Dana Monsees is a Dietitian-Nutritionist and Body Image Coach specializing in neutral nutrition for chronic health conditions, gut and adrenal issues.  In this episode she shares her extensive experience with wellness culture, restrictive dieting trends, and the role mental and emotional issues play in our overall physical health.  

We discuss factors that played into both of us developing an eating disorder including but not limited to perfectionism, people pleasing, chronic illness, and being raised in a home where taboo topics were not discussed.

We also reflect upon the evolution of ideal body types from our youth in the 90s and early 2000s to today, the variance of which shows just how unattainable a "perfect" body is. She stresses that not everyone (in fact most people) with an eating disorder are not underweight. Disordered eating is a coping skill to satisfy a need to feel in control. It can be rooted in a desire to control weight, but it's often more deeply rooted in the need to cope with unaddressed trauma.

I hope Dana's personal stories and nutritional expertise resonate with listeners who feel stuck between a rock (ever evolving wellness trends) and a hard place (chronic illness, perfectionist tendencies, and a desire to find the magic bullet to fix our issues). 

Find Dana:

https://www.realfoodwithdana.com/

https://www.realfoodwithdana.com/whole-hearted-eating-podcast/

Instagram: @danamonsees_cns    @wholeheartedeatingpod

Find your host:

https://www.paigelavell.com/

Instagram: @paigelavellofficial 

Have questions about the episode, a guest you'd love for me to interview, or a topic you'd like for me to cover? Email me at [email protected]!
 

If you enjoy this podcast, please click Follow to get all new episodes and write a five-star rating & review on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. This truly helps the show to grow and reach more audience members and potential guests. I appreciate you and am honored to have you as a listener! 

Lilly Stairs is an entrepreneur and autoimmune "triple threat" who turned her experience with chronic illness into a successful career. She is the founder of Patient Authentic and Chronic Boss Collective.

We discuss the challenges of obtaining a diagnosis, how it feels to experience medical gaslighting, and the lengths we have gone to feel seen and heard. We share our personal experiences with restrictive dieting as a means to address our autoimmune symptoms and the toll it took on us both mentally and physically. We also stress the need for less judgment in both traditional and alternative medicine and embracing the notion that every person's health journey is unique.

Lilly reflects upon her struggle to find a place in the chronic illness community as a highly success-driven woman whose symptoms are predominantly invisible. Because of this she is passionate about creating a positive, motivational, and supportive community for women who can relate. She is an inspiring force for change, and I know listeners will feel heard and motivated after listening to this episode.

Find Lilly:

https://www.chronicbosscollective.com/

https://patientauthentic.com/

Instagram: @lillystairs  @chronicbossco 

Find your host:

https://www.paigelavell.com/

Instagram: @paigelavellofficial 

Have questions about the episode, a guest you'd love for me to interview, or a topic you'd like for me to cover? Email me at [email protected]!
 

If you enjoy this podcast, please click Follow to get all new episodes and write a five-star rating & review on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. This truly helps the show to grow and reach more audience members and potential guests. I appreciate you and am honored to have you as a listener!