Reframing Health as a Resource and Redeeming HAES with Linda G. | #66

Click here to access a written transcript of this episode.

The Health At Every Size© philosophy is starting to gain more traction as a weight-inclusive standard of care, but the movement is not without its problems. One such problem is the proliferation of thin, white women as the spokespeople and gatekeepers of HAES©.

I had the opportunity to speak to Linda G. on the podcast, a fat activist blogger, about remembering who HAES© is for and the importance of making sure that HAES© practitioners aren't making some of the same mistakes as mainstream providers. HAES© may not be perfect, but Linda reminds us that its existence is incredibly important for many people.

We discussed:

• Why Linda started her blog and how that led to the content she's creating now.
• Health as a destination vs health as a resource.
• The different factors that contribute to the accessibility of healthcare and health.
• How medical weight stigma leads to worse health outcomes.
• The history of how weight and health became linked.
• How our cultural fear of death plays into diet culture.
• How obedience factors into healthcare, even in Health At Every Size© spaces.
• Our hope that in the future certain careers like dietetics will no longer need to exist because the systems that created a need for those careers will be eliminated.
• Linda's belief that HAES© still has value and helps a lot of people, even with its problems.
• Building community as a form of activism.
• The high bar of “joyful movement” and Linda's preference for “tolerable movement” in her life.
• How Linda defines health and wellness for herself at this moment in her life.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Health At Every Size©
• History Channel Show Alone
• Anthony Bourdain's statement about patriotism and ob*sity [TW: anti-fat rhetoric]
• National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA)
• Doctor I've Been Impaled comic
• Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings
• The Minnesota Starvation Experiment, Ancel Keys & Why Science Won't Save Us by Linda G.
• How to Become a Better Listener and Actually Help People Change with Dana Sturtevant | #64
• Moving Rocks: On Burning Health at Every Size to the Ground by Linda G.
• Dani Adriana's Instagram post of her eating pasta
• Lipedema
• Linda's Instagram post on tolerable movement

Featured in This Episode

Linda G. (she/her) works in nonprofit technology by day and writes about fat liberation on her blog, Fluffy Kitten Party, by night. She's also written for Center for Discovery and had her pieces shared on Scary Mommy and Adios Barbie. She lives with her spouse and pets, Special Agent Dale Cooper and Pixel, in the woods somewhere in Virginia. You can find Linda through her Instagram, Facebook, and blog.

Did you benefit from this episode? You can show your appreciation by supporting Linda's content. Be sure to follow her on Instagram.