Hungry: Trust Your Body. Free Your Mind.

This is the final episode of the podcast! Tara shares her big takeaways from publishing over 100 episodes, including why closure is so important, some unexpected outcomes from the podcast and what happened when she trusted herself and the energy she was noticing. Tara also shares her vision for her next podcast. 

Erica Mather is a certified Yoga Therapist and the author of “Your Body, Your Best Friend: End the Confidence-Crushing Pursuit of Unrealistic Beauty Standards & Embrace Your True Power”. She brings her own struggles with body image from a young age and transformational yoga principles to guiding people to feel better in their bodies, no matter what body challenges they have.    On the podcast, we talked about why it's so common for folks to dissociate with painful internal body talk and the difference between objectification and embodiment. We also talked about the importance of recognizing unrealistic thin body ideals and fat bias and the role of personal responsibility in freeing yourself from the impact of them.  Erica shares what it's like to have your body as your best friend, so you can see that possibility for yourself. We also talked about body image in the yoga community, our drive for belonging, and how choosing to befriend your body is an ultimate act of defiance.    Check out Erica's book: Your Body, Your Best Friend: End the Confidence-Crushing Pursuit of Unrealistic Beauty Standards & Embrace Your True Power on Amazon.    Website: www.ericamather.com Social media handles: IG: @Erica-Mather FB: https://www.facebook.com/erica.mather  

Adrien Paczosa believes that dietetic care with a health at every size approach should be accessible and affordable nationwide. Thanks to her vision, she founded Nourish, a virtual-first nutrition group with affordable access to nutrition care.     On the podcast, we talked about how focusing on body weight only creates harmful weight cycling, how every diet and diet book should have a warning that weight cycling is harmful to your health, and why everyone should be offered the option to define health for themselves because it's a personal definition. We also talked about incorporating other ways of improving health into daily habits, without the focus on weight loss.    Learn more about Nourish here. www.UseNourish.com Connect with Nourish and Adrien on Social: @UseNourish.com @AdrienPaczosa

When you feel better about your body this holiday season, you'll have the energy and emotional resilience to be more present and available. On the podcast, Tara offers you six strategies that will support you to feel better about your body and also feel better living inside of your body. These simple and practical strategies can be practiced all year round.  Let's stay connected! Join my weekly newsletter here.

Diet and weight loss commercials are in full force in the holiday season and it can feel pretty overwhelming. On the podcast, Tara shares why this is happening and offers some concrete strategies with media, social media and in your relationships on how to set boundaries so you can continue along your non-diet and intuitive eating practices with more peace and ease.  Let's stay connected! Join my weekly newsletter here.  

Holiday stress eating is often seen as a problem that needs to be solved by changing what you eat. But this strategy only makes you focus on food as the problem and distracts you from why you need relief in the first place. On the podcast, Tara offers you a new framework around holiday stress eating that's based around needs and feelings. Stress eating is just a strategy used to try to get your needs met. When you understand what your needs are, you can start to use other ways to support yourself without food.  Learn more about Non Violent Communication and the Compassion Course here. https://www.nycnvc.org/ Let's stay connected! Join my weekly newsletter here.

The holiday season is an intense time, and it's not surprising that folks may feel more shame around their patterns of eating and their bodies. On the podcast, Tara shares what the mechanism of shame is and how it works, why you may be feeling more shame during this time of year, and how shame around food and shame around your body are two different things (but may feel like one thing). Tara offers some strategies around how to free yourself from shame so that you don't need to react and reinforce it.  Let's stay connected! Join my weekly newsletter here.

On the podcast, Tara speaks with the founders of the Center for Body Trust, Dana Sturtevant and Hilary Kenavey. They co-authored “Reclaiming Body Trust: A Path To Healing and Liberation”, which was recently published.  Hillary and Dana describe diet culture as a shapeshifter that's incredibly deceptive. They also share how destructive it is because it speaks to people's hearts and tender spots. This is why some people are more susceptible to the order and control around food that diet culture offers.  Hillary shares why it's so heartbreaking that people aren't offered consent to opt into diet culture, instead they are just immersed in it.  We also talked about what trust looks like and feels like. Dana asks “ Who are you placing your trust in?” when it comes to food, your health and your body. She shares the analogy of seeing your journey of body trust as a tree, and being able to move from old poisonous soil to nourishing soil.  Hilary offers a powerful distinction around transformation, which often comes from being able to reclaim our personal narrative around food and body image and being able to understand all the pieces of it including the impact of diet culture.    Connect with Dana and Hillary here: FACEBOOK: @CenterForBodyTrust   INSTAGRAM: @Center4BodyTrust   Order your copy of Reclaiming Body Trust here.    Stay connected with Tara and Join her weekly newsletter here.

