Life. Unrestricted.

Download Episode! Hey lovely radicals, podcast alert! This week on the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, it's my pleasure to talk to Andrea Wachter from California. Andrea is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the author of "Getting Over Overeating". She is also the co-author of "The Don't Diet, Live-It Workbook" and "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Breaking the 'I feel fat' Spell", a book for kids who struggle with body image. Andrea is an inspirational counselor, author and speaker who uses professional expertise and her personal recovery to help others overcome their struggles with food, body image, exercise and weight. Today, you'll hear Andrea talk about: – How she remembers feeling in her body as a child – How her parents related to food and weight – What made her feel ashamed about her body and got her to start dieting – How she hid her struggles with food from her family – Why she compares the way she related to food with the way a drug addict relates to drugs – Why she, as so many, believed "If I just change my body, I will be ok" – How her eating disorder took over her life, and no one had a clue, because she looked so "put together" and pretended everything was fine – Why she eventually did turn to alcohol and drugs to numb her pain from feeling "not enough" – How she found her way back to herself – Why she feels hope that more people are getting help these days – What concerns her about this "age of social media" we are living in today – How she has to deal with younger and younger girls and boys who are already obsessed with their appearance and restricting food – How to avoid the "addiction transfer"-trap – How our emotions (usually the ones we repress the most) play into the way we relate to our bodies – Why body- and weight-obsessing is often a distraction from deeper issues – Why for so many, their struggles with food tend to get overlooked in therapy – What she found out about people's issues with their bodies when she worked with recovering drug addicts and alcoholics – Why having the "wrong" therapist can do much more harm than good – What to look out for in a therapist, and how to spot it it's the right one for you – The fallacy of thinking that "staying in the disordered mindset is easier than having to face the pain" – The fallacy of believing that we are supposed to "be happy" all the time – What happens when we try to avoid difficult feelings – Why it is crucial never to forget the reality behind social media and people's performance of "health", "happiness", "fitness", etc. – How we can all upgrade our unkind mind patterns – How to become aware of the nasty tricks our minds can play with us – How our negative thoughts turn into negative feelings and into negative behaviors – How to find out what the next steps are that you are actually capable of taking that will lead to more and more steps – What she found out about the bad body image legacy that was passed on to her from talking to her parents – How our own beliefs shape our perception, which, in turn, shapes our behavior – How we can break the bad body image legacy – Why never to expect other people to change, but to focus on our own growth instead... ... And so much more! Check out Andrea's websites: www.andreawachter.com www.innersolutions.net Here's the link to "The Human Fulfillment Institute": www.humanfulfillment.org And here's the link to Andrea Wachter's books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Andrea-Wachter/s?ie=UTF8&page=1&rh=i%3Abooks%2Cp_27%3AAndrea%20Wachter Please consider supporting the podcast by becoming a "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted If you want this sort of badassery to come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refi ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We're right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

Download Episode! Hey, lovely radicals... podcast time! In today's episode of the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, I talk to Sarah Harry from Melbourne, Australia. Sarah is a psychotherapist, yoga teacher, researcher, writer and university lecturer. As a leading body image and eating disorders specialist and experienced clinician she has a refreshing perspective on bodies, weight, movement and inclusivity. Sarah was the first yogi in Australia to offer yoga for bigger bodies. She has practiced yoga for more than 20 years, and as the owner and founder of "Fat Yoga", she runs specialist classes and retreats. She is also co-director of "Body Positive Australia" (alongside Fiona Sutherland, whom I interviewed in episode 28). Sarah is a member of the Yoga and Body Image Coalition USA, sits on the National Advisory Board of Health at Every Size Australia and she is a member of the National Eating Disorders Coalition. Listen in as Sarah tells us: – How Fiona and herself started working together, and how "Body Positive Australia" came into existence – Where they both see the problem with the term "Body Positivity", and how it's being co-opted – Why there are opportunities to help change the system from the inside – How she aims to get her message across in interviews – Why authenticity and humor have helped her a great deal – How she decided to show up in regards to her own personal family story – What readers of "Fat Yoga" tell her they are most thankful for – What she remembers about growing up in a body that was different from what her parents believed was "a good body" – How her 20-year-long quest to be thin started, and what it cost