Speaking - Lindo Bacon, PhD

Bacon invites you to deeper reflection of yourself,
your community, and the world you live in,
helping us all find our home.
Sonya Renee Taylor, Founder, The Body is Not an Apology

What People are Saying

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I came away looking at the world in a different way.
Daniel Wedding, PhD, Psychologist and Dean

Clients

Linda’s dynamic and engaging presence brought us to a standing ovation, feeling so connected. Her vulnerability and humility shine through.
Suzanne Philips, NEDIC conference director

Event Planning Tools

Photos Sample Topics

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Concise Introduction (50 words)

Lindo Bacon, PhD, had a two decade career as a scientist, researcher and professor and is author of three highly acclaimed books. A compelling public speaker, Bacon is well known for their critical thinking, political and social commentary, and social justice advocacy.

Standard Introduction (200 words)

Dr. Lindo Bacon is a researcher and former professor, and for nearly two decades taught courses in social justice, health, weight, and nutrition. They have also conducted federally funded studies on health and weight and published in top scientific journals. Dr. Bacon holds a Ph.D. in physiology with a specialty in nutrition, and master’s degrees in psychology and exercise metabolism. Dr. Bacon has mined their deep academic proficiency, their clinical expertise, and their personal experience to write two bestselling books, Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight , and the co-authored Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight , both of which are credited with transforming the discourse around weight and inspiring a hopeful new course for the global body positivity movement. In their newly released book, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming It for the Better) , Bacon takes their inspiring message beyond size—to shaping a culture of empathy, equity, and true belonging. A compelling speaker and storyteller, Dr. Bacon delivers a unique blend of academic expertise, clinical experience, and social justice advocacy, all couched in raw honesty and compassion that move and inspire.

Short Introduction – Weight Focus (125 words)

Lindo Bacon, Ph.D., is on the inside track of weight regulation science—a scientist whose three graduate degrees, research, and clinical expertise uniquely prepare them to understand and translate the physiological, psychological, and socio-cultural underpinnings of weight control. They are currently an Associate Nutritionist at the University of California, Davis, and have a 15+ year history teaching courses in social justice, health, weight, and nutrition. An internationally recognized authority, Bacon has conducted federally funded studies on health and weight and published in top scientific journals. They are co-author of the paradigm-shifting Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight. They also wrote the iconic and bestselling Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight. Their newly released book, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming It for the Better), takes their inspiring message beyond size— to shaping a culture of empathy, equity, and true belonging.

Standard Introduction (250 words)

Dr. Lindo Bacon is fostering a global transformation—away from our obsession with body weight and to body respect. Their mission is to provide the critical thought, inspiring vision, and practical strategies needed to empower individuals, organizations, and institutions to respect all bodies and support compassionate self-care. Dr. Bacon holds graduate degrees in physiology, psychology, and exercise metabolism with a specialty in nutrition. A professor and researcher, for almost two decades Dr. Bacon has taught courses in social justice, health, weight and nutrition; they have also conducted federally funded studies on health and weight and published in top scientific journals. Dr. Bacon is co-author of the paradigm-shifting Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Fail to Understand about Weight. They also wrote the iconic and bestselling Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight. Their newly released book, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming It for the Better), takes their inspiring message beyond size—to shaping a culture of empathy, equity, and true belonging. Dr. Bacon’s advocacy for body respect has generated a large following on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, health and nutrition listservs and specialty blogs, and the international lecture circuit. They are committed to centralizing the ways in which power, privilege, and disadvantage complicate our experience of our bodies. Health professionals—as well as people on their own personal journeys to body appreciation—call Lindo’s work “life-changing” and “transformative,” providing the tools and confidence for personal change and inspiring others. A compelling speaker, writer, and storyteller, Dr. Bacon delivers a unique blend of academic expertise, clinical experience, and social justice advocacy, all couched in raw honesty and compassion that move and inspire. Visit www.lb2026.evgen.pro for more information.

