Every Body | Reclaiming Body Talk: Recent Episodes
Daria Matza
Welcome to Every Body, a new podcast counteracting the pervasive myths and misconceptions about food, dieting and body image with hard science and engaging storytelling. Each week, Every Body will visit the latest research to help you better understand your relationships with food and your body.
Body and Chronic Illness
Martha Grover is an author, poet, artist and writing coach living in Portland, Oregon. She is the author of One More for the People (Perfect Day Publishing) and The End of My Career (Perfect Day Publishing). The End of My Career was a finalist for the Oregon Book Awards in creative nonfiction in 2017. Martha is currently at work on a book of prose poems and essays about Catastrophe, Myth, and being a sick person in the 21st century. When she is not writing, Martha is making zines, coaching her writing clients, making art, and selling Real Estate.
Today we talk about her experience with Cushing’s syndrome and Addison’s disease and what it’s like to live in a body that is chronically ill.
“Some people with disabilities use a spoon to hide, to pass as able-bodied, that requires energy, to hide your disability when you aren’t in a safe space. “
- Martha Grover
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- How Martha discovered her acute illness
- The social and personal stories and pressures that resulted in her rapid weight gain and loss from her illness.
- Her journey from Cushing Syndrome to Addison’s Disease
- Life with a chronic illness including work, medication, dating
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How Martha has healed and found peace with her body
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Info about Spoon Theory (spoonies)
- Subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/marthagrover
- Website: somnambulistzine.com
- Coaching: http://somnambulistzine.com/shop/creative-counsel
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Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don’t forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram , and share your story because this podcast is for every body.
Shilo George is Southern Cheyenne-Arapaho and Scottish international speaker, trainer, and owner of Łush Kumtux Tumtum Consulting, which means “a great awakening of the heart and spirit” in the Chinuk Wawa trade language. She has lived her life in a body that transgresses and violates Western standards of beauty, size, sexuality, and health. Shilo interweaves cultural traditions and spirituality with an anti-oppressive and decolonizing lenses to promote healing and empowerment in herself and others in the communities she is a part of. Her workshops and presentations explore the intersections of race, sexuality, body size, and trauma (both individual and inter-generational). Shilo trains others on systems of oppression, trauma informed care, and proactive ways that businesses and organizations can create policies and environments that that promote diversity, equity, and healing.
Shilo received her Bachelor of Science in Art Practices in 2012 and a Masters of Science in Educational Leadership and Policy with a specialization in Postsecondary Adult and Continuing Education in 2017, both from Portland State University. She was named Higher Education Student of the Year by the Oregon Indian Education Association in 2013 and in 2015 was honored with the Queer Indigenous Scholar Activist & Alumni Award by the Indigenous Nations Studies Department at Portland State University. In addition to her consulting business, Shilo works as a Parent Advocate at the Native American Youth and Family Center and is an Affiliated Adjunct Instructor of the Indigenous Nations Studies at Portland State University. She can be contacted at shilomgeorge@gmail.com.
Health and Wellness Philosophy Document
Aaron Flores is a registered dietitian nutritionist based out of Los Angeles, California. With nearly 10 years of experience, Aaron has worked with eating disorders in a variety of settings.
A large part of his career was spent working at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System where he helped develop and launch one of the first Binge Eating
Disorder programs to help Veterans struggling with this disorder. Since leaving the VA, Aaron has continued to work in the eating disorder community helping run groups and providing individual counseling to adolescents and adults. He currently works part-time at Center for Discovery and part-time in his private practice in Calabasas, CA. He is a Certified Body Trust® provider, and his main areas of focus are Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size®. In his work, Aaron helps individuals learn how to make peace with food and develop body-positive behaviors. His work has been featured during Weight Stigma Awareness Week, in blogs for the National Eating Disorder Information Centre and National Eating Disorder Association. Aaron is a frequent speaker and has presented at the 2016 and 2017 Binge Eating Disorder Awareness Annual Conference and the upcoming 2018 International Conference on Eating Disorders. Along with his work with eating disorders, he also is a co-host of the podcast, Dietitians Unplugged.
Aaron Flores’s private practice is in Calabasas, CA. He uses Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size® in his work to help individuals learn how to make peace with food and their bodies. He is a Certified Body Trust® provider and he also the co-host of the popular podcast, Dietitians Unplugged.
Sarah Vance (@sarevance) began focusing on the body when she began walking in her parents' footsteps by competitively body-building. After spiraling with restriction, disordered eating and body dysmorphia, she decided she needed to realign her relationship with her body. She created #effyourfitspo and challenges ideas of "health" and "strength" that are simply diet culture with a new name. Now, as a health care professional, she keeps a vigilant eye out for fat-phobia in the health care industry. We covered a lot of ground, but there's always room to share more and ask more. Take a listen and join the conversation with us on instagram!
"[Body positivity is] becoming more problematic because now fitspo culture and diet companies and diet culture are now co-opting body positivity... then you have a system in a culture that has now utilized something that was in the first place-- body positivity-- that was actually trying to dismantle the system that is now using it."
- Sarah Vance
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- Sarah's first exposure to body consciousness with her body-building family.
- The internalization of body dysmorphia as our bodies naturally change with age and experience.
- How ideas of health are tainted with fat-phobia.
- Sarah's experience with restriction and dieting beginning with her decision to hire a "fitness coach" for competitive body building.
- A look at diet culture in "healthism" and fitspo culture.
- The ways increased exposure to social media amplifies fitspo culture.
- How "fitspo" started as a reaction to "thinspo," but still propels diet culture.
- Sarah's #effyourfitspo passion and realigning our priorities toward respecting our bodies.
- How Sarah began identifying as a "health nut" and the challenges with letting that go and rediscovering her relationship with her body.
- The sneaky layers behind diet culture that Sarah had to work through to overcome her disordered eating.
- How Sarah became and advocate for body positivity.
- The steps Sarah took to step away from her superficial body obsession.
- What it's like being in the health care industry as an advocate for HAES.
- The merits of asking "why" to challenge peoples' biases and stigmas.
- Our westernized relationship with death and how that feeds into the flawed health and wellness industry.
