It makes me so happy to see the antidiet and intuitive-eating message take off on TikTok. And actually, registered dietitian and certified intuitive-eating counselor Sam Previte [1], LDN, CPT, who specialises in helping clients make peace with food and enjoy life, was hesitant to join TikTok because she told POPSUGAR, "I thought of it as just another app that I would have to create content for, and be another time suck, and end up aimlessly scrolling on." But once quarantine hit, she had extra time, downloaded the app, and started to engage with the content. Previte of Find Food Freedom [2] said, "I would see a range of people on this app sharing their struggles with dieting and body image and I thought, "WOW! They are so courageous to share this publicly, so how can I help them?'"
She has always loved creating fun and funny content, and used to do a segment on Instagram [3] called "F*ck Diet Culture Friday," where she would do similar videos before TikTok was ever a thing. People loved those videos because they were so relatable to anyone who has lived years in diet culture. She started making videos as an outlet to share her anger and sadness with everything diet culture has taken away from her, and to let others know that it doesn't have to be this way.
The inspiration behind these TikTok posts comes from things Previte hears all the time from friends, family, clients, and followers. "I absolutely love sarcasm and dry humour so you will also see a lot of that on the page," Previte said. She covers topics around intuitive eating [4] and why diets are so harmful [5]. "I just want them to know that they're not alone and they don't have to live like this for the rest of their life. Intuitive eating is their ticket to food freedom [6] and enjoying life again," she said.
She's gotten so many amazing clients through the TikTok, who had never heard of intuitive eating before they downloaded the app, which Previte said, "is so freaking exciting! I feel honoured that we have the opportunity to spread the amazing work of Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch [authors of the book Intuitive Eating [7]], and to help thousands of humans make peace with food and their body again," Previte shared.
Previte also wanted to share that TikTok has also been a platform for her to connect with other amazing registered dietitians who are preaching the good word of intuitive eating and body positivity. "For example: @beautifuleatsandthings [9] is an amazing body-positive, Black dietitian who is crushing TikTok," Previte said, and added that only 2.6 percent of dietitians are Black and we need more dietitians that are not thin, white women. She said there is absolutely a lack of diversity in the field and it's amazing that apps like this can give everyone a mic. "It's my responsibility to pass the mic and amplify videos of women of colour. I recognise that I live in a very privileged body and people will listen to me because of that, and that is a problem. We need more diversity in this field if we want to see it change, and TikTok has been a blessing to connect with other amazing humans like Andy," she said.
As for Previte's TikTok videos, she said that they "embody the frustration that myself and many other similar medical professionals deal with when there are influencers and not medical professionals spreading misinformation that is not only wrong but harmful." In her practice, when Previte surveyed her clients, she found out that 65 percent of women ages 20 to 45 engage in disordered eating behaviours, and an additional 10 percent have a clinically diagnosed eating disorder. So many people can relate to the topics she covers in her videos, and she's hoping seeing them will make people feel like they're not alone, and can get the support and help they need to live with food freedom. Scroll through to see some of her best TikToks and how she spreads the message.