Dr. Millner is a licensed psychologist and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist who works with people struggling with food and body issues.
12/23/2025
Not only do I support body autonomy and people’s right to choose intentional weight loss, I understand why someone would make that decision in this culture. Anti-fat bias is real and has a deep impact.
So this post is in no way meant to judge or shame anyone who has made that decision.
Where I struggle is when people pursue intentional weight loss and then talk about their values not changing and saying they still feel the same as they always did about fatness.
Because as much as body autonomy is central to fat liberation, the recognition that pursuing intentional weight loss is harmful in and of itself and rooted in anti-fat bias is also central.
Values and beliefs and opinions change all the time. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But it’s important to be honest about it. Especially if you are someone who built a platform as a fat activist and now are pursuing intentional weight loss.
12/21/2025
Just a silly video because who couldn’t use a laugh? My dog was very unhappy with the Yankee’s Santa we saw on our walk today.
And you can blame her? There should be no Yankee (or Cowboys or Mets or Dodgers or Giants…and a few others) Santas in Philly.
There will be no most magical time of the year unless the Philly Phanatic is invited.
12/19/2025
The full blog is linked in my bio.
Image description: there are a series of slides with bright pink backgrounds and text that says:
Quiet Piggy: How
Patriarchy Uses Fear of Fatness to Silence
Women
Once upon too many times, Tru3p tried to silence a woman by weaponizing anti-fat bias against her. It used to be that the Big Bad Wolf blew down houses. He now tries to blow up democracies, but Tr(mp is far from the only man in power huffing and puffing at women in an attempt to [...] Tr@mp and his pack of wolves use the insinuation of fatness to control women.
They know that it doesn’t matter whether a woman is actually fat or not; it’s the accusation of fatness that men have been trained to hurl at women to shame and quiet them. Had it been a male reporter asking the same questions, Tr@mp would still have avoided answering them, but he would not have called him “piggy.”
We are all indoctrinated early into this
Women are not born terrified of fatness, and men are not born knowing that suggesting a woman is fat, or on her way to fatness, is one way to claim power and privilege. But the system is designed to make sure we all quickly learn that a woman is supposed to recoil in shame and disappear when called fat. Once they bring fatness into the conversation, men like this expect women will no longer be part of it.
Men like this want women to know that if they aren’t already fat, they could get fat if they aren’t “careful.” They want to remind us of how much we supposedly have to lose if we “let ourselves go”-that we will lose access to their entire pack who all believe women’s lives should be arranged to please them. And so they utter words like “piggy” when their masculinity feels threatened. They add
“fat” to any tantrum to intensify the insult and impact.
It is not only that they want to assert their dominance over women by keeping us small; it’s that fatness threatens them. A fat woman is someone who has not organized her life around the male gaze.
Fat women are non-compliant and deviant and breaking the rules of patriarchy and misogyny. An unapologetically fat woman cannot be silenced by being called fat.
(Continued in comments)
12/19/2025
I loved my conversation on The Body Trust Podcast with Dana, Sirius, and Hilary from
We talked about a few different topics including how I discovered and the impact the certification program has had on my life, as well as the messages providers get when they are struggling with their own eating d!sorder.
We spent the entire second half talking about my mission to become the first plus size bike instructor. We also talked about healing your relationship with movement and what has helped me disentangle movement from diet culture.
I hope you’ll listen and let me know your thoughts. I would also love to get the second half of the podcast to so they can understand more about my mission and how hiring a plus size instructor will help their bottom line.
Feel free to share the podcast with anyone you think might benefit from listening or tag Peloton to hopefully get their attention. You can get find the podcast on whatever platform you use.
12/17/2025
With the advent of GLP-1s and non-stop bombardment of weight loss stories, I keep seeing the question “is body positivity or fat liberation over?”
That question is totally understandable and I get where it’s coming from. When it seems like everyone around you is pursuing weight loss, it’s easy to feel like all of the hard work around body liberation was a waste.
But there’s a big difference between something being over or de@d and backlash. The backlash is fierce right now. There’s no denying that.
But there’s no end to fat liberation. It’s not something that stops because of backlash or because more people are pursuing weight loss.
It could be argued that fat liberation is even more needed during times like these when the backlash is so strong.
It doesn’t end. And I’m not saying that to imply it’s hopeless so we will be working on it forever. I’m saying it that way because as long as bodies exist in this world and there are new bodies entering the world, fat liberation keeps going.