Additional Resources:
- Sarah's website: www.sarahvance.com
- Sarah's podcast "Reclaiming You": www.sarahvance.com/category/reclaiming-you-podcast-sarah-vance
- Sarah's instagram: @SareVance
- Patreon
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Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don’t forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram so you never miss an episode!
Kai was first cast into the spotlight through her participation in, and subsequent denunciation of the weight loss game show The Biggest Loser. Going through the program, she realized the negative impact the show had, not only on her own life, but on society in general. Vowing to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem, Kai has fought, often as the lone voice, against unrealistic and damaging message in the media regarding our bodies in general. Over time that struggle has been featured in countless magazines and newscasts, both domestically and internationally, ranging from The Huffington Post, Time Magazine, Good Morning America, ABC News, CBS News, E!, Star Magazine, US Weekly, People, TMZ, The NY Times, The NY Post, Inside Edition, Redbook, Access Hollywood, FoxNews,The Globe, Jezebel, Huffington Post Live and Upworthy, where Kai’s honest, straight forward approach to her own story never fails to shine through.
Most of Kai’s time is spent juggling family and professional life. When not writing for publications like xoJane, working on her books, speaking, chiming in on body shaming as a contributor for CNN, being interviewed for various outlets or keeping people encouraged on social media, she is reading studies, finishing on her MSW at UNE, preparing new presentations, starting a new podcast, planning the opening of her private psychotherapy practice with telecounseling services, and plotting ways to keep her kiddo in bed at bedtime.
In addition she is adjusting to life with chronic illnesses, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. She is also very tired.
https://kaihibbard.com/about/
Studies Mentioned:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/27136388/
http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol22/iss3/2/
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Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don’t forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram so you never miss an episode!
Dr. Natalie Boero is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at San Jose State University. She joins Every Body this week to discuss the ways our society pigeon holes obesity as a personal problem for the individual rather than examining the wider socioeconomic scope (access to good health care, food deserts, safe places to play and be active) and its effects on public health. Dr. Boero discusses how she began in the field with her first book, Killer Fat: Media, Medicine and Morals in the American Obesity Epidemic. She explains the problem with medicalizing non-medical instances such as weight or violence with words like "epidemic" which cause panic and risky preventative measures. It was such a pleasure to hear Dr. Boero's thoughts and research on everything from obesity myths to the privilege of "the good fatty." Take a listen and join us in the conversation with us!
"My being the 'good fatty' probably has a lot to do with my class and race privilege in the sense that I have the resources to do certain things or I have the absence of other privileges that sort of blunt some of the other stigmas that I have experienced... we shouldn't judge moral worth based on health."
- Dr. Natalie Boero
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- How Dr. Boero began her study into the "obesity epidemic" with her dissertation.
- How the term "obesity epidemic" was coined.
- The ways that weight bias has become a scapegoat in blaming minority groups for their own disadvantages.
- The effects of socioeconomics on weight and health.
- The correlation between chronic dieting and food restriction in the last 70 years with the general increase in the weight of Americans.
- The problematic ways we produce and distribute food globally.
-
How focusing on fatness distracts from the larger public interest (i.e. psychological effects of fat stigma, access to safe places to play/be active, etc).
-
The extremes that our culture falls into ("epidemic," "cleanse," "addict," etc) in the name of "health."
-
"The good fatty" and myths about "human value being predicated on health."
Additional Resources:
- College of Social Sciences
- Department of Sociology
- The New Yorker, "Why Are Americans Fat?"
- More information about "Killer Fat" just published by Rutgers University Press in August 2012!!
- "Killer Fat" on Amazon.com
Studies Mentioned:
- The Care Plus Study
- Race, socioeconomic status and health. The added effects of racism and discrimination.
- Socioeconomic factor, health behaviors, and mortality: results from a nationally representative prospective study of US adults.
- Busting the Sugar-Hyperactivity Myth
Rate & Share
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don’t forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram so you never miss an episode!
Dr. Natalie Boero is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at San Jose State University. She joins Every Body this week to discuss the ways our society pigeon holes obesity as a personal problem for the individual rather than examining the wider socioeconomic scope (access to good health care, food deserts, safe places to play and be active) and its effects on public health. Dr. Boero discusses how she began in the field with her first book, Killer Fat: Media, Medicine and Morals in the American Obesity Epidemic. She explains the problem with medicalizing non-medical instances such as weight or violence with words like "epidemic" which cause panic and risky preventative measures. It was such a pleasure to hear Dr. Boero's thoughts and research on everything from obesity myths to the privilege of "the good fatty." Take a listen and join us in the conversation with us!
"My being the 'good fatty' probably has a lot to do with my class and race privilege in the sense that I have the resources to do certain things or I have the absence of other privileges that sort of blunt some of the other stigmas that I have experienced... we shouldn't judge moral worth based on health."
- Dr. Natalie Boero
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- How Dr. Boero began her study into the "obesity epidemic" with her dissertation.
- How the term "obesity epidemic" was coined.
- The ways that weight bias has become a scapegoat in blaming minority groups for their own disadvantages.
- The effects of socioeconomics on weight and health.
- The correlation between chronic dieting and food restriction in the last 70 years with the general increase in the weight of Americans.
- The problematic ways we produce and distribute food globally.
-
How focusing on fatness distracts from the larger public interest (i.e. psychological effects of fat stigma, access to safe places to play/be active, etc).
-
The extremes that our culture falls into ("epidemic," "cleanse," "addict," etc) in the name of "health."
-
"The good fatty" and myths about "human value being predicated on health."
Additional Resources:
- College of Social Sciences
- Department of Sociology
- The New Yorker, "Why Are Americans Fat?"
- More information about "Killer Fat" just published by Rutgers University Press in August 2012!!
- "Killer Fat" on Amazon.com
Studies Mentioned:
- The Care Plus Study
- Race, socioeconomic status and health. The added effects of racism and discrimination.
- Socioeconomic factor, health behaviors, and mortality: results from a nationally representative prospective study of US adults.
- Busting the Sugar-Hyperactivity Myth
Rate & Share
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don’t forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram so you never miss an episode!