Broadcast Introduction – Weight Focus (150 words)

Most people believe being fat is unhealthy and that losing weight will extend lives. But acclaimed research scientist and author Dr. Lindo Bacon challenges these assumptions and shows that a focus on weight consistently backfires. Based on solid research, Bacon shows that the best way to deal with health concerns is to address structural inequities, end the quest for thinness, and give up on diets. Bacon has published in top scientific journals and is author of the highly acclaimed books, Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight and Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Fail to Understand about Weight, and the newly released Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming It for the Better). You can learn more at www.lb2026.evgen.pro.

Seminar Introduction (250 words)

Lindo Bacon, Ph.D., is a researcher on the inside track of weight regulation science—a scientist whose three graduate degrees, research, and clinical expertise uniquely prepare them to understand and translate the physiological, psychological, and socio-cultural underpinnings of weight control. Bacon’s academic training includes two master’s degrees, one in psychotherapy, specializing in eating disorders and body image, and the other in exercise science, specializing in metabolism. They also earned a Ph.D. in physiology with an emphasis on nutrition from the University of California. Relying on their unusual blend of academic, therapeutic and clinical expertise, Bacon is adept at translating scientific research into practical application. Their personal difficulties with weight regulation and their experience in overcoming them provide important perspective and inspiration for their work. Bacon is currently an Associate Nutritionist at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Bacon’s advocacy for Health at Every Size® has generated a large following on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, health and nutrition listservs and specialty blogs, and the international lecture circuit. An internationally recognized authority on weight and health, they have published their work in top scientific journals as well as the highly acclaimed bestseller, Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight. Their more recently released Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Fail to Understand about Weight has also found its way into the heart of the international weight discourse, transforming the way we think about weight and health, and offering an alternative path to compassionate and effective health care. In their newly released book, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming It for the Better), Bacon takes their inspiring message beyond size—to shaping a culture of empathy, equity, and true belonging.

Seminar Introduction, Academic (250 words)

Lindo Bacon, Ph.D., an internationally-recognized authority on topics related to nutrition, weight and health, is an Associate Nutritionist at the University of California, Davis. Dr. Bacon’s academic training includes two master’s degrees, one in psychotherapy, specializing in eating disorders and body image, and the other in exercise science, specializing in metabolism. They also earned a Ph.D. in physiology with an emphasis on nutrition from the University of California. Bacon has conducted federally funded studies on diet and health and is well-published in top scientific journals. Their personal difficulties with weight regulation and experience in overcoming them provide important perspective and inspiration for their work. Well known for their critical thinking, political and social commentary, and relying on their unusual blend of academic, therapeutic, and clinical expertise, Bacon is adept at translating scientific research into practical application. Their advocacy for social justice and Health at Every Size® has generated a large following on social media platforms and the international lecture circuit. They are the author of two highly acclaimed books transforming the international weight discourse: Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight, and the more recently released Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Fail to Understand about Weight. In their newly released book, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming It for the Better), Bacon takes their inspiring message beyond size—to shaping a culture of empathy, equity, and true belonging.

Seminar Introduction (150 words): most common

For nearly two decades, Dr. Lindo Bacon taught college courses in social justice, health, and weight, uniquely prepared by three graduate degrees to speak with authority across disciplines. They have mined their deep academic proficiency, their clinical expertise, and their personal experience to write two paradigm-shifting books, Health at Every Size, still a bestseller 14 years post publication, and the co-authored Body Respect. With their signature blend of science and storytelling, their newest release, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming it for the Better), addresses the political, sociological, psychological and biological underpinnings of the alienation and pain many of us experience, and provides strategies to heal from the individual and collective trauma of injustice. Well known for their critical thinking and political and social commentary, Bacon is adept at translating scientific research into practical application. A popular and compelling public speaker, they consistently draw large and enthusiastic crowds.

