These are books that I have read and recommend from personal experience, unless noted otherwise. I have tried to place them in some sort of order, as they all approach the world of Health At Every Size, Intuitive Eating, and/or eating disorders with different levels of assumed knowledge, intensity, and goals. They will all be good for your soul and your understanding of the process, but some may be more meaningful further along in your journey. That said, these are merely suggestions. Please, for the love of god, do what feels right for you.
Table of Contents
What and How Guides
Body Respect: The first step to understanding
If you still find yourself judging and moralizing foods, worrying about health as it relates to weight, or terrified of what the heck will happen if you or your partner are allowed to just eat… this is the book for you. It is co-written by Lindo Bacon, the author and creator of Health At Every Size (HAES for short), and takes the time to talk through many common “yes but…” moments with care, empathy, science, and common sense. If you are having reservations, fears, or just trying to wrap your head around HAES principles, start here. Heck, even if you’re not, start here anyways.
Body Kindness
Body Kindness is a soft, gentle introduction into the practice of HAES in an absolutely beautiful package. There are lots of daily practices, under the banner of “Spiraling Up!” – learning to snowball one small act of self-care into big change. Lots of focus on rest, finding meaning, and living a life you enjoy, with Intuitive Eating and HAES taking an important supporting role.
Anti-Diet: A passionate "how we got here"
Anti-Diet comes hot out of the gate with a deep dive into the history of “diet culture”: the set of beliefs that drive our mainstream understanding of weight, health, and what responsible eating looks like. With flair and a very heavy dose of scientific research, Christy Harrison dispels many of the common misconceptions surrounding our relationships with our bodies. While there is some overlap with Body Respect in regards to topic selection, Anti-Diet largely takes HAES principles for granted and instead focuses on examining the water we swim in every day.
The F*ck It Diet: The title says it all
Caroline Dooner is not a dietician. Caroline Dooner is not a scientist. She is instead a woman who spent untold years sampling every diet in the world, from raw vegan to hardcore paleo, and found them all lacking. As such, while The F*ck it Diet is based in sound science on the back end, it is focused primarily on action steps – the first of which is to let go of all your food rules and allow yourself to eat. This is very much a how-to guide, taking many of the ideas from Body Respect to their logical endpoint. Also, lots of swears and jokes.
Intuitive Eating: The foundational text
Intuitive Eating is the cornerstone of everything I do. First written in 1995, it predates and lays the groundwork for everything you see above. It lays out, in great detail, a different way to think about the way you eat. Most eating disorder centers (that I am aware of) use this model. If you want the basics, you can read the 10 principles for free online. That should be enough to get you started.
Health At Every Size: Brilliant and troubled
With Health At Every Size, Linda Bacon (who now goes by Lindo) took Intuitive Eating at its word, and studied the bejeezus out of it. This seminal book gave structure and justification to the people who had been advocating for an abandonment of diet principles. It became a rallying flag for professionals and activists alike, and like Intuitive Eating, its principles have found a strong footing in the field of eating disorder treatment. That said, author Lindo Bacon personally recommends that you read Body Respect instead.
“As proud as I am of the book, I’m also aware of some of its shortcomings, including some of the ways in which it transmits my unexamined privilege and does damage. To acknowledge the ways my view has changed, and to advance the field, I co-authored a second book, Body Respect with Lucy Aphramor.”
Activism and Criticism
The purpose of reading activist literature is to change the way that you see the world. Where the “Journey Guide” books above are focused on changing how you operate within it, the Activism and Criticism books here exist to reframe your understanding of our culture and our place within it. And before you worry too much: there is a place for everyone within fat activism. It exists to ask questions about how we think about weight, not to prioritize anyone’s weight in particular.
Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls
Jes Baker is one of my favorite fat activists, and she has been in the game for some time. She positions herself as a sort of middle-point figure, a bridge between the radicals and those uninitiated. Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls is exactly that sort of book – a key stepping stone from simple body positivity into the wider and deeper world that lies beyond. It’s lighthearted, powerful, and lots of fun. If you’re more of an audiobook person, she narrates it herself which adds even more personality. Expect lots of challenges and exercises, as well as clever observations.
You Have the Right To Remain Fat
Virgie Tovar is one of my favorite fat activists, and her influence runs far and wide. This short and sweet collection of autobiographical essays (about 100 pages) features the full force of Virgie’s searing intellect. She is precise and powerful in her use of language, and does the best job of any activist I know of defining ideas key to fat activism and HAES work. Virgie Tovar in one word? Sharp.
The Body Is Not An Apology
Sonya Renee Taylor is a wonderfully impressionistic writer and speaker, painting scenes, images, and emotions with grace and flavor and exactly the right details. In her work and in this book, she connects race, class, size, and more in a sweeping, warm embrace. There is strength and radical thought woven throughout her bold vision of the world as it could be, but with a large serving of empathy keeping it grounded
Fat!So?
Marilyn Wann is an old-school San Francisco fat activist, working for easily a decade longer than the others on this list. Listening to an interview with her was one of my early turning points. She has such a clear, simple way of explaining issues facing people outside society’s strict expectations of thinness and inviting deep discussion from simple questions. Fat!So? is her seminal work.
Shrill
Shrill is the story of the awakening of a fat activist, told as an autobiography. Lindy West was a writer at an indie publication under famed gay activist thinker Dan Savage who one day had enough. She began her journey into fact activism with the column “Hello, I Am Fat.” This began a high-profile back and forth between herself and Savage that led her to popular renown and was adapted into a Hulu Show.
Podcasts
It would be a wild mistake to not start with Food Psych. Christy Harrison (Author of Anti-Diet, as seen above) has run this podcast for the better part of a decade, and in that time is has become a key stop along the road for anyone and everyone in this world. When I discover someone new, the first thing I do is see if Christy has interviewed them (She almost always has). It’s insightful. It’s deep. It’s authentic. And it’s brilliant.
Rebel Eaters club is hosted by Virgie Tovar (author of You Have The Right to Remain Fat). It is a cozy series of tales meant to inspire solidarity and sisterhood. Each episode, one woman tells a story about her relationship to food in a deep and warm way. Each episode comes with a recommended snack that you can eat while listening (relevant to the episode), and a merit badge you can print out and pin to your sash after finishing. Listen to this if you need to be inspired
Body Kindness, which is 101% related to the book above (sensing a pattern?), was the first podcast I listened to. Rebecca interviews a broad spectrum of guests, from sex therapists to dieticians to activists, trying to pin down a modern, inclusive definition of wellbeing. Her series “Learn and Grow” with former Biggest Loser winner Bernie Salazar is a great starting place. Honestly, their combined optimism was what got me through the first few months of this.
The Fuck It Diet is a suuuuuuuuuper loose and informal podcast that, at its core, is a chance to hang out and pick the brain of host Caroline Dooner and her occasional guests. Mostly she monologues on a topic, such as weight loss surgery or how to think about alcohol in the framework of Intuitive Eating. It’s like talking with that friend who slides profound observations in between the jokes.