I can just say “junk food” and you know immediately what foods fit into that category. You also know what foods are “healthy”. We've learned which foods are which from our parents, teachers, social media, friends, and diet programs.   But do these labels change whether you eat those foods or not? Or, do you just feel better or worse when you eat them?  On the podcast, Tara dives into the messages we hear about the value of foods and how conflicting they are, why these labels are meant to motivate us to eat in a certain way but that's not really what it does, and how to look at food instead (without the labels).  Let's stay connected! Join my weekly newsletter here.  

You may have hit diet rockbottom and refuse to go on another diet again. Or, you're just frustrated with your relationship with food and you're ready for something different and new. Or, you stumbled upon intuitive eating and are curious.    In this episode, Tara shares six things (she added one at the end) to keep in mind while you're starting your intuitive eating practice. They include some of the challenges you may encounter when you reject the diet mentality, learn about diet culture, practice tuning into your body, want to know if you're doing it right and feel alone because so many people around you are still dieting.    This journey is worth it and my hope this episode will leave you feeling better equipped to take these steps in a new direction.  Let's stay connected! Join my weekly newsletter here.

With Halloween around the corner, the idea of being around so much candy may be giving you a real fright (sorry, I couldn't help it). And I get it. There was a time when being around candy felt so conflicting to me. I wanted to eat it, but not eat too much of it. I wanted to enjoy my favorites, but more often than not, when I started to eat one Snickers bar, it would turn into far too many.  The common advice that we get from diet culture is to not have candy in the house and get rid of it as soon as we can. Or, to just buy the candy we don't like so we won't be tempted. Wouldn't it be nice to just feel relaxed around candy and trust yourself enough to know that you can eat it if you'd like it and leave it when you're not wanting it? I want to guide you to that place.  On the podcast, I'm going to share with you why the conventional advice around avoiding Halloween candy doesn't work. And offer you a common sense approach using intuitive eating principles. I'll share what to do this year, if you haven't started practicing intuitive eating yet and what to do if you've been practicing intuitive eating for a while but want to feel even more free around all foods, including Halloween Candy. 

Have you started eating intuitively, but are having a hard time explaining what you're doing to your friends and family?  Are you feeling self-conscious about your food choices because now you're eating foods that your family are not used to seeing you eat?  Are loved ones concerned because they think you're not being “healthy”?  Navigating intuitive eating when others are dieting or are expecting you to diet can be really hard. On the podcast, I share my perspective on what's going on, how to get your feet underneath you so you can have some conversations around this (if you choose to) and how to continue to practice intuitive eating with more confidence. 

I got this question from a friend and I knew it was time to go back to basics. I use the term “overeating” so often, but it's important that you have a clear understanding of what overeating is and why you may be doing it.    On the podcast, I share why we've been conditioned to believe that overeating is wrong and bad. We don't worry if we haven't had enough water to drink or if we've over-hydrated!     I offer a concrete way to know if you've eaten past a comfortable fullness, as opposed to believing you've overeaten if you eat more than a portion size that's been determined by a diet. I also offer four reasons why people typically overeat. It's not surprising that three of these reasons have to do with dieting!   Subscribe to my weekly newsletter where I share my latest blog and podcast episodes. https://www.tara-whitney.com/

Kayla Douthitt, anti-diet advocate,  is passionate about offering parents of teens with eating disorders more support and education. On the podcast, she shares the signs for parents to look for if they are concerned that their child may have an eating disorder, like excessive exercise, weighing themselves regularly, trying to monitor food intake and comparing themselves to their peers.  Kayla also shares how parents may also be struggling in their relationship with food and their body image, how important mindset is to overcome perfectionism, and advice on what to do with cell phones and social media.  You can connect with Kayla here.  Also @WisdomNWellness on Facebook and @wisdomnwellnessky on Instagram

Something happens when you start your intuitive eating journey. You start to wake up to the signals your body shares with you. Some of those signals are lovely, like the sun on your skin and when your belly hurts because you've been laughing so hard. And some are not so lovely, like when you're tired and have a headache after drinking a couple of glasses of wine the night before.  We can't filter out the signals we don't prefer and just notice the ones we do prefer. Which is why you may be noticing how alcohol may not feel good to you. On the podcast, Tara shares her own story being alcohol free for the past three years and how she came to that decision. She also shares the common thread between dieting and drinking, which are both a form of deprivation. Tara offers a few suggestions if you'd like to take the next step to examining your relationship with alcohol.  Looking for one-on-one coaching support  around intuitive eating, body image and emotional eating?  Schedule a clarity call with me where you can share what your goals and intentions are, I'll offer you some insight around what's going on and if we feel like we're a good match, I can share more information on how we can move forward.  Here is my calendar link.