Biography (more comprehensive)

Like many people, Lindo Bacon used to be preoccupied with their own weight. Their pain and obsession about weight fueled their determination to understand everything about weight regulation.

Bacon earned a master’s degree in psychotherapy, with a specialty in eating disorders and body image, and began work as a psychotherapist. Their career led them to a greater understanding about themself and their relationship with food and weight. With questions still unanswered, Bacon went back to school to pursue a master’s degree in exercise science, specializing in metabolism. Bacon continued to broaden their education and went on to complete a doctoral program in physiology with a focus in nutrition and weight regulation from the University of California, Davis.

Through all of their studies and research, Bacon continually stumbled across the same disconnect. The science of weight regulation directly contradicts cultural assumptions, as well as those promoted by the “experts.” Bacon’s experiences and academic training led them to an entirely different paradigm in weight regulation, where they finally found relief from their painful preoccupation and developed a healthy and pleasurable relationship with their body and with food.

Bacon feels fortunate to have conquered their food and weight obsession, and empathizes with the many others engaged in their own personal battle with food and weight. They have dedicated their career to helping others on that journey, designing a Health at Every Size (HAES) program, which they tested meticulously in a clinical research study funded by the National Institutes of Health and co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight chronicles the remarkable findings of that study: that people can indeed overcome their weight problems and improve their health—without dieting, deprivation, or a focus on weight loss.

For over a decade, Bacon served as an Associate Nutritionist at the University of California, Davis. A popular and compelling public speaker, they consistently draw large and enthusiastic crowds.

Bacon is also author of three paradigm-shifting books, Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight, Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Fail to Understand about Weight, co-authored with Lucy Aphramor, and Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming It for the Better).

Bacon is additionally well published in scientific literature. They have been a guest on national television and radio and are regularly cited as an expert in print publications. They are media savvy, confident, and compelling.

With a rare dual perspective combining academic expertise and clinical experience, Bacon is adept at providing a link between scientific research and practical application. This enables them to bring authority and compassion to their writing, speaking, and teaching. Bacon’s personal difficulties with weight regulation and experience in overcoming them provide important perspective and inspiration for their work. They specialize in translating science into practical, actionable terms.

Biography (Abbreviated)

Dr. Lindo Bacon is fostering a global transformation toward a more just world—where all bodies are valued, respected, and supported in compassionate self-care. Best known for their paradigm-shifting research and advocacy upending the weight discourse, Bacon’s inspiring message takes us beyond size, to shaping a culture of empathy, equity, and true belonging. Dr. Bacon has mined their deep academic proficiency, wide-ranging clinical expertise, and own personal experience to write two best-selling books, Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight, and the co-authored Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight. Both are credited with transforming the weight discourse and inspiring a hopeful new course for the global body positivity movement. Their newly released book, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming It for the Better), takes their inspiring message beyond size—to shaping a culture of empathy, equity, and true belonging. Bacon’s work is inspired by lessons learned through three graduate degrees in health science, including a Ph.D. in physiology, as well as clinical and research experience. A compelling speaker, writer, and storyteller, Dr. Bacon delivers a unique blend of academic expertise, clinical experience, and social justice advocacy, all couched in raw honesty and compassion that move and inspire.

Lindo specializes in customizing motivational and educational talks for YOUR needs.

They speak in a wide variety of environments, tailoring their content and presentation to best reach the differing needs of individuals, corporate, and academic audiences. Click on topics below to see sample descriptions of talks they have delivered.

Signature Workshop

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Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World

We all want to belong, to know that who we are matters. Belonging is a basic biological need, with threats to our social connections registering in our brains in much the same way we experience physical pain, lighting up the same structures and circuitry.