her – Why she never told anyone about her raging eating disorder – How her body hate led her to have various surgeries and why she believed the massive pain those caused her was "the punishment for being bigger" – Why she would NEVER recommend weight-loss-surgery to anyone – At what point she started to turn her life around – Why she hit the jackpot with the person she ended up working with – Why yoga is often misunderstood in the west, and what it's really about – Why she works on bringing more "real" yoga to the field of recovery – How she called out "The Yogi Times" on their weight-stigmatizing articles – Why people react with anger when their beliefs, that they were invested in for so long, are challenged – When and how to address people's weight-biases, and what reactions to expect – Why "body love" can be a misleading and overwhelming term, and why "body acceptance" or "body neutrality" can be much more helpful – Why Instagram (and social media in general) are intensifying people's focus on bodies and appearances, and what she has to say about that – Why there are people who dislike the term "all bodies are good bodies"... ... And so much more! Here's the link to Sarah's website: www.fatyoga.com.au Check out the "Body Positive Australia" website: www.bodypositiveaustralia.com.au Link to the "Weight Bias & Stigma Tools" of the Uconn Rudd Center: http://www.uconnruddcenter.org/weight-bias-stigma-tools-for-researchers Please consider supporting the podcast by becoming a "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted If you want this sort of badassery to come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refi ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We're right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

Download Episode! Hey, lovely radicals... podcast time! This week on the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, I get to talk to Erica Leon from Westchester County, New York. Erica holds a Bachelor's degree in nutrition from Cornell University and a Master's degree in clinical nutrition from New York University. Erica works with clients all over the globe - by all technical means necessary -, people who struggle with food, their body, and people who want to overcome years of dieting or being stuck in disordered eating. She meets people where they are at and guides them to a better relationship to food and their body with a non-diet approach. She has 25 years of experience under her belt and her career has included working in hospitals, corporations and colleges. Ultimately combining all of her skills and interests, she established a private nutrition practice over 15 years ago. As a Certified Eating Disorders Registered Dietitian (CEDRD) she also volunteers on the Board of the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals, she has written professional articles on nutritions, she frequently gives talks, and she has often been quoted in the media on topics such as eating disorder prevention and childhood weight issues. Today, you'll hear Erica talk about: – How she remembers being in a body felt like as a child – Where she internalized the message that her body was too big – What the role of her family was in the development of her relationship to food – What counting and tracking points/calories can do to our self-image – Why it is so important to curate your social media feed, and to look at bodies in all shapes and sizes – Why striving for "a flat stomach" is complete BS, and why having belly-fat is, in fact, important for a woman's overall health as she gets older – Why it is crucial to realize that we are all so much more than a body – How it can be helpful to think about what we would love our legacy to be – How long she lived with her own internal diet-mindset – How she got into the field of nutrition – Why she was working in the marketing department for a weight-loss company (and what memories about her connection to one of Oprah's many weight-loss incidents still make her cringe) – How she herself unknowingly contributed to diet-culture and its message that "thin is better" – What made her realize that something was not right – How working with eating disorders helped her on her own journey – What she would tell her younger self with the knowledge she has now – Why women often automatically objectify themselves according to what they see in the media and in ads – Why she loves the "Poodle Science" video of the Academy of Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH) – The problem with today's celebrity worshipping culture and the unfortunate influence they have on our children's self-esteem – How she's helping one of her clients with exercise bulimia – What the key ingredient is in the journey to give up lifelong dieting, as well as recovering from disordered eating or eating disorders – Why it takes time, self-compassion, patience and community to heal our societally damaged body image and how we relate to food and weight – How she curated her social media feed and left all the groups (and unfollowed/unfriended people) that were repeatedly engaging in of diet- and weight-loss-talk – Why social media opened up a whole new world for her and made her realize that she wasn't the only one AT ALL who was preaching the non-diet approach to health – Why it is so hard for the old paradigm-believers to change their minds – What kind of transformations she gets to witness in her practice... ... And so much more! Check out Erica's website: www.ericaleon.com Here's the link to the wonderful "Poodle Science" video of the Academy of Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H89QQfXtc-k Make sure to support the podcast by becoming a "Patreon", so that I can keep producing it and help as many people as possible. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted If you want this sort of badassery to come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid ********* Don't forget!********* Feel free to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We're right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

