Jamie Lee RDN

01/09/2025

Binge or opportunistic eating can be healing in response to under-eating (and for other reasons). I worry that we are not considering the harm in silencing this survival mechanism via medications, e.g. the restrict-binge cycle can become purely restriction. This is a complex conversation and this post is in no way meant to shame anyone for their choices; everyone deserves compassionate treatment that works for them AND I want to make sure we are not equating success with tolerating malnutrition or restriction with ease. We also need to consider how weight stigma plays into these interventions and to ensure everyone has the opportunity to ethically consent to GLP-1s (have all the information). Here is a great resource for that :

https://sizeinclusivemedicine.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/MSSI-GLP1-Informed-Consent-1-1.pdf

12/10/2024

This is a tasty list! The Kerrygold butter, vanilla extract and kimchi are favorites at our house.

Paper towels and snacks aren't the only things you can buy in bulk from the retailer. Here are some unexpected Costco finds that will upgrade your cooking.

12/05/2024

“If you notice a child is preoccupied with food or getting rigid about their fitness schedule, this could be a sign that they are using food or movement as a way to find a sense of control over their body (or life) and struggling with body image.”

This article shares warning signs and ways parents/guardians can support their child with body image disturbances.

And what parents can do to encourage a healthy relationship with their body and food.

12/05/2024

A variety of responses for holiday diet and body talk.

Family gatherings, especially those centred around food, can be a minefield when it comes to diet talk and body comments. While your relatives may be “well-meaning,” at best these comments are unhelpful, and at worst can send you down a shame spiral and toward restrictive eating behaviours that ...

12/03/2024

I want to begin by saying I am not defending/protecting the food industry. I am calling out the surge of food ingredient demonization, e.g. “I am glad RFK Jr is going to clean up food, because (insert demonized ingredient) is so toxic.” WHILE ignoring the health damage coming from environmental racism, wealth disparities, unsafe neighborhoods, and more. Food justice is not prioritized with these platforms, which is accomplished by centering equal access to nutrient-rich foods and clean water.

The removal of shelf-stable, less expensive ingredients will be most detrimental to people who are already struggling to feed their families/self.

Hunger and malnutrition are never health promoting.

Classism and healthism arise with statements like “our country would be much healthier if people weren’t lazy and ate fresh foods from the farmer’s market instead of conventionally grown frozen items.” This completely ignores transportation and proximity to a farmer’s market and/or the privilege of budgeting (or not thinking about a budget) for locally grown produce and artisanal foods.

There is also the assumption that people have the time and bandwidth to clean, chop, and prepare fresh produce before it spoils, compared to the ease and lack of urgency from frozen produce and meals.

It places blame on the person and food choices, rather than rallying behind policies and resources that secure community gardens, food co-ops and increased funding for low-income households.

The nutrient disparity in this country has a lot more to do with who is deemed worthy, e.g., targeting SNAP and WIC as unnecessary while ensuring the affluent don’t have to confront canola oil on their food label.

I encourage you to consider what your or other’s end goal is when “cleaning up” food labels, and the impact of championing for politicians who want to cut funding for federal aid programs.

11/24/2024

Posted • Your body doesn’t ask you to fix it—it asks you to meet it. ⁠
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To meet it, again and again, even when it’s uncomfortable, painful, or challenging. To meet it, even when you want to turn away and avoid the wisdom it reveals through its symptoms and sensations. To meet it with kindness, curiosity, compassion, and so much tenderness.

11/18/2024

This is going to become more and more important, as amplified disinformation happens within the public health and wellness space.

As this article points out, the biohacking "manosphere" cohort has eroded the confidence of regulated oversight (CDC, FDA, USDA) in favor of "rugged individualism." Noting, "...public health isn't masculine, so they’d rather eschew pasteurization, food hygiene, sunscreen, and preventive health measures."

There is also the blaming of vaccines and processed foods as the cause of autism which is both fabricated and ableist.

We have supplement companies acting as drug companies without the safety regulations, raking in $177.5 billion.

And people who will rally behind vaccines for communicable disease prevention, but reject the FDA when it comes to the health and safety of food ingredients.

Blaming food ingredients for low energy, health conditions, etc. ignores the social determinants of health and the scientific fact that the dose makes the poison.