When Barb Puzanovova (she/her), aka The Non-Diet Trainer,  was struggling with orthorexia and compulsive exercise in college, she realized she was spending way too much time thinking about food and exercise. Her life felt out of sync. One question that opened her eyes was “Have you had a day without a (food and training) goal?”.  On the podcast, Barb shares her recovery and how critical finding an inclusive, anti-diet gym was. She also shares how recognizing the obstacles that folks feel around hating exercise is very real and how it can be harmful to insist they try to work through their resistance. We also talked about the harmful impact of elitism and anti-fat bias in the fitness industry.  Connect with Barb on Instagram and her website. Check out Barb's Joyful Movement Program starting this fall here. On the podcast, Barb mentions the Maintenance Phase podcast episode on the presidents physical fitness test. Here is the link.

After sharing a post about how exhausting I felt talking about diet culture (see post below), I realized a few things that I needed to name and share. On the podcast, I shared the post I shared, why it was an important piece for me to share openly, the reaction I received from the community, and two surprising take-aways; thin privilege and thin fragility.  I share and name my own thin privilege and get specific about how I know I'm privileged living inside of a straight-sized body. I also share my own fragility and how recognizing the impact of diet culture on marginalized identities is critical to our own freedom.  The social media post:  I know this is very uncool of me, but I get tired of talking about diet culture.  I'm in awe of so many of my colleagues that call out the harmful messages and inaccuracies we're being told about health, weight, food and body size.  I know I've done my share and there is more for me to do, but it just wears on me.  I feel hopeless. Like we are fighting a losing battle. Any impact I have is a faint whisper compared to the massive marketing machines behind diet culture kings like Weight Watchers, Noom, and Jenny Craig.  In this hopelessness, I feel indifference. Fine- go ahead. Keep marketing to kids. Keep lying to people and telling them your diet is a lifestyle plan. Take people's money and take away their body autonomy.  It makes me so angry, I could scream. But who do I scream at? Who do I call? It's like I'm swinging my arms blind folded. Diet culture is everywhere, with no obvious physical location.  I've given my hard earned money to Weight Watchers. I've been duped by them too.  Maybe that's why I'm tired of talking about diet culture. I'm mad at myself. I'm mad that I was deceived. I'm mad that all of my clients have been deceived too and they have to hire me.  I wish it never existed. I wish I never went on a diet when I was 12. Then I wouldn't have to talk about diet culture.  I realize now that I'm just fuckin' sad. That's all. 

Glenys Oyston, RDN shares her history of dieting and being the “5%” that lost weight but feeling so much emotional distress and food preoccupation to be there. She shared her desire for body currency and desiring the accolades that come from being that person that lost weight and can keep it off.  We talked about the risk that comes from only deriving our value from our body because we miss other ways to value ourselves. Glenys shares what body tolerance is: being okay that you don't like your body, what to do when you're having a bad body day, the importance of noticing internalized anti-fat phobia, and recognizing the challenges in the workplace around self care.  Connect with Glenys here:  https://www.facebook.com/DareToNotDiet https://www.selfcare4diabetes.com/  Free guide: https://www.selfcare4diabetes.com/myths  Group Coaching starting in September 2022 Looking for one-on-one coaching support  around intuitive eating, body image and emotional eating?  Schedule a clarity call with me where you can share what your goals and intentions are, I'll offer you some insight around what's going on and if we feel like we're a good match, I can share more information on how we can move forward.  Here is my calendar link  

Tamar Rothenberg, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian who specializes in recovery after breast cancer offers her clients non-diet and weight neutral option support. On the podcast, Tamar shares how important it is to debunk faulty information that we receive from wellness culture on juice cleanses, clean eating and supplements. She clarifies that we can't prevent cancer, we can only reduce the risk of cancer occurrence. She reminds us that getting cancer isn't anyone's fault and that no one did anything wrong if they have the experience of cancer. We also talked about how beneficial the practice of intuitive eating is with cancer care and recovery because it's about self-care, not self-control.    Learn more about Tamar here. Connect with Tamar socially:  https://www.facebook.com/tamarrothenbergRD/​ https://www.instagram.com/breastcancer.nutritionist/​ Private Facebook group for thrivers Check out Tamar's new book: Cancer Diet for the Newly Diagnosed Looking for one-on-one coaching support  around intuitive eating, body image and emotional eating?    Schedule a clarity call with me where you can share what your goals and intentions are, I'll offer you some insight around what's going on and if we feel like we're a good match, I can share more information on how we can move forward.  Here is my calendar link

