Unpacking Weight Science

This episode delves into the definition(s) of 'disease' and 'risk factor' and how body size has come to be understood by various 'body size stakeholders'.  At its core, the question is, is being fat the same as being sick? And can telling someone that they're sick, even when they're not, actually make them sick? Learning goals: · Identify the differences and similarities of a risk factor vs a disease state  · Appreciate the historical, political and financial context of the decision of some to deem BMI>30kg/m2 a ‘diseased' status  · Understand the consequences of using the label ‘obesity' and it's classification as a ‘disease'   For professional development: To turn this episode into professional development with a Certificate of Completion, head to the Health Not Diets Pod Course homepage. For courses, coaching, consulting and community in Size Inclusive Approaches, see www.healthnotdiets.com and www.unpackingweightscience.com 

Malnutrition is a condition that has both short-term and long lasting consequences. In this episode I unpack the science of malnutrition, it's signs and symptoms and as always, how our intentional weight loss focus results in dangerous malnutrition invisibility. Learning goals: • Recognise the hallmark signs of undernutrition across the weight span • Identify the risks associated with undernutrition across the lifespan • Appreciate the differences in consensus statement development methodology – literature review versus Delphi method Enjoy! To turn this episode into professional development with a Certificate of Completion, head to the Health Not Diets Pod Course homepage. For courses, coaching, consulting and community in Size Inclusive Approaches, see www.healthnotdiets.com and www.unpackingweightscience.com 

In recent years nutrition research has moved from a focus on nutrients to a focus on foods and eating patterns. Dietary quality broadly refers to the variety of foods in someone's usual eating habits. In this episode I'll be bringing you up to date on the current state of play with this kind of research, how impactful dietary quality is on health outcomes, and how you can use it and measure it in your practice.  Learning goals: · Appreciate some of the methods used to try to quantify and analyse the way free-living humans eat · Understand the concept of dietary quality and the types of measurement tools used to capture the construct · Identify the associations between dietary quality, immediate, proximal and distal outcomes, BMI and mortality Enjoy! To turn this episode into professional development with a Certificate of Completion, head to the Health Not Diets Pod Course homepage. For courses, coaching, consulting and community in Size Inclusive Approaches, see www.healthnotdiets.com and www.unpackingweightscience.com 

Dietitians and nutrition professionals can feel like the ‘nutrition baby' is being thrown out with the ‘diet bathwater' when learning about size inclusivity (eg the Non-Diet Approach, HAES and Intuitive Eating).  Many wonder... if I can't tell people what to eat, what is left? Is there any point to dietitians? Do I just forget all my medical nutrition therapy knowledge? This existential crisis is a consequence of nutrition-related professions identifying with their key expertise being in weight management. This episode sorts the ‘therapeutic wheat' from the ‘fatphobic chaff' to offer an alternative perspective on your professional identity.   Learning goals: - Recognise the different meanings of the terms ‘diet' and ‘dietary pattern' and their common and technical uses - Identify the therapeutic nutrition elements in size inclusive approaches (eg Health at Every Size, Intuitive Eating and the Non-Diet Approach frameworks), and their centring around ‘feel-good' eating - Differentiate between internal vs external motivation and their application in weight-neutral practice  Enjoy! To turn this episode into professional development with a Certificate of Completion, head to the Health Not Diets Pod Course homepage. For courses, coaching, consulting and community in Size Inclusive Approaches, see www.healthnotdiets.com and www.unpackingweightscience.com 

This episode covers the development of the Intuitive Eating Scale, and it's follow-up, the Intuitive Eating Scale 2 (IES2).  I talk about the different aspects of eating behaviour that it captures, research that it's been used in and how you might like to use it in your clinical practice or research. Learning goals: • Understand the terms ‘validity' and ‘reliability' in relation to psychometric measurement instruments  • Appreciate the constructs measured with the Intuitive Eating Scale 2 including dietary restraint, emotional eating and the IES2 subscales • Understand the application of the Intuitive Eating Scale 2 in clinical practice I hope you find it useful :-) To turn this episode into professional development with a Certificate of Completion, head to the Health Not Diets Pod Course homepage. For courses, coaching, consulting and community in Size Inclusive Approaches, see www.healthnotdiets.com and www.unpackingweightscience.com 

