CALLING ALL BOOK LOVERS! Is your anti-diet, body positive “TO BE READ” pile just eyeing you, collecting dust? Becoming more weight inclusive is an important part of healing your relationship with food and body image.
In this episode, Amy Rapone MS, RD (@radlovenutrition), fellow Anti-Diet Registered Dietitian, talks about:
- How to find the best books for your Intuitive Eating and body image journey
- Fiction vs. non-fiction books – which are better to support your understanding of yourself and the anti-diet, fat positive philosophy?
- The importance of telling fat stories for individual healing and to push back on biased body standards we see in society
- How book club discussions can help you understand different lived experiences from your own
- Tips to “jump in” on your growing anti-diet book list, without it feeling like homework!
Amy kindly shares her favorite, curated book list for you to stock your bookshelf. Here’s her Bookshop.org Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/shop/radlove
If you *have* the books, but just aren’t reading, I highly recommend you find community and join Amy’s next book club! Enroll today and you’ll start on 10/18/2022: https://www.radlovenutrition.com/book-club
Episode Resources:
Follow Amy Rapone, MS, RD on Instagram: @radlove.nutrition
Amy’s Newsletter for future Book Clubs or to learn more about working with Amy: https://www.radlovenutrition.com/radlove-newsletter.html
Join the Break the Diet Cycle Podcast Community in Instagram: @break.the.diet.pod
Connect with Melissa on Instagram: @no.more.guilt
Follow Break the Diet Cycle on Apple Podcasts
Follow Break the Diet Cycle on Spotify
This episode was sponsored by No More Guilt with Melissa Landry. Reminder that though we are dietitians, we’re not *YOUR* dietitian. Podcasts don’t constitute treatment. If you have concerns about your dieting behaviors, seek out guidance from a medical or mental health professional. And if you’re looking for the process, support, and focus you need to live life without food guilt apply for a coaching program from today’s sponsor. No More Guilt with Melissa Landry is currently enrolling clients into 1:1 programs, group programs, and, recently added a do-it-yourself learning format: the Ex-Dieter’s Guide to No More Guilt.
how to find the best books for your weight inclusive reading list with Amy Rapone, MS, RD transcript
Melissa Landry 0:02 Hi there, I'm Melissa, a registered dietitian specialize in intuitive eating for on again off again, chronic dieters, and I'm here to help you take the guilt and stress out of eating so you can be the first in your family to break the diet cycle. I'm interested in helping you unlearn generational diet trauma, so you can be who you are without food guilt. Be sure to follow on Instagram at no more guilt for more support between these episodes. Are you ready? Let's jump in. Amy, I'm so happy to have you here today. I was actually thinking before we started, how we quote, met, like I've always I feel like you've always existed in the internet world to me. Maybe I learned of you we messaged at some time. This is our first time meeting in person. So I'm thrilled that I've become very aware of your work and your amazing presence and the perspective you give to the intuitive eating world. Would you introduce yourself to the listeners today? Amy Rapone 1:01 Absolutely. My name is Amy Rapone. I am a dietitian in Connecticut. I specialize in eating disorders and chronic dieting. And also, patient advocacy is also a really big important part of my work. I started Rad Love nutrition at the end of 2020. I was working in an inpatient eating disorder unit at that time, which unfortunately closed and loved doing the work. So I decided I was going to jump out on my own started an Instagram account and just kept on trucking. And here we are two years later. Melissa Landry 1:36 I'm glad you did. That's That's right. I remembering now I think we kind of launched into the Instagram world around the same time. And I remember maybe recovering from like hospital care that we were like, This is a crazy world. So yes, it's a big transition to become a code Instagram, dietitian. Absolutely, yeah. And so today, I asked you to come on the pod because of some of the program. You've done programming you've done in the past you've and you've done book clubs, for clients. And I love this idea of using reading and stories and just different ways of learning about body image work to it of eating and the fat experience. And so would you tell me a little bit about what brought you to develop a book club as a way of working with people on this intuitive eating and body image stuff? Amy Rapone 2:24 Sure. So I have a very full bookshelf, as you can see Melissa Landry 2:29 Looking at it right now. Yes, impressive. Amy Rapone 2:33 It's impressive. And I was never giving myself time to read them. And so last summer, I kind of decided, You know what, let's just do a summer book club. It sounds fun. Let's give it a try. I had done different kinds of book club with Jen Radke of fat girl book club. And I was like, Maybe I just extend this and kind of make it a group thing and build some great discussions with people. And so I kind of picked the first book