Ragen Chastain is a speaker, writer, trained researcher, multi-certified health and fitness professional, and thought leader in Weight Science, Weight Stigma, and Weight-Neutral Health. On the podcast, Ragen shares her discovery that diets don't lead to long-term weight loss. She shares the pivotal moment when she knew she couldn't just be a fat dancer, she had to be a fat activist, why healthism can't ever excuse fatphobia, how diet culture has hijacked health and healthcare, the history of BMI, and why we all need to challenge the assumption that poor health has to do with being in a big body.  Ragen is a national dance champion, triathlete, and marathoner who holds the Guinness World Record for Heaviest Woman to Complete a Marathon, and co-founded the Fit Fatties Facebook group which has over 11,000 members. Ragen lives in LA with her fiancée Julianne and their two adorable dogs. Connect with Ragen here. Instagram: @RagenChastain  Facebook: @RagenChastain  Twitter: @DancesWithFat  YouTUbe: @DancesWithFat Check out Ragen's Fat Healthcare Summer Workshop Series Subscribe to the Weight and Healthcare Newsletter Looking for one-on-one coaching support  around intuitive eating, body image and emotional eating?  Schedule a clarity call with me where you can share what your goals and intentions are, I'll offer you some insight around what's going on and if we feel like we're a good match, I can share more information on how we can move forward.  Here is my calendar link.  

Aaron Flores is a registered dietician nutritionist, Certified Body Trust® provider, and his main areas of focus are Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size®. On the podcast, Aaron shares his perspective on men's body image and their unique and often not-so-unique challenges around healing from diet culture and practicing intuitive eating. Aaron shares what toxic masculinity looks like, how often men suffer in silence with their eating disorder because they believe they don't deserve help. He also shares how self-compassion can often be interpreted as giving up and the challenges men have with connecting to their bodies.  Learn more about Aaron here.   Aaron was recently a guest on Dan Harris' 10% Happier Podcast. Episode 441: What Men Don't Talk About   Connect with Aaron on Instagram-  Connect with Aaron on Instagram. Listen to Dietician's Unplugged Podcast   Looking for one-on-one coaching support  around intuitive eating, body image and emotional eating?  Schedule a clarity call with me where you can share what your goals and intentions are, I'll offer you some insight around what's going on and if we feel like we're a good match, I can share more information on how we can move forward.  Here is my calendar link- Here is the link to my calendar.

There was a point in time, before I discovered Intuitive Eating, when I believed that my rocky childhood and poor self-image were the reasons I couldn't keep food under control and stop eating emotionally. Sadly, a decade or so later, I'm hearing the same messages from diet culture that tell people they need to do the inner work if they want to lose weight. For example, when deciding on the title of this podcast, I found an article called “How to Overcome 5 Psychological Blocks to Weight Loss”. It's easy to believe this advice when the authors are highly educated and the article is stamped “medically reviewed”.    And guess what? In some ways, this message isn't completely wrong. The work I do with my clients is all about challenging old beliefs and shifting mind-set. But where this advice goes wrong, and destructively so, is telling us that how we feel about ourselves and how we've been surviving is getting in the way of us achieving a body size they feel is appropriate. It's incredibly deceitful and very tricky to piece apart.    Which is why I wanted to highlight what these articles aren't saying. I want you to be aware of the subtle assumptions that are probably making you blame yourself for diet failures and wondering what's wrong with you. And I want to remind you of the truth; diets won't deliver on long term weight loss and you don't need to wait to lose weight to treat your body with great respect. 

Dr. Hortencia Jimenez is a pioneer in bringing intuitive eating and healing to the Latinx community by centering on important challenges like food insecurity and the labeling of foods native to the Latinx community as unhealthy.    On the podcast, Dr. Jimenez shares the grieving of her paternal grandmother, the one she immigrated with to the United States when she was a young child, her vision for bringing healing with intuitive eating to the Latinx community, and why she fell in love with sociology because it gave her the words to explain her experience as an undocumented citizen. Dr. Jimenez also shares how diet culture and discrimination is impacting the Latinx community because of food insecurity and the messages that food that is native to the Latinx community is unhealthy.  Dr. Hortencia Jimenez is of huichol ancestry, she was born in the Sierra Madre in the state of Nayarit, Mexico.  She holds a BA, MA, and Ph.D. in Sociology and is also a certified Health Coach. She is a contributing expert for UnDiet Your Mind app, a community-based app where members can work on their UnDieting journey in a safe and supportive HAES, non-diet and Intuitive Eating aligned space.    You can follow her at @drhortenciajimenez Website:www.hortenciajimenez.com

Mira Rao, Resilience and Embodiment Coach,  helps those burnt out on getting stuck in their past in therapy or whitewashing their pain with toxic positivity in coaching by releasing old trauma and stress patterns, learning deep and steady self compassion AND making significant changes in their life to move forward with resilience and confidence.  On the podcast, Mira shares what embodiment is and why it can help you heal painful patterns. She shares why resilience is so important and how understanding your own nervous system is a super power because it helps you to cultivate compassion and curiosity.    Learn more about Mira's work at https://www.mirarao.com.au/   Connect her on https://www.instagram.com/miraraocoach/