It stays alive in people. The more embedded it is in the culture, the earlier people receive it. And eventually it just is. Not over. But everywhere. It’s just what we exist in.
We’re clearly not there yet and probably won’t be in our lifetime. But the work we do now matters Even in the midst of hard times.
And fat liberation will not end because of GLP-1s or any other weight loss scheme that shows up. We know that weight loss will be temporary for most people. What we want is the kind of fat liberation that stays forever.
Image description: there is a grey background border with text that says: ‘Body positivity’ and fat liberation aren’t over or
“de@d.” There may be
backlash, but as long as there are humans with bodies in the world, there is no end to either. Liberation is a forever pursuit.
12/15/2025
Amidst so much grief and hate and loss, it can be hard to find the light. And then comes Hanukkah bringing us eight nights, in which each one is brighter than the night before.
Thank goodness for the candles burning brighter each night. Thank goodness for the joy that Hanukkah brings. For the family time or time with friends or community. For games. For yummy food. For miracles.
I hope anyone celebrating Hanukkah is able to find some light in the dark. To remember that you matter, your story matters, your healing matters, your being here matters even when things are so hard. You still matter.
Sending love, hope, light, all the delicious Hanukkah foods, laughter, meaning, and whatever else is needed to anyone celebrating. Happy Hanukkah.
Image description: there is a background with a menorah, Jewish star, blue flowers and text that says:
Feeling grateful that each night of Hanukkah the menorah burns brighter than the night before.
When each day seems to bring more heartbreak and sorrow, it is even more meaningful that each night is a little brighter than the last
Happy Hanukkah to those that celebrate
12/09/2025
The conversations about how bodies are shrinking is important, and I really appreciate how many reminders to focus on the systemic issues and not on individual bodies I have seen.
What’s happening in this moment in our culture is not about any one persons body and commenting, no matter what size the person is, is harmful and takes the focus off of where it belongs.
And, the impact of commenting on thinness and fatness are not the same, no matter what your intention is. We can hold both- don’t comment on bodies. Period. And anti-fat bias makes commenting on thinness and fatness different. And still don’t comment on bodies.
Image description: there are blue shapes and designs on the outside with text in the center that says:
Don’t comment on people’s bodies
&
Commenting on someone’s thinness is not the same as commenting on someone’s fatness
Thinness and fatness are not morally equivalent in our culture.
Body size isn’t neutral. So no matter what your intention is with the comment, they will not be received in the same way. Even if you are expressing concern or being critical of someone’s thinness, it will still be heard and received differently than if you were saying the same things about fatness
Thinness, even thinness that gets referred to as “too thin” or that gets assumed to be an eating d!sorder, typically opens doors and increases access, especially in Hollywood. Fatness typically decreases access. It’s messed up and toxic and part of the problem, and it also means commenting on someone’s thinness is not the same as commenting on their fatness.
We are all impacted by weight stigma, but fat people are impacted exponentially more.
Commenting on someone’s thinness may be rooted in weight stigma just like commenting on someone’s fatness may be, and the fat person will be more harmed by it.
Please don’t comment on people’s bodies no matter what size they are. It’s hurtful and harmful and reinforces stereotypes and may be reinforcing an eating d!sorder or triggering one and there’s no reason for it.
And no matter what your intention is, commenting on someone’s thinness is not the same as commenting on their fatness.
11/27/2025
I am so thankful you are here. Holidays are complicated. Be kind and gentle with yourself.
Image description: there are eight slides. Each has leaves in the four corners and text that says:
Twenty five years ago I was heading home from grad school in California for Thanksgiving. I was deep in anorexiaa and my family hadn’t seen me for a while. I was still fat, but thinner than I had been the last time they saw me. My family praised me. They told me how great I looked. They said how proud of me they were.
Twenty three years ago I was heading home from grad school in California for Thanksgiving. I was deep in anorexiaa and my family hadn’t seen me in a while. I was wearing straight sized clothes for the first time in a long time. My family praised me again. They told me how great I looked. They said how proud of me they were. Asked how I was losing weight.
Twenty one years ago I was heading home from my internship in Buffalo for Thanksgiving. I was deep in anor-exia and my family hadn’t seen me for a while. I was emaciated when I got home for the holiday. My family was terrified. They thought I was going to die. They begged me to go to treatment. I refused.
