Life After Diets

In this episode, we're talking about the challenging and often unspoken topic of hopelessness and despair in relation to recovery from eating disorders. We offer personal experiences of the complex emotions intertwined with despair, such as fear, sadness, and anger. We also discuss what mindfulness, connection, and individuality might have to do with navigating despair. We discuss the power of bel...

In this episode, we explore the complex emotion of anger. We discuss how anger can be a suppressed emotion (and create conditions for bingeing and restricting) because sometimes, it's an emotion we are afraid to feel. On the other hand, it can be a high-energy emotion that just takes a lot of wrangling to keep regulated!   For the first time ever on this podcast, we actually discuss -- live, and w...

In this episode, we explore the complex role guilt plays in our lives, particularly around topics like eating, self-care, and productivity. We start things off with some chit-chat about recording while standing up -- Stef has a moment of body image angst, revisted at the end of the episode. We discuss how guilt can stem from societal expectations and personal values, and whether it truly helps dri...

In this engaging episode of their podcast, Stef and Sarah dive deep into the topic of mindful eating. Stef shares some insightful anecdotes about how clients often come to her with a preconceived notion of how they "should" be eating. Sarah chimes in with practical advice from her workshops, suggesting that eating mindfully isn't about being perfect but more about being present. Throughout the epi...

This episode features a conversation with Danielle Bublitz, a registered dietitian from Southern California who has lived with type 1 diabetes for over 20 years. Danielle shares insights on the stigma surrounding type 2 diabetes, what it means to have prediabetes, and the tendency of wellness culture to pathologize blood sugar spikes in people without diabetes (including people with eating disorde...

In this episode of the "WTH Effect" podcast, hosts Stef and Sarah dive deep into the "What the Hell Effect," discussing personal experiences, psychological factors, and actionable strategies to cope with this common eating phenomenon. They explore the intersection of binge eating, restriction, and emotional regulation, providing valuable insights into how to manage the cycle of "breaking food rule...

In this episode of the "Life After Diets" podcast, we explore the journey of coping with depression in eating disorder recovery . Join us as we discuss personal stories, coping strategies, and nervous system theory with our hosts, Sarah Dosanjh, psychotherapist and author of I Can't Stop Eating , and Stefanie Michele, Certified Intuitive Eating Coach and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, both rec...

You know what's hard in a life after diets? When people comment on your body or your food choices. How are we supposed to respond? It is a tough balance between setting boundaries, managing conflict, and not feeling triggered. The conversation starts out with a reflection of Stef's conversation the previous day with her Mom, but moves through different scenarios that we might run up against in our...

If we're not dieting, won't we just be completely out of control with food? That's the risk when we feel like we can't trust ourselves. In this episode, we talk about what self-trust is -- including how we thought about it before recovery and how we think about it now. And maybe most importantly, how we developed more of it! This episode was livestreamed to our private community so we also answer...

How do other people make decisions about what to eat? Have you ever been interested in understanding what makes a person choose the breakfast or lunch or snack that they choose? Sarah and Stef offer their personal decision making processes of the meals they ate the day of recording this podcast. From there, the conversation branches off into topics like practical hunger, interoception (a principle...

This week we are talking to Sam Abbott, RD about PCOS! Many of our listeners have been diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian sydrome) and medical recommendations to manage symptoms are usually geared towards weight loss and food restrictions. How does someone with PCOS balance this condition within a nondiet value system? We'll look at: What exactly is PCOS? What can be mistaken for PCOS? How do...

This episode is all about relapse in the context of eating disorder recovery. We cover topics such as shame, self-awareness, boundaries, dopamine regulation, catastrophization, and the impact of life circumstances on relapse. Relapses can be very distressing; it's tempting to think we've failed or that we'll "never really get better." In the second half of this episode, we talk about the idea of "...