There is a lot to consider when consuming wellness information online, and we ALL (including all political parties) can fall prey to false information. Take the time to read this article. "When you think you’re not at risk, that’s when you’re most vulnerable."

Even those who "believe in science" fall prey to echo chambers shaped by feelings, biases, political ideologies, and community groups, which often override evidence.

11/04/2024

Ethical informed consent for GLP-1 Antagonist Medication (linked)

"Most GLP-1 agonists, including Ozempic and Trulicity, were approved to treat individuals with type 2 diabetes, not as weight loss medications. Weight loss was an unintentional side effect that became a profitable business venture."

"Brain chatter and obsessive thoughts about food and eating are a recognized phenomenon, and can occur whenever an individual under-fuels their body, regardless of body size or shape. In other words, food noise is an expression of hunger, and the body’s natural response to inadequate fuel.

Brain chatter can be improved by non pharmacological interventions."

https://sizeinclusivemedicine.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/MSSI-GLP1-Informed-Consent-1-1.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawGWOvtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYmIvTSH5dtzCXqiv74F088u2taZLZNyz4-0wOXseMECVq1IMrMciaM2lw_aem_0bcQ9wPsOE3OEeRLxgI_5w

09/24/2024

Posted • It’s almost time for Weight Stigma Awareness Week! 🎉

🗓️ Mark your calendar to join us September 24-26, 2024, for a week of deep conversations, action planning, and community as we come together to fight weight stigma and anti-fat bias. We’re excited to provide a week of free virtual events and workshops, featuring leading experts, activists, and clinicians covering a wide variety of impactful and informative topics.

is built on the idea that through awareness and action, we can all promote positive change and create a society that celebrates every body. Together, we’re tackling the pervasive issue of weight stigma in our society—and we can’t do it without you! 🧡

Ready to be a catalyst for change? Tap the link in bio to register for free.

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09/24/2024

It's Weight Stigma Awareness Week. Attend the free virtual education talks and engage with others!

"Join us from September 24-26, 2024, for a week of meaningful conversations, actionable insights, and community building. The event will feature a series of daily educational sessions and workshops led by renowned experts who are committed to fighting weight stigma and anti-fat bias. Topics will include mental health, marginalization, intersectionality, social media, disability, policy, and more. By participating and raising awareness, you can help fight weight stigma and create a more inclusive world."

Weight Stigma Awareness Week Created & Co-Hosted by The Body Equity Alliance and Within Health Join us in empowering and educating people to end the traumatic and destructive anti-fatness rooted in racism, shame, and discrimination around body shape and size. Attend Mission Our Weight Stigma Awarene...

09/03/2024

"Connective tissue is present in the digestive tract and is essential to the passive mechanical movements needed to complete digestion. It has been suggested that any abnormalities in the connective tissues in the digestive tract are likely to alter the way in which it moves, which could contribute to the range of symptoms experienced by people with hEDS. Connective tissue is also present around the nerves of the digestive tract and abnormalities of this can potentially make the gut more sensitive."

What is EDS? The Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) is the name given to a group of non-inflammatory hereditary conditions, which are all disorders of the connective tissue. Connective tissue is a supporting structure in our body and is made up of a number of proteins including collagen, which is the pro...

07/26/2024

Sometimes the science has not caught up with a person’s experience and/or condition. It does not mean the person’s symptoms or illness are not valid.

What is heartbreaking, and well articulated in book: The invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness, is how people are gaslit and psychologized (“it’s all in your head”) when a disease/symptoms is poorly understood, e.g. the provider has no answers.

Vulnerable people can then be pushed into non-evidenced based care in hopes of being believed and to find answers…leading to unnecessary, costly test, interventions, dietary restrictions and copious amounts of supplements. book: The Wellness Trap, does a nice job breaking this all down.

There are shame-free, compassionate providers who will sit with the uncertainties and trust your experience…I am so sorry if you have not found these providers. You deserve better.

07/26/2024

Posted • “Despite how open, peaceful, and loving you attempt to be, people can only meet you as deeply as they’ve met themselves.” — Matt Kahn

Want rich, connected relationships? Do your own work 💛

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05/14/2024

Eating disorders and/or food anxiety can keep people in fight-or-flight (or even freeze), which has a tremendous influence on the digestive system and eating behaviors.