Jes Baker (@themilitantbaker) has been a major figure in the fat-positive community for years beginning with her "Attractive and Fat" photo campaign as backlash against Abercrombie and Fitch's anti-fat advertising. Since then, her refreshingly authentic voice has garnered over 77 thousand followers on instagram as well as a wildly popular personal blog. Jes has built her foundation on the idea that #fatgirlsCAN and she continues to shatter society's expectations for fat people with equal parts outspoken advocacy and brazen visibility. I loved getting a chance to sit down with this inspirational woman to talk about complicated topics from "Lisa Frank bopo" to her relationship with movement. Take a listen and join the conversation with us on instagram! "Every single person right now is being targeted, when it comes to self-esteem and body image, women have historically been the targets of marketing and advertising selling these beauty and weight loss products."
- Jes Baker This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- How Jes Baker's online presence took off with her "Attractive and Fat" campaign against Abercrombie & Fitch.
- Discussions on class as it relates to farm culture and how that relates to current gender roles.
- How the new "health is the new skinny" trend plays into diet culture.
- The ways wellness culture is exclusive and damaging to the vast majority of people.
- Jes's personal recovery process as it relates to her childhood experience with poverty.
- Jes talks about her complicated relationship with movement and intuitive eating.
- The ways Jes connects with her body and finds happiness and fulfillment.
- How writing her upcoming memoir, "Landwhale" (May 2018), has played a role in the connection between her mental and physical journey.
- The ways the "Lisa Frank bopo" movement can fall short for many people.
Additional Resources:
- Jes Baker's blog: www.themilitantbaker.com
- Jes's first book, "Things No One Will Tell Fat Girls: a Handbook for Unapologetic Living": https://www.amazon.com/Things-One-Will-Tell-Girls/dp/1580055826
- Jes's open letter to Abercrombie & Fitch CEO: http://www.themilitantbaker.com/2013/05/to-mike-jeffries-co-abercrombie-fitch.html?m=1
Rate & Share
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don’t forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram so you never miss an episode!
Body in Culture
Kimberly Dark is a writer, sociologist, and raconteur, working to reveal the hidden architecture of everyday life one clever essay, poem, and story at a time. She uses humor, surprise and intimacy to help audiences discover their influences, and reclaim their power as social creators. She teaches in the graduate program in Sociological Practice at Cal State San Marcos.
Kimberly Dark has written award-winning plays, facilitated and performed for a wide range of audiences in various countries over the past two decades. Her essays appear in popular online publications such as Everyday Feminism and Ravishly. Her poetry and prose are available in various literary and academic publications. The storytelling performances and interactive lectures make big, complex ideas relatable at campuses, conferences, companies and anywhere people seek startling revelations and positive change. Beloved by diverse audiences, Kimberly crosses boundaries to show how we must engage all the wisdom and verve we have to create the most compassionate, fair and inclusive world we can. You will feel her passion through the mic and this episode incorporates her storytelling and my interview with her. She is currently touring with her show, “Thing I learned from fat people on the plane”.
“We need more fat yoga teachers. And old yoga teachers, and disabled yoga teachers and anyone with a different body than you think you want. “
- Kimberly Dark
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- • Why she uses spoken word and storytelling to communicate her sociology perspective.
- • A performance about fat children and the many ways the “starve”
- • Healthism
- • Her experience of fat stigma being yoga teacher for 20 years.
Additional Resources:
- • Link to Kimberly Dark’s website
- • Here’s Looking At You: Yoga, Fat & Fitness
- • Another Way to Starve
- • Kalani Yoga Retreat
- • Kiese Laymon’s website
Rate & Share
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don’t forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram , and share your story because this podcast is for every body.
Big Gal Yoga with Valerie Sagun
Valeria Sagun took her first crack at yoga in a college course back in 2011 and now challenges over 152,000 instagram followers to start looking at their bodies through a more positive lens. Valerie (@biggalyoga) joins us this week with friend and co-bopo pal Anna Chapman (@iamannachapman) to talk about how their vastly different backgrounds led them both to a place where they could celebrate their size and encourage others to do the same. Valerie's new book, Big Gal Yoga, dives deeper into her life's story as well as her her yoga tips and practices. The endearing dynamic between these two has got to be some of my favorite #relationshipgoals to date. Take a listen and join the discussion with us!
"Finding that calmness within yoga that I hadn't had before; the simple movement, or just moving your body, can change your mental outlook on things."
- Valerie Sagun
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- A look at how Valerie Sagun (@BigGalYoga) and Anna Chapman (@iamannachapman) met and hit it off.
- Valerie's background as a "big gal" of color in a family that that differed from tradition western ideas of beauty.
- How Anna dealt with fat phobia within her own family.
- Valerie and Anna discuss changing bodies in the fat-positive community and being supportive through it all, not just the bigger end of the spectrum.
- Advice for those struggling with getting into a physical practice with yoga.
- Lots of love between these two beautiful friends and body positive warriors.
Additional Resources:
- Link to Big Gal Yoga book on Amazon
- Valerie Sagun website: http://www.biggalyoga.com/
- Anna Chapman website: iamannachapman.com
Rate & Share
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don’t forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram so you never miss an episode.
Deadly Consequences of Fat Stigma at the Doctor's Office with Laura Fraser
Science Daily reported earlier this year that in a study of over 300 autopsy reports, obese patients were 1.65 times more likely than others to have significant undiagnosed medical conditions such as endocarditis, ischemic bowel disease or lung carcinoma. This week's featured guest is Laura Fraser. Laura is a journalist and author of Losing It, an investigative piece entailing her experience going under cover to take a deeper look at how the diet industry creates and exploits our weight worries (LauraFraser.com). A reformed dieter and ex-bulimic, Laura's already impassioned work strikes a deeper chord with the passing of her sister, Jan, last year to a cancer that was ignored by doctors and misdiagnosed as mere excessive weight. Laura takes me through the history of unrealistic body expectations for women as we explore her research and the relationship between big pharmaceutical companies and the mainstream diet industry."
"I wrote that book to just drive a tank through the diet industry. Its the only industry that's built on failure."
