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Why I Won’t Judge You for Wanting to Lose Weight

August 12, 2021 by Kerri Fullerton

I’ve been accused of being anti-weight loss because of my Health At Every Size™ and Intuitive Eating approaches.

Look, I get why weight-loss seems to alluring. We live in a world that not only promotes the thin ideal, but actively rewards it as well. You don’t have to look further than your television to know that thin is valued over fat. Firstly, we don’t see average sized people, let alone large bodied people. The only time my size is on TV is in the ‘before’ picture.

As a small fat I still experience a lot of thin privilege. I can shop at most clothing stores (although my size is the first to sell out because, ya know, it’s what most of us wear) geared to adult women. I’ve never been concerned about fitting into a seat on an airplane or amusement park ride. Without these privileges would my draw to weight loss may be stronger? Maybe.

We’ve all experienced, or at the very least witnessed, the onslaught of praise that comes from pounds lost. “You look so good” “You look so healthy” “You look so happy” “Good for you. Your commitment has payed off”… our character gets praised because our bodies changed.

And of course, the flip side…either the deafening silence when weight is regained or the litany of comments ranging from pity “Oh sweetie, what happened? You were doing so well” to full on disgust “I can’t believe you’d let yourself go like this. Have you no respect?”

So yes, I get why you want to lose weight. I hold so much compassion for you. Diet culture and the thin ideal have been woven into the very fabric of our lives. To not buy in may not feel like an option.

Choosing to reject diet culture is choosing to live as a Rebel. To choose health and happiness on your own terms in the absence of intentional weight loss can feel incredibly liberating and it can also feel lonely.

So no, I won’t help you with your intentional weight loss (IWL) goals but I won’t judge you for them either.

If you find that you’ve lost weight I won’t scold you but neither will I praise you.

I choose to practice the way that I do because I like to empower my patients. Taking charge of one’s life means working with what you CAN control. Weight is not a behaviour and therefore not in your control.

Just because I don’t agree with IWL doesn’t mean that I won’t respect you for making that choice. And it doesn’t mean that I won’t be here to help support your healthcare needs.

Let’s talk about how I CAN help.

How is this legal?

July 29, 2021 by Kerri Fullerton

I’m reviewing some documents given to a patient by a medical doctor. The claim on the website says “weight loss maintained” and I’m like “What? Really?” 🤨

Thankfully they provided citations to this claim. Kudoos there 🙌 (PUBMED ID21673653)

Being the geek that I am, I read the research and I’ve included an image of the long-term data.

You’ll notice that the initial weight loss in year one looks pretty exciting right? That’s what we see in virtually every weight loss intervention. The first 4-12 months are pretty ‘impressive’ (for those who’re able to stick with it). This is what they use to tell you that it’s scientifically proven to work.

But then look what happens to the line. It steadily increases over the next two years so that by year three, they are ‘almost’ back to their starting weight. It’s reasonable to assume by this line and from other longer term studies to show that this like will continue to rise BEYOND the initial starting weight 🤦‍♀️

How is this legal?
Don’t we have measures for accuracy in advertising?
Do you not see this as misleading?

Is this what you imagine when you start on your weight loss journey? Is this what you call successful weight loss?

I have yet to meet anyone who wants to lose weight TEMPORARILY.

They KNOW that you’re going to gain the weight back. And they’ll sell it to you anyway 😤

Please hear me. There is NO scientifically reproducible way to KEEP you thin.

BUT! There are MANY scientifically reproducible ways to improve your health that don’t require you to go through another round of weight cycling 🎉

If you want to talk, I’m here. Connection calls are free.

Book a Connection Call

When you’re brain just won’t stop

July 23, 2021 by Kerri Fullerton

Back in February Patrick got Covid. Since he had to isolate we decided to let Moose spend the two weeks upstairs to keep him company. Normally Moose is not an upstairs dog. He’s a big hairy beast and upstairs is carpeted so he’s only allowed up to cuddle right before bed ie: he’s only allowed up when he’s invited to do so.

Well, after spending two weeks up there with Patrick, he kinda took a shine to being an upstairs dog. So he started to wander up there at any time of day – with or without invitation. It didn’t matter that Patrick was back at school and not up there – Moose liked being upstairs.

It took a few weeks of consistently sending him back downstairs before he understood that the rules had gone back to before. During that time this 100 lbs dog was like a ninja – he tried every which way to get upstairs without our noticing.

This is what it’s like to train your brain.

YOU decide when you’ll worry NOT your brain. That won’t stop your brain from trying every which way to ferret it’s way in. Just like Moose kept trying to sneak his way upstairs.

It takes time. It’s annoying and frustrating.
You’ll have to be vigilant for while.
And in time, just like Moose, your brain will learn to follow the rules.
Most of the time 😉
Just like Moose, it’ll need reminders from time to time.

