Fellow anti-diet dietitian Taylor Chan joins us to discuss “fence-straddling” between intuitive eating and traditional dietetics (and eventually jumping over to the other side), how her desire to be a “good dietitian” pulled her further into diet culture, the privilege inherent in diet culture’s version of nutrition, the nuances that make intuitive eating an inclusive practice, and so much more. Plus, Christy answers a listener question about how to handle loss of appetite during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Taylor Chan is a Registered Dietitian and Personal Trainer in Baltimore, Maryland. She brings an Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size lens to her current role in school food service, and also has a virtual private practice where she helps clients take the fear out of food and eat to support all aspects of their well-being. In her spare time, you can find her hiking, traveling, eating, and creating doodles that dismantle diet culture. Find her online at FoodAndFearless.com.

We Discuss:

• How being an athlete affected Taylor’s relationship with food growing up

• Having a large appetite, and how that is regarded differently for different body sizes

• Her first exposure to diet culture

• How she became interested in dietetics

• The desire to be a “good dietitian,” and how that pulled Taylor further into diet culture

• “Healthified” versions of food, and how they never taste like the real thing

• “Straddling the fence” between intuitive eating and traditional dietetics

• HAES and ethics in dietetics

• How Taylor’s practice and social media presence shifted to become more weight-inclusive

• Peer support during dietetic internship

• Curiosity as a tool for advocacy and planting seeds

• Where Taylor and Christy would like to see the role of dietitians evolve

• Expanding the definition of nutrition to include relationships with food

• Nourishment, and having enough

• The privilege inherent in diet culture’s version of nutrition

• Ellyn Satter’s Hierarchy of Food Needs

• The nuances of intuitive eating in specific situations, like food scarcity and eating disorders

• Intuitive eating as the default mode and an inclusive practice

• Having self-compassion and grace as you learn and evolve

• The pressures of social media content creation, and having permission to slow down

• Life beyond dietetics and body liberation

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

• Rachel Hartley’s work

• Weight-Inclusive Nutrition and Dietetics (WIND)

• Heather Caplan’s work and Food Psych® podcast episode

• "Code of Ethics for the Nutrition and Dietetics Profession" by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

• “Hierarchy of Food Needs” by Ellyn Satter

• Ellyn Satter’s work (CW: Some fatphobic language)

• Evelyn Tribole’s work, and her Food Psych episodes #73 and #219 

• Elyse Resch’s work, and her Food Psych episodes #79 and #228

• Taylor’s website, Instagram, and Facebook

Listener Question of the Week

How can someone eat and enjoy eating when an external stressor has caused a loss of appetite? What are some of the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting people’s appetites? What are some of the risks of experiencing loss of appetite? Why are snacks important? Why is it important to eat regularly throughout the day, including having snacks? What are some of the ways that intuitive eating can be misinterpreted and/or co-opted by diet culture? What are some subtle signs of hunger that are often missed? What are some ways that a person can avoid being in a restrict-binge cycle?

Resources Mentioned: 

• Isabel Foxen Duke’s work, and her Food Psych® episodes #36, #74, and #118