It’s hard to feel like you belong in a culture that is hostile to your existence. There are so many ways to not feel as if you belong, whether you’re not white enough, young enough, rich enough – or thin enough. Larger people experience this unbelonging unrelentingly, as if their sexuality, intelligence, and moral character are erased or demeaned with every body check they are subjected to. The experience is nuanced as other identities intersect; Black women taking up space, for example, marked by the “angry Black woman” trope, or economically disadvantaged people labelled lazy or undisciplined. Stigma and discrimination against larger people are heightened by damaging and wrong-minded health narratives and within the healthcare community.

How do we change the conversations around weight?
How do we create safe space, where all feel seen, valued, and respected for who they are?
How do we heal from a culture of othering?

We all want to arrive at that place of belonging – at home in our skin and feeling welcome and valued in community. Whether you’re in a marginalized body or know someone who is (hint: this means you!), you’ll get valuable insight from this provocative talk. With their trademark mix of hard science, storytelling, and raw vulnerability, Lindo Bacon weaves together story and science, answering these questions and more and setting the tone for the “radical belonging” we all hope to foster and experience.

We belong together. Please join us on _______.

Audience

Accessible for health professionals and lay people alike.
Continuing Education units available for professionals.

For General Audiences

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Body Respect, For All Bodies: Kicking the Diet Habit and Moving On

Dr. Linda Bacon, a researcher and thought leader in the Health at Every Size movement, debunks traditionally held myths about the relationships between weight, health, and eating, easing concerns that dieting or controlling your eating are necessary or valuable for a healthy or desirable body and arming you with the knowledge, resources and confidence to combat weight myths and stigma and regain a trusting relationship with your body. This presentation supports individuals struggling with their own weight concerns as well as health care practitioners working to implement these ideas in practice.

The Next Public Health Challenge: Losing the Anti-Obesity Paradigm

Weight has increased over the last decades. Yet, despite public health warnings about the threat obesity poses, people are living longer than ever before and getting disease later in life. Weight loss diets, exercise programs, surgical techniques, and pharmaceuticals have proliferated. But not only are we not getting thinner, only a tiny percentage of people maintain weight loss over the long run, regardless of method used. Most people struggle with their weight, whether they believe they’re too fat or fear becoming fat. Meanwhile, eating disorders and discrimination against heavier people are at an all-time high. In this provocative seminar, Dr. Bacon debunks the obesity myths, explains the fall-out of a health agenda based on the concept that thinness is the goal and that one’s weight is simply a matter of personal choices, and offers an alternative path to better health and well-being for people of all sizes.

Strategies for Attuned Eating and Beyond

Knowing how to tune into your body when it comes to eating is the key to developing a peaceful and nourishing relationship with food. This workshop supports participants in becoming in charge of eating, rather than trying to control their appetite. Participants will learn skills to become more attuned eaters, using internal cues of hunger and satiation to guide them in deciding when, what and how much to eat. They’ll also learn the skills to understand and manage the drive behind “emotional eating”. We’ll then expand the skills of attunement to explore strategies for self-compassion and self-care beyond eating, exploring topics such as realistic fitness and active embodiment, managing stress, and joyful living.

Weight Science and Health at Every Size… Crafting the Message

This seminar is intended to arm participants with the knowledge, resources and confidence to combat the weight myths and encourage Health at Every Size (HAES), turning ignorance and/or hostility into teachable moments. It will help participants identify the important issues and craft HAES concepts into clear and compelling messages.

Reflections on Fat Acceptance: Lessons Learned from Privilege

Drawing on her personal experience and observations of internalized oppression and thin privilege, Linda Bacon identifies stumbling blocks to fat acceptance and strategies for personal empowerment and effecting change in others.

From Marginalization to Love: How Resisting the Gender Binary Taught Me to Respect my Body

Conforming to expectations of what it means to be a man or a woman provides privileges, such as better jobs, greater social approval, and more. Living outside of gender expectations can mean bullying, discrimination, social rejection and worse. This cultural power is further complicated by intersections with other identities, such as race, sexual orientation, class, age, or dis/ability status. Yet gender is socially constructed, not a fact of nature. Few of us feel completely comfortable in the binary boxes of “man” and “woman” all of the time and in all ways. Most people, for example, have at least twinges if not a constant feeling of not measuring up to gendered beauty standards. Some transgress gender norms in big ways, like transitioning to a gender different from that assigned at birth. For others, transgression can be more modest, like the stay-at-home dad or the woman who changes the oil in her car.

