Is it Possible to Lose Weight without Dieting?

Apr 11

2019

In Body Positive, Health at Every Size®, Nutrition

Is it Possible to Lose Weight without Dieting?

When I decided to become a dietitian, I was curious about how food broke down into nutrients, and how those nutrients were used in our body. I also liked the idea that food, nutrition, and health were themes that everyone could relate to and talk about. It never factored in my naive little brain that “dietitian” actually translated to “weight loss expert” in most people’s minds.

This has become particularly apparent since I’ve shifted my focus to being a non-diet dietitian—no matter how many blog posts I write, what I share on social media, my about page, or my services page, weight loss is still the #1 request I get, from blatant ones (“I want to lose X pounds.”) to ones that are a little more subtle (“I don’t want to diet, but I’m still going to lose weight, right?”)

I’m not saying this to make you feel bad or guilty for wanting to lose weight, nor am I saying this to make you feel that we can’t work together. (Though I won’t be working with you on weight loss.) While the answer is technically yes, it is possible to lose weight without dieting, there are a lot more layers to this answer than you might think.

When Will I Finally “Get” Intuitive Eating? 4 Ideas for When You’re Feeling Stuck

Apr 04

2019

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By Vincci Tsui

In Body Positive, Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, Nutrition

When Will I Finally “Get” Intuitive Eating? 4 Ideas for When You’re Feeling Stuck

At first glance, intuitive eating seems like it should be easy—we hear how it’s about letting go of diet and food rules, “eating whatever we want”, and how we’re all “born intuitive eaters”. So it’s understandably frustrating when you’re weeks, months, or even years into the “journey” and still feel like you don’t “get it”.

Weight Gain in Intuitive Eating: 4 Strategies to Cope

Mar 27

2019

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By Vincci Tsui

In Body Positive, Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, Mindful Eating, Nutrition

Weight Gain in Intuitive Eating: 4 Strategies to Cope

Intuitive eating is all about ditching the diet mentality and putting weight loss on the back burner, but given the way that smaller bodies are valued and seen as “healthy” in our culture, it’s natural to feel discomfort, judged, or like you’re doing something “wrong” when you gain weight during the intuitive eating process. Here are some strategies to help you work through some of the discomfort. (I know “cope” can imply that weight gain is considered a negative thing, which it shouldn’t be. I will fully admit to using it for SEO reasons 😬)

5 Popular Health At Every Size® (HAES®) Myths Busted

Mar 21

2019

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By Vincci Tsui

In Body Positive, Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, Mindful Eating, Nutrition

5 Popular Health At Every Size® (HAES®) Myths Busted

Whether you call it “body positivity,” “non-diet,” “weight-neutral/inclusive” or Health At Every Size (HAES), the idea of shifting the focus away from weight and towards health has become—I hate to say this, but—trendy.

It makes sense—no one wants to see themselves as fat-shaming or causing harm, yet there’s a lot that’s misunderstood when it comes to Health At Every Size, even among health professionals. As part of her PhD dissertation, dietitian and researcher Fiona Willer found that while weight-neutral approaches were viewed more positively than weight-centric approaches amongst Australian dietitians, only 37% correctly identified that a weight-neutral approach is not compatible with a weight loss goal.

Here are some of the top myths that I often see, and the truths behind them.

Dietitians Are Key to Unlocking the Potential of Food… Though Not Always in the Ways that You Think

Mar 05

2019

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By Vincci Tsui

In Body Positive, Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, Mindful Eating, Nutrition, Words of Wisdom

Dietitians Are Key to Unlocking the Potential of Food… Though Not Always in the Ways that You Think

Recently I had a client share with me that she “struggled to understand” my approach to nutrition counselling. At first I thought it’s because I don’t do weight loss (which I think is probably still a part of it) but when I probed further, she said that it’s because she had expected a formula that she’s seen with other nutrition professionals (dietitian or not):

Client brings in food journal
Provider critiques food journal
Provider gives suggestions, recipes, and/or meal plan
Rinse and repeat

6 “Conscious Uncouplings” to Make for a Better Relationship with Food & Body

Feb 12

2019

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By Vincci Tsui

In Body Positive, Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, Mindful Eating, Nutrition

