Alexis Conason, Psy.D.

05/06/2026

Today is , but every day is a no diet day around here. We don’t need just one day off from diet culture. We deserve a life free from it.
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Dieting promises control, confidence, happiness, and all the things we’re told will finally make us feel like enough. But more often than not, it keeps us stuck in cycles of restriction, shame, and self-doubt.
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The problem isn’t your body. It’s a culture that teaches us we have to be thin to be desired, valued, healthy, and respected.
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That belief keeps us stuck hating our bodies, trying to shrink ourselves, and becoming smaller in ways we don’t always realize—insecure, quiet, and hesitant to take up space.
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We deserve so much more than that. And the world needs our voices.
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If you’re ready to step off the diet cycle, this is exactly what I share in my book, The Diet-Free Revolution. It’s a compassionate, research-backed path to healing your relationship with food and your body. Available now wherever books are sold or at drconason.com
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You don’t need another diet. You need a radically different way forward.

05/03/2026

05/02/2026

My tween showing me how it’s done!

Thank you for sending these goodies for us to unbox. Stay tuned for our taste test in Part 2 when my daughter will inform me that actually I am not a cool mom 😂

05/01/2026

Psychedelic-assisted therapy isn’t a cure all but the early research with eating disorders is promising.
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This was a very small pilot study (N=5) with no control group, so the findings are very preliminary. Still, I believe psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) has the potential to play an important role in how we treat eating disorders, especially when it’s thoughtfully integrated with evidence-based therapy.
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One of the things that draws me to PAT is how much it overlaps with mindfulness. Many of the experiences people describe in both mindfulness practices and psychedelic-assisted therapy include a sense of interconnectedness: with nature, with other people, and with something larger than ourselves.
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For many, that felt sense of connection can soften rigidity, reduce avoidance, and create space for compassion, both toward ourselves and others.
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I’m currently in training to become a psychedelic-assisted therapist. I believe we need approaches that help people reconnect with themselves and the world around them, rather than trying to control or suppress symptoms.
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I suspect that, like mindfulness, PAT may impact a wide range of symptoms. When I work with clients on mindful eating, they often notice improvements in depression, anxiety, stress management, and other areas beyond eating behaviors. That’s because mindfulness doesn’t just address symptoms, it changes our relationship with ourselves. PAT may work in a similar way.
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We need way more research.
We need ethical, regulated access.
And we need to stay grounded, curious, and cautious.

Curious to hear your thoughts. Does this kind of research feel hopeful, overhyped, or both?

04/29/2026

If you saw my post earlier this week about what to do after a binge,
this is one place to start.

After a binge, there’s often this urge to fix it.

To eat less.
To compensate.
To tell yourself you’ll “do better” tomorrow.

But that’s what keeps the binge cycle in motion. What your body actually needs in that moment is something very different.

No mater what you ate before, your body still needs nourishment. That’s why it’s so important to eat your next meal after a binge and to eat it with a focus on what’s enjoyable and what can help our bodies feel good, not on restricting or making up for the binge.

This might feel like the opposite of what you should do but it’s an important step in breaking the binge cycle.

If you’re stuck in this pattern, you’re not alone.
Healing is possible 🤍

🌱Looking for support with binge eating? DM or visit www.conasonpsychologicalservices.com to schedule a free consult call to see if one of our specialized therapists can help you.

🤝 Are you a professional looking for support with your difficult cases? I have space available in my supervision/case consultation group for eating disorder professionals. CEDS eligible. DM to learn more!

04/27/2026

If you struggle with binge eating, you probably know all too well that the binge itself is only one part of the cycle.
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For many, what comes next is just as painful—self-criticism, shame, and attempts to “make up for it” through restriction… which often leads right back into the cycle.
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After a binge, small shifts can have a big impact.
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Try self-compassion instead of self-criticism.
Nourishment instead of restriction.
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These moments won’t feel intuitive at first. But they’re how you begin to gently interrupt the cycle.
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A binge isn’t a failure. It’s information.
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Save this for when you need the reminder 🤍
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🌱If you are struggling with binge eating, DM or visit conasonpsychologicalservices.com to see if one of our specialized therapists can help you.