- Laura Fraser
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- A look at Laura Fraser's early life which led to her struggle with bulimia.
- How her own research helped shed some light on the truth about different body types and what positive health actually means.
- Her findings in Losing It which debunk the myths the diet industry is trying to shove down our throats.
- The misuse of the BMI and how mainstream researchers manipulate its categories to propel their products.
- The story behind Laura's sister whose misdiagnosed cancer led to her premature death last year.
Additional Resources:
- Original article about Jan, Laura's sister
- Food for the Heart article from Eating Well Magazine
- Losing It in the Anti-Dieting Age NY Times article by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
- Laura Fraser Website
Rate & Share
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don’t forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram , and tell us your story because this podcast is for everybody!
This episode is a follow up to Episode 14 with Lucy Aphramor. I asked if you had questions for her and some wonderful questions were posted on Instagram. Here are some of the answers. Enjoy!
Questions answered in this Bonus episode:
jilllepire Is it ever okay to try to change your physical body while being body positive? If so, how does one do that without being sucked into diet mindset?
wee_foodies I’d love to hear more from her around the evidence base on the biological impact of weight stigma and ways to challenge the “tackling obesity” conversation in public health.
wanderingdjinnDoes Lucy have a script for confronting one's parents about the damage they've done by commenting on one's weight and appearance almost daily, starting at a very young age? I've let go of a lot of my anger towards them and I'm in a better place, but I worry that they're continuing to make weight-related comments to my much younger cousins, and will start on my nieces in a couple of years, if they haven't already. I really feel I should speak up to protect them, at the very least by no longer hiding all the self-destructive things I've done as a result of the self-loathing for which they planted the seeds. My fear, of course, is that they won't believe me, will insist they were in the right, and that I was/am just being too sensitive.
fatbodypeaceWill those poems in print somewhere?
littletulipscol'd like to know how Lucy thinks we can build our self compassion in really practical ways (like a list that I can follow!) And also if it's okay to want to lose weight. It feels like if you were fully accepting of your body you shouldn't want to change it. But I was at a kindful eating workshop with Lucy and she was all about questioning should self talk. Does that make sense? Thankyou!
EB018 Eating Disorder Recovery and Yoga For All with Dianne Bondy
Dianne Bondy is a yoga teacher and the founder of an online Yoga studio called Yogasteya, where she welcomes everyone. Going through her own recovery journey from eating disorder, she has now become a social justice activist and one of the leading voices promoting representation in Yoga.
Dianne joins me today to tell the story of her eating disorder and recovery. She also shares how the distorted medical community perceived and handled her disorder a few decades ago.
We also talk about her long love of yoga and how it's help her heal her relationship to her body.
“What my yoga has taught me is my awareness of my body, my body as a vehicle of my own divinity and a way to enjoy my life.”
– Dianne Bondy
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- How Dianne was introduced to yoga
- Her relationship with her body growing up
- The society’s body preference during the 70s and the 80s
- What led her to develop a severe eating disorder
- How the medical society ineffectively dealt with eating disorder
- How she got back to yoga
- What triggered her mission to create a cultural change that yoga is for ALL
- Her classes for bigger bodies and bodies with different abilities
- What made her visible in the online world and how it has affected society
Connect with Dianne Bondy:
- Yogasteya Website
- Dianne Bondy Yoga
Rate, Share, & Inspire Others to Love Every Body
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
EB017 Healing Your Relationship with Food Through Storytelling with Dr. Anita Johnston
Anita Johnston, Ph.D., is a Depth Psychologist and author of Eating in the Light of the Moon, which has been published in six languages. She is the co-creator of the online course, Light of the Moon Café, which is an interactive “workbook” and women’s support circle for Eating in the Light of the Moon.
She has been working in the field of women’s issues and disordered eating for over 35 years and is currently the Clinical Director of ‘Ai Pono Hawaii which has a residential treatment program in Maui, and outpatient eating disorder programs in Honolulu and the Big Island of Hawaii.
Dr. Johnston provides individual consultations online, and conducts Soul Hunger workshops and professional trainings around the world, using metaphor and storytelling, along with her training as a clinical psychologist, to address the complex issues that underlie struggles with eating and body image.
“In order to heal her disordered eating, a woman must embrace the darkness that precedes the renewal.”
– Dr. Anita Johnston
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- A story with a metaphor on body image
- How metaphors and storytelling affect your brain
- The biggest changes Dr. Johnston has seen in 35 years working with eating disorders
- Why she works with metaphors and myth
- How to figure out the symbolic meaning of your food cravings
- The phases of the feminine principle and archetypal energies available to everyone
Food & Metaphor Guide: http://lightofthemooncafe.com
Connect with Dr. Anita Johnston:
- Eating in the Light of the Moon book
- Light of the Moon Cafe Online Workbook
- www.DrAnitaJohnston.com
- Email: DrAJ1@aol.com
Rate, Share, & Inspire Others to Love Every Body
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
Fat Shaming Linked to Greater Health Risks with Dr. Rebecca Pearl
Dr. Rebecca Pearl is a clinical psychologist and an assistant professor of Psychology at the Department of Psychiatry at Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Her research revolves around weight bias and stigma, how it affects the overall health of a person, and the possible solutions and interventions to this concern.
Dr. Pearl joins me today to share the effects of fat shaming and weight bias internalization to a person’s physical and psychological health. As she identifies some of the causes of this bias, Dr. Pearl also shares their findings on how to counter this weight stigma and how the concept of dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, can play a significant role in promoting change in an individual’s thinking and behavior towards his or her weight and overall health.
“More and more research is highlighting the negative effects of weight stigma on health. There still seems to be this misconception that stigma is necessary or even helpful to motivate people to change their health behaviors and that is not the case.”
– Dr. Rebecca Pearl
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- Examples of weight stigma and discrimination in political and public health campaigns
- Relationship between weight bias internalization and cardiometabolic syndrome
- The key to understanding a person’s health picture
- Why she uses BMI in her research and studies
- Why “obesity” is a controversial term
- Promising results of an 8-week intervention program she created to combat internalize fat stigma
- More information on the study
Rate, Share, & Inspire Others to Love Every Body
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
EB015 Freedom from Food and Body Struggles with Carmen Cool
Body-centered psychotherapist and certified Hakomi practioner, Carmen Cool helps people end the cycle of dieting and overeating, once and for all. Along the way, she helps them unravel their body stories and learn to trust their bodies and themselves.