Cold water stimulates the vagus nerve, supporting physical, emotional, and mental regulation. Try an ice pack or cold water on your face if you don’t love the idea of cold showers or swimming in freezing waters (like me).

04/30/2024

Understandably, weight loss drugs and diet tricks to suppress hunger is appealing when we’ve been led to fear our appetite. Yet, as a wise client recently exclaimed, “my appetite is a gift;” denying hunger and food pleasure was the problem, not the answer. The evidence included the abundance of once forbidden foods in her home, no longer binged on or requiring intense “self-control.”

As Ragen Chastain shared earlier this month:

“Giving our bodies less fuel than they need in the hopes that they consume themselves and make themselves smaller (aka intentional weight loss interventions,) especially when this is accompanied by increases in exercise, can trigger our bodies’ many famine responses.

One solution to this is to get off the diet roller coaster and permanently fix our relationship with food. That works well for many people, but doesn’t make any money for the weight loss industry.”

https://weightandhealthcare.substack.com/p/reader-question-what-is-food-noise

Inconsistent eating and/or under-eating is a terrifying message to send the body. The body, rightfully, fights agains the threat of famine for its survival, e.g. increased food thoughts (preoccupation), eating more when food is available, along with a whole host of other physical and physiological outcomes.

The remedy/solution is food adequacy (including access) and regularity to offer a sense of safety overtime.

We will continue to hear about weight loss drugs and appetite suppressing tricks, so long as anti-fat bias and the weight loss industry is present. BUT you can remind yourself that healing your relationship to food and body is not rooted in control or denial. Your appetite is a gift.

*Note, food adequacy and regularity is also a HUMAN RIGHT and applies outside of disordered eating and dieting, including war zones and communities without equitable access.

04/30/2024

Posted • wear the shorts today, cuties 😘

Text reads:
As Is

This body, as is,
deserves the warm sun on her soft legs
This body deserves a dip in the sea
a jump in the pool
a frolic on the beach
This body, without change, deserves silk
and lace and leather and linen—
in deep Vs and A lines and dolphin hems and cutoffs
This body deserves to let ice cream drip down her chin
and lick popcorn salt off of her fingers 
and bite into a juicy tomato like it’s an apple
This body deserves to be witnessed
in its present condition
in bad lighting
from the back
with the wrong underwear on
This unfiltered body deserves to exhale and expand
to hold and be held 
to wrinkle and crinkle and flex and fold;
To be considered nowhere near as important
as all of the gooey, gorgeous stuff she carries
inside

04/09/2024

The author, Anahad O’Connor, has written a number of pieces against anti-diet dietitians. Virginia Sole Smith's essay sheds light on his commitment to the diet industry, e.g. author of two diet books, and how gender, classism and anti-fatness plays into it all.

"The question of whether anti-diet dietitians should accept sponsorships from Big Food is more complicated. Someone with RD in their Instagram handle has trained first and foremost as a healthcare provider. Their advice about how to eat land quite differently from that of a civilian influencer who posts mostly about how she feeds her own family. Does being on the payroll make these dietitian-influencers less likely to hold these brands accountable for harm caused? Or does it help turn the tide on how diet culture has demonized these foods and even give influencers (at least those with the biggest platforms) more direct access and opportunity to advocate with brands for positive change?"

Why The Washington Post thinks Big Food has corrupted the anti-diet movement.

04/08/2024

Posted • ❤️ Today on , let’s stand in solidarity with the millions of people around the world who are advocating for equal access to as a basic human right.

Every health system must provide quality health services—including reproductive health care—that reach every person.

Join the global call of so that we can uphold the right of all people to reach the highest possible standard of health
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Image description: An illustration with a deep purple background. There is a diverse group of people of different ages, races and ethnicities, all gathered together. In the back left corner is someone holding a Progress Pride Flag. On the right hand side of the card is a woman wearing a purple hijab and a shirt that reads ‘Health for all’. In the center is a woman holding a large placard that reads ‘equal access to health care is a human right.’ On the left hand side is a young boy with his fist in the air wearing a shirt that reads ‘proud feminist’. On the right-hand side is a pregnant woman, with her right hand on her belly.