Download Episode! Hey there, lovely radicals... podcast ahead! This week, on the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, it's my pleasure to talk to Chevese Turner from the Washington DC area. Chevese is the woman who almost 9 years ago founded the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA) in June 2008, recognizing the need for an organization to advocate on behalf of individuals affected by Binge Eating Disorder (BED), as well as the providers who treat them. Turner's well-rounded career in the health care, pharmaceutical, political and non-profit arenas, as well as her many leadership roles within these fields, prepared her to launch BEDA, the only organization specifically suited to support individuals and treatment professionals managing BED. Today, you'll hear Chevese talk about: – How old she was when she lost the innocent, joyful, and non-judgmental attitude towards her own body – What drove her to start searching for, stealing and hoarding food – What every type of binging behavior stems from – How her mother related to food and weight – Why denial about unhealed past wounds always leads to us passing along the same pain (we can not outrun our own shadow) – Why those old painful memories are often the ones that leave the deepest imprint on our soul – Why we often treat ourselves the way we have been treated as children – Why food (restricting/dieting, or overeating) is so commonly used to try to escape difficult emotions – How we can start to make sense of our own behavior around food – Why there is no need to be ashamed for recognizing those behaviors for what they are – How shame and weight-bias affect a person's physical and mental health – Why all the advice she got actually only perpetuated her eating disorder – Why she never really knew what she liked/what her hobbies were – Why she immediately regretted having lap band surgery – What is commonly misunderstood with Binge Eating Disorder (BED) – Why, at the root, anorexia and BED are much more alike as they outwardly seem – Why our society is too quick to categorize people, instead of listening to the person in question first – How terribly effective diet-culture and its constant messages and images really is, and why it is important to be aware of how all of that seeps into our subconscious and colors our own judgment – What she wants us all to know about our bodies – Why bariatric surgery is often done solely for profit, and why there's so little information about the dangers and the long-term effects of it – The medical ramifications of our society's belief that "healthy" looks a certain way – How she reacted when she first heard that her Binge Eating Disorder was only to be treated effectively by nourishment – How many years she wasted by being stuck in the diet-cycle, and having little mental space for anything that would have really sparked her interest – Why so many body-obsessed women have no idea who they really are outside of dieting – What led her to found BEDA, and how wonderfully that organization developed – What BEDA is about and what they are actively working on – Why it is important for all of us to resist any sort of weight-stigmatization, and to speak up against it... ... And so much more! Here's the link to BEDA (where you'll also find info about the conferences) www.bedaonline.com And here's the toll-free number that Chevese mentioned (only for US listeners): 855 855 2332 Make sure to support the podcast by becoming a "Patreon", so that I can keep producing it and help as many people as possible. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted If you want this sort of badassery to come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We're right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

Download Episode! Lovely radicals, it's podcast time! This week on the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, it's my pleasure to talk to Jessica Setnick from Dallas, Texas. Jessica is an internationally known pediatric dietitian, an award-winning writer and she is training professionals to work in the field of eating issues. She is definitely the best sort of woman to talk to about the origins of our world's body image problem and our issues with eating and weight; Jessica is an icon in the eating disorder field. Her academic background is in human behavior and with her Master's Degree in Exercise Physiology and Sports Nutrition, she has become an expert in dysfunctional and disordered eating who has a unique ability to see what others might miss. As a Certified Eating Disorder Dietitian and Dietitian Supervisor, she has treated thousands of patients in the hospital and out, and she knows how to identify the underlying issues influencing patients' eating. Jessica is the author of "The Eating Disorder Clinical Pocket Guide" and "Eating Disorders Boot Camp", and she is a co-founder of IFEED, the International Federation of Eating Disorder Dietitians. In 2013, after 16 years of hospital and community work, Jessica closed her private practice to fulfill her mission of educating health professionals about our