus on weight,
(05:30):
BMI and body size.
As a key determinant of healthand health outcomes.
But HAES rather a stresses, theimportance of looking at a
broader range of indicators toassess health rather than
focusing exclusively on weight.
The original focus of HAES is toreduce stigma and discrimination
(05:51):
against overweight and obeseindividuals by effectively
promoting size acceptance.
And acknowledging that peoplecome in different sizes.
And that is not necessarilyindicative of their quality of
health.
Okay.
And essentially.
Encouraging and pressuring ourmedical care and healthcare
(06:13):
systems to shift the focus fromweight loss to overall expanded
indicators of health andwellbeing.
Now social media influencershave twisted the original HAES
principles, or honestly, they'vekind of neglected to acknowledge
them completely.
And reduced healthy at everysize to effectively be a very
(06:37):
simplistic movement.
With really one objective inmind.
And this is not the first time awell-intentioned movement went
sideways and created someproblems.
One day.
I'm really, really hoping to getsomeone on the podcast.
One of these big fish in a smallpond folks who created, who was
like a key instigator increating a certain movement
within the health sphere.
(06:57):
And bring her onto the podcastto share her personal story of
well-intentioned movements goinghell is sideways, but I need at
least a hundred reviews oniTunes before I think I even
stand a chance to get an hour ofher time.
And yes, that is your cue toleave a written review in
iTunes, if you haven't done soalready again, these reviews
(07:21):
helped me to establishcredibility and a sense that
this podcast is worth listeningto not just for people who
haven't found me yet, but forsome of those larger names in
the health and wellness sphere,who I would love to bring onto
the podcast and get them to talkabout some more nuanced.
approaches to health.
(07:42):
So that way we can get moreinformation out there to more
people.
Anyway, in regards to the storyof a narrative, taking a life on
its own and going bonkers.
We have these influencers whoclaim that to be healthy at
every size advocates statingthat.
weight.
Is irrelevant to your health.
(08:04):
They pontificate on how fatshaming is inherently a product
of the patriarchy and racism.
Because everything that we don'tlike about our society is racist
in some way, and obviouslydirectly caused by white dudes.
So throw away the scale.
Don't worry about your weightand push back against fat
shaming and diet culture byboldly loving your fat self and
(08:25):
enjoy all kinds of foods.
Nothing is off the table.
So you can see in that message,there are some of the original
principles.
Of HAES, but you can also seethat it is feeding into this
kind of rebellious devil maycare attitude that will
ultimately end up biting a lotof people in the ass.
If they take it as gospel.
(08:45):
In the simplistic message thatthere are no bad foods.
Are assessed me street, childmind interprets this as all
foods are good foods.
And that's categorically false.
I'm sorry.
That's just not true.
I mean maybe you're smarter thanI am in this area, but I still
catch myself playing this kindof knee jerk opposite game in my
(09:07):
head when I hear messages likethis.
Oh, if there is no bad foods,then that means that all foods
are good.
Right.
And the reality is.
The reality is, is that puttinga value judgment on food?
It's just, it's the wrongapproach.
It's neither bad nor good.
(09:28):
It's an edible substance thatwon't tell you.
Okay.
But in my opinion, somethinglike hyper processed, highly
palatable food.
If I consume it.
Doesn't do my body much goodthan if I was eating like a
racers or pages out of a book.
It's not going to give me thevitamins and minerals.
(09:49):
I need.
And in the case of hyperprocessed palatable food, it's
going to have fucking less fiberthan the textbook that's sitting
next to me.
So, you know, But.
We need to take these religiousvalue judgments out of foods
altogether.
So when you say there's no badfoods, That also means there's
(10:11):
no good foods and food is food.
And so nothing is bad, but.
As with everything in nutrition.
And almost everything in theworld.
It is far more nuanced thanthat.
Now some of this interpretationof HAES, you know, that there
are no bad foods.
(10:32):
Dovetails with.
Mindful eating principles.