Click here to read the step by step training instructions on how to train your brain to stop worrying at 3am.

You can do everything ‘right’ and still not get the outcome that you desire. That makes it hard to stay in the game. So what if you changed your focus to what is within your control?

July 16, 2021 by Kerri Fullerton

We’ve been told that all we need is grit and will power and we can have any outcome that we desire.

Guru’s abound with the secret formula for weight-loss, list-building, six-figure launches…you name it, it’s out there.

The trouble is, outcomes are not within our realm of control.

We can do all of the right things and still not get the outcomes that we want.

An athlete can train right and still not make the olympic team.
A musician can do all the right things and still not make it big.
An entrepreneur can follow the script and still have a launch fall flat.
You can exercise every single day and not need smaller pants.

There are too many variables outside of our control to guarantee a particular outcome.

This is why I focus on behaviours.

Behaviours are within my realm of control (my OWN behaviours anyway 😆)

This shift in focus allows me to celebrate my success based on whether or not I performed the behaviour, not on whether or not it produced a predetermined result. I can define my own parameter of success.

By not being single minded in my outcome (ie. lose xyz by such and such date), I’m able to see the many other beneficial outcomes from said behaviour. This motivates me to stay in the game instead of my self-esteem being chipped away. I’m far less likely to say eff it and let the pendulum swing way too far the other way.

This is the heart of weight-neutral care. It allows the space to focus on behaviours. After all, it’s the long-term behaviour changes that actually improve health outcomes. No one has ever achieved a long-term benefit from a week long behaviour 🤷‍♀️

Let’s chat

Breakfast can be a very confusing meal.

June 25, 2021 by Kerri Fullerton

We understand the importance of protein for keeping our blood sugars steady and brains going for the day. But and we’ve been told that eggs have too much cholesterol and meat has too much fat – especially breakfast meats as they tend to be processed meats. We hear we shouldn’t eat those because they might cause cancer. So we turn to vegan sources only to be told that soy is genetically modified and not good for us…

Bread. Poor bread. It’s certainly not safe or appropriate because, you know, it’s bread so…

What on earth are we supposed to eat for breakfast!

Lots of people have turned to smoothies. Then again you have to decide on the protein source (whey is dairy, soy is soy, pea – is it a carb or a protein?), how much fruit is acceptable to go in it, and are you allowed to use milk or yoghurt or is that no good either? What about nut milks? I’ve heard some rumours stirring around about those…

Eating has become complicated and confusing and downright scary at times.

It used to just be that the’diet’ world told us to eat nasty food and avoid tasty food. We would ‘suffer in the name of thinness’. That’s not cool anymore though. So we have the wellness industry on board preaching health instead of thinness but the end result is the same: confusion, fear and stress.

Since we know that stress contributes greatly to all kinds of health issues (including but not limited to: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, mental health, gut health, and inflammation) AND we’re told to reduce/manage our stress at every turn….why is nobody talking about how our food rules are contributing to ill health?

If trying to feed yourself is causing stress, fear or anxiety then it’s not contributing to your overall health.

Sometimes we have to STOP thinking about what we’re eating in order to positively impact our health.

Let’s Plan Breakfast

Permission Slip

June 11, 2021 by Kerri Fullerton

Some times I just can’t.

I just can’t do social media; I just can’t do the dishes or clean the house; I just can’t show up for that Zoom coffee we planned. That was hard for me to wrap my mind around let alone give myself permission for.

The pressures of ‘being enough’ are hard to live up to anytime. But when my tank is empty, it’s glaringly obvious that I cannot keep up. And I’ve finally acknowledged that I never should’ve been trying to in the first place. Not being able to keep up caused me a lot of heartache.

I would judge myself harshly for not keeping the house clean enough; for not spending enough quality time with my family; for not stimulating my child’s learning enough; for not feeding myself or my family ‘healthily’ enough; for not working out enough; for not sleeping enough; for not working enough; for not posting enough on my business page or in my group; for not having enough followers on Instagram…Enough!

After I had my baby I experienced severe post-partum anxiety. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t even know it.
The fact that I couldn’t sleep, was binge eating daily, and I was angry at my husband all the time didn’t register as a ‘real’ problem to me. After all, didn’t all moms struggle?

Part of my journey back to mental health and getting out from under my binges was acknowledging and accepting that some days I just could NOT.

I had to get super clear about what REALLY mattered, to ME. I had to stop living into someone else’s definition of ‘winning at life’.

I know now that if I have enough energy to play catch OR do the dishes, that I’ll choose playing catch every time. The difference now is that I don’t experience guilt about it.

And you know what? Somehow we always have clean dishes to eat off of and clean clothes to wear.

As I healed I found my own version of ‘clean enough’ for my house and ‘done enough’ for my business. I’ve had to decide what MY definition of a win is.