Body Kindness

I finally got a chance to record with Bernie in person. I shared some frustration with the education sessions at FNCE (aka dietitian prom). The dietetics profession is riddled with weight stigma and I realized we have such a long way to go to disentangle health and well-being from diet culture. Bernie gets really upset when I share the "disaster preparedness" content in the Whole 30 program. He ha...

If you received a cancer diagnosis, would you say "thank you?" I don't think I could. This week's "body betrayal" guest Amy Herbert is grateful to cancer for helping her discover a whole new appreciation for her body -- scars and all. Amy was forever changed by her cancer experience for the better. In this post-traumatic growth story, you'll learn how she forged this new relationship with her body...

When a woman has trouble conceiving, she is likely to blame herself, feel alone, inadequate and ashamed that her body is broken. Liz Shaw has been trying to conceive for years and her fertility treatments are not working (yet). In her "body betrayal" letter she shares why she struggles with fertility and how the power of community is helping her through all the low points. Her Bumps to Baby online...

Politics, Hollywood, and your neighborhood. Sexual abuse is happening everywhere and people are speaking up. And finally we're believing them. If you're shaking your head at Charlie Rose, Roy Moore, Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey (and others) you're probably wondering what you can do about it. There's a new book out by author and activist  Jaclyn Friedman,  Unscrewed: Women, Sex, Power and How to...

Imagine one day finding out the tingling you've been feeling isn't normal numbness, it's actually caused by "beautiful bright spots" in your brain. Now imagine you're not yet a teenager. That's exactly how it happened for Anna Sweeney , now a disabled woman and disability rights advocate. In her "body betrayal" letter, Anna shares how she transformed these boxes of difficulty she wanted to ignore...

Have you ever felt like your body has betrayed you? Bad things happen to good people all the time. Yet when we go through something painful, we often lack the self-compassion and optimism it takes to find our way out of our suffering. What makes some people more resilient than others? Their mindset -- believing they will get through the adversity and in some cases, believing the difficulty changes...

Rebecca Hall was only 25 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It's been a long and challenging road for her, and Rebecca wants other women, especially young women with metastatic breast cancer, to know "you are not alone." Tune in to hear us talk about Rebecca's journey. Watch Bare, the film she co-wrote with director Kerith Lemon at www. BareShortFilm.com , and share it with anyon...

What if we all were fat activists? It's an interesting thought for people who are finally at the place of rejecting diets and a singular (thin) standard for beauty and health. Activism is not always getting angry and standing on the street with a sign screaming. Sometimes it IS that, but there are lots of forms of "activism" if you take a broader definition. You can throw a pool party and rock you...

When Rosie Molinary was looking in the mirror at her frizzy, unruly hair in the dead of summer and freaking out over what product would 'tame the mane,' she had an epiphany: 'I have bought into the beauty myth of what society says I should look like.' She told herself, 'I'm going to work with boys in an alternative school. Not one of them will care about the texture of my hair, but they will care...

Neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt's TED Talk "Why dieting usually doesn't work"  has been viewed over 4 million times. She really didn't want to do a TED Talk, but she was so driven to put a science-based, anti-diet book out into the world that she marched her introverted self onto the TED stage, stood on the big red dot, said what we needed to hear, and eventually landed her book 'Why Diets Make Us Fa...

Tiara syndrome. Tunneling. Time Confetti. If you don't already know about these terms, you will after hearing me talk with award winning journalist and bestselling author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love & Play when No One has the Time , Brigid Schulte . When we don't have the time or make the most of our time, we get overwhelmed. Anxious. Stressed Out. Burned Out. And then the self-criticism just rolls...

I've been helping my friend, former chronic dieter, and former "winner" of The Biggest Loser Bernie Salazar practice Body Kindness for nearly two years. (It's a process, folks!) Bernie has been stepping on the scale again and asking his doctor about his weight. He's looking for some advice from me. We spend a big chunk of this episode getting to the core of his concerns. He wants to have more ener...