Her own journey to recovery, partnered with her sister’s death of an eating disorder, makes her even more passionate about her work and a zealous advocate for Health at Every Size.
Carmen joins me today to discuss the nonprofit organization she founded where she partnered with teenagers as they help and address the body struggles in schools, communities, and other circles of influence. She also shares how active engagement in activism helps in her client’s healing process and how taking the change on a societal level helps achieve true freedom from the diet culture.
“I don’t think you can recover from an eating disorder and try to lose weight at the same time.”
– Carmen Cool
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- Uniqueness in Carmen’s approach
- Founding of the Boulder Youth Body Alliance
- The mentality that led her, her sister, and others to eating disorders
- How she was introduced to the ideas and concept of Health at Every Size
- The spark that ignited the fire in her to pursue freedom from food
- Explaining how “weight stigma” was really the cause of her sister's death
- Why she chose to specialize in binge eating and overeating
- Defining “Health at Every Size” and why the model was developed
- The Hakomi method
-
What impacts people the most as they go through recovery
-
Poisonous myths that need to be busted
How to Change the Norms on Body Weight:
-
Look at and understand your own biases.
-
Ask yourself, “How do they operate?”
-
Ask yourself, “How do they get in the way of me seeing others clearly?”
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Ask yourself, “What do I need to do to unlearn my biases?”
Resources Mentioned:
- Hakomi Institute
- Carmen Cool's Website
Rate, Share, & Inspire Others to Love Every Body
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
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EB014 The Radical Dietician - Lucy Aphramor
Lucy Aphramor is the Radical Dietician and the Naked Dietician. She believes we must fundamentally change the way we talk about health. In her Well Now approach, social justice and equality become the center and beginning of every conversation about health. For example, how can we talk about food and exercise without talking about access? Her approach integrates social factors, pays attention to trauma, and supports people to improve their overall wellbeing. The Well Now approach has effectively helped people of all shapes and sizes manage health conditions such as heart disease, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), high blood pressure and so much more. Additionally, she has effectively helped hundreds of people overcome body shame, eating disorders, and depression by staying committed to promoting respect, dignity, and equality for all.
Lucy was the figurehead at the Health at Every Size movement and is co-author of the book Body Respect with Linda Bacon.
She joins me today to discuss her current model - Well Now - and what has inspired her to become a dietician. She shares her insights on how the stress of prejudice can play a role in health, how she brought the Health at Any Size approach to the National Health Service, and the impact historical trauma can have on health and so much more. This episode also uses clips from Lucy's poetry performance, The Naked Dietician.
“Telling your story to a caring witness has a metabolic impact... that switches off the stress response.”
- Lucy Aphramor
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- The importance of looking at all parts of a person’s story struggling to overcome an eating disorder
- Studies that show that our health behaviors are between 5% to 25% of the difference in health inequalities
- Why finding a way to bring social justice into the healthcare system is important
- How changing the language around weight loss and weight correction can impact body positivity and self-esteem challenges around the world
- How thinking about well-being from a justice, power, and historical trauma lens can impact the way we think about health
-
How Well Now helps people get away from the binary mindset about what’s healthy and what’s not healthy
-
Conversations that need to be happening in our society
- Where she believes intervention needs to start
Connect with Lucy Aphramor:
- Well-Founded
- Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, and Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight book by Lucy Aphramor and Linda Bacon
- Poetry Work
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EB013 Release Food and Weight Obsession with Hilary Kinavey and Dana Sturtevant of Be Nourished
Hilary Kinavey, MS, Licensed Professional Counselor and Dana Sturtevant, MS, Registered Dietician are the founders of Be Nourished, founded on the idea that people are born with remarkable instincts to love and care for their bodies. They believe "Body Trust® is a birthright. Our passion is helping people lose the weight of body shame to create the change they seek from a deeper place."
With Hilary’s counseling expertise and Dana’s insightful dietitian skills, we talk about some current events like celebrity diet culture, and a disturbing new research study. We also discuss the importance of pleasure and embodiment. Part of the work they do in the world is helping people reconnect to their bodies, both in the pleasure of movement and eating.
"Be aware of what triggers the dieting mind."
~Be Nourished
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- Dangers of research studies that connect weight loss and eating disorders
- Knowing the differences between body acceptance, healing, and self-care
- How the culture of fat stigma affects weight bias
- Learning the difference between being healthy and being nourished
- The importance of movement as a way of loving your body
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Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
EB012 Fat and Health with DeAun Nelson
DeAun Nelson a Naturopathic Doctor who practices at Watershed Wellness in Portland, Oregon. She specializes in taking a weight neutral approach to health. Even at a young age, DeAun intuitively knew that health and weight were two distinct things and she has carried these convictions to her medical practice. She understands that one can be healthy and fat and wants to share her scientific knowledge and Health At Every Size approach with others.
We discuss the mental stigmas associated with fat stigma, from the size of airplane seats to how some medical professionals discriminate against people who are heavier. Dr. Nelson is an advocate for the Health at Every Size movement (HAES), and how it has a profound effect on the physical and mental health of many patients.
“Over the years, I have gotten better at acknowledging that I can take up as much space as I need.” – DeAun Nelson
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- The shift of wanting to diet to acceptance, and focusing on health
- Being fat in a world built for thin people
- Benefits of having a variety of seating accommodations when flying
- Southwest Airlines "Customer of Size" policy
- Being healthy at any size
- How habits affect health and not weight
- The effects of stress on the body
- Addressing knee problems without weight loss
- Helping patients affected by medical bias against overweight people
- American Medical Association classifying obesity as a disease
Resources Mentioned:
- Health at Every Size Community
Connect with Deaun Nelson:
- Watershed Wellness
- Watershed Wellness on Facebook
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Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Today’s guest is registered dietician, author, speaker, and nutrition expert, Evelyn Tribole. She has written nine books with the latest book she co-authored with Elyse Resch called Intuitive Eating Workbook: Ten Principles for Nourishing a Healthy Relationship with Food. Evelyn’s expertise and passion caught the attention of many and has had hundreds of interviews on TV and in print. She also had her own monthly column in Shape Magazine that went ran for 11 years.
