It’s Not Black or White: An Alternative Mindset to Diet Culture with Kia Bourne

Hola amigos! Welcome back!

Is dieting really making you happy? How does your focus on weight serve you? What if there was an alternative to achieving health besides a weight goal? There is an alternative mindset.

Highlights of this episode:

• Introducing Kia Bourne, RDN
• Diet culture vs. anti-diet mindset
• Discussing the weight and body relationship
• Diet culture and eating disorders
• Identity past weight

Announcements:

• Trigger warning – discussions about suicide are present.
• Read Kia Bourne’s blog post: THE BLACK & WHITE MINDSET: Has the anti-diet movement gone too far?

Episode Description: 

[01:50] Introducing Kia Bourne, RDN

Kia is a dietitian nutritionist at Orozco Nutrition. She made her first appearance on the One Small Bite Podcast on Episode #54: The Secret of Intuitive Eating for Athletes | Ditching Diet Culture and Improve Performance

Prior to becoming a dietitian, Kia became a certified fitness trainer. This has given her a lot of experience helping clients connect to their bodies to build a healthy and sustainable relationship to food.  This relationship with our bodies and food can feel good on an emotional and physical level.

Kia is accepting new clients, and invites people to take advantage of a free 15 min Discovery Call.

[06:15] What is Diet Culture Mindset?

Kia helps clients reject diet culture mindset. Afterall, fitness and nutrition are more than weight loss. Up until recently, there has not been another option for health outside of targeting weight loss.

Diet culture is a mentality and a set of beliefs. Something to take on to improve our health. But there are alternatives to weight loss to be healthy.

David mentions that health is not a destination, even with medical conditions. Health exists in an ebb and flow in life. The wellness industry co-opted health for their 75-billion-dollar industry.

[09: 50] Weight Discussion in Anti-Diet Work

Is there a problem with discussing weight? Anyone who wants to lose weight is understandable because our society sets up thin privilege.

So, the real question is, why do you want to lose weight? If the gold standard appearance is thinness, then, the individual is accepted in society, which in turn, influences how the person feels about themselves.

However, everyone is different based off their experiences. Some don’t want to talk about it and others need to discuss it. The truth is that people have many attributes besides weight. We have different sizes and shapes, and health can exist in many sizes and shapes.

Diet culture misses out on the actual person, it doesn’t talk about the strain about the person’s value or their relationship to food. It focuses on weight only to look better. It doesn’t talk about your emotional and mental health under the weight loss regimen.

[13:39] Anti-Diet Mindset

Has the anti-diet mindset gone too far? Is it no longer politically correct to lose weight? Kia says that the anti-diet brings an alternative, holistic, mentality outside of forcing weight loss. It recognizes that you don’t have to weight or count calories to be healthy.

David agrees, what happens if we reduce the strain and stressor from dieting and ask ourselves, “what do I need and want?”

[16:57] Anti-Diet Approaches

The discussion around weight can be important so we can uncover what the client really wants. A focus on wellness leads to making better lifestyle choices. Looking at other health markers can be more beneficial than a weight-centric approach. The weight scale can derail your progress. 

[19:33] Eating Disorders and the Diet Culture Mentality

Kia has noticed that many people are struggling with weight and struggling to fit in to the thin paradigm. Whether or not they identify with having an eating disorder, everyone has a need to be accepted. If being accepted involves thinness, then using food in an unhealthy way to achieve that thin ideal is problematic.

So, there was a brave person, who shared their story on a social media platform. This person was in a larger body. This person said, in retrospect, how much happier they were in their larger frame. Now that they had the body that they always dreamed of and wanted, was making them miserable. In a large body, they would laugh more. They ate foods they enjoyed, they were able to sit at the table and be a 100% present with the people that they loved without distracting thoughts of food, their body, or appearance. They are currently getting the attention that they desperately always wanted and never had, the compliments, and the constant remarks on how great they look. They thought that this is what would have made them happy.

However, now, they wish that nobody would notice their body or even comment about it at all. They don’t want comments on their body because – they are not even happy. What people don’t know from this person’s perspective is that they were willing and capable of going to a place of maybe even killing themselves to get thin. They are miserable. They nearly brushed death to get it. They want others to know they are more than a body.

Thinness is really that thin ideal killing us. Both figuratively. And literally.

David agrees that in diet culture, you have to pursue thinness for health. Mental health is often taken out of the picture. Dieters can miss out on social gatherings. While being accepted is important, the diet pushes away opportunities to connect.

[26:36] The Body Relationship

Kia says, there’s nothing wrong with losing weight all in of itself. It’s about what are we willing to do for that weight loss. Are we willing to compromise our health, our relationships, what we care about in order to just lose weight? We all need support in that arena where people are talking about inclusiveness. True health does come from different shapes and sizes. We all have different needs and true health is achieved at different body sizes. So, allowing self-acceptance of yourself is a starting point. That doesn’t mean that you have to love everything about your body and how you look. Accepting what you do have, and the good that your body has done for you to this point, so you can move forward.

[29:40] Finding Support to Chop Diet Culture

David and Kia suggest looking for communities that are practicing anti-diet mentality to support your movement through the diet culture world.

Kia says that its helpful to have realistic expectations, acknowledging that the diet culture mentality is everywhere.

Acceptance starts with you, the person, before you seek acceptance from others. Diet culture is a mentality, a belief. Support from yourself, an anti-diet health professional, or support groups.

Finding habits that are non-weight centric to cultivate is also helpful.

[34:44] Gaining Weight During Anti-Diet Mentality

Techniques to be in an anti-diet mindset include relaxing the body through breathing awareness, which helps us connect to our body. Another is kindness. Giving space to make changes, rather than spending time beating ourselves up.

[41:56] Who Are You Beside from Your Weight?

There is more to your life besides weight and food pre-occupation. Kia loves to give space for her clients to be heard. Being heard is so critical for self-acceptance.

What would you say to someone you love?

Resources:

• Unapologetic Eating by Alissa Rumsey
• Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski

Where do I go from here?

• If you like this episode, then download the show wherever you listen to your podcasts at Apple, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, iHeartRadio, Castbox, etc!
• Hit that subscribe button so you won’t miss another episode.
•  Big Ask: Leave a Review! Please, take a few minutes and leave me a review on your podcast app. Each review helps other listeners find the podcast, which provides me with the ability to continue bring you unique content. So spread the love. Loss for words? Just write what you like about the show.
• Share the show with friends.
• If you want to work with us, schedule an appointment or a free 15 minute discovery call. Explore our website and click Schedule an Appointment. Or, reach us by email info@orozconutrition.com or phone 678-568-4717.

Once again, I greatly appreciate you for listening and supporting my show. Remember, it really only takes One Small Bite to start transforming your life.

Chop the diet mentality; Fuel Your Body; and Nourish Your Soul!