episode 120: Recovering from yo- yo dieting and negative body image with lindsay heller
Today is a special milestone on The Diet Diaries because for the first time ever, I’m talking with a client.
Lindsay Heller and I have been working together since August 2022 and like all of us that are here, Lindsay was a life long yo yo dieter, relying on her size and shape as a main source of happiness in her life, constantly battling negative body image.
Every diet was always about getting smaller, believing that a thinner body was better. Our conversation today spans the entire course of Lindsay’s life from her first Weight Watchers diet at 15 to the major food changes she had to make as a part of IVF.
Here’s what Lindsay shares with us:
How she has started to make progress with negative body image after constantly trying to lose weight for 20 years
Lindsay’s relationship with exercise and how that intertwined with her food choices
Her extreme mindset around food and how and why Lindsay would swing from one to the other
How Lindsay used urgency and deadlines to lose weight and what the ultimate outcome was
The way Weight Watchers distorted Lindsay’s eating
How Lindsay is trying to break the generational patterns around food, weight and body image with her daughter
How Lindsay’s yo yo dieting mindset and history impacted the medical guidance to go gluten and dairy free AND do intermittent fasting as part of the IVF process
Why food is about joy, love and agency over your body, not just fuel and nutrition
Why these extreme food restrictions inspired Lindsay to reach out for support
The big mental shifts around food Lindsay made as a result of our work together
The number one thing we prioritized to help Lindsay make her diet sustainable
How Lindsay reconciled the weight loss she experienced from the gluten free/dairy free diet with her history of negative body image and disordered eating
The ways in which coaching positively changed Lindsay’s life and body confidence after decades of struggling with dieting and negative body image
One of the most important points we talk about during our conversation is the idea that weight loss is prioritized at all costs. When a doctor or even many nutritionists give you guidance around weight loss, nobody asks what your history is with food or dieting.
Nobody asks if you’ve had a disordered relationship with food, why diets haven’t worked for you in the past or what your patterns and behaviors are around food. This is a systemic issue that only perpetuates the off the charts rate of disordered eating and body image issues over 65% of women struggle with.
I am incredibly grateful for Lindsay’s honesty and transparency and hope hearing her personal experience lets you know what is possible for you. Lindsay wrote this moving op ed detailing her pregnancy losses, IVF experience and her support for abortion as healthcare for women.
Check out episodes 105 and 112 for more resources and support around changing your body image and finding more ease around food. Also take a look at this blog post with 3 specific skills to help improve negative body image.