Introduction & Guest Bio:

Author and speaker Lindo Bacon returns to Food Psych® to discuss their new book, Radical Belonging; how their perspective on HAES® has shifted since publishing Health At Every Size; reframing disordered eating as a coping mechanism for trauma; how gender affirmation helped them find body acceptance; and so much more. Plus, Ask Food Psych guest co-host Shelby Gordon answers a listener question about sharing the anti-diet message with people who may be resistant. 

Best known for their paradigm-shifting research and advocacy upending the weight discourse, Dr. Lindo Bacon’s inspiring message takes us beyond size, to shaping a culture of empathy, equity and true belonging. Dr. Bacon has mined their deep academic proficiency, wide-ranging clinical expertise and own personal experience to write two best-selling books, Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight, and the co-authored Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight. Both are credited with transforming the weight discourse and inspiring a hopeful new course for the global body positivity movement. Bacon’s work is inspired by lessons learned through three graduate degrees in health science, including a PhD in physiology, as well as clinical and research experience. A compelling speaker, writer, and storyteller, Dr. Bacon delivers a unique blend of academic expertise, clinical experience, and social justice advocacy, all couched in a raw honesty and compassion that touch and inspire. Find them online at LindoBacon.com.

Shelby Gordon is a retired professional dieter who dedicated over 40 years to mastering her craft. She dieted until her body—literally—refused to go through another day of food restriction, blood testing for ketosis levels, and high intensity interval workouts. Through her divorce from the dieting process she committed to Health at Every Size® and Body Trust®, and got fit through burlesque dancing.

Looking back over her dieting life, most of the providers she'd worked with were not people of color. They certainly were not aware of the nuances of treating a Black woman. Her goal is to fill that gap as a coach. Her coaching practice has taken a distinctive turn as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the killing of George Floyd. She now supports healing professionals and organizations wanting to learn about racism on both a personal level and the resulting impacts on their business/practice. Find her online at FitFlexibleFluid.com.

We Discuss:

• How Lindo’s perspective on HAES has shifted since publishing Health At Every Size

• Their thoughts on Christy’s book, Anti-Diet

• Why they wrote their latest book, Radical Belonging

• The parallels between unbelonging and trauma

• Resilience and community care

• Lindo’s four-step process in writing Radical Belonging

• Factors that contribute to trauma

• How belonging is connected to body liberation

• Reframing disordered eating and self-harm as short-term coping mechanisms, and how that helped in Lindo’s own recovery

• Trauma-informed care, and how providers can integrate it into their practice

• Learning the skill of sitting with our emotions

• The importance of acceptance and compassion in managing difficult emotions and situations

• Response-ability and responsibility

• Lindo’s own experiences with unbelonging, body acceptance, and finding belonging

• How gender affirmation helped them accept their body

• The story behind Lindo’s name

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

• Lindo’s first Food Psych episode

• Radical Belonging by Lindo Bacon (Bookshop) (Amazon)

• Health At Every Size by Lindo Bacon (Bookshop) (Amazon)

• Body Respect by Lindo Bacon and Lucy Aphramor (Bookshop) (Amazon)

• Ijeoma Oluo’s work, and her Food Psych episode

• Brené Brown’s work (TW: Brown has spoken about being on diets before and her work is not completely HAES-aligned)

• Andréa Ranae Johnson’s work

• Lindo’s website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Ask Food Psych

Listener Question:

“How can I share the anti-diet message as a larger-bodied person when people are pushing back and telling me I’m just looking for confirmation bias?”—Erin

We Discuss: 

• Tailoring your message to where people are at on their own process

• How Shelby identifies people in her “No,” “Maybe,” and “Yes” categories

• Practicing phrases that you’ll use for boundary setting

• How Shelby’s experiences as a public-relations professional has helped her to set boundaries and share her message

• Transitional statements

Resources Mentioned: 

• Ragen Chastain’s work, and her Food Psych episodes #58 and #119

• Shelby’s website, Instagram, and Twitter