There were many Thanksgiving’s between when my anorexiaa started and when I finally agreed to get help. I was restricting and exercising compulsively and obsessing about food and my body the entire time. I refused foods the entire time. When my body was bigger, refusing food was seen as willpower. When I was emaciated it was met with panic and concern.
Thanksgiving is already a challenging holiday for many people when it comes to food. Don’t make it harder by making assumptions about how people are doing based on body size. Don’t praise weight loss. Don’t comment on weight gain. Focus on your own plate and let others focus on their own. Don’t talk negatively about your own body or what you’re eating. No comments. No judgment. There are so many more interesting and important things to talk about.
(Continued in comments)
11/25/2025
I know a lot of people will be with friends or family or community they haven’t seen in a while this week. Given the increase in GLP-1s for intentional weight loss and diet culture constantly bombarding us, it is likely you will be exposed to people who have lost weight.
I know how hard it is to be with people who have intentionally lost weight and hear others praising them or talking about how great they feel.
I have seen so many posts with helpful tips on how to navigate these situations whether to leave or to speak up or other options. It’s super helpful to read those posts and see what strategies resonate for you.
I also wanted to offer a reminder that the claim that weight loss is all positive and brings all good things is a lie. I have sat at Thanksgiving and not eaten anything because I was afraid and it was not fun.
Intentional weight loss is temporary the vast majority of the time. People are cranky and hungry and missing out on foods they enjoy.
I have been at Thanksgiving in a fat body and freely eaten whatever I wanted and it was so much more fun and pleasurable. .
Remember diet culture tells lies. Weight loss isn’t the dream it’s sold as and weight gain isn’t the nightmare it’s promoted as.
Freedom will not be found in intentional weight loss, but it can be found when we move away from dieting and stop trying to control our bodies.
Good luck this week. Remember you are not alone.
Image description: there are two images. They each have leaves and pumpkin in fall colors on the top and bottom with text in the center that says:
You may be with people this week who are pursuing intentional weight loss. And you may be exposed to weight stigma. You may be around people praising those who have lost weight, or people who have lost weight talking about how “great” they feel. And it’s easy in these situations to get pulled into the narrative that weight loss brings all good things and to forget all the negative. Weight loss may (temporarily) increase access or privilege, but it also brings hyper-vigilance, fear, hunger, crankiness, not participating in social activities, potential eating disorders….(continued in comments)
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Rachel Millner, Psy.D., CEDS-S, CBTP is a psychologist in PA and NJ, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Supervisor, and Certified Body Trust® provider. Dr. Millner has been in practice since 2005, working with people struggling with all forms of eating disorders and disordered eating as well as those working to break free from diet culture and work toward body liberation. Since 2014, Dr. Millner has worked in the Eating Disorder Assessment and Treatment Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she treats children and adolescents struggling with eating disorders using a family-based approach.
Dr. Millner is a trauma-informed, Health at Every Size®, fat-positive provider who works from a weight-inclusive lens. She works with people across the weight spectrum from a non-diet perspective. Dr. Millner believes in body autonomy and recognizes that weight stigma and diet culture impact all of us and the decisions we make about how to care for our bodies.
In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Millner serves on the board of the local International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals chapter. She is the co-chair of the Weight Stigma and Social Justice special interest group in the Academy of Eating Disorders, where she also serves as a member of the Awards and Scientific Review committee. Dr. Millner speaks nationally about weight stigma, weight-inclusive care, anorexia in higher-weight bodies, and her own eating disorder recovery. Dr. Millner has shared her expertise on popular podcasts such as the Food Psych podcast and the Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast. She has taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Mercer County Community College and Gwynedd Mercy College.
Lynne Henderson Welsh, M.S., has been practicing in Doylestown, PA for over 25 years. She holds a Master in Science in Counseling Psychology and trained for four years postgraduate, studying psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
In severe adolescent cases with a great deal of acting out, Lynne acts as a mental health advocate/liaison to assist families through the confusion and maze of mental health treatment options so they can find the best fit for care. She engages in a collaborative team approach with a wide network of psychologists, therapists, psychiatrists, social workers, family doctors, guidance counselors, nutritionists, and massage therapists, utilizing many healing modalities.
Lynne’s passion is working with adolescents to help them find their way in a confusing and difficult world. She takes an interactive, interdisciplinary and personal approach to therapy, with the goal of providing a confidential, nurturing and safe environment for her patients to explore and heal their issues.
Specialties:
Women and Adolescent/Teen Eating Disorders/Disordered Eating