current understanding of eating disorders and thereby empowering them to confidently and competently help those who suffer. In all of her work, Jessica combines humor, science, and professional experience to help us all improve one of the key relationships in life—the one we have with food. Today, you'll hear Jessica talk about: – How she related to food and her body as a child – What drove her to get a degree in Anthropology as well as one in Sports Nutrition – What she learned about people's eating behaviors – Why there is always a reason for the way we relate to food – Why the oldest emotional wounds often have the deepest imprint on our soul – Why we are so often attracted to people who end up treating us like our fathers or mothers did – Why we can only recognize as love what we grew up to believe was love – What we hope to achieve by re-creating our childhood "drama" – Why our habits very often evolved as way to self-soothe, at a stage when the particular behavior was the only way we knew how to deal with difficult experiences – Why there is no need to be ashamed for recognizing those behaviors for what they are – What our own judgments can tell us about ourselves – Why our society is too quick to categorize people in their particular problems, and how to look at eating disorders from an individual's perspective – Why it can be the most powerful thing to just be present with someone who's currently struggling – What the advantages are for recovering from disordered eating as an adult, no matter how long their behaviors have been disordered – Why it is never too late to start un-dieting, recovering, and befriending food and our body again – How early in life we get conditioned to detach our eating from our internal cues – What she wants us all to know about our bodies – Why it's important to remind ourselves who's profiting off our insecurities – How weight-bias in the medical field can cause people to die – The medical ramifications of our society's belief that "healthy" looks a certain way – What's dangerous about our society's unhealthy coupling of the concepts of food and exercise – Why our controlling tendencies can only give us a false sense of safety – How little is actually known about eating disorders – What an ideal eating disorder professional should bring to the table – What she means when she says "start being an anthropologist in everyday life" and why it is so helpful – The danger of repeated exposure to seemingly harmless advertisements – How to see the ridiculousness of the made-up/fake-advertisement world – Why awareness (and self-awareness!) is key on the journey of growing more resilient – What she thinks about the memes that tell us to "love our bodies"... ... And so much more! Check out Jessica's website: www.understandingnutrition.com Find more info about the "Eating Disorder Bootcamp" and other resources here: http://www.understandingnutrition.com/store/default.php www.eatingdisordersbootcamp.com If you enjoy and love my podcast, please consider supporting it by becoming a "Patreon"! It would greatly help me to keep those episodes coming to you. Thanks! https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted If you want this sort of badassery to come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We're right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

Hey there, lovely radicals... up for a mind-stretching podcast? In today's episode of the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, I talk to Jessamyn Stanley from Durham, North Carolina. Jessamyn, as many of you know, is a yogi who breaks all the stereotypes. She has built a life as an internationally recognized yoga teacher and award-winning Instagram star by combining a deep understanding for yoga with a willingness to share her personal struggles in a way that touches everyone who comes to know her. Now she brings her body-positive, emotionally uplifting approach to yoga in a book that will help every reader discover the power of yoga and how to weave it seamlessly into his or her life. It's called "Every Body Yoga", and just like herself, this book breaks all the stereotypes. You will hear Jessamyn share: – Where she thinks our self-consciousness about our bodies comes from – What it was that made her become dissatisfied with who she was and how her body looked – What brought her to yoga – What anxiety/depression have to do with our mind's tendency to ruminate about the past and/or worry about the future – How she understands the spiritual aspect of the yoga practice – Why there's so much to be said for having a healthy detachment to the materialistic focus that our culture promotes – Why she thinks that the obsession with surface-level things, like the "look" of bodies, are huge shortcomings of our society – What the dangers of social media and the display of fake "perfection" are – Why "getting likes" is never something we should be aiming for – Why no amount of outside approval can ever fill the void in our hearts – Why the disconnection that happens when everybody "lives" on the screen is so harmful for our soul's wellbeing – Why most of what we see on social media is fake and—upon closer inspection—completely irrelevant – Why she says what she wants and doesn't care too much about what other people think of her – Why we often look for "meaning" in life in the exact wrong places – Why people who feel insecure make better customers – How we can become more comfortable in our own company – Why facing and owning our "shit" is the only way to liberation – Where true inner contentment comes from – What