Evelyn joins me today to discuss intuitive eating - what it is, how it’s radically different than dieting, and where to start if you want to understand the principles. Evelyn also sheds light on the differences among health, fullness, and satisfaction and how you can change your mindset so you can be more in tune to the messages your body is sending.
“Intuitive eating is a mind-body approach where you’re listening to the messages of your body.” - Evelyn Tribole
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- What inspired Evelyn to research, write, and co-author the book Intuitive Eating
- What makes the act of “listening to the body” difficult for this generation
- Explaining the phenomenon called “Last Supper Eating” and its effects
- The necessary paradigm shift about being healthy regardless of size
- Misinformation about food addiction and sugar addiction
- Evelyn’s views on programs like Overeaters Anonymous
- Where Evelyn hopes to see future research
Where to Begin with Intuitive Eating
-
Commit to eating one meal a day without any distractions.
-
Aim for satisfaction in your eating experience.
Resources Mentioned:
- Body Kindness book by Rebecca Scritchfield
- Eating in the Light of the Moon book by Anita Johnston
Connect with Evelyn Tribole:
- Intuitive Eating book by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
- Intuitive Eating Workbook by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
Rate, Share, & Inspire
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
EB010 - Healthy Relationships to Food and Stop Binge Eating with Judith Matz
Judith Matz realized the work she wanted to pursue after seeing the connections between her personal experience with losing weight, her professional experience with people going through Optifast, and the book she read titled Overcoming Overeating. It was made clear that her purpose is to help individuals stop dieting and she made this her mission ever since.
With over 25 years of experience as a therapist, speaker, and author, Judith is a licensed clinical social worker with a Master's degree from the University of Michigan. She is the author of The Diet Survivors Handbook, Beyond a Shadow of a Diet, and Amanda's Big Dream.
She joins me today to discuss binge eating disorders, weight bullying, and how we feed our children. She explains how binge eating gets passed on from generation to generation, and the role of sugar addiction in our society. She also shares the Health At Every Size paradigm, and the social justice aspect of the movement that tries to end discrimination on people based on shape and size.
“We need to acknowledge size diversity - that people come in different shapes and sizes.” - Judith Matz
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- Where the “thin ideal” in children lead to and examples of fat-shaming messages
- Approximate age that children start to diet and be conscious about their weight and body size
- How the diet-binge cycle changes the body’s physiology
- Damaging effects of weight bullying and how people tend to put the blame on the victims
- Child obesity and preconceived notions about it
- Why access is important in improving healthcare and healthful behavior
- How to teach children to be healthy eaters
- The significance of talking about restriction in sugar addiction research
- Advantages of having Binge Eating Disorders added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5)
- Manifestations that show how deep the weight stereotypes are embedded in people
Resources Mentioned:
-
Overcoming Overeating book by Jane R. Hirschmann
-
Your Child’s Weight book by Ellyn Satter
- Rethinking Thin book by Gina Kolata
- Relationship Between Weight and Health Quiz
- 3 Common Myths About HAES Handout
Connect with Judith Matz:
- Amanda’s Big Dream book by Judith Matz
- The Diet Survivor’s Handbook book by Judith Matz
- Beyond a Shadow of a Diet book by Judith Matz
- The Relationship Between Health and Weight Quiz
- 3 Common Myths About HAES
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Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
Today's guest, Traci Mann, a professor of social and health psychology and the principal investigator of the Health and Eating Laboratory at the University of Minnesota, sheds light on the truth about self-control and dieting.
She talks about the relationship between dieting and weight gain with the aim to identify and understand the behaviors related to eating and a person’s body image. Traci also shares her work at the Eating Lab and how her team studies the mindsets people have about dieting and its effects.
“Weight gain really needs to be thought of, not as an unfortunate screw up after dieting, but it should be looked at as an expected result of dieting.”
- Traci Mann
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- What brought Traci to focus on eating for her life’s work
- Detrimental effects of dieting and its inevitable consequences
- How your body responds to keep you in a certain weight range
- How historical famines changed people’s metabolism to survive
- Things that change and problems that occur when you’re dieting below a set range
- Why it’s so hard for people to believe the facts about dieting
- The result of a study made by Katherine Flegal that show the link between people’s weight and mortality. Read study
- Clarifying the obesity paradox and the relationship between people’s health and fitness level
- Persuasive evidence about obesity being not a good indication of a person’s health
- The truth about willpower as backed by years of experiments and studies
- Effect of removing obstacles when eating healthy foods
Connect with Traci Mann:
- Secrets From the Eating Lab book by Traci Mann
Check Out Our Instagram Contest!
Join our contest on Instagram and receive a copy of Dr. Traci Mann’s book Secrets from the Eating Lab when you win!
Rate, Share, & Spread the word to Every Body
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
EB008 Fat is a Feminist Issue with Susie Orbach
Dr. Susie Orbach is a psychotherapist, keynote speaker, and the author of several books including Fat is a Feminist Issue, a trailblazing book addressing compulsive overeating and the toxic diet industry. She is the co-founder of The Women’s Therapy Centre in London.
She joins me today to share her views on body image, how social media is effecting the way women and children think and feel about their bodies, and how female body image issues can affect our children and the future generations of our society.
“I don’t think the body is like a house. I don’t think it needs to be redecorated every minute by moving the walls.”
– Dr. Susie Orbach
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- Fat is a Feminist Issue book and how the diet culture is so destructive in our society
- How the dieting industry has changed over the last 40 years and its lasting impact
- The underlying messages in new media and how they can manifest into different psychological concerns regarding eating, food, and body image
- The impact of our visual culture on children and young adults in today’s society
- How anxiety about self-body image manifests and impacts the physical and emotional relationship between parents and their children
- Her Endangered Bodies initiative groups around the world
- Petition to stop plastic surgery apps marketed to children.
