Social psychologist and weight-stigma researcher Jeffrey Hunger joins us to discuss why we can’t fight weight stigma while also advocating for weight loss, how “wellness” has been co-opted by diet culture (aka The Wellness Diet), why we need to do more than just tell people “diets don’t work,” the role of critical thinking in taking down diet culture, and so much more! Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to handle cravings for sugar and “processed” foods after a restrictive Wellness Diet.

Jeffrey Hunger, PhD, is currently a postdoctoral scholar in Health Psychology at UCLA and will be joining the Miami University as an assistant professor in Psychology this fall. He received his Bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota, Master’s degree in psychological research from CSU Fullerton, and PhD in Psychological and Brain Sciences from UC Santa Barbara. As a social and health psychologist, Dr. Hunger is interested in using insights from psychology to understand and ultimately improve the health of stigmatized groups, including heavier individuals, and racial and sexual minorities. Dr. Hunger’s research is published in top outlets across psychology, public health, and medicine, and has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, NPR, and more. To learn more about him and his work, please visit JeffreyHunger.com.

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We Discuss:

• The classist dynamics of the “whole food” movement

• The barriers for working class families to meet current “healthy eating” recommendations

• How family meals can support a positive relationship with food

• Diet culture and pressures to be thin within the gay community

• What initially informed Jeffrey’s current perspectives on weight and health

• Why we need to do more than just tell people “diets don’t work”

• How the concept of wellness has been co-opted to mean weight loss

• Why so many people are attracted to The Wellness Diet

• Mindfulness practice as an analogy for adopting intuitive eating

• Stereotype threat, and how it connects to weight stigma

• How diet culture and weight stigma show up even in weight stigma research

• Why you can’t truly be anti-weight-stigma while advocating for weight loss

• The evolution of Jeffrey’s framing of his own work

• How intentional weight loss is like gay conversion therapy, and why both are harmful

• Why the framing of weight is important outside of research (i.e. public policy)

• How everyone deserves dignity and respect

• How diet culture promotes the moralization of weight and body size

• Why a multi-pronged approach is necessary to tackle weight stigma

• Representation, and how it can help fight stigma

• Why it’s important to name diet culture vs. diets/dieting

• How Jeffrey and Christy are working to reject diet culture

• Why you don’t need to be “perfect” to take down diet culture

• Critical thinking, and its role in toppling the hierarchy of diet culture

• Health vs. healthism

• Weight Stigma Conference, and the interdisciplinary nature of the weight stigma field

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

• Help spread the anti-diet message by subscribing to the podcast

• Traci Mann’s work

• Health At Every Size by Linda Bacon (and their Food Psych® podcast episode) (CW: Dr. Bacon no longer recommends this book and prefers that people read Body Respect, linked below)

• Body Respect by Linda Bacon and Lucy Aphramor (and Lucy’s Food Psych episode)

• Stereotype Threat and Women’s Math Performance

• The Stigma of Obesity: A Review and Update (TW: o-words, fatphobic language

• Janet Tomiyama’s work

• Scientific Weightism: A View of Weight Stigma Research Through a Feminist Lens from Feminist Perspectives on Building a Better Psychological Science of Gender edited by Tomi-Ann Roberts, Nicola Curtin, Lauren E. Duncan, Lilia M. Cortina

• Reporting Risk, Producing Prejudice: How News Reporting on Obesity Shapes Attitudes about Health Risk, Policy and Prejudice (TW: o-words)

• Shrill (and creator Lindy West’s Food Psych episode)

• Can You Ever Forgive Me?

• ASDAH: HAES Principles

• 7th Annual Weight Stigma Conference

• Jeffrey’s website, Twitter, and Instagram

• This episode is brought to you by Poshmark, the fun and simple way to buy and sell fashion (including many plus-sized options!) Get $5 off your first purchase when you sign up with the invite code FOODPSYCH. 

Listener Question of the Week

How can a person trust their intuition when it keeps on craving sugar and “processed foods?” What are some popular phrases and ideas that are espoused by The Wellness Diet? Why is it normal to crave sugar, carbohydrates, and energy-dense foods after a period of restriction? What does “balanced eating” really mean, or look like? What is the “restriction pendulum,” and how is it related to the “honeymoon phase?” What does an intuitive relationship with food look like? How can a vegan diet get in the way of eating-disorder recovery? What are some ways to contribute to animal welfare causes without following a vegan diet?

Resources Mentioned:

• Intuitive Eating, 3rd edition by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch (Evelyn’s Food Psych episode, and Elyse’s Food Psych episode)

• The Intuitive Eating Workbook by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch