Posts Tagged ‘Podcast’

Episode description:

Lisa Whalen, PhD, is the author of Stable Weight: A Memoir of Horses, Hunger, and Hope. Her writing has also appeared in An Introvert in an Extrovert World, The Simpsons’ Beloved Springfield, Introvert, Dear, and Adanna, among other publications. Lisa teaches writing and literature at North Hennepin Community College and is an equestrian and volunteer for the Animal Humane Society.

In this episode of Peace Meal, Lisa describes two key components of her eating disorder recovery: writing and horseback riding. Underscoring the multifaceted nature of the healing process, she reflects on how writing and riding each offered unique lessons for her mind and body. Writing, she explains, supported and extended her therapy lessons, while riding provided a space to put the lessons into practice. Lisa introduces us to a few of the horses that served as mentors throughout her recovery, highlighting the lessons they could teach us all about staying present, taking up space, and being imperfect. She then translates how these and other recovery “nuggets”—the wisdom learned from horses, writing, and therapy—continue to serve her life and career.

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Episode description:

Emily Layden is a writer and former high school English teacher from upstate New York. A graduate of Stanford University, her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Marie Claire, The Billfold, and Runner’s World. She joins us in this episode of Peace Meal to discuss her debut novel All Girls. We explore the depiction of disordered eating and anxiety in the book and society more generally, using Emily’s experience with the co-occurring concerns as context along the way. 

We center our conversation on one of the characters of All Girls, Macy, who struggles with clinical anxiety and an eating disorder resembling ARFID. Emily tells us about her decision to write Macy as she did, eschewing graphic descriptions of behaviors to highlight Macy’s anxious thoughts instead. She describes what she hopes All Girls adds to the larger conversation about eating disorders and the adolescent females among whom eating disorders are particularly prevalent. Emphasizing the importance of taking both eating disorders and young women more seriously, we explore how society tends to think similarly of both.

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Episode description:

Holly Toronto is a Certified Master Level Coach who specializes in body image. She has five years of experience helping people stop prioritizing other people’s expectations of beauty, belief, or behavior so that they can live their life from a place of wholeness, fully aligned with the truth of who they are. Holly joins us in this episode of Peace Meal to explore factors that impact our relationship with our bodies, as well as some strategies to improve it. 

Holly first unpacks how purity culture shaped the way she learned to relate to her own body. Messages about sexuality contributed to body distrust and triggered negative body image at a young age. Her body shame increased as she grew into early adulthood and experienced acne. She adopted a “pure food” diet meant to clear her skin, but lost weight and received validation for that instead.

Though it seemed normal and even “healthy,” in reality, the highly restrictive diet was taking a serious toll on Holly’s mental and physical wellbeing. And then came a turning point. Holly shares how finding intuitive eating impacted her life and career by challenging misguided ideas of health and set her on a path toward food freedom and body trust. She dispels common myths about intuitive eating and describes how she walks alongside her clients who adopt it. Emphasizing the importance of body trust and partnership, she offers tips for anyone seeking to heal their relationships with their bodies.

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Episode description:

Maddy Walters is a psychology student passionate about eating disorder research and advocacy. She brings her passion and personal experience to this episode of Peace Meal to help us examine the intersection of social media and eating disorder recovery. We explore what it’s like to share your recovery online and to engage with others sharing theirs.

Maddy reflects on what she’s learned by creating a recovery Instagram account and how her recovery has evolved in the time since she did. Highlighting the key benefits and challenges of participating in an online recovery community, she offers insight into both the rewarding and tricky parts. She emphasizes the importance of protecting and prioritizing recovery—online and off—and leaves us with practical strategies for others trying to heal in a social media world.

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Episode description:

Katie Price is a registered nurse and yoga teacher whose understanding of what it means to care for bodies—both hers and others’—has been shaped by her recovery from anorexia. She cares deeply about walking alongside others struggling with eating disorders and hopes that by sharing her story, she can offer hope and support.

In this episode of Peace Meal, Katie offers exactly that. She shares the many gifts within her story of illness and healing, revealing the light, growth, and support that can be found in moments of darkness and challenge.

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Episode description:

Abby Anderson is a business school graduate who works a corporate job and is passionate about mental health, yoga, and personal development. Diagnosed with anorexia in the summer of 2018, she has experienced a series of ups and downs worth noting to anyone with an eating disorder or disordered eating.

In this episode of Peace Meal, Abby tells us about the process of her eating disorder recovery, including the shifts in motivation she has experienced during it. She begins with the rock-bottom moment she first sought help. Exhausted and physically depleted, she recalls being highly motivated to make a change then.

But, as is typical in recovery, her motivation ebbed and flowed as time went on, and she learned why healing is often described as a nonlinear process. “Your body catches up a lot before your mind does,” she says.

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