Body image concerns – and the eating disorders they spawn – are most commonly framed as a struggle in the chasm between our perception of our own bodies and idealized, gendered, portrayals. But what happens when we apply broader perspective, not just challenging cultural standards for what an acceptable gendered body looks like, but what it means to be a woman or a man?

Join us for what’s sure to be a riveting talk as Linda Bacon shares stories and lessons learned from her own gender journey and the value that comes from supporting all people in the full expression of self, beyond the gender binary.

Find Your Voice! How to Challenge Resistance and Talk Persuasively About Size Acceptance

If you’ve ever…

• tried to talk about size acceptance and met resistance …

• wanted to challenge body-bashing, fat-phobic or just plain ignorant comments on weight but struggled getting your message across …

• wished you could project confidence and authority as an advocate for size acceptance …

this workshop is for you!

In this full-day, participatory workshop, you will master techniques for reaching diverse audiences with the message of size acceptance. An accomplished speaker, author and advocate for size acceptance, Linda will help you:

• Speak with both authority and compassion as you make the case for a peaceful end to the Body Wars.

• Evaluate your audience and tailor persuasive messages that respond to their motivations and vulnerabilities.

• Confidently challenge deeply-held (and culturally reinforced) assumptions in non-threatening ways.

• Discern when to appeal emotionally, when to use intellectual arguments, and how to effectively do both.

Whether at a dinner table or in a TV interview, picture yourself speaking calmly, confidently and persuasively when fat-bashing or dieting talk ensues. No matter your experience, you will leave this empowering, one-of-a-kind event with enhanced reasoning and response skills valuable in any forum.

This unique workshop will include demonstrations, original conference materials and small-group exercises to support your learning. Groups will be tailored to your needs and interests based on a pre-workshop placement survey. Whether you’re already an experienced leader in the size acceptance movement, someone looking to change the direction of water cooler conversations, or somewhere in between, you’ll get the tools, support and inspiration to take your message further.

There is no Social Justice Without Bodies: Weight Stigma as a Social Justice Issue

Description upon request.

For Professionals

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Weight Stigma is Traumatizing: How Applying a Trauma-Informed Lens Changes the Weight Conversation

It’s traumatizing to be surrounded by cultural messages that continually say you are worthless because you are fat, that you are going to get sick and die because of your character defects, and to be denied opportunities granted to others. Fat or thin, we’re all at least a bit traumatized living in a world with such damning messages about weight.

A trauma-informed lens means that we stop asking “What’s wrong with fat people?” and instead consider “What’s happened to cause such body discontent?” and “How can we heal (individually and systemically)?”

Trauma-informed perspective offers a conceptual framework for understanding how oppressive social conditions become internalized and cause personal suffering. Understanding weight stigma as trauma-inducing helps people heal the shame or self-blame they may carry for their body discontent, develop their self-compassion for any maladaptive behaviors they may have developed as a result (disordered eating, for example), and shifts the blame to an unjust culture. It also helps us build effective more movements working toward body liberation and social justice.

In this provocative talk, Dr. Lindo Bacon explores these issues and more.

Nurturing Body Respect, Ending the War on Weight: The Facts, Fictions, and Clinical Path

Amidst the backdrop of a national obsession with weight loss, it is not surprising weight has become a central concern in health practice and a source of anxiety for many clients and families. As a health care provider, you’ve been well-schooled in weight concerns. You know the conventional ideas about using BMI for diagnosis, recommending dietary monitoring and control, and the value of weight loss in treating and preventing disease. But are you feeling confident that the status quo response to weight concerns is effective? Perhaps you’re noticing, despite all the attention to weight, patients aren’t getting thinner, and you’re aware of the well-established finding that only a small percentage of people maintain weight loss over the long run. Maybe you’ve noticed the negative consequences, with patients becoming increasingly preoccupied with food and weight, and disordered eating behaviors on the rise.