One of my favourite theories of social science is the Diffusion of Innovations theory. It so beautifully explains how new ideas spread through social groups and populations. The adoption of Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size by individuals and by health and counselling professionals has followed the predictable patterns laid out in this theory. This episode I'll be running through these characteristics and importantly, showing you how you can recognise where someone is on their path towards size inclusivity and how you can most effectively nudge them towards decision-making. Learning goals: - Identify the adopter characteristics as described in the Roger's Diffusion of innovation theory  - Identify the innovation characteristics which contribute to the adoption decision process  - Recognise the cues for adopter categories and innovation characteristics which increase the likelihood of adoption of size inclusive approaches.  Enjoy! To turn this episode into professional development with a Certificate of Completion, head to the Health Not Diets Pod Course homepage. For courses, coaching, consulting and community in Size Inclusive Approaches, see www.healthnotdiets.com and www.unpackingweightscience.com 

We continually hear this magical 5% weight loss goal for people with type 2 diabetes, that losing 5% of your body weight is going to result in protecting you from all sorts of terrible diabetes related things…. So in this episode I talk about where this figure has come from, why it misconstrues its own science, and weight neutral ways to manage diabetes and the diabetes healthcare environment. To turn this episode into professional development with a Certificate of Completion, head to the Health Not Diets Pod Course homepage. For courses, coaching, consulting and community in Size Inclusive Approaches, see www.healthnotdiets.com and www.unpackingweightscience.com 

This episode I take you through some components of the science of human persuasion with ‘unboxing wellness marketing'.  As my following on Instagram grew I started getting approached by ‘health and wellness' brands to spruik their products, and one lot even sent me some samples of their product (apple cider vinegar!) to try – without asking if I wanted them! They came with a lovely letter and some product information, filled to the brim with reasons why their product should be in every home across the country.  So I'm going to dissect their arguments for your listening pleasure and highlight the tricks used in wellness-food marketing to persuade us to open our wallets and our mouths for just about anything. To turn this episode into professional development with a Certificate of Completion, head to the Health Not Diets Pod Course homepage. For courses, coaching, consulting and community in Size Inclusive Approaches, see www.healthnotdiets.com and www.unpackingweightscience.com 

In this episode I take you through the clinical model that I developed during my PhD research. This model is a weight-neutral, size inclusive, body acceptance practice framework for clinicians. To turn this episode into professional development with a Certificate of Completion, head to the Health Not Diets Pod Course homepage. For courses, coaching, consulting and community in Size Inclusive Approaches, see www.healthnotdiets.com and www.unpackingweightscience.com 

This episode delves into theories of human morality and medical ethics and their role in fat-phobia. I unpick the concepts and meaning of fatness through these two lenses in order for listeners to be able to identify which meaning system is at play in those who force their weight-centrism upon others, and select a line of discussion that hits its mark. To turn this episode into professional development with a Certificate of Completion, head to the Health Not Diets Pod Course 9 For courses, coaching, consulting and community in Size Inclusive Approaches, see www.healthnotdiets.com and www.unpackingweightscience.com 

In this episode I compare and contrast what our mathematical formulas about energy requirements and weight loss say should be possible (ie the theoretical) versus what actually happens in real life. I also talk about the history of this energy requirement belief system, who continues to use it and why. See www.unpackingweightscience.com to access the supporting materials for this episode. Want even more? Subscribe to the Unpacking Weight Science Patreon (www.patreon.com/UnpackingWeightScience) for instant access to new and old episodes and content for only $5 per month.

Those benefits promised by those who recommend weight loss? *whispers* they're not actually because of the weight loss..... This episode of Unpacking Weight Science looks at the behaviours associated with longevity, delay and avoidance of disease, as well as behaviours which enhance health outcomes at any weight and health status. Key research papers are discussed as well as strategies for how to use them in your work. See www.unpackingweightscience.com to access the supporting materials for this episode. Want even more? Subscribe to the Unpacking Weight Science Patreon (www.patreon.com/UnpackingWeightScience) for instant access to all new and old episodes for only $5 per month.