was what we don't talk about when we talk about fat by Aubrey Gordon, and was like, let's get some conversations around this book. Because that sounds like a really good one to start with. And so I'm a bit of a nonfiction girl, for quite a long time. That's what most of my books are. And so that's kind of where we started, we did Belly of the Beast by de Shan Harrison. And it's, it's grown into something really, really fun. And now we kind of alternate nonfiction and fiction and really get more of the fat experience. And it's, it's been truly lovely. We do it seasonally. Melissa Landry 3:33 Love that. Yeah. And I think some of these titles people become aware of, but this is some heavy texts sometimes, like you're dealing with some really heavy topics, and sometimes some philosophies that we're not used to. And so that makes sense that you were craving someone both to hold you to like, let's get that reading going. Number one. I had to do Belly of the Beast audiobook. I like audiobooks sometimes, because it helps me to like, actually do it, or stick with it, because it's hard to find that time. But yeah, and then also digest and process and think through these things together must have been so valuable for people involved. Amy Rapone 4:11 Yeah, I think so it has been for me and to just get everyone's perspective. And you know, we have kind of a mix of professionals and non professionals or just inspired individuals, as I like to call them who just are kind of soaking up all of this information and learning how it can apply to them or learning about how it maybe applies to other people that they know. And really think about and talk about the hard things like white supremacy and sadness, and gender and all of these things that maybe we hadn't thought about. So intersectionally before, like, we think about all the things but when somebody ticks all the boxes, we have to kind of figure out, you know, what is that conversation going to be like and how can we hold space for their experience and living And so it gives us the opportunity to see things from another perspective. Melissa Landry 5:05 Yeah the identities aren't always separate. And so having you talk about how they intersect with each other. And also, I've heard this so many times in some of my groups, like just hearing from another person with a different lived experience, can kind of knock you in the gut and put some perspective on your own story, the similarities, the differences. And so I think it just gives such a unique, a healing opportunity outside of that, like classic, we'd call it cognitive behavioral work, where, what's the behavior you want to do? And how do we get there like that we need so much more experience to even make that work effective sometimes. So for sure, that was so cool. Okay. I'm interested though your transition from nonfiction to fiction in the book club. I have learned that I like a fiction before bed. I like to escape and a story to allow me to sleep. Sure. I like a nonfiction on a walk or a car ride to keep me company. Do you see you're more of a nonfiction person? Do you have a time that you like to read? Or how do you like to read these different genres? What's your style, Amy? Amy Rapone 6:08 I can usually run two books at once. So I can usually run a fiction, especially during Book Club. If I'm doing a fiction, I can have a nonfiction in the background, because otherwise I'll read the whole book. And then I won't pace myself as we tried to do in book club, but no spoilers is the goal. And so nonfiction note takes me a little bit longer to get through, which is great, and usually something I fall asleep to right before bed. I am not somebody who in the craziness of my day with two little ones at home can focus on a book, I need to find those minutes those moments when I can usually it's in the evening, my husband is also a big reader. So we try to make reading co occurring tasks that we do together not task that sounds probably more fun than that. Melissa Landry 6:58 I'm not a parent, but watching y'all it does feel like task work. Sometimes you just gotta get it all time. Amy Rapone 7:03 It can we have our to do lists that we do I have to get through. And sometimes the fun things have to make their way on the to do list so that we still make time for them. And so I wasn't really much of a fiction reader at all, until recently, and I'm not even really sure what opened me up to it except for when Fat chance Charlie Vega was the first fiction book that we didn't book club. It really sat on my shelf for a while it was by somebody who was fairly local to us, kind of in southern Massachusetts, I'm in Connecticut. And so the story just kind of resonated with me. And once I read it, I was like, oh my god, I love this! And kind of dug in and found some other options that I could find. I had some at my local library, and I am an indie bookstore freak. And so I just one of my local indie bookstores just had an influx of stories. And so I've just kind of been collecting them over time now, and really enjoying them. Melissa Landry 8:02 You just gushed what that story made you Gosh, like that. What was that like for you to read that fiction story? Amy Rapone 8:08 It was really cute. I'm kind of