Hey friends! Today I’m excited to share episode 21 of The Grapefruit & Granola Podcast, which is an interview with fellow RD pal Annie Goldsmith.

Episode 21: HAES, Weight Stigma and Nutrition Tips for Women

Being a Registered Dietitian is actually Annie’s second career: her undergraduate
degree was in Brain & Cognitive Sciences, which she was drawn to because it is the
place where biology and psychology intersect. Becoming a dietitian was a similar
decision for Annie as food is where our emotional lives and physical selves intersect.
Annie currently has her own practice in the Charlotte area. How did she end up
there?

Annie and I met working at a hospital – her first and last hospital job. She then
began working at a wellness program where she worked one-on-one with clients
giving them meal plans and giving them the tools to lose weight, but it was here she
discovered that she was not really helping people. She discovered Intuitive Eating
and Health At Every Size through her mom, a therapist in Boston, who connected
her with professionals who worked from the HAES approach. As she learned more
about HAES, her work at the wellness center seemed incongruous with this new
approach, so from there she began working at an eating disorder recovery center.
After maternity leave, Annie decided to open up her private practice in Charlotte!

Annie’s Thoughts about Health At Every Size (HAES)?

Health At Every Size is a dynamic paradigm philosophy. Put simply, HAES is the
belief that weight is not a determinant of health. Focusing on weight loss as a goal in
a health promoting intervention is not necessarily going to improve health and may
even harm health. There are many ways we can approach health improvements that
have nothing to do with pursuing a smaller size, BMI, or even body fat percentage.
Causation vs. correlation: Although high rates of ice cream consumption and
drowning incidents are correlated, one does not cause the other. Both rates
are higher because it is summertime! Similarly, there are many things that
are associated with weight and health that exist independently of one
another but could cause a correlation between weight and health to show up.
For example, cardiovascular fitness, diet quality/variety, genetics, and weight
cycling

Resource: ASDA (umbrella org that houses HAES)

Annie’s thoughts on Weight Stigma

You can refuse weighing when you go to the doctor (unless it is essential for
something like dosing a medication). Doctors need three metrics and
BMI/weight does not have to be one of them!

“Why do we prescribe to people in larger bodies what we diagnose as eating
disorders in people in smaller bodies?” – Deb Burgard, PHD

Eating disorders show up in every single size body. The fact that someone in
a larger body who exhibits all of the symptoms of an eating disorder
struggles to get treatment is stigma.

Starting place for health promoting behaviors

Understand why eating patterns are the way that they are: there is no “good”
or “bad”, but how do you make decision about food and is that in alignment
with self-care.

Get clear on values around health and body. What is important to you as you
show up in the world? How might your eating and other various health
behaviors support you in living out your values?

Determine barriers to meeting needs: emotional, business, disconnected
from body, serving others’ needs before own needs, investigating beliefs
about food

What feels good for you? Is the way that you’re thinking about food and your
body disruptive to your ability to live your most valued life?

About Annie Goldsmith

Annie Goldsmith, RD, LDN holds a bachelor’s degree in Brain and Cognitive Sciences from the University of Rochester, and received her training in dietetics through Winthrop University. Since becoming a Registered Dietitian in 2013, she has had a variety of professional experiences that include clinical dietetics in a hospital setting, outpatient nutrition counseling, and eating disorders treatment at the partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient levels of care. She has experience and advanced training in treating a wide range of issues concerning the eating relationship, and is currently working towards becoming a Certified Eating Disorders Dietitian through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals. Annie is passionate about helping those she works with develop a peaceful and nourishing relationship with both food and body. Annie currently offers individual counseling though her private practice Second Breakfast Nutrition and group services and workshops through The Art of Intentional Eating.

Private Practice: www.secondbreakfastnutrition.com
Mindfulness & Intuitive Eating Groups: www.artofintentionaleating.com