And in mindful eatingprinciples, people are
encouraged to tap into theirfeelings and their body
sensations as a guide for theirfood choices.
Now while mindful and intuitiveeating, definitely play an
important role in certaincircumstances.
Influencer messaging is incomplete denial of consequences
(10:55):
of just relying on how you feelin the moment.
And it's also a subtle messagethat you can ignore any dietary
advice at all, because anythingthat resembles a boundary is
conflated with oppression andracism.
It's all very adolescent.
I mean, if you want,well-meaning white people to
turn away from an idea, call itracist.
(11:16):
It is an extremely effectivestrategy at this moment in
history.
This alert racist is today.
What communist was in the 1950s.
The problem with relyingexclusively on intuitive eating,
is that what we feel?
Our intuition is may not bestrong enough to override the
marketing, the hyperpalatability and the
(11:38):
pervasiveness of foods, whichare strongly linked to increased
disease.
And for some people who havedealt with long-term dietary
restriction, Something likeintuitive eating.
Particularly how it is presentedin these like 15 to 32nd video
snippets on Tik TOK.
(11:59):
Might feel like permission torebel and effectively throw the
baby out with the bath waterrather than find more realistic
and sustainable changes that canimprove their health.
Regardless of their physicalsize.
I sometimes see these people inmy office after they've tried
working with a mindful eatingcoach and they're none the
better off for it.
(12:21):
And all or nothing mindset.
Usually leaves us with nothing.
There was a recent Washingtonpost article discussing how the
food industry has jumped on thebandwagon with healthy, at every
size and mindful eating.
And is using these ideas, theseideologies, these concepts to
promote and market their foods.
(12:43):
I mean, Jesus fucking Christ.
What.
Just.
There is nothing sacred in theUnited States anymore.
There's like, there's no fuckingguardrails.
It's.
So infuriating, I don't havewords to properly express the
amount of rage in my body.
(13:04):
Kela Nova and general mills islooking out for you really well.
That's what they're telling you.
My friend.
They're sensitive, progressivecompanies, and they really,
really care about yourwellbeing.
Now, what they care about istheir fucking bottom line.
And as they saw, when theyadopted breast cancer awareness
month and pink washed everyfucking thing every October for
(13:27):
15 years, If they claim to be onboard with a good cause they
know you're going to buy theirshit up.
They're using you is whatthey're doing.
Honestly though, if candy barand processed cereal companies
adopting a health advocacystance that aligns their product
with morality and virtue,doesn't cause you to raise an
(13:48):
eyebrow or both of them.
This podcast might not be foryou..
Now I can't speak to theBritish.
And I can't speak to theAustralians.
Because I was born and raisedand I've lived my adult life in
the United States.
What I can say is that Americansare absolutely captured by
(14:10):
extremism.
And we fucking love to take aconcept way too far.
And this precedes the internet.
If you'll remember McCarthyismfrom history class.
Okay.
But as we love this concept ofextremism and going way too far
on one end and then swinging allthe way over to the other end.
We have naturally pushed backagainst body size ideals that
(14:32):
peaked with the goddamn KateMoss and heroin chic in the
nineties.
To the opposite end of thespectrum, which is where we are
now.
The internet conversation aroundHAES has taken the original
correct argument that body sizeleads to less quality medical
care and that this needs to bechanging.
(14:53):
And it's pushed it to a placewhere people are being told your
weight's not a factor in yourhealth at all.
And what you eat doesn't impactyour health.
Well, those of us who have beenaround the sun a couple dozen
times, or who have an interestin health and might know this is
not true.
There are millions for whomthere is no counter-argument to
this prevailing narrative.
(15:14):
That's in part because thealgorithm is just going to keep
affirming this message to thembecause they liked it and they
keep liking it.
So that's going to become theirtruth.
Until they get a diagnosis ortheir health completely breaks
down.
They're going to skip merrilydown this path of obliviousness
and the majority of them willend up ill.
