If you are suffering from problems of negative body image and/or an eating disorder, than you know how hard the work is to improve these problems. Whether you are working towards recovery or improving body image, one thing you can do is regularly listen to podcasts.
All day every day, you are exposed to societal messages which pressure us to partake in and accept a “diet culture” mentality. This mentality implies a preference for being slender. This mentality is built upon the false idea that health is determined by weight. This mentality is the force behind problems of sizeism and healthism.
This work is so hard because you cannot get away from these messages. At work your co-workers are all talking about the new diet that has helped them lose weight. At home you are hearing family talk about eating healthy or unhealthy. When you go out with friends you hear lots of self-body-shaming. And although you may find some people who are body positive or standing up for body acceptance in the media, the majority of what you see and hear all supports an ideal body size.
Because the messages are so deeply infiltrated into society, podcasts are a great way to intentionally expose yourself to information which supports body positivity, body compassion, and body acceptance. Podcasts give you proof there are people who have anti-diet mentality, and this is what you need when the majority of the information you are taking in on a daily basis is focused on losing weight.
Here are a few different podcasts to try out:
Dietitians Unplugged: listen to dietitians Aaron Flores and Glenys Oysten discuss how to stop looking at weight as a factor of health and understanding what drives negative body image and eating disorder problems.
https://dietitiansunplugged.libsyn.com/
Food Psych: Christy Harrison, an anti-diet dietitian, discusses with people their relationship with food and its impact on problems of body image and eating disorders.
https://christyharrison.com/foodpsych
Mom Genes: Rachel Coleman (therapist) and Tina LaBoy (dietitian) are moms and focus on helping moms love and accept their “MOM BOD”.
https://www.momgenesthepodcast.com/
The F*ck It Diet: Caroline Dooner, an ex-chronic dieter, talks about how to live a diet-free life.
https://thefuckitdiet.com/pod/
The Beyond the Food Show: Stephanie Dodier is a clinical nutritionist who wants to help people take their life back from diet culture.
https://www.stephaniedodier.com/podcast-episodes/
And here’s a new podcast focusing on issues of eating disorder and diet culture from Julie Allen and the Mary Rose Foundation where you can catch an interview with me about eating disorder treatment.
A Rose is a Rose
https://maryrosefoundation.org/blog
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