One day Melanie Klein said 'I am no longer going to the gym,' and it was one of the best decisions she could have made for her health. Melanie used to believe that something was wrong with her body and no amount of running or gym visits made that better. Then she tried yoga and learned how to love herself, inside and out. Now she wants to help you to see the beautiful potential of yoga to CONNECT...

We're practicing yoga daily the month of September to explore how yoga can help you connect to your body through breath and build the self-compassion you need to live with Body Kindness. (Important reminder: Connection is one of the three Body Kindness pillars… Connection to your body and connection to other people, places, and things that make up your world.) Anna Guest Jelley has connected yoga...

I catch up with my friend and former "winner" of The Biggest Loser, Bernie Salazar, after a bit of a summer break on our chats. (For new listeners, Bernie and I are chatting about how we're doing at our own Body Kindness practice for mutual support and accountability, usually once a month.) In this episode, you'll hear us talk about the "juggle struggle" of parenting and the cultural differences I...

In this episode I talk with fellow HAES dietitian Glenys Oyston and body image coach Sarah Vance about the confusing and difficult space between "non dieting" and "healthy eating". There's a process to changing to a non-dieter, which includes letting go of food rules, and then working with your individual food preferences as you build intuitive eating skills and learn how to "feel your feels". We...

Holley Grainger is a registered dietitian -- "the expert", but even experts struggle. Holley e-mailed me privately and asked about a family member who wanted to try the HCG diet (on top of the other dozens she tried that have not worked) and I asked her to join me on a podcast to discuss it. In this episode Holley opens up about her genetically larger body compared to her peers, her weight gain du...

Whether you're a chronic dieter, a person who "eats clean", or a dedicated exerciser who never seems to take a rest day, you never know when the day will come when your eyes open up and you realize what you're doing is no longer working for you. "How did I get here and how can I get out?". When you first have your "wake up call," pay attention. You won't have all the answers for what you should do...

Elyse Resch knows all about Intuitive Eating because she is the co-author of the Intuitive Eating book and workbook , along with previous podcast guest Evelyn Tribole ( Episode 26 ). In this episode, we talk about Intuitive Eating in the family dynamic. We are all born with an internal wisdom, but we get pulled away by diet culture and external regulation of eating - even as young kids with well-i...

When the Netflix Original 'To the Bone' was released many helping professionals who work with people with eating disorders were not too happy. The primary complaint was concern that (once again) stereotypes for eating disorders would be reinforced by centering the story around a very thin white woman. See here: How Current Eating Disorder Discourse Fails The LGBTQ Community. And How We Can Change...

Kate T Parker is known for her viral photos of strong girls just being themselves, which is now compiled into a book, Strong is the New Pretty . This beautiful book celebrates girls for who they are, not their appearance or shape. Growing up Kate was always encouraged to be herself -- messy hair, muddy knees, and all! As a mom herself, she passes this empowering mindset on to who kids and she chal...

Guys have body image issues too, they just aren't talking about it. In fact, research shows over 90% of men struggle in some way with body dissatisfaction and negative affect (negative opinions of self), or negative emotions and thoughts towards one's body (Castonguay et al. 2014). In this episode, fellow HAES dietitian Aaron Flores and I discuss the "dad bod" that requires men to have muscle and...

I sat down with my long time friend, fellow dietitian, mama, and co-author of the new book 'Born to Eat' , Leslie Schilling . We share our experience as kids with family members who dieted and how we began to notice the intergenerational impact of dieting as adults with kids of our own. But that's just the warm up. In one of my favorite conversations to date, you'll learn about why Leslie had to d...

We all know the voice of the "inner critic" where nothing is ever good enough and you're on high alert about… well, most everything. The job of the critic voice (which is not YOU) is to keep you worried and afraid. Anita Johnston thinks worrying is a good use of imagination because it brings transformational change. A pioneer of the use of metaphor in helping people heal, Anita discusses how you c...

In this episode, Bernie and I finally catch up on the mind-blowing podcast episodes from "masturbation month" in May. We also discuss the stigma we faced growing up around body pleasure and we share our passion for helping our kids grow up with better sexual health as part of their overall well-being. --- You can subscribe to Body Kindness on iTunes and Stitcher. Enjoy the show? Please rate it on...