33 | Misconceptions of a Non-Diet Approach With The Nutrition Tea, Shana Spence

How to: Fitness

In this episode of the How to: Fitness podcast, we had the privilege of speaking with Shana Minei Spence, who you may know as The Nutrition Tea on social media.

Shana is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist based in Brooklyn, New York. She currently works in public health for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, doing community nutrition lessons, and also owns her own company, The Nutrition Tea ®. She describes herself as an "all foods fit" dietitian. and creates a platform for open discussion on nutrition and wellness topics that are inclusive, non-diet, and weight-neutral, all with an intersectionality of social justice. Her debut book comes out in August 2024, titled Live Nourished: Make Peace with Food, Banish Body Shame, and Reclaim Joy.

2:05 Shana started in fashion, but shifted to working in nutrition to help address disparities in food access and work in food policy.

5:10 The narrative around food being “good” and “bad” is ingrained in kids from such a young age, and changing that narrative needs to be approached in a shame-free way.

8:51 We explore intuitive eating and some of the common misconceptions around this approach to nutrition. Because we’re so used to following rules, we can grasp onto IE as just another “diet,” when that’s not the case at all.

21:41 Shana’s entrance into the Health At Every Size came once she started questioning the approach to food and bodies she learned when becoming a Registered Dietitian. The HAES approach focused on our behaviors and our health, not our size.

27:10 Promoting intuitive eating or a health at every size philosophy provokes a lot of criticism. In the world of dietetics, there is so much money in weight loss that it feels unlikely that nutrition can ever be fully focused on health alone.

31:46 Shana’s book, Live Nourished, comes out August 13 and goes deeper into a non-diet approach to food while also educating on socioeconomic factors and social determinants of health.

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Chapters

1. Introduction and Welcome (00:00:00)

2. Shanna's Background and Philosophy (00:01:07)

3. Transition from Fashion to Dietetics (00:01:42)

4. Public Health and Social Media (00:03:15)

5. Working with Children and Food Narratives (00:04:40)

6. Exploring Intuitive Eating (00:08:50)

7. Misconceptions About Intuitive Eating (00:10:58)

8. Health at Every Size Movement (00:21:37)

9. Challenges in Dietetics and Weight Loss Industry (00:29:00)

10. Shanna's Upcoming Book (00:31:27)

11. Conclusion and Contact Information (00:35:36)