a team rom con rom com kind of girl anyway, like anytime a Netflix thing comes up. That's like Dash and Lily's like one of my favorites. And I just love it. And so when that first love kind of comes up and my husband was a teenager, so I'm sure that there's some, you know, transference going on there a little bit. And it was just so beautiful to see in that particular story, how someone who felt unlovable was loved. And I think that that's a some that's a story that so many people whether you're fat or not, can relate to. Melissa Landry 8:54 Why is it important, though, to have that protagonists like that story has been told in millions of ways over the millennia. But now we are seeing maybe not enough but more fat protagonist stories, Julie Murphy as an author, there's others that are starting to really enter that story. So why is it important that we actually have fat protagonist versus maybe not mentioning a body size at all? Why is explicitly mentioned if fat protagonist? Amy Rapone 9:19 in our general media, whether we see us fat women especially have been seen as the villain or the sidekick, or never been one upfront and never the one seemed worthy of the prince charming or seeming worthy of having the story be about them, like what is their perspective around the world? And when we consider body size, we do have to think about how our lives are different. There's some things when we would read through book club or someone who was maybe not in a fat body goes I never thought about that. It was a way that you have I would never have thought about that before. And that's why those stories are important because we need to understand each other's experiences in order to extend compassion sometimes in ways that we wouldn't have been able to before. You know, one of my bigger qualms with some of the fiction books that we have is that doesn't really send her the male experience either in men who are in larger bodies, which is another reason why I love Charlie Vega because one of the love interest, he's not, you know, the super hunky guy, either, which I understand wanting that the fat girl to fit into, like the traditional trope of finding her Fabio or whatever it may be in a romance novel, but also understanding that it doesn't, if it's not going to be the typical beauty standard for us. It doesn't have to be for the male protagonists or the male antagonist either. And I think that that's something we could still work on. Quite a bit. But Fat chance Charlie Vega really showed that other side where they could connect in that way. And that was really beautiful. Melissa Landry 11:05 Like already, I'm watching your mind, kind of think about the different ways that this story could have been told, like, that's what's fun about bookclub, it kind of forces you sometimes to re examine the story play with it, it's more of a hobby than just like, let me distract myself with a book and get through this. And it feels like absolutely, lets you be in the story a little more. And I can see you doing that, which is must be really cool as a facilitator to absolutely Amy Rapone 11:27 I love making prompts, like I send out prompts before each week that we have book club book clubs, usually somewhere between four and six weeks. And each week, every Friday, I send out prompts for the following week about the chapters that we've read. And I just love to see like, did this relate to you? How could this been different? Why do you think they reacted that way it makes gets that like English teacher vibe, and me comes out a little bit that I always kind of wish I was going to be an English teacher at one point. And so it kind of fulfills that vibe for me. Melissa Landry 12:01 Like you were literally ready for this and you can go away. And that's what really got me like conducted with this this program. Like I can just see how much you love it. And you're you're very good at it. I'm getting some evidence of that. Okay, so here's something I'm curious about, from your perspective, have there been times when stories get the fat experience wrong in some way? Or miss the mark? Have you had to deal with that in your groups where maybe it is reinforcing something we don't want to reinforce like, how do you manage that type of a thing in your groups or within yourself? You're reading books? Amy Rapone 12:36 Sure. So for the most part, I've vetted the books pretty well. So far, I feel like the ones that I've chosen have been either ones that I've read or had a read significant reviews around. And so I felt like it was it was a good vibe. Like it wasn't going to be too troublesome. Not to say that difficult conversations weren't on the table for especially the first two. But when it comes to the books going forward, I may not read them all, really may not have good reviews all the time. And I think I find when I use I remember reading oh, what's her name? Jennifer Weiner, when I was younger, and I would read a lot of her books, and a lot of times she did have those perspectives from the woman like I think good in bed was, was had a fat protagonist, but we didn't call it that then. And you know, we didn't have the room open for being able to just accept our body as it is in that moment. You know, reading one of