How do we reconcile these challenges? How can we address weight, among patients of all sizes, in ways that are effective, compassionate, evidence-based, and, most importantly, do no harm?

In this provocative workshop, Dr. Lindo Bacon challenges the assumptions of a health agenda based on thinness as a goal and dietary control as the answer. With abundant research and clinical wisdom, they explain an evidence-based alternative path for health professionals to address weight more effectively and empower patients – of all sizes – to live healthier lives.

CULTIVATING BODY RESPECT, FOR ALL BODIES, PERSONAL AND POLITICAL

Dr. Lindo Bacon opens this workshop with a short introduction to HAES practice, debunking traditionally held myths about the relationship between weight and health, and develops this to show participants how to work with people to ease their discomfort around eating, weight and health issues. This intro will be framed to be suitable for HAES newcomers and narrated as a model for engagement to be used by those already HAES-informed. The workshop illustrates how bringing social determinants of health into the clinical picture enables us to support people in moving from self-blame to self-care. Integrating data on social factors gives a more accurate evidence base and enables us to be more effective as we engage with clients in ways that promote resilience, trust and a sense of coherence. Whether you’re a clinician helping people navigate concerns with body image, eating disorders and weight stigma and/or a critical thinker already sensitized to social justice, this workshop will demonstrate how to effectively connect the personal and the political in your practice. (Originally developed and co-conducted with Dr. Lucy Aphramor)

THE RESILIENT PRACTITIONER: CULTIVATING STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING RESISTANCE

There is tremendous resistance to challenging conventional dogma about nutrition, eating habits and weight. Consider advocacy for size acceptance, which is a very threatening message for individuals who believe a thinner body is their ticket to acceptance, happiness and health, and for many health professionals who have been trained to believe that weight loss heals or protects against many of the maladies they’re entrusted to treat. How can we maintain the integrity of our message, be effective advocates, AND look after ourselves when we are continually on the receiving end of resistance? Speaking from personal experience and highlighting connection with Health at Every Size theory, Dr. Bacon will reflect on how they have learned to shift their own approach to engaging people’s fears, as well as practical and creative strategies for nurturing resilience, both for themself and for their audiences.

Body Trust and Respect as a Prescription for Successful Diabetes Care: Why it’s time to ditch the diet mentality

Conventional care for type 2 diabetes has focused on weight management. This approach has poor overall outcomes and ignores the people with type 2 diabetes who are already lean. Epidemiological and clinical research shows that switching the focus to changing health behaviors and improving body esteem offers an inclusive, harm-free alternative. This approach avoids the metabolic dysregulation and behavioral fallout of cognitive restraint. Refocusing on health and moving away from the stigmatization of weight also enables us to integrate clinically meaningful data about social determinants, stigma and stress into our work with clients. In this provocative seminar, Dr. Bacon debunks the diet myths, explains the fall-out of a health agenda based on the concept that thinness is the goal and dieting is an effective way to achieve it, and offers a way forward for more effective and compassionate diabetes care.

HAES as Transformative Practice: For HAES-Advanced Practitioners

I’m proud of the depth of knowledge I’ve accumulated over the years, my understanding of the academic and community discourse related to HAES, and my ability to cite supporting data. After years of living my own personal journey with Health at Every Size, facilitating HAES awareness in others, bringing HAES into the public domain, and teaching professionals strategies for incorporating HAES into their work, I’ve learned an important lesson: theory and data by themselves don’t facilitate change.

