If you are a client of mine, you know that I love sharing resources. And if you know me, you know that I’m an avid reader (fun fact, since 2024 I have read over 100 books!). Oftentimes with my clients (if they’re open to it), I will recommend reading to be done outside of session that can help to educate and reinforce discussions that we’re having during appointments. Sometimes that’s a quick blog post and other times it may be a book (or audiobook – they both count!).
Books can be incredibly powerful resources during the challenging journey of improving your relationship to food, exercise and/or body image. Books offer language for experiences that can feel hard to articulate, provide evidence-based guidance, and remind us that we are not alone in these experiences.
Below are some of my most frequently recommended books. Each one offers something a little different depending on where you are in your journey – whether that’s early recovery, working toward Intuitive Eating (IE), learning more about the harmful effects of diet culture or supporting a child in eating disorder (ED) recovery/with IE or unlearning diet culture.
ED Education/ED Recovery:
This is a must read for clinicians working with those with EDs. It helped to expand my knowledge exponentially. Dr. Gaudiani clearly explains the medical realities of EDs in a compassionate and accessible way. It’s particularly helpful for clients (and families/loved ones) who can benefit from understanding the physiological and psychological impact of eating disorder behaviors and malnutrition. The second edition was released recently, and expands upon the information covered in the bestselling first edition by also featuring:
- Weight-inclusive philosophy
- Comprehensive coverage of eating disorders
- Chapters about “unmeasurable” medical issues such as mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS)
- Recognition of specific populations including athletes, those in (peri)menopause, and individuals with challenges like PTSD and ADHD
Per Dr. Gaudiani, “in writing this book, I hope to establish that anyone with an eating disorder is sick enough to seek help.”
This book introduces the Plate-by-Plate Approach®, which provides a no-numbers, visual method to provide concrete, structured meal plan guidance. This can be a good resource for those who have tried exchange based meal plans in the past without much success and/or someone new to using a meal plan to foster their ED recovery. There are a lot of great visual references in the book. I also often recommend the Plate-by-Plate Approach® Instagram for further visual resources.
Intuitive Eating and Gentle Nutrition:
A necessary resource for anyone interested in IE. This book lays out the foundation of IE, which includes the 10 principles, bringing attention to topics such as rejecting diet culture, rebuilding trust and intuition with our bodies, intuitive movement and gentle nutrition.
Intuitive Eating for Every Day by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD, CEDRD-S
A more practical, day-to-day companion to Intuitive Eating as above. I often recommend this to clients who want ongoing reflection prompts and ways to stay active in their IE journey.
As you are likely gathering, RDs Evelyn and Elyse have a ton of great resources for clients looking to bolster their IE journey. This IE workbook is another complement to Intuitive Eating, robust with prompts to help hone your skills as an Intuitive Eater. There is even an Intuitive Eating card deck with “50 bite-sized tips and tools to help you honor your hunger, reject diet mentality, and make peace with food”. All of these resources and more can be found linked with the book titles above.
Gentle Nutrition: A Non-Diet Approach to Healthy Eating by Rachael Hartley, RD
This is a really cool resource because it’s half cookbook and half informational resource to provide nutrition knowledge through a non-diet lens. I tend to recommend this once clients have worked through the IE resources and have gotten to a place of truly being able to learn about and implement more gentle nutrition (the 10th and final principle of IE) into their lives.
A fantastic resource for anyone managing diabetes while rejecting diet culture. As the title says, it emphasizes a no-shame, no-blame approach – which is deeply needed in resources and healthcare!
Body Image and Diet Culture Learning and Unlearning:
More Than a Body: Your Body Is an Instrument, Not an Ornament by Lindsay Kite and Lexie Kite
Lindsay and Lexie Kate are leading experts in the study of body image and the harmful effects of objectification. This book helps readers lean away from self-objectification and improve body image. As the book description says: “positive body image isn’t believing your body looks good; it is knowing your body is good, regardless of how it looks”.
A deep dive into the harms of diet culture, backed by research and lived experience. This is a great choice for clients ready to unpack the bigger systems influencing their relationship with food.
Unapologetic Eating Make Peace with Food and Transform Your Life by Alissa Rumsey, MS, RD
A compassionate, practical guide to breaking free from food guilt and learning to eat in a way that feels both nourishing and emotionally supportive. Per Alissa’s website, with this text, “you will learn how to reconnect with your body and yourself using your relationship to food as the entry point—going from trying to “fix” or change yourself to unapologetic eating and finally to unapologetic living”.
Another book that exposes the harms of diet culture and “explains why diets don’t work, and provides you with the courage and the knowledge needed to prioritize nourishing the body and soul”.
For Parents and Caregivers
If you’re supporting a child or teenager with their relationship to food these are some honorable mention books I will also recommend:
- How to Raise an Intuitive Eater: Raising the Next Generation with Food and Body Confidence by Amee Severson, MPP-D, RDN and Sumner Brooks, MPH, RDN
- How to Nourish Your Child Through an Eating Disorder by Casey Crosbie, RD, CSSD and Wendy Sterling, MS, RD, CSSD
- The Intuitive Eating Workbook for Teens: A Non-Diet, Body Positive Approach to Building a Healthy Relationship with Food by Elyse Resch, MS, RD, CEDRD-S
I hope this list provides you with some new reading material to accompany the challenging (but very rewarding) journey of improving your relationship to food, body image, movement and overall taking care of yourself. Happy reading (or listening!).
PS: please remember that any books or resources do not take the place of working with a treatment team. Please use these resources as supplemental materials to your overall healing journey.