our newer books, big summer, really different narrative going on there, and really taking on that more fat or body positive piece. But I think in the fiction in particular, because we're not analyzing the science or social science of it all. And we're really just looking at the story as it were, and no one's going to be perfect. And understanding that you have this thought is still going to come up for certain people who even if they feel like pro body positive everything, Melissa Landry 14:12 like specifically some sort of judgment or criticism of a fat body like that kind of Yeah, yeah, yeah, Amy Rapone 14:18 yeah. Yeah, that or just themselves. You know, if when they're talking about themselves, they may still wish that you know, I could fit into this. This other trope that isn't isn't quite showing up. Spoiler alert by Olivia date is one that we haven't done in book club before the book is another. Spoiler alert you're not giving not giving a spoiler that is the name of the book. So and she's pretty confident in being in a larger body. That part is not an issue for her. However, there of course are going to be some times when she's feeling vulnerable about being in that box. Eddie in, in larger crowds in that particular book or being put out in public makes it a little bit trickier in different situations. And so we kind of see how the characters navigate that, and that can help with our own growth as well. Melissa Landry 15:13 Yeah, I was gonna say it sounds real, I don't have a client in a larger body that doesn't have to, that's the deal. You have to negotiate salutely world. So yeah, in a way, it's kind of a nice thing that the complexities portrayed, I don't know how we dismantle and change that without looking at it first. So in a way that feels palatable to people, because stories are accessible. I don't mean how do I mean accessible, like stories accessible to people? And then suddenly, they're thinking things that maybe they hadn't allowed themselves to, before they may be put away? And so in the book club, do you have that ever have that moment where you're sitting there? Because you're also a nutrition therapist and registered dietitian, do you ever have like, how do you keep your hats on straight? Because I think I would start being like, tell me more about that, like, go into like dietitian mode when people start having these insights? Amy Rapone 16:07 Sure. So a lot of the people who, who come have already done a lot of their own work. So I think that they they can separate it pretty well themselves. And we leave open, you know, people can share to whatever degree as long as we're not like trauma dumping, which hasn't been an issue by any means before. But it's a space to kind of share each other's experiences. As they come up, I let the group do that I don't need to interject. Because I can come at it from my own personal experience and be me as a person and not necessarily the dietitian, because we're not always talking about food in that way. I think maybe to call it decolonizing wellness was maybe one of the only ones that had food food be a big piece to that like that. But even then, it was personal experience more, because that lived experience is the big part of book club, more so than than me being the I can be a facilitator without being that professional, quote unquote. Melissa Landry 17:06 Absolutely. Sounds like that. Knowing that also helps you to experience your level of books, as well, you know, with with other Yeah. Oh, it's really rewarding for you. Amy Rapone 17:16 Yeah, yeah, it's nice to be able to not be in a vacuum when consuming these books because of having the others perspectives. And because I'll be the first one to say that if somebody else's something I didn't think about I go there, awesome. That's so so true. Yes. And so we just kind of celebrate that. And we have a lot of fun, you know, laughing and, you know, taking time to have seriousness for each other's experiences to so it's really fun. Melissa Landry 17:51 I think this decade of life is just so hard. You know, even if you have a strong friend, group, everybody has gone a million different directions, people move away and having these kinds of connections where you can bond and chat and, you know, in real life stuff, but also learn it is it's such a treat, I think we all miss some of those experiences in our life. But what it was easier to get when you were in your 20s. And so I bet that's a real treat for everybody who's there. Amy Rapone 18:15 Yeah, and I think some of these conversations are ones that some certain people have been wanting to have, but don't have the people around them, or to be able to have these conversations yet, they just don't have the language. And so when they can learn the language through book club, then they're able to take that language into the fiction books or into their life. When we do the nonfiction stuff, we do a little bit more like education learning there. And then we can apply that in the other ways and into our day to day when we try to communicate these things that we've learned to other people. We have those words, we've practiced talking about it already. And it really helps navigate those conversations. Melissa Landry 18:57 