04/21/2026

Coping skills make so much sense on paper.
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You can list them.
You’ve talked about them in therapy.
You’ve saved the posts.
You know what helps.
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But then in the moment , when you’re activated, flooded, and spiraling…your mind goes blank and the tools feel impossible to access.
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That’s not a personal failure.
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When our nervous system is in survival mode, our thinking brain goes offline. The part of us that can reflect, choose, and remember what “works” gets drowned out by the primal part that just wants to protect us.
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So if you’ve ever thought:
“Why can’t I just use the tools I have?”
“What’s wrong with me?”
“I should be better at this by now…”
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Nothing is wrong with you.
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Your body is doing exactly what bodies are wired to do under stress.
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This is why nervous system regulation matters.
Not as another thing to be “good” at.
But as the foundation that makes coping skills accessible in the first place.
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Start smaller than you think.
Take one breath to create space in a heated moment.
Ground yourself in the present by washing your hands or naming 3 things in the room before you problem-solve.
Practice when you’re calm, not just when you’re in crisis.
Use the tools on ordinary Tuesday stress, not only the big meltdowns.
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Over time, it really does get easier.
It’s a lot like building a muscle, the more you use it, the more available it becomes.
Less effortful.
More like an instinct.
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If coping has felt hard lately, this is your reminder:
It’s not about willpower.
It’s about the state of your nervous system.
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What helps your nervous system settle, even a little? Tell me in the comments 💭💛

04/17/2026

A “health journey” doesn’t have to be about before-and-after photos or shrinking our bodies.
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Too often, health is reduced to weight loss.
And ironically, that belief can lead people to do objectively harmful things in the name of health.
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There are so many ways to support our health in the bodies we have right now:
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• eating foods we enjoy without constant stress or rules
• social connections and community
• preventative healthcare (which needs to be more accessible)
• nervous system regulation
• cuddling with animals (releases serotonin, dopamine, and lowers cortisol 🐾 — always grateful for visits with )
• a life that feels meaningful and values-aligned
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This version of health can’t be seen in before and after photos.
It’s less glamorous. It’s not about taking a magic pill, detoxing, or a complete lifestyle overhaul.
And there isn’t big money in selling it to us.
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It’s about coming back home to ourselves and learning to work with our bodies instead of always fighting against it.
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You can’t tell someone’s health by looking at them.
And defining a “health journey” as a shrinking body isn’t just misleading—it’s rooted in weight stigma.
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What does a “health journey” mean to you?

🌱 If you are looking for support on your health journey (it includes mental health too!) DM to schedule a free consultation call to see if can help you! We specialize in mindful eating, eating disorders/disordered eating, body image, mood disorders, and more!

04/15/2026

When you say you want to lose weight… what do you really mean?
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What are you truly desiring?
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A smaller body?
Or all the social benefits that come along with it?
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Because when we dig a little deeper, “weight loss” is often shorthand for something else entirely:
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To be free from fatphobia.
To be treated with dignity and respect.
To be seen.
To finally access the “before and after” life diet culture promised.
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But here’s the hard truth: shrinking your body doesn’t dismantle fatphobia. It just temporarily shields you from some of it.
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It’s an individual solution to a societal problem.
(And yes — I get it. We still have to live in this society.)
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You don’t deserve respect because you reached a goal weight.
You deserve respect because you’re human.
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04/13/2026

We weren’t born believing these things.
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We were taught them.
Over and over.
In our homes, doctor’s offices, classrooms, ads, conversations, comment sections.
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That your body determines your health.
That smaller means better.
That love, respect, and belonging have to be earned through shrinking.
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These messages were ingrained in many of us from a very young age.
We internalized them.
And they can be hard to unlearn.
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So if part of you still believes this,
that’s not a personal failure.
It’s the expected outcome of a culture that teaches us thinner is always better.
That ties our worth to our weight.
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It’s conditioning.
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And unlearning it isn’t about flipping a switch.
It’s a slow and often uncomfortable process.
Even when you think you’ve unlearned it, it can pop back up again.
It can feel like a game of whack-a-mole.
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But every time you question these messages…
Every time you challenge the status quo…
Every time you let your body take up space…
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You are rewriting the story.
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Your body was never the problem.
Diet culture was.
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What diet culture lies have been hardest for you to unlearn? 💬

04/03/2026

I’m loving all the Artemis II content, especially learning about what the astronauts are eating up in space 🚀🌕
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On this 10-day mission, the crew has 189 unique menu items! That includes tortillas, quiche, mac and cheese, brisket, cake, cobbler, coffee, and so much more!
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Even in one of the most extreme, high risk, high performance environments imaginable, NASA prioritizes enjoyable food. Meals are planned with variety, cultural preferences, and comfort foods in mind, in addition to the logistics of eating in space—they even get dessert!
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But wouldn’t it be easier for the astronauts to just eat some perfectly nutritionally balanced grey goo? I’m sure it would be but even NASA knows that food isn’t just fuel. It’s about pleasure, stress relief, cultural connection, and community.
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If astronauts need satisfying, enjoyable food to function at their best in space…
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You do too here on earth too. 🌎💫
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