6 “Conscious Uncouplings” to Make for a Better Relationship with Food & Body

I’m skeptical of Gwyneth Paltrow as much as the next evidence-based practitioner, and I can’t help but feel my eyes roll as I type the phrase “conscious uncoupling” (it’s actually not a goop original, but a phrase coined by author and family therapist Katherine Woodward Thomas. _{(Amazon Associates link)}) So, I’ll fully admit here that I’m riding the coattails of Gwyneth’s popularity and February being about Valentine’s and love as a way to explore the idea of breaking up with and unlearning old, unhelpful (and possibly harmful) ideas in order to make way for new ones.

Mindful Eating & Intuitive Eating: What’s the Difference?

Jan 29

2019

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By Vincci Tsui

In Body Positive, Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, Mindful Eating, Nutrition

Mindful Eating & Intuitive Eating: What’s the Difference?

Mindful eating and intuitive eating are both approaches used by non-diet and Health At Every Size® dietitians and clinicians, so it isn’t surprising that many think that they’re one and the same. Although the two complement each other and have significant overlap, there are some important differences.

How to Navigate Triggering Conversations During the Holiday Season

Dec 16

2018

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By Vincci Tsui

In Body Positive, Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, Mindful Eating, Nutrition, Words of Wisdom

How to Navigate Triggering Conversations During the Holiday Season

Recently I attended the Break the Freeze workshop put on by fellow ATB X cohort #5 member Empowerment Inc. While the purpose of the workshop was teaching communication and self-defense skills, I immediately saw that a lot of the skills could be applied to navigating triggering topics, like diet and body talk, during the holidays (or any time of year, for that matter.)

Nov 15

2018

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By Vincci Tsui

In Health at Every Size®, Nutrition

What Causes Weight Gain?

TW/CW: Almost all of the links included in this post contain fatphobic/weight-centric messaging and/or images, the “o” words, specific calorie/weight numbers, etc. Unfortunately, most weight science is still being conducted with the assumption that higher weights are a problem/disease.

Several weeks ago I received an interesting email from a reader:

“Something I’ve been wondering about in all the reading I’ve been doing about weight loss is about weight gain.

It seems clear that long term weight loss is maybe not quite impossible, but nearly. I’ve read lots about how your body wants to keep itself at a predetermined weight.

So….why didn’t my body keep me at some previous predetermined weight? Like, whenever I was done growing or something. I mean, how does a person gain weight?

I look at my uncle – he’s always been tall and thin. Only since he hit middle age did he start to develop a “paunch” (extra flesh in his lower belly)

Some of us gain steadily over our lifetime. Many start to grow in girth when middle age hits and our metabolism slows.

I know this is really long winded. I guess the question is how do we gain weight? I mean, not a how-to guide, but how does it happen? If there is some secret set point that your body wants to be, where does that come from? When and how is it determined?

If a person wants to prevent weight gain, is that possible? Does it have to happen in childhood? Can an adult prevent weight gain? Is it all totally arbitrary?”

This is such a good question, because despite our society’s obsession with weight, most of us don’t actually have a good understanding of the mechanisms behind it. In fact, an article published in 2014 on where the fat goes when someone loses weight was still making headlines this year because the answer is surprising to many, including health professionals. (If you’re avoiding the links because you’re worried about being triggered, the answer is that it mostly gets breathed out as carbon dioxide, and the rest is excreted as water.)

If I Can’t Lose Weight, Then How Can I Be Healthy?

Oct 29

2018

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By Vincci Tsui

In Body Positive, Health at Every Size®, Intuitive Eating, Mindful Eating, Nutrition

If I Can’t Lose Weight, Then How Can I Be Healthy?

Perhaps you’ve read the research on how diets don’t work. Perhaps you’ve dieted your whole life and can’t bear to put yourself through another round of the diet-binge cycle, or the weight rollercoaster. Maybe you feel mad or frustrated that you’ve been lied to this whole time; that you’ve been given tools that not only don’t work, but actually do the opposite of what they claim to do.

No matter what brought you here, you feel stuck. If dieting doesn’t work, then what does? If you can’t lose weight, how can you be healthy?

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