I started doing energy practices a few times a day thanks to my business mentor and coach, George Kao. He created the Energy Reboot Technique to help solopreneurs get unstuck and increase productivity.  I noticed pretty quickly that when I took a few moments to notice my breath and become aware of my body that I was much more present and engaged in whatever came next. Soon, I was no longer doing George's technique and creating my own.    Here is a practice that I've been sharing with my clients. They've shared with me how it's a great way to start their day and find some moments of calm during a busy day.    On your healing journey and practicing intuitive eating, tuning into your body takes practice. I hope this simple 5 minute exercise gives you another way to notice your body and create calm.    If you've enjoyed this practice and want to do it regularly, you can use this clip that starts at the beginning of the practice. 

Making her way from mathematics, to humanitarian aid and peace work, Sanaz Shiraz found healing  and learned how to process emotions through embodied dance. Now she coaches strong and independent women in their relationships and dating with embodied dance and movement.    On the podcast, Sanaz shares how embodied dance allows people to live inside of their bodies, is ideal for human expression and how it helps to create safety in the body.    Learn more about Sanaz and her work at  www.sanazshiraz.com   Connect with Sanaz on Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/SanazShirazCoaching And Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBbhJhs8-ekUblSbPmpYpmQ/featured  

Before I found Sara Petersen's work, I had no idea what a momfluencer was and why I should care. On the podcast, Sara shares how important it is to have awareness around momfluencers so that we can stay anchored in our own values instead of being aimlessly influenced by those that want to sell us a product and the promise of being a better mother along with it. Sara shares how momfluencers often sell the “whole package”,  and therefore when they sell health, diet or nutritional information, people are more apt to buy into it.   Sara Petersen's first book, Momfluenced is coming out in 2023. In the book, she examines the performance of motherhood through the complexities of mommy influencer culture, what this reveals about the texture of modern motherhood, and what we might learn from it.  Join Sara's newsletter, In Pursuit of Clean Countertops here- https://sarapetersen.substack.com Connect with Sara on twitter and insta @slouiseptersen   

No-Diet Day was started 30 years ago by Mary Evans Young to promote body acceptance and size diversity.  This is a day to increase the awareness of the harms of dieting and also invite people who have been dieting for most of their life to experiment with giving themselves a break from needing to follow food rules, weigh themselves and feel the pressure of needing to lose weight.    Dieting does not offer long-term weight loss but instead robs people of mental and physical health.    On the podcast, I had a panel conversation with Anne Poirier, Eating Disorder Specialist, and Kathryn Best, LCSW about why a non-diet lifestyle is so important, how diet culture impacts people's relationship with food, and the cost of dieting.  Learn more here https://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/nodietday You can connect with Anne Poirier here- https://shapingperspectives.com On Instagram https://www.instagram.com/annepoirier11/ You can connect with Kathryn Best here- https://www.newmeadowscounseling.com/ And on Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/kathryn_best_lcsw/

Sara Gottfried, LCSW, wrote her memoir, Full: A Memoir of Overcoming an Eating Disorder, to give people a raw view of how hard and challenging it is to be in recovery and how eating disorders hold  people back from living the way they want to live. On the podcast, Sara shared how seeing other people feel neutral around food really inspired her to want freedom for herself. She also shared how she needed to choose recovery over and over because she didn't want to go back to feeling isolated from her friends and loved ones.  Connect with Sara: www.saraelleng.com Instagram: @sara_elleng   To purchase Full: A Memoir of Overcoming an Eating Disorder  https://www.saraelleng.com/store  

After doing all the right things and checking all of the “boxes” personally and professionally, Becky Mollenkamp discovered she still wasn't fulfilled and happy. On the podcast, Becky shares her story of personal discovery and how she now understands the social conditioning that keeps women blaming themselves for their failures. We discussed how trying to achieve the thin body ideal is a way to achieve success, when it only harms us emotionally and physically. Becky also offers some fantastic questions that you can ask yourself to discover your own definition of success.  Check out Becky's Get Sh*t Done Workbook + private audio series  https://beckymollenkamp.com/procrastination-workbook/ Follow Becky on IG https://www.instagram.com/beckymollenkamp/  Learn more about Becky here https://beckymollenkamp.com

Dr. Jenn Salib Huber is on a mission to properly educate women in midlife about what's happening in their bodies during perimenopause so they can navigate a new relationship with food. On the podcast, we talked about Jenn's four pillars of how she educates and empowers clients, which include the science of what's happening in their bodies, self-compassion, attunement and gentle nutrition. Jenn also shares the importance of maintaining muscle during midlife and offers some ideas on how to do this. She also offers some gentle nutrition suggestions which include how to add in protein and a reminder that carbs don't cause weight gain.    Learn more about Jenn here: www.jennsalibhuber.ca Social media handles: IG - @menopause.nutritionist Twitter - @themidlifefeast Check out Beyond the Scale membership here-  https://www.intuitivenutrition.ca/BeyondTheScaleSignup  