(15:35):
This is the preordained path formost of the population in any
Western industrialized nation asis reflected in our year over
year worsening health statisticsfrom chronic diseases of
lifestyle.
And I've discussed that in otherepisodes.
I will discuss that in futureepisodes, but I'm not going to
discuss that today.
(15:55):
Now with the food industry inthe United States, being
strongly embedded in nutritionresearch that comes out of the
United States as well asmarketing, and then using expert
influencers on social media,there is no fucking happy ending
in our future.
Staying healthy requiresquestioning the popular wisdom
of the day and pretty much doingthe opposite of go with the
(16:19):
flow.
That said.
There is a slice of thepopulation.
Small, but not insignificant.
For whom obesity comes with nodisease markers.
I'd see this now and again, inthe obesity clinic that I once
work at.
Now, these people havedefinitely been harmed by the
(16:41):
medical community in theirlifetimes.
As they're quite heavy.
And despite having likeseriously gorgeous lab work,
perfect glucose levels.
Excellent cholesterol.
No sign of heart disease, noimpeding diabetes.
Their doctors would stillchastise them for their weight.
(17:01):
Anyway.
Super not okay.
So it is important.
That everyone listening to thispodcast, understand these people
are out there.
Not everyone.
Who's obese is going to dropdead of a heart attack.
Not everyone.
Who's obese is a huge burden onour healthcare system.
However, it's not typical.
(17:24):
Most of us are not blessed withthe genetics that allow for an
extra a hundred to 150 pounds offat to be placed outside the
organs, where it does relativelylittle damage.
For most of us.
Our extra fat begins toaccumulate around the organs and
that leads to fatty liverdisease and a significantly
increased risk of cardiovasculardisease and diabetes.
(17:48):
So these people who truly arehealthy.
Despite being obese will go totheir doctor to get a pap smear.
And their pap smear is fine.
It's normal, but the fuckingdoctor keeps him in the room for
an extra 20 minutes to lecturethem about the importance of
weight loss, when that is notwhy they are there.
(18:08):
These are the people that wouldsit in my office and weep when I
believed them about how hardthey have tried to lose weight.
Rather than telling them theyneed to try harder.
Like every other provider theyhad encountered in their life.
These are the individuals whowill benefit most from increased
acceptance of all body types.
However, some of these people,despite having stunning lab work
(18:31):
may end up having problems inthe future because at some point
in time, gravity itself can endup being a problem for your
joints.
Simply due to the weight thatyou carry.
When your bones begin to buckleunder your weight, that stress
sheers at the joints and createsalterations in mobility that can
(18:52):
lead to all sorts of structuralissues that are extremely
painful, inhibit mobility, andreally fuck up your quality of
life.
I have seen this in my office aswell.
And while healthy at every sizeinfluencers don't acknowledge
this reality.
The original HAES movement wouldadvocate for this person to
(19:12):
receive proper, comprehensiveand adequate care for this
condition, regardless of theirsize.
And that is absolutely a propertenant of compassionate
healthcare.
I also want you to know that onthe backend here.
Many healthcare providers arebeing discouraged from having
(19:34):
honest Frank conversations aboutweight.
I've heard in some nutritionschools, future nutritionists
and dieticians.
Are explicitly told they shouldnot ever mention weight to
someone they are working with.
This reminds me of when I wasgetting my personal trainer
certification, 25 years ago, Iwas explicitly taught not to
(19:56):
ever touch a client I wasworking with because it could be
misconstrued as inappropriateand set me up for a lawsuit.
Do you know how hard it is toteach proper form without laying
your hands on someone?
Like seriously, it makes the jobso much harder because.
You can physically shift abody's position to get it the
(20:16):
way that you want to much moreeasily and effectively.
Then using words.
I think now they actuallyencourage people to ask and get
explicit permission beforetouching them.
But way back in the day, we weretold to avoid it entirely.
And this is what many of today'snutrition students are
(20:36):
reportedly being told about thetopic of weight.
Now here's the deal.