In this podcast I take you through the research and academic operationalisation of self compassion, some of its associations and effects on individuals and their self care as well as on health practitioners with compassion fatigue and burnout. I talk about how to weave language that models a self compassionate attitude into your counselling and encounters with others and yourself. The supplementary materials contain exercises shown in experimental studies to induce self compassion. See www.unpackingweightscience.com for details.

This article is a really important discussion of the issues around how we refer to different body types.  Because not everyone has the time, opportunity or ability to sit and read journal articles, I've done an audio recording for you. Enjoy :-)  The article details are: Meadows, Angela, and Sigrún Daníelsdóttir. "What's in a word? On weight stigma and terminology." Frontiers in psychology 7 (2016): 1527. Available open access here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01527/full  Want more of these as soon as they're published? Check out https://www.patreon.com/UnpackingWeightScience   

A research paper is a piece of persuasive writing.  This episode breaks down how all the pieces fit together, the expected rhetoric of weight loss research, common research methods that guarantee statistical significance at the cost of clinical practicalities, how to spot hyperbole, and how the way we usually read research papers leaves us at the mercy of the authors biases.  Find supporting materials at www.unpackingweightscience.com and subscribe to the Unpacking Weight Science Patreon to access 15 newer episodes immediately: https://www.patreon.com/UnpackingWeightScience 

This episode is an introduction and defines the terms, discusses their impact on healthcare, society and the lives of the people who are impacted by weight-centrism.   Use the Unpacking Weight Science Podcast as professional development! Subscribe for the most recent episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/UnpackingWeightScience  Buy the study guide (further reading, supporting materials and self-test quizzes): http://www.lulu.com/shop/fiona-willer/unpacking-weight-science-episodes-1-12-supporting-materials/paperback/product-23784902.html  Prefer a self-paced online course? Go to www.unpackingweightscience.com   

A history of the development of the BMI (including how 'obesity' ended up on child growth charts), how we discovered there was a relationship with weight and death, and how a few powerful men gifted us the weight-centrism we have today.   Use the Unpacking Weight Science Podcast as professional development! Subscribe for the most recent episodes at: https://www.patreon.com/UnpackingWeightScience  Buy the study guide (further reading, supporting materials and self-test quizzes): http://www.lulu.com/shop/fiona-willer/unpacking-weight-science-episodes-1-12-supporting-materials/paperback/product-23784902.html  Prefer a self-paced online course? Go to www.unpackingweightscience.com   

This episode discusses the two main myths that perpetuate weight loss encouragement as well as the terms, weight centric, weight neutral, lifestyle intervention and concern troll. Learning Outcomes  • Recognise the key false assumptions that enable the perpetuation of weight-centric attitudes • Recognise the various common terms used in the size acceptance community, including ‘weight neutral’, ‘weight centric’, lifestyle intervention and weight neutral interventions and finally ‘concern troll’  The supporting materials for this episode including show notes, further reading and the quiz can be found in 2018 Bundle 1 (episodes 1-12) which you can get for $25 USD ($35AUD) in paperpack from Lulu.com or as a PDF by emailing me: fiona@healthnotdiets.com. Enjoy!

Why is it that everyone seems to be pushing a weight-centric agenda? Weight centrism is a cultural norm, medical behemoth, and capitalist bonanza. This podcast delves into the forces that bind us externally and internally, to weight centrism. Want the supporting materials for this episode? Get the full show notes, further reading and self-assessment quizes for Episodes 1-12 here. To access all the episodes before everyone else and get supporting materials as they're released, subscribe to the podcast for $5 per month here.   Follow me if you want more of this kind of content: Facebook: www.facebook.com/HealthNotDiets Instagram: www.instagram.com/fionawiller/ Twitter: www.twitter.com/fionawiller