Book Club first, but wow, all these weird other side benefits that start happening. Absolutely. Practice with the language. Many people fear that I don't know how to explain this worldview to other people or have anyone else to talk to so it's a good point that that's like a little practice ground for folks to read you always a reader. If I've met you when we were like 10 Would you have been? No Is it a book? No. How are you as a kid with books? Amy Rapone 19:21 I was not that I think as I've come to realize getting older, a bit of a ADHD kid. I didn't realize when I was little. And so writing was really more of my perspective. I was a Backstreet Boy fanfic writer back in the day in middle school, Melissa Landry 19:39 I wrote it in my brain. I had like a fantasy, Nick Carter's tour bus would like break down in front of my house. And I would like I'm not kidding you, Amy. Like I actually recently had this memory of like, Oh my God. They were tantalizing gentlemen. Amy Rapone 19:56 I had notebooks just filled, filled, filled. Melissa Landry 19:59 I would have been you Number one, I would have been the fan fiction like purchaser I wish you could have sold me your books, Amy Rapone 20:06 I would have. I want like all my friends in them, like everybody had a role to play and it was wild. Melissa Landry 20:13 oh my god. Amy Rapone 20:15 And then I became a poet. In my high school years, that was kind of more of my, my jam. And I thought of myself as a novelist at one point. And so I went a lot through the writing gigs, for for a very long time, really, until more recently, my, my husband, and I read comics. And so that was, you know, something that we, that really got me back into reading a little bit more. And then he kind of expanded back into novels. When I got into this work. There's just so many books and so many things to learn about, I just picked up everything that I could possibly find, and just never stopped. And so I, my husband, as I said, Before, my bookshelf just continued to grow. And I'm glad that it's continued to grow and evolve over time as well. Melissa Landry 21:00 That's encouraging for people to hear. I think, like, if you've never really been a reader, you're not sure if it's for you. We can all change. It's you. We're just open to what you liked. You just kept following pull in that thread. And yeah, round up on something you enjoy. Amy Rapone 21:15 And it's different when it's something you want to read versus something you're being told to read. Melissa Landry 21:21 Like how many books I was assigned that nowadays, I'd be like, interesting. I was like, do not try to make me read this. And I absolutely SparkNotes bypassing or something. You know, I guess one more question I would have about this thinking about newer readers are folks like yourself, have kids and demanding lives? You know, so I think it's intimidating to pick up a book, we have a lot of perfectionism in ourselves. Sometimes we're like getting started, I have to finish it. The other people are going to read faster than me. What if I don't have this like profound insight in the group? What would you say to someone who has some of those real fears about keeping up with the reading or sharing their thoughts in public? What would you say to somebody who's newer to it, given that you've rediscovered your love of books, again, more recently, Amy Rapone 22:07 a few different things like you had mentioned earlier, I do have a few people who use the audiobook version in Book Club to which sometimes it's harder to maneuver the page numbers and chapters. But we, we figure it out as we go. And so if that's how you consume media, that still makes you a reader, that doesn't exclude you from being a reader. So that's far more accessible for a lot of people. Number one, number two, in book club, I never column people, you're welcome to just kind of sit back and listen and observe until you start to feel comfortable. Yeah, I'll never shut up sometimes. So I like when other people jump in and cut me off. That's kind of one of my favorite things. But also, I don't expect people to I'll keep the conversation going until something goes, oh, oh, too much, probably. Too much, probably. But you know, when people feel like, oh, okay, that that struck a nerve with me, I'd like to share a little something about it. And then, you know, it just kind of helps them blossom and grow, which is beautiful. And we also pace our reading and book clubs. So like I said, it takes over, you know, four to six weeks, depending on the length of the book. Sometimes the weave, I found that the fiction ones we do a little bit shorter, just because people can't put the book down. And so we have people who like finish it by week two, and I'm like, slow your roll a little bit. We're not talking about that yet. We don't want any spoilers. And so I really try to split it up so that it's paced, we're not giving you too much to read all in one week, so that it doesn't feel overwhelming. Because, I mean, there's been books on the shelf that either I haven't finished or have just, it's been a slow burn for a long time that I'll pick up and I'll put down and I'll pick up and I'll put down. But it doesn't mean you're not taking it in, you know, each