most people plain misunderstand about yoga – What the problems are with "modern" (westernized) yoga – What she feels yoga is really about (hint: it's not about how the body looks) – How she got connected to her emotions after years of stuffing them away – What emotions she has most difficulty with – How she deals with critics and haters – How she deals with getting so much attention and having to be more social than she feels is her nature... ... And so much more! Check out Jessamyn and all of her work (including her book "Every Body Yoga") at: www.jessamynstanley.com If you enjoy and love my podcast, please consider supporting it by becoming a "Patreon"! It would greatly help me to keep those episodes coming to you. Thank you! https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted If you want this sort of badassery come to your phone automatically, please DO subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We're right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join

Download Episode! Hey there, lovely radicals... podcast ahead! In today's episode of the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, I am talking to Carolyn Costin from Malibu, California. Carolyn is a world-renowned clinician, author and speaker acclaimed for her expertise, passion and accomplishments in the field of eating disorders. She is a certified Eating Disorder Specialist and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. After having recovered from anorexia in her early 20s, Carolyn became a psychotherapist, and it was her successful treatment of those with eating disorders that led her to bring her philosophy to the public through her speaking and her books. In 1996, Carolyn created "Monte Nido", the first licensed, residential eating disorder treatment facility in a home setting that has since spurred into 14 facilities nationwide offering a continuum of care. Carolyn's career is dedicated to lecturing, training, teaching and supervising clinicians, dietitians and physicians. Having left "Monde Nido" last year, she remains active in the eating disorder field and she is involved in several professional organizations including the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals as a board trustee and the Academy of Eating Disorders as a fellow. Her advocacy work continues in many arenas including organizations such as Project Heal, Eating Disorder Hope and the Eating Disorder Coalition. At the start of this year, 2017, Carolyn has opened "The Carolyn Costin Institute", which offers Eating Disorder Coach Training, a mentor program, continuing education for clinicians as well as other specialized training. Carolyn talks about: – How long the carefree, joyful feeling of "being in a body" as a child lasted for her – How our habits of comparison and our ideas of "status" are detrimental to body image – What the "Fiji-study" is all about, and what TV/advertisement can do to women – What body-bullying does to kids – What triggered her eating disorder – Why she doesn't support the idea that eating issues are "a genetic thing" – How people with anxiety can calm their anxious thoughts – Why it is so important to become aware of the fact that we are NOT our thoughts, but we can observe them, and let them pass without grabbing on to their message – Why spiritual bypassing is not solving anything, yet so many people try to do just that; avoid difficult emotions by trying to meditate them away instead of facing them in a calm state – What there is still to be fixed in our cultural way of relating to weight and bodies – Why eating disorder treatments that still have a weight-centric approach often backfire and make a full, lasting recovery impossible – Why it is so important for all of us to just detach from the number on the scale – Why it is critically important that everyone working with people with disordered eating resolve their own body- and weight issues first – How she trains therapists and coaches to become good eating disorder therapists – What it actually is that makes a good eating disorder therapist/coach/mentor/dietitian – How she defines „recovery" – Why people with undiagnosed eating issues can often be the ones that are the sickest – The danger of today's obsession with "clean" eating, detoxes, the idea of having to earn or burn food, and all the food advice out there – Why she thinks people still go on diets even if it is a well-established facts that diets don't work – The horrible consequences of fat-shaming people – How the weight-loss industry (together with the advertisement "geniuses") manage to suck so many people in, again and again – The risk factors of developing an eating disorder – Why eating disorders still often don't get addressed at schools, even though the numbers are rampant – Why she made it her mission to train recovered people to become eating disorder coaches – Why a feeling of secure attachment is critical to overcome any issues we might have developed to protect ourselves or to cope with difficult feelings... ... And so much more! If you are interested in Carolyn Costin's work, check out her website: http://www.carolyn-costin.com Here's the link to Carolyn's books: https://www.amazon.com/Carolyn-Costin/e/B001HCYYJ8 Podcasting is expensive. So if you enjoy and love my podcast, please consider supporting it by becoming a "Patreon"! It would greatly help me to keep those episodes coming to you. Thanks! https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted Like the podcast? Great! Do subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We're right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join