This week we are talking about attachment styles. The psychological concepts of anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, and disorganized attachment have been used to understand our relationship dynamics with other people , but can it also be used to understand our relationship dynamics with food ? For example, anxious attachment in relationships looks like constantly seeking validation and having...

The world talks a lot about self-care, but many people in this community feel selfish taking care of themselves. It can be seen as indulgent to take the time to tend to our own needs, especially as mothers -- check out the second half of the podcast where Stef addresses this from her perspective as a parent (her take might surprise you). So what's the difference between self care and self indulgen...

This episode is a review of "The Hunger Habit" by Judson Brewer, MD, PhD. Is this a book that can help people who struggle with binge eating and disordered eating? Will Sarah and Stef come to the same conclusions about the book? Most importantly, will Stef remember her note-to-self about making her points of contention calmly? I guess you'll have to tune in to find out! Sarah's Connect and Recover...

We are back with another recovery story -- this time from Louise, a member of our community (which you can join here , by the way!) Louise explains her story of disordered eating and restriction starting in adolescence, eventually leading her to give up dieting to lean into an anti-diet approach. Like so many others in ED recovery, Louise had to deal with weight gain and body image issues in excha...

Join us live on Monday 20th May 2024 in Brighton: https://www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com/evening-in-brighton/ And on Thursday 23rd May 2024 in Bournemouth: https://www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com/day-retreat-on-the-beach/   Join our growing support community. This community is for you if you want to improve your relationship with food and become more comfortable in your own skin. Community membership...

This episode was a toughie, not gonna lie. It's really, really hard to have this discussion without potentially triggering some folks -- and we only know that because at one time, it triggered us, too. But this podcast is valuable because it does explore nuances, including the things less talked about in the anti-diet world. At the end of the day, the desire for weight loss remains after we stop d...

In this episode, the hosts really get into how scarcity affects us, especially when it comes to food. They start by breaking down what scarcity truly means—it's not just about running out of something, but feeling like you never have enough of what you need. This feeling can lead to behaviors like hoarding or binge-eating, not just with food, but in many parts of our lives. They share personal sto...

This body image centered episode delves into the distinctions between body positivity and body neutrality, offering a nuanced exploration of how individuals can relate to their bodies beyond conventional narratives of self-love. The conversation begins by distinguishing body positivity from body neutrality. Originally, body positivity emerged from the fat activist movements of the 1960s, aiming to...

In this podcast episode, we explore the concept of Gentle Nutrition, explained as combining basic nutritional knowledge with body attunement. This 10th principle of Intuitive Eating is about recognizing how different foods affect one's body while maintaining a non-restrictive approach to eating.  We also touch on personal experiences with nutritional adjustments post-recovery from eating disorders...

This conversation discusses the challenges of confronting the aging process, with Sarah sharing a recent moment of seeing photographs of herself and thinking she looked...well, older. This introspection is mirrored by a conversation about Stef's Wednesday Weekly email , which talked about the "emergency" feeling of noticing differences in sagging skin and redistribution of body proportions approac...

In this podcast episode, the hosts explore the complex relationship between food and emotional needs. The conversation begins with a reflection on Stef's Instagram post suggesting that food serves as a portal to solitude, comfort, pleasure, and escape, making the idea of changing one's relationship with food seem like a sacrifice of essential coping mechanisms. The discussion delves into personal...

In this episode, we have a pretty cool chat with Stephanie Dodier, reformed dieter and coach for women post diet-culture. We dive deep into how society kinda messes with our heads, telling us we need to look a certain way to feel good about ourselves. Dodier brings up something called "the safety of conformity," which is basically about how we mix up feeling safe with actually being confident. Ste...

In this playful and insightful episode, our hosts dive into the intriguing world of "What I Eat in a Day" videos and the complex feelings they evoke. They kick things off with a light-hearted banter about the unexpected topics that might arise in a conversation about daily diets, quickly steering the conversation towards the deeper curiosity and comparison that drive people towards these videos. O...