each little nugget is still valuable information. And it's also okay, if you don't like a book, you can just stop reading it to do about Melissa Landry 23:57 Like if you ever don't like a movie or a book, you have permission to stop it. Can I tell you I didn't even think about me. I was like, Oh yeah, I'm allowed to do that. Okay. Transformative advice. so Amy Rapone 24:09 challenging that completionist bone in your body? Sometimes it's hard. Melissa Landry 24:13 Yeah. So that's really nice to know, like, you can read some and still get benefit. You can be around the story and get benefit. You don't have to, you know, be a perfect reader or a fast reader. It's all good. Amy Rapone 24:26 Oh, no. Absolutely. And because everybody everybody's going to come out a different and like I said, being a mom, you know, sometimes I'm finished. I tend to go through it a couple times, you know before the session just because I want to make sure I'm knowing know what I'm talking about before each session. But certainly there's been times where I'm like, Okay, I'm reading it through twice today because I just didn't I didn't get to it earlier in this week. And I usually have to force myself that's why I put the prompts on Friday so I have to read it my first go round by Friday so I can know enough to make prompts, and then read it again once more before The weekend. And so you fit in how you can fit it in little bits here and there. Break it up for yourself. And, you know, and if you don't finish it, it's not a big deal. If we don't we'll go, Oh, you didn't read it this week? How dare you, you know, you can still participate in the discussion. Usually we're, you know, we might bring in something. So if you don't want spoilers, that might be tricky, but for the most part, you're still able to jump into the conversation in some way. Like, it sounds. Yes. Melissa Landry 25:29 It's a nice vibe. Yeah. What we're gonna end on this because I'm just curious, I trust you. Now Now that I've gotten a sense of how you think your book featuring fat folks, what would you say is your favorite current read Amy Rapone 25:44 It was a Fat Chance, Charlie Vega. It's a It's a YA novel. So it's not real juicy romance by any means. But it truly, I was grateful that that was one of the first ones that I read to start Melissa Landry 25:56 My little hairs are standing up. You just look so moved by the book. Amy Rapone 26:00 It's really good by Crystal Maldonado. She's absolutely fabulous. She has another book too, that came out called no filter and other lies. And I have a friend who's in Book Club. She's my kind of my business bestie and she'll Marco Polo me, and we go back and forth and just go like, Oh, can you believe that happened? We don't really get into the discussion too much, because I hope save it for book club. But it's just it's really fun to just be like, just back and forth at each other about what's going on in the story. I really loved the accidental pinup by Daniel Jackson. That's another one that just came up recently about a photographer who has a best friend who has a plus size lingerie line and goings on of that one it was was really fun read. I enjoyed a lot. But there's tons of other great authors Olivia Dade that I had mentioned earlier. I mean, she's got quite a few books out there now. So she's definitely one to pick up. Jennifer wiener big summer, I highly recommend Julie Murphy, like you had mentioned fabulous. We just did one of her books in the last book club if the shoe fits is a good one. And I'm reading one right now called the makeup test by Jenny Howe. And she I didn't know much about the book until I picked it up. It was one of those ones, I found that the bookstore and then I read the first couple pages was why she felt like writing about a fat protagonist as a fat woman was so important. And I was like, Okay, let's go for it. Yes. And so that's one to pick up too. I don't know about the story. I'm still working on the story right now. Melissa Landry 27:34 But given that a midway through looking good vibes look good so far. If I can, I'm gonna put the link to some of these books and shownotes. So if people want to find absolutely is i You're right. It's just it's super important that these stories get out all people of all bodies need to be hearing them and thinking about them. I think it's important internal work, as well as just fun, and joyful and different. And that's always a good thing. Amy Rapone 28:01 Absolutely, I agree. Melissa Landry 28:02 Okay. Where and when is your next book club? Amy Rapone 28:08 So, next book club is opening, the doors are opening on Monday, October on August anymore, October 3, we're going to be starting up on Tuesday nights, eight o'clock Eastern first night will be October 18 for six weeks. And so if you're able to do so often we'll record if people aren't able to make a night or two. I know sometimes the fault can be a very busy time of year. But you know if you can make it awesome. If you can't, that's also fine, too. We'll make it work. We'll just have you come back next time. And I do equity pricing on our book clubs. So we have a general rate of $30 $40 If you want to pay it forward and a $15 rate for equity pricing, if anyone feels