Redefining Wellness: Britt Richardson’s Approach to Size-Inclusive Fitness and Nutrition – The Montpelier Bridge

When Britt Richardson started leading fitness classes in the year 2000, she didn’t expect that 24 years later she’d be a size-inclusive registered dietician, nutrition coach, and local leader in the body liberation movement.

As a seasoned instructor teaching everything from Zumba to CrossFit, the Montpelier resident saw early on that her clients wanted more than a workout. They wanted answers — about food, health, and the illusory relationship between weight and wellness. But when a nursing mother asked for nutritional advice, she realized she needed more training.

As a result, she began a journey toward becoming a registered dietitian and a champion of “body liberation,” both of which come together this fall in a six-part training for gym owners, personal trainers, and fitness instructors.

The training covers weight inclusivity “and what we know about weight science,” Richardson said in an interview with The Bridge. “It delves into weight bias, and evidence we have about weight loss being fairly unsustainable for most people.” 

She added that fitness professionals need to know what the evidence actually supports when setting goals for clients. The science-based training also looks at GLP-1 weight loss drugs, low energy and eating disorders, and gut health, among other topics.

A Full Bite

In 2010 Richardson started taking classes in nutrition, dietetics, and food science from the University of Vermont, one class at a time, while she had young children in Montpelier’s school system. Once in the program, she encountered a perspective that would transform her work: a weight-inclusive approach. Unlike older models, which emphasize weight loss as a marker of health, weight inclusivity looks beyond the scale.

“Health and weight are not necessarily related,” she said. “There are social and behavioral factors that influence our well-being — many of which are beyond our control.”

Now a registered dietitian, she runs “A Full Bite,” a private nutrition practice that “embodies a weight-inclusive perspective towards health,” according to her website.

Richardson’s approach is rooted in intuitive eating — trusting one’s internal signals of hunger and fullness, rather than following external diets or guidelines. “All the wisdom about what we need to eat is inside us,” she said. The trouble begins, she noted, when we start ignoring our bodies’ cues in favor of rigid rules.

Body Liberation, One Hike at a Time

Perhaps nowhere is Richardson’s philosophy more fully realized than in the Body Liberation Hiking Club, a chapter of the Body Liberation Outdoor Club, founded by Alexa Rosales in New York’s Hudson Valley. The club, which has grown to over 22 chapters in the U.S. and Canada, provides a place for people in larger bodies who want to be active and outdoors without the ever-present toxic diet culture.

At a recent club outing, participants met up at Capitol Grounds before heading out for a bracing hike up into Hubbard Park. As four hikers plus Richardson crowded around a corner table, Richardson laid out the club rules: no diet talk, and the group hikes at the pace of the slowest person.

“There’s no talk of diets, no counting steps, no ‘I have to burn this off,’” Richardson told me after the hike. “We hike at a pace that lets us talk, take photos, and just be present. … It’s about fostering connection.”

With about 65 members on its mailing list and growing, the club does more than hike. This fall they have planned a spa day, a book discussion, and social events — spaces where participants can connect without fear of judgment.

A Lasting Impact

Whether leading workshops on weight inclusivity or organizing hikes that celebrate body liberation, Richardson is changing the conversation around health and fitness. As we ended our interview, I asked her what was the most astonishing thing she learned on her path from fitness instructor to size-inclusive registered dietitian.

Without missing a beat, she responded: “We can start relaxing about food. The more rigid we become about our food … the more problematic our food choices might be.” This author’s translation: if we relax, trust our bodies to tell us what we are craving, when we are hungry or full, and let go of unhelpful rules, we might experience some ease in the bodies we already have.

Richardson’s training is held at Green Mountain Community Fitness in Berlin. It started Oct. 20 and runs through Nov. 17. For more information, go to afullbite.com/nutrition-courses-for-personal-trainers.