- Her “bodyography” process – finding the history of how you come to understand your body
- The cultural state of “pleasure” eating and intuitive eating
- Her response to the critics of her work.
Dr. Susie Orbach’s Words of Wisdom:
-
Get informed and act against diet culture
-
Look at pictures of yourself from a year or two ago. They provide information about yourself.
- Explore hunger, when you are hungry, when you are full, get in touch with your body
Rate & Share
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
EB007 Fat Femme Yogi with Jessamyn Stanley
Jessamyn Stanley is a yoga teacher, activist, and author of a newly released book: Every Body Yoga. She was launched into the limelight with Instagram, almost by accident. Her initial intention with her Instagram account was to have a way to document her yoga practice and use it as a way to check her at-home progress over time.
Jessamyn joins me on the show today to share her in-depth knowledge and insight on what yoga truly is – a practice about truth and authenticity. She shares her own challenges and conflicts with her own body image throughout her childhood and early adulthood. She shares how she overcame these challenges and improved her self-image and confidence and why she feels so strongly about identifying herself as a “fat femme” and what that term means to her.
“Yoga, while it obviously encourages body positivity – yoga is also a lot bigger than body positivity.”
– Jessamyn Stanley
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- The conflict she had with herself, her body image, and how she overcame it.
- Why she significantly reduced posting images of her private yoga practice on Instagram
- The advantages and disadvantages of live yoga classes
- How childhood media images impacted her body image and her recovery process
- Why she believes body image problems are a product of the world we live in now
- The process that helped her come to terms with her body image problems
- How you feel vs how you look
- Dealing with negativity and trolling from other people
- How school bullies helped her learn to cope with negative people and trolls
- What authenticity means to her and why she makes a conscious decision to be authentic
Jessamyn’s Tips for Getting Started with Yoga:
-
Take online classes
Connect with Jessamyn Stanley:
-
Grab her latest book: Every Body Yoga: Let Go of Fear, Get On the Mat, Love Your Body
Additional Resources:
- YogaGlo
Rate, Share, & Inspire Others to LoveEvery Body
Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
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EB006 Fat-Shamed at the Doctor with Evette Dionne
What would you do if your doctor fat-shamed you? Would you go back? Evette Dionne, senior news and identity editor at the Revelist, explains in an article titled I Got Fat-shamed at the Doctor – and They Completely Missed the Problem her story.
Her voice is an important one and on today's episode, she shares her intersectional feminist insights on the Body Positivity Movement, how Beyoncé has inspired the young black feminist movement and so much more.
“One of the biggest things is that doctors are treating fat. They are trying to figure out a way to make fat people permanently thinner.”
– Evette Dionne
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- Her experience being fat-shamed by a doctor
- Where doctors get their ideas of pathologizing women’s bodies
- Why she has a complicated feeling about the Body Positivity Movement
- Ways in which the intersection of race, gender, ability plays out in our culture
- The ways Beyoncé has contributed to black feminism
- How she keeps trolls out of her life
Evette's Words of Wisdom
Body positivity is a journey. Your experiences and the way you feel about yourself from day to day is simply a small part of the bigger journey. It doesn't derail the path to loving yourself fully – it's just part of the journey.
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Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
Body Positive Instagram Celebrity Megan Crabbe
CONTENT WARNING:
Eating disorder behavior and weight conversation.
My guest today is Megan Crabbe. Megan is an Instagram body positivity celebrity working to address the body negativity issues through her Instagram account. Former anorexic and self-loather, Megan is passionate about debunking the myths and lies within the diet industry. She joins me on the show today to share her personal journey through body positivity and eating disorders. She shares the story of being admitted into the hospital due to her disorder and how she ultimately recovered from it and began feeling better about herself. We also discuss how eating disorders are strongly linked to psychological concerns and her experiences with therapy.
“It's terrifying to consider dropping everything you've ever believed about food weight your body your value and think maybe I've had it wrong all these years. ”
– Megan Crabbe
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- How your psyche and mindset about yourself and your body image plays a role in body positivity
- The misconceptions and misunderstandings of what eating disorders are and when a person is fully recovered
- How Instagram helped Megan achieve body positivity
- The Body Positivity Movement – what it is and what it’s all about, and the problems
- What the “Don’t Hate the Shake” movement is
- Dealing with Instagram trolls
- Recent criticisms about the Body Positivity Movement and what needs to be done to overcome the criticism
- Misleading messages and misconceptions within the fashion industry
- How Instagram is helping body people change the landscape of what people see in the world regarding body positivity
Megan’s Body Positivity Advice:
- Understand that body positivity is something very personal. It’s something you have to figure out for yourself.
- Be willing to do the research, learn from others, and put in the work to change your mindset. You will get there!
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Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
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Neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt Explains Why Diets Make Us Fat
Every year, millions of Americans turn to diets to lose weight, but an increasing number of studies are showing that dieters are more likely to gain more weight over the next two to 15 years than those who don’t diet. Many people hear phrases like “diets don’t work” and “diets make you fat,” but rarely believe these concepts are true – until they experience it themselves.
On today’s episode, I’m talking with neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt. Sandra serves on the board of The Center for Mindful Eating and is the author of the recently published book – Why Diets Make Us Fat: The Unintended Consequences of Our Obsession with Weight Loss. She joins me today to share her journey through dieting, starvation, and explains what happens in the brain when we diet.
“Low fitness, smoking, high blood pressure, low income, and loneliness are better predictors of early death than obesity when considered individually.”
– Sandra Aamodt
This Week on the Every Body Podcast: * Our culture’s “amazing brainwashing job” regarding dieting and weight loss * What long-term diet studies reveal * The physiological effects of losing weight * How human evolution and food availability has impacted our body’s natural weight regulation process * Genetic disposition and environmental factors influencing our body’s natural weight regulation process * Sandra’s personal journey with dieting, when she chose to stop dieting, and her results * Shifting your mindset around exercise * Study conclusions on health and weight connections * Defining what a “healthy diet” really means * Society’s impact on dieting and the money-making aspect of it * New, exciting research studies becoming known in the industry * Encouraging children to eat healthy without dieting * Sandra’s experience as a Ted Talk speaker and its success * Marketing shifts around the words “health” and “diet”
Sandra’s Advice to Dieters: * Do not pay attention to short-run studies. * Eat plenty of vegetables. Avoid processed foods. * Find ways to seek pleasure in moving your body.