Everybody's got their undies allwadded up in their unwashed
asses about how any mention ofweight as analogous to being a
fucking Nazi.
And the state of medical rightnow is that a provider's
livelihood and ability topractice without being harassed
by the administration issometimes directly tied to those
(21:00):
customer service questionnairesthat you might receive after a
visit.
We get ranked by a patient'sperception of our care, rather
than the outcomes of the carethat were given.
Most people will not bother torock the boat and raise a
sensitive topic, especially ifthey are newer to their
profession.
Providers are covertly pressuredto be silent.
(21:23):
And refer out to a nutritionprofessional, which in and of
itself is actually a betteroption until you come to find
out that most of us in thenutrition space are avoiding the
topic of weight loss as well.
In many nutrition groups thatI'm a part of online, people are
actively avoiding and refusingto take weight loss clients or
patients because this topic issuch a loaded gun and they don't
(21:44):
want to touch it.
Other people genuinely haveantiquated misconceptions of
what someone looking to loseweight actually wants.
Like.
You know, looking good in abikini for summer and shit like
that.
And still others are drinking.
The tick-tock Kool-Aid are notgoing to prescribe feel-good
nutrition, tactics that are notvery likely to get you the
(22:04):
results you're looking for.
We are also seeing the loudestand most extreme voices on the
internet.
And by and large, we're justsaying thanks, but no, thanks.
Don't want to deal with thatshit.
Since I really hate social mediaand hate trending group.
Think even more.
(22:26):
I have been spared this fate.
I've also been in the field solong that I remember ancient
history before Facebook.
And I've worked in weight lossfor so long that I know the
reality of it, that many of youdo not feel okay with the extra
weight.
But now you're shaming yourselffor having that feeling.
(22:47):
And you're also not openlytalking to anybody about how
nice it would be to get thoseextra 25 pounds off your knees.
I will speak to that in a futureepisode because I see you and I
know what's happening.
This has been going on since2018.
But again, I don't want toderail myself talking about that
because today it's about healthyat every size.
(23:11):
I do want to say that the onehope I have for the genuine OG
healthy at every size movementis expanded access to those
seeking joint replacementsurgery and still living with
obesity.
I've had several firsthandexperiences of people I work
with being denied this surgerydue to weight.
(23:32):
And being over a very specificnumber that a surgeon has
predetermined is a quote, safe,wait for the surgery to occur.
This scale number is usuallybased upon their BMI, which is
an utter crock of shit and amultitude of ways that I really
should take note of to discussin a future episode.
(23:53):
That number is the only thingthat is keeping them from
improved mobility and quality oflife.
It's not their inflammatorymarkers.
It's not their immune status andthe ability to withstand
surgery.
It's simply their body weight.
In one case with someone I wasworking with, it was 10 fucking
pounds.
And this person had already lostquite a bit of weight, but the
(24:14):
surgeon.
Didn't give a shit.
It wasn't enough.
I consider this a Bismalbehavior and apportioned medical
care.
In one instance.
I was able to get help a patientget surgery.
By sharing her stellar adherenceto dietary recommendations.
The improved health that she hadhad as determined by her lab
(24:37):
markers.
And her continued lack ofadditional weight loss that was
needed for a surgery in part,because she was in too much pain
to move.
When her primary care providerreceived that message and looked
over her medical records.
He was Seeing what I was seeingand referred her to a second
surgeon who was able to give herthe care that she needed.
(24:58):
Now, once she recovered from hersurgery, she was able to be more
mobile than she had in over ayear.
Unfortunately, I was unable tosee if this had any impact on
our physical weight, but I knowthe impact on her quality of
life.
Which let's be honest is moreimportant Was profound.
(25:20):
And that was one.
Of the most meaningful andrewarding moments that I've had
in my career.
To be able to be an advocate forsomeone in this way.
And see them get what theyreally, really needed.
People it is so important toadvocate for yourself.
And to find providers who willadvocate for you as well.
(25:43):
And I know how hard that is.