like that's something that they need. I'm just happy to have you. Melissa Landry 28:56 Amazing. So where can we find out more about the book club? Where should I send folks? Amy Rapone 29:00 Sure. So you can go to WW dot rad Love nutrition.com I'll make sure the links for the show notes as well for the direct link. And then you're also welcome to jump into my newsletter from the same page and sign up from there. I always like to let my newsletter people know what's coming up first before. Melissa Landry 29:20 Yeah, it would be a great idea to get on the newsletter because if this one won't work out, it sounds like you hope to do more in the future. Amy Rapone 29:27 Absolutely. We do it every season and I don't feel like I'm gonna be stuffing anytime soon, so. Melissa Landry 29:31 I know that you got these English teacher vibes, like she's got that inter English teacher role and there's no stopping anyway, at this point. Amy Rapone 29:38 I'm loving it. Loving it. Melissa Landry 29:40 You also accept clients. Is that right? Amy Rapone 29:43 Or you will do? Yep, I work with people one on one right now, especially for eating disorder work for folks who are in Connecticut or any other, you know, weight neutral medical issue you're trying to work through. And then I also do body image coaching and patient advocate See work. If that's something that you're interested in too, you can find more also at RAD love nutrition.com Melissa Landry 30:06 Amazing, highly recommend Amy. I am just so like delighted I'm telling you, I really do I have like crushes on all of my fellow dietitians. I guess you are one of them. I'm so happy we could spend this time together. Love the word having me. Reading is an interest of mine. So I just I really loved your perspective today. Thank you. Thank you so much. All right. We'll see everybody at the book club. Amy Rapone 30:29 Yes, please see you there. Melissa Landry 30:31 I am hoping that Lucy does not bark and interrupt. This little time we have together right now she has been very vocal today. So we'll see how it goes. Many of you with dogs out there know, it's anyone's guess when the barks gonna come in usually at the most inappropriate time. I am adding to our interview with Amy, which was so so fun to do. Love books, I've been on a little a week book journey myself lately. But I actually want to talk about learning, and why what Amy's offering is really, really important. You know, we think about anti diet work, I see it covering these two aspects for you. One is your relationship to food, and downstream your nutrition because you can't have positive solid nutrition without a healthy relationship to food. And the other bucket or area you learn as you work on anti diet stuff is body image. So many clients when they come to me say I have stacks of books or materials that I'm just not using. And while book clubs like Amy's don't necessarily get into the nitty gritty of the nutrition, they can really help you with that learning about body image. Doing counseling or therapy is just one way for you to work on unlearning all the things and the messages you've heard about your body over the years. So maybe it's not a book club. Or maybe it is open up your mind to different ways to expose yourself to these ideas and material. It doesn't matter how you do it. If it's fun and you like it and you just get started, you will improve your relationship to yourself. And I hope this episode inspired you to think like that think like a learner don't see this as something shameful or overwhelming. See it as something you can break down small and learn. That's my whole jam is helping you to focus on the aspects of this work that are most relevant and important to you. So you'll just get started already. without guilt without shame. We're leaving that behind. And hopefully with all this diet, body image stuff in the past, you can move on to the good stuff, the fun stuff. For me, that is watching hocus pocus two this evening. I'm very excited to return back. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts, which is nearby me in Boston. I actually got married in Salem, Massachusetts at a hotel called the Hawthorne hotel, and it was rumored to be haunted by ghosts. Now I am a very as you can tell excitable person so I didn't love that detail about our wedding venue. But otherwise lovely place. I'm excited to return back there. Through that story of hocus pocus. Those of you who grew up in the 90s are also probably doing the same thing. We'll have to trade notes and how we thought they did with this. What is it? It's been 20 or 30 years. The sequel it took so long. Alright my friends, as always just get started. This big scary work can be a lot less scary if you break it down small your focus and you take it one step at a time and I'm just so grateful you do that here with us each week on break the diet cycle podcast. I have left in shownotes everything you need to follow up on Amy's invitation to the book club. There's free guides and resources and information about coaching if you're ready for something like that, until next time, be good to you good body all done recording data okay, you waited until we were done nice job Luce. Transcribed by https://otter.ai
