“Why are you eating so much?” “Eat fewer calories.” “Cut the gluten.”

In South Asian communities, comments like these aren’t rare, they’re routine. Often masked as concern, they echo a culture deeply entrenched in body shaming, food policing, and impossible beauty standards.

In this episode, I sit down with Sarosh Ibrahim, a fearless voice dismantling toxic narratives around body image, self-worth, and control.

We unpack the often unspoken but deeply felt shame so many South Asian women carry, the shame of eating, of taking up space, of not fitting the mold.

Sarosh shares her raw, personal journey through disordered eating, being hypersexualized and shamed for her body from a young age, and her fight to reclaim autonomy in a culture that polices women’s bodies at every turn. We confront the oppressive “lambi-gori-patli” (tall, fair, thin) beauty ideal and its insidious grip on generations of Desi households.

Together, we talk about healing, resisting, and redefining what it means to live in a body that’s been constantly judged, and finally finding comfort in your own skin.

If you’ve ever been told you’re too much, too big, or not enough, this conversation is for you.