Karin Lewis, LMFT, CEDS, believes that everyone has an essence, an offering, and uniqueness that lives within them.  On the podcast, Karin shares her story of recovery and why the complexity of eating disorders disconnects people from living from their own potential.  Karin is passionate about offering those healing from eating disorders comprehensive and compassionate care that includes the integration of the patient's family and treatment team. She also shares how eating disorder patterns are isolating and how healing it is when people know they can ask for help and receive support.  Karin shares her personal stories of recovery and encourages those on their healing journey to know that recovery is hard, but they will pass through to the other side.  The Karin Lewis Eating Disorder Recovery Center is expanding nationwide. Learn more here- Karinlewisedc.com Connect with Karin @recoverybitespod @karinlewisedc

A great question. I get why you're asking it. And I question that I get all of the time. On the podcast, I share why losing weight is so important to you, what I know about dieting and intentional weight loss pursuits, and my thoughts on weight loss and intuitive eating. 

On the podcast, Amee shares how people new to intuitive eating often get sidetracked when they treat intuitive eating as the “screw it” diet. She shares how being free of guilt and worry around food helps improve your own health and dieting may feel necessary to do for folks when people around them are dieting too. Amee also shares the importance of safety and choice for everyone, but especially for those that live in marginalized bodies where safety isn't readily accessible.    Amee Severson (she/they) is a Registered Dietitian whose work focuses on body liberation, fat acceptance, and intuitive eating through a social justice lens. Amee's passion is providing safe and inclusive care for the LGBTQ+ community.    Amee is the co-author of  How to Raise an Intuitive Eater How to Raise an Intuitive Eater: Raising the Next Generation with Food and Body Confidence https://www.amazon.com/How-Raise-Intuitive-Eater-Generation-ebook/dp/B092T7JZXB Learn more about Amee's work at www.prospernutritionwellness.com Follow Amee on Instagram @ameeistalking

On the podcast, Ginelle Testa, body positivity advocate and recovery and mental health writer, shares her healing journey with food and body acceptance. She shares how mindfulness helped her tune into her body so she could practice giving herself enough food, how recognizing that her bingeing was a result of not eating enough every day and how connecting with communities has helped her build strength and ride out challenges.  We also shared lots of personal stories around cooking, writing, and sharing authentically.  Ginelle is working on her forthcoming memoir “Make a Home of You: A Memoir”. Connect with Ginelle on Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/ginelletesta/ And read some of her articles here- http://www.ginelletesta.com/  

In this episode, I share my year and a half long experience with chronic pain in my hip. I share what it was like to deal with chronic pain and how it wore on me physically and mentally. I offered what I had to transform in my thinking around my pain so I could accept my pain and be present to it. And finally, I shared how chronic pain has been an amazing opportunity for me to treat my body with great love and respect. 

Amy Gardner, certified eating disorder registered dietician and yoga teacher, is passionate about helping those with compulsive exercise heal their relationship with movement. On the podcast, Amy shares what compulsive exercise is and how to detect it, how important it is to reflect on whether exercise is additive or detractive to the quality of your life, and why moving toward exercise as a way to heal and create connection is a more positive approach (if available) than stopping exercise altogether.  Learn more about Amy and her work at metrowestnutrition.com and imovebook.com @imovewithamy (IG) @mwnutr (IG) @MetroWestNutr (FB) @imovemethod (FB) iMove virtual group (starting in March) iMove Clinician Training (pilot, website in development - people can email me amy@metrowestnutrition.com or visit imovebook.com)  

Dacy Gillespie, owner of Mindful Closet,  intuitively guides her clients to discover what they feel best in by helping them to let go of the external messages they've been given about what they should wear and get to the heart of what's making them uncomfortable about their clothes. On the podcast, Dacy and I discuss the parallels between creating a mindful closet and intuitive eating, such as dropping external rules and using a somatic experience to determine what feels best. Dacy shares how having a mindful closet can be a warm welcome for those having a hard time accepting their “now” body and why it's okay to grieve pieces in your closet before you let them go.  Check out Dacy's group program, Making Space: https://mindfulcloset.lpages.co/making-space/ Instagram.com/mindfulcloset Mindfulcloset.com

On the podcast, Melanie Klein, writer, speaker and professor of Sociology and Gender/Women's Studies, shares how understanding systems and constructs like sexism, diet culture, the patriarchy and white supremacy were pivotal in helping her move from blaming herself for how she felt about her body and not seeing any other choice but pursue a thinner body, to palpable relief. Now, Melanie answers the call to share her knowledge and expertise to help folks come to a place of body neutrality and acceptance so they can feel empowered.  Melanie recommended reading:  Feminism is for Everybody by bell hooks Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks Learn more about Melanie and the books she's published here:  http://www.melaniecklein.com/ Connect with Melanie here:  IG: @melmelklein @ybicoalition  

In this solo episode, Tara shares why she never considered herself a perfectionist, yet how it was clear that she's been a perfectionist for most of her life. She shares how she defines perfectionism as a strategic tactic to secure safety and how to move forward to dismantle perfectionistic patterns.   