Hey there, lovely radicals: Podcast ahead! This week on the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, I get to talk to Elena Rossini from Como, Italy and Paris, France. Elena is a filmmaker, photographer, social entrepreneur and public speaker. Her latest film is called "The Illusionists", a feature-length documentary about the marketing of unattainable beauty ideals around the world. Filming locations included the United States, the UK, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Lebanon, India and Japan. The film has been featured in countless news outlets, and I hope it will be talked about for a long time. Elena has been taking "The Illusionists" on tour, showing it at the biggest companies in Silicon Valley (Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter...) and at dozens of renowned universities in the United States and Europe. Apart from being a filmmaker, Elena is also the founder and editor-in-chief of "No Country for Young Women", a website whose aim is to provide positive role models for young girls. The site features over 100 interviews of women representing five continents, seven decades, and over two dozen professions – from NASA engineers, illustrators, architects, to filmmakers and entrepreneurs. In 2014 Rossini co-founded "Gender Gap Grader", a platform empowering companies and organizations with innovative tools to measure the gender gap. Today, you'll hear Elena talk about: – Why she thinks that right now is the best time to be an activist – Why she is concerned about kids and body image in the age of social media and ruthless advertising – Why she lived in so many places and what country she feels most rooted in – What upsets her most about how women are being portrayed and presented in the media and in advertisement – Why we often buy into (and literally buy) the message of products we don't really need – How much time we end up wasting just "to look in order" – What we really put on our bodies and skins every day – that basically only hurts us – just to look and smell like we think we should – What she found young girls to be most affected by in terms of their body image – The danger behind online-personalities that present their disordered behavior in a way that makes people who watch their workout-/diet-/make-up videos think that they have to achieve the same look – What sparked the idea in her to make a movie about how we are, as women, being presented with illusions, and how we then start to perform an illusion to the outside world – What she found out about the growing epidemic of body dissatisfaction in women and men – Why it took her eight years to complete "The Illusionists" – How she gets treated as a relatively young, female filmmaker – How she responded to the people who wanted to make her believe that she wasn't "able enough" to make this movie herself – Why she selected the countries that she did – What shocking discoveries she made – Why she strongly believes in activism and how she saw that it really DOES change things – What kind of reaction she got from advertising companies when she screened the film – Why the current way eating disorders are represented in documentaries can contribute to the continuation of the problem, and why it keeps many women/men from actually seeking help – What she intents to do in the future to help women change those self-defeating behaviors – What her project "The Realists" will be about – Why we should spend more time OFFline than online... ... And so much more! Check out Elena's work: www.elenarossini.com www.theillusionists.org The books she mentioned in our conversation: „Fat is a Feminist Issue" by Susie Orbach, you can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Fat-Feminist-Issue-ORBACH-SUSIE/dp/1784753092/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1490895011&sr=1-1&keywords=fat+is+a+feminist+issue Here are books about the dangerous power of advertising, by Jean Kilbourne, Mary Pipher, and others: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=jean+kilbourne „Amusing ourselves to death" by Neil Postman, you can find it here: https://www.amazon.de/Amusing-Ourselves-Death-Discourse-Business/dp/014303653X Please consider supporting the podcast with a donation on "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted Like the podcast? Great! Do subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We're right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/  

Download Episode! This week on the the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, we all have a chance to meet Dr. Stacey Rosenfeld from Coral Gables, Florida. Stacey is a clinical psychologist specializing in eating disorders and body image concerns. She also works with substance misuse, anxiety and mood disorders, infertility, and relationship difficulties. A certified group psychotherapist and certified eating disorder specialist, Dr. Rosenfeld has worked at various treatment centers and universities and now directs the "Gatewell Therapy Center" in Miami, Florida. Dr. Stacey Rosenfeld is the author of "Does Every Woman Have an Eating Disorder? Challenging Our Nation's Fixation with Food and Weight", based on her award-winning blog of the same name. She is committing to helping people develop healthier relationships with food and their bodies. She is a member of the National Eating Disorder Association, the International Association for Eating Disorder Professionals, and the Academy for Eating Disorders, she lectures around the country, and she has appeared on numerous media