Rate & Share Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body! Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
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Lose Hate Not Weight with Virgie Tovar Virgie Tovar is a fierce fashionista, feminist, and fat activist. She is an expert on fat discrimination and body image, and has a Master’s in Human Sexuality with a specific focus on body size, race, and gender. She is also a writer and the founder of BabeCamp, a course designed to help people “break up” with the diet culture.
Virgie joins me today to share her story of dealing with fat discrimination and body image issues. She explains how she has had to cope with body image problems and fat discrimination from people all her life – even as young as five years old. She shares how the discrimination of others, especially from boys, had started her journey and experimentation with starvation dieting, which later lead to scurvy.
Virgie also shares her turning points – when she began to accept her body for what it is and accept herself for who she is, and the transformation that came from this acceptance process. She shares her thoughts and insight on why today’s society discriminates against fat people.
“Shame is anger turned inward. Shame is the engine of dieting.”
– Virgie Tovar
This Week on the Every Body Podcast: * Childhood emotional abuse vs bullying * How her childhood and early adulthood experiences fueled her passion as a writer and fat activist * Her experience with starvation dieting and scurvy * Breaking through fat phobia * Her experience with fat activism * Political statements through fashion * Fat phobia and fat discrimination as a means of oppression * The socially constructed standards and fat-negative attitudes of people in the United States vs other cultures * How fat phobia affects men and their idea of masculinity * How social media has changed fat discrimination and the diet culture – for better and for worse * Debunking dieting and health myths * Having “health goals” that are divorced from weight-loss goals * What’s on the horizon for Virgie Tovar
Virgie Tovar’s Words of Wisdom: “All bodies are good bodies. Your body is beautiful. You don’t have to change it. You don’t have to change your diet. You can live your life and do whatever you want at your current size.”
– Virgie Tovar
Connect with Virgie Tovar: * VirgieTovar.com
Rate & Share Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
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Religion and Thinness with Dr. Michelle Lelwica Dr. Michelle Lelwica is a religious scholar who proposes a connection between eating, weight, and our spiritual need and how an obsession with food or one’s weight may mask a deeper, more spiritual need.
In her book, The Religion of Thinness: Satisfying the Spiritual Hungers Behind Women’s Obsession with Food and Weight, she outlined her research and today, she joins me on the show to share her findings and insight on the connection between our spirituality, religious beliefs, and how we view foods and weight in today’s society. She also shares her personal story as a “devotee” during her indoctrination, her experience with bulimia, and the turning point in her life that began her journey to truly connect with her body and it’s needs.
“Oftentimes, we don’t realize that the voices in our head reflect the messages from the outside that we have internalized.”
– Dr. Michelle Lelwica
This Week on the Every Body Podcast: * Feature similarities of religions and our culture’s manic devotion to thinness * The connection between the decline of millennials attending church and their views and beliefs around becoming thin * As much as one-third of the millennial population in the United States identifies as not religiously affiliated * How social media impacts society’s views on appearance, thinness, and our connection with our bodies * The history of thinness * How the desire for thinness is racially and ethnically coded * The “schizophrenic attitude” and competing messages our culture has toward eating * Society’s migration toward a “fit ideal” * Why rituals are important and their primary function * The most common ways rituals become ritualistic in the religion of thinness * Spiritual fasting rituals vs fasting to achieve thinness * The body’s needs and society’s association with those needs, impurities, and sin
Counter Strategies to the Religion of Thinness: * Find rituals that allow you to connect with your body rather than control it * Find images and role models that are worthy of your devotion and inspire you to be your best self * Find communities that are counter cultural and will do the cultural criticism with you * Find a new salvation myth. What is your life really about?
Additional Resources: * Fat Shame: Stigma and the Fat Body in American Culture book by Amy Erdman Farrell
Connect with Dr. Michelle Lelwica: * Grab her latest book: Shameful Bodies: Religion and the Culture of Physical Improvement
Rate & Share Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us spread the word to Every Body!
Don’t forget to visit our website, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode!
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Ep 01: National Eating Disorders Awareness - Claire Mysko
EB001 National Eating Disorders Awareness with Claire Mysko This week is National Eating Disorders Awareness week. In the United States, about 30-million people suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives. Of that number,it is estimated that 10-million are men, and 20-million are women. My featured guest this week is Claire Mysko. Claire serves as the CEO of the National Eating Disorders Association. She is internationally recognized as a leader in eating disorder advocacy and education and she joins me to share her personal story of overcoming an eating disorder, why she is so passionate about educating the public and debunking the myths and misconceptions of these disorders, and how her personal journey has led to her passionate career in educating and advocating on this epidemic.
"One of the great joys of recovery is that you can find your voice and you can connect with what you are truly passionate about, and really make a difference in the world."
-Claire Mysko
This Week on the Every Body Podcast:
- Research surrounding early intervention success rate for people with eating disorders.
- The rock-bottom turning point for Claire in her journey to overcome an eating disorder.
- How activism has played a role in her recovery.
- The Supergirl Dilemma study, its focus, and the unsurprising results.
- The intense focus on obesity prevention and its effects on eating disorders in children.
- The myths, misconceptions, and false images of eating disorders and their cultural effects
- The difference between an eating disorder and disordered eating.
- The mental mindset shift recovering women experience during and after pregnancy.
- What National Eating Disorders Awareness Week means and its mission.
Connect with the National Eating Disorders Association:
- NEDA Helpline:(toll-free) 1-800-931-2237
- Click-to-Chat:MyNEDA.org
- Screening: NEDA Eating Disorder Screening Tool
- Advocacy: NEDA Advocacy Program
- Prevention: The Body Project
Additional Resources:
- You’re Amazing book by Claire Mysko
- Does This Pregnancy Make Me Look Fat? Book by Claire Mysko and Magali Amadei
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Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week’s episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don’t forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram , and join our mailing list so you never miss an episode! http://www.clairemysko.com http://nedawareness.org