Dr. Lindo Bacon shares why calling out and noticing diet culture can be so challenging because it's countercultural and risky, why what diet culture is selling is only creating the problem, the importance of looking at your own experience with food as validation, challenging weight stigma and advocating for every body being worthy of respect.  Dr. Bacon also shares their personal story around their gender identity and offers reassurance that our past stories can be reclaimed as a source of power and much more around self-acceptance, hope and living inside of your body.  Dr. Lindo Bacon is a researcher and former professor, and for nearly two decades taught courses in social justice, health, weight, and nutrition. Dr. Bacon holds a Ph.D. in physiology with a specialty in nutrition, and master's degrees in psychology and exercise metabolism. Dr. Bacon has mined their deep academic proficiency, their clinical expertise, and their personal experience to write two bestselling books, Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight, and the co-authored Body Respect: What Conventional Health Books Get Wrong, Leave Out, or Just Plain Fail to Understand about Weight. Their newly released book, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming it for the Better) , takes their inspiring message beyond size, to shaping a culture of empathy, equity, and true belonging. Twitter and Facebook: @LindoBaconX Instagram: @LindoBacon Check out  Radical Belonging: https://lindobacon.com/radical-belonging-book/

For many folks, the idea of trusting their body feels foreign. We've been taught to prioritize external rules and dismiss information our body shares with us. We haven't been taught how to celebrate or even honor the wisdom of our bodies.  Yet, the lack of trust we have in our bodies is what makes us feel so out of control around food, emotionally eat, binge, and feel so dissatisfied with our bodies.  I've designed my Trust Your Body Framework as a tool for folks that want to take steps toward feeling free and peaceful around food, accept their bodies and feel emotionally empowered.  On the podcast, I share the components of the Trust Your Body Framework and how it may support you on your own journey.   

Virginia Sole-Smith woke up to the impact of diet culture when her daughter had a significant health crisis that drove her to not eat when she was 2 months old because she didn't feel safe. This was the catalyst for Virginia to examine her own relationship with food and to decide that she needed to make food joyful and her home a safe space for her family.  On the podcast, Virginia and I discussed what it's like to not believe we're dieting, but are.  Virginia talked about the Noom app, which is essentially a diet for smart people in different packaging. She wrote an informative and insightful article here. We talked about the so-called obesity epidemic and how the Body Mass Index, politics and the pharmaceutical industry have played a pivotal role in how we look at obesity. And we talked about white feminism and it's origins with equal pay and abortion rights.   

Sumner Brooks, RD is educating and empowering parents to raise intuitive eaters, even when they've had a tumultuous relationship with food and their own body.  On the podcast, Sumner shares the starting point for parents raising an intuitive eater is creating a paradigm of health based on personal values and teaching children how to relate to their bodies, which includes considering all of the other ways their bodies are impacted by their choices (food isn't the primary one, it's just one of them).  Sumner also emphasizes that raising an intuitive eater isn't about being a perfect parent, it's allowing parents to heal where they are.  We also talked about how our children can be our greatest teachers around food and our body and how parents can not be happy with their own bodies, and still encourage their children to be happy with theirs.  Sumner shared that when parents are worried about their child's health and weight, it's important to understand the significant health issues behind dieting and weight cycling.  Social media handles: @IntuitiveEatingRD @edrdpro Sumner is the co-author of How to Raise an Intuitive Eater that is available now for preorder and comes out on January 4, 2022.