Instead, I’ve learned that knowledge co-creation is key to understanding information, personal transformation, and being able to facilitate change in others, and that’s what you’ll get from this weekend devoted to transformation and community-building. I have tons of info to share with you on classic HAES topics like body acceptance, compassion, attuned eating, and active living, all integrated into a social justice model, and that will come out during the course of the weekend. But more important than the “facts” or specific topics we cover, know that you will be participating in a learning community with peers who are passionate about making a difference in the world, and that as a facilitator I will be using this energy. Small-group explorations will build on ideas, personal experiences and vulnerabilities, and infuse back into large-group work. I’ve got exercises and discussion points to engage you, body and soul, and am committed to creating a safe background to foster challenge and transformation.

Expect magic to occur as we open ourselves to engagement. You’ll leave feeling more empowered to live and share the positive messages of self-care and respect embodied in HAES principles. You’ll also have new perspectives on what HAES offers as a movement to advance social change.

Weight! Beliefs, not pounds, sabotage the food justice movement

Obesity, viewed as a visible result of a food system gone wrong, is an easy rallying call for people committed to food justice. However, no matter how often and authoritatively we trumpet fears about obesity, scientific research shows that common assumptions just don’t hold up to the evidence. Most people, whether they’re chubby or slender, vegan or omnivore, local whole food aficionados or conventional eaters, struggle with their weight. This presentation will equip you with the real facts about weight and food, supporting you in appreciating whatever body you’ve got and making enjoyable food choices to support it. It will also help activists transform their platform from demonizing fat to advocating for good food directly.

Dietetics 2.0: New Paradigms

Nutrition is conventionally taught through rules of what to eat and what to avoid, with the goal of maintaining a certain weight.

Giving people rules to follow, and a goal weight to achieve, puts them out of touch with hunger and fullness and leads to poor body confidence. Nutritional information is best delivered in the context of how the food impacts our bodies, helping people learn to figure out what they are hungry for, and the connections between what they eat, or don’t eat, and how they feel. People who learn to listen to their bodies are more likely to select a nutritious overall diet than those who do not develop this skill because they eat according to rules or in response to restriction.

In this provocative seminar, Bacon teaches the strategies that really work.

Speaking Brave in Body Talk: Navigating Vulnerability AND Protection

The very nature of the topic of bravery means that I can’t do a safe talk. I would undermine myself to talk theoretically about how valuable it is to be brave, and not exhibit the very traits I establish.

Today, I’m going to ask you to join me in establishing and entering into a brave space. We’ve got an incredible opportunity in our time together. We’re in a room with people who are committed to social change, to self-discovery, to doing good in the world. I want to run an experiment on bravery – I’m modeling it now as I stand in front of you, free from Powerpoint armor, outside of my comfort zone, with all my fears of public speaking and what might come up unscripted. My hope is that we can be reflective about the experience and discuss what works and what doesn’t, and we can integrate the perspective of what it’s like for me to do it, and for you to bear witness, and we can see if we can come up with some conclusions about what can be learned about bravery from authentic presence.

Integrating Lifestyle Recommendations into a Social Justice Frame

How can we support clients in more comfortably inhabiting and appreciating their bodies? Answering this question is grounded in the understanding that we experience our bodies in relation to our social location – that is, where we are socially positioned according to size, ethnicity, class, gender, age, sexuality, ability and more. Social factors contribute to significant bodily discontent; structures of privilege and oppression limit access to the privileges associated with more “valued” bodies.

In this provocative seminar, Bacon identifies the social roots of feelings of bodily discontent, highlighting the experiences of those who occupy marginalized social locations. She discusses structural solutions as well as personal strategies for developing resilience, such as increasing self-compassion, self-acceptance, and self-care (including addressing conventional lifestyle factors such as eating and activity) in a society in which body shame is normative and oppressions common.

Event Planners, Watch these Videos!

This is the new frontier. We need to hear more of this way of thinking. An excellent and exceptional speaker.
Susannah Howard, Harwich, United Kingdom

Lindo Bacon, PhD

Speaker, Scientist, Storyteller