I know, I know what a messhealthcare is but I share this
because pushing back andadvocating for yourself,
persistently increases the oddsthat you will find someone who
will hear you and help you.
Very few people are going to beable to care for your health as
(26:06):
much as you do.
So you have to be the loudestand most persistent voice to get
what you want, especially now.
So to summarize today's episodehealthy at every size started as
an advocacy movement.
To allow overweight and obesepeople to get adequate,
(26:26):
comprehensive quality medicalcare, because that is a way we
have been shortchanging them.
For generations.
However the internet.
And the game of telephone.
With all its fucking bullshit.
Has co-opted that movement to alarge degree and turned it into
(26:47):
this hedonistic, eat whateveryou want.
It doesn't fucking matter andyour body weight has no
relevance to your health.
So.
Just have fun.
That is not true.
And even for those who do haveexcellent blood work, And no
chronic disease markers.
(27:08):
There is still a point whereyour physical size will become a
detriment to your health, simplybecause of gravitational forces
on the joints.
And that's something to takeinto consideration if you're 20
or 25 years old right now, andyou're 50, a hundred pounds
overweight.
Particularly if you are a femaleand you're going to enter
peri-menopause at some pointwhere a weight tends to
(27:31):
accumulate more, you may belooking at facing joint
replacement surgery earlier thanyou would want to because those
often don't last, as long as wedo.
And if things don't change withthe way that surgeons are
assessing, who is fit to gounder the knife, you might be
living with extreme chronic painfor years.
(27:53):
Nobody wants that for you.
You don't want that for you?
And food does matter.
Food does matter to our qualityof life, to our mental health,
to our physical health.
And we can't ignore that.
We can't throw that out.
(28:13):
In an attempt to get the worldto accept us for whatever size
we happen to be.
That's just stupid.
All right, folks, I'm going towrap this up.
A special, thank you to Chrisfor riding my ass and get me to
record this episode.
All right.
You didn't really ride my ass,but you put the bug in my ear
and I'd been thinking about itanyway.
(28:34):
And thanks for sharing that YPOarticle with me.
Super-duper appreciate it.
I have linked to that article inthe show notes.
If you want to take a look atthe Washington post article on
how the food system isintegrating itself into healthy
at every size movement andmindful eating movement and
fucking shit up sidewaysbecause.
Because they got the power onthe money to do so.
(28:55):
If you like this show and youwant more, be sure to subscribe
so that it drops into yourpodcast app each week.
Thank you again for listeningfolks.
And I'll talk to you next week.
Any and all information sharedhere is for educational and
entertainment purposes only andis not to be misconstrued as
offering medical advice.
(29:16):
Listening to this podcast doesnot constitute a provider client
relationship.
Note, I'm not a doctor nor anurse, and it is imperative that
you utilize your brain and yourmedical team to make the best
decisions for your own health.
The use of information on thispodcast or materials linked to
this podcast are at the user'sown risk.
(29:37):
No information nor resourcesprovided are intended to be a
substitute for professionalmedical advice, diagnosis, or
treatment.
Be a smart human and do notdisregard or postpone obtaining
medical advice for any medicalcondition you may have.
Seek the assistance of yourhealthcare team for any such
conditions and always do sobefore making any changes to
(29:58):
your medical, nutrition, orhealth plan.
If you have found some Nuggetsof Wisdom, make sure to
subscribe, rate, and shareBlasphemous Nutrition with those
you care about.
As you navigate the labyrinth ofhealth advice out there,
remember, health is a journey,not a dietary dictatorship.
(30:21):
Stay skeptical, stay daring, andchallenge the norms that no
longer serve you.
If you've got burning questionsor want to share your own flavor
of rebellion, slide into my DMs.
Your stories fuel me, and I lovehearing them.
Thanks again for tuning in toBlasphemous Nutrition.
Until next time, this is Aimeesigning off, reminding you that
(30:44):
truth is nuanced, and any dishcan be made better with a little
bit of sass.
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