Dr. Kimberly Higney, a chiropractor specializing in natural hormonal health, personally knows what it's like to turn her attention away from her body's wisdom and what it's like to honor it. In this conversation, Dr. Kimberly drops some amazing truth bombs that will land in your heart and fill you with relief.  Dr. Kimberly and I talked about practicing self-compassion when understanding that we have patterns that served us at one point in our lives and those patterns may no longer serve us. We talked about what it's like to number all emotions, not just the unwanted ones, and how to be with our body when we are in pain. Dr. Kimberly offers some advice on how to find nourishment in all areas of our lives, including what information we receive. We also discussed fear and love, and how to be curious when considering our choices.  Dr. Kimberly is the owner of Cardea on the Seacoast of New Hampshire.  Follow Dr. Kimberly on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/cardea_seacoast/  

Jenna Hollenstein, nutrition therapist and meditation teacher, knows how life-transforming the practices of intuitive eating are. She shares her unique approach from a meditation and Buddhist lens in her book “Eat to Love: A Mindful Guide to Transforming Your Relationship with Food, Body, and Life.”  On the podcast, Jenna and I talked about how important it is to expand the intuitive eating community by expanding communication, access and additional ways of healing. Jenna talked about how important it is to get folks in the same room to share openly so they can hear they are not alone. Jenna also shared the opportunity men have with intuitive eating, which is a practice of being with emotions.  Check out Jenna's latest book Mommysattva.  Connect with Jenna here:  jennahollenstein.com https://www.facebook.com/jhollenstein  https://www.instagram.com/jennahollenstein/  

Krista Handfield, LICSW is a health equity and justice-oriented social worker rooted in Health At Every Size. On the podcast, Krista shares why everyone is impacted by weight stigma, and how important it is to understand the poor health outcomes that folks in larger bodies experience because of this form of oppression. She also shares the importance of living with the body we have, instead of putting our life on hold for the body we're told we should have. We talked about why breaking up with exercise may be a necessary step in healing because for some it's been a form of punishment for living in a larger body. Krista shares where we typically experience weight stigma, among our family, in health systems and in schools.  Learn more about Krista and the work she's doing at SHAPE. https://www.shapecenterri.com/  

Brianna Wilkerson, Holistic Health Coach shares her story around how she's moved away from emotional eating and eating disordered behavior by understanding that her worth is more than her weight.  Brianna shares how she now understands how she was designing her life around receiving external validation around her weight, success and bank account. Brianna know that when she tries to pursue weight loss, it only leaves her exhausted and unfulfilled.  On the podcast, we also talked about how important it is to offer ourselves nourishment in other areas of our lives and how what we may really need is connection.  I had a great conversation with Brianna on her podcast More Than Your Weight - Episode 102: How to Trust Your Body and Free Your Mind around Food. You can listen to it here.  ** On this episode, Brianna and I talked about a diet called Whole 30. On the Whole 30 diet, certain foods are considered “good” foods and better than other foods. In Intuitive Eating, we unlearn the diet mentality and practice eating for satisfaction and our health. For most people, following Whole 30 is not an intuitive eating practice.  Learn more about Brianna here.  Brianna is also hosting Your Healthiest Years Yet Summit, a 5-day free summit for women over 40 starting October 18th. I'm presenting How Over-Giving is Impacting Your Relationship with Food and Your Health!  Learn more and sign up here. 

Dr. Melody Moore, psychologist and yoga teacher, is leading a movement of personal and collective healing and liberation. She founded the EmbodyLove Movement so that everyone can claim beauty on their own terms.  On the podcast, Melody shares:  Her personal experience watching her mother's disordered eating patterns as a young child.  Her profound healing from trying to keep her body safe and unattractive, to knowing true liberation and pleasure.  Her vision for what the world needs to heal from the thin body ideal and the patriarchal oppressive systems.  How important intention and consciousness is to embody love and feel worthy of our own love and belonging. Visit Dr. Moore's website at drmelodymoore.com Support and receive support from the Embody Love Movement.  https://www.embodylovemovement.org/

Anne Beverly Chow, Therapist, and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, tells her clients over and over that everyone is worthy of love, belonging and connection. She shares her own journey from going to Weight Watchers at the age of 9 to the awe and appreciation she now experiences when she's listening to the signals her body shares with her.  On the podcast, we talked about  ~ the history of dieting and how diet companies market to people's fears and insecurities,  ~ how important it is to accept your whole self and welcome the parts of you that you want to run from, and  ~ how to examine your weight loss motivation by asking yourself the question “what if I lost weight and the rest of the world never saw my thinner body, would I still want to lose weight?”.  One of the poem's Anne read was:  Friend, This is The Only Way by Sachal Sarmast  Friend, this is the only way to learn the secret way: Ignore the paths of others, even the saints' steep trails. Don't follow. Don't journey at all. Rip the veil from your face. Anne also recommended reading  Starfish by Lisa Fipps Find out more about Anne here- https://www.bluebirdcounselingcenter.com/

We're gently but firmly shedding some light on how your relationship with food and your body was impacted by your mother.  If you grew up with a mother that was dieting, judging her body, restricting what she was eating, worried about weight loss, commented negatively on her body, used exercise as a way of weight loss, talked about clean eating and calorie counting, you received and internalized it for yourself in your own unique way.  Listen in as Tara explores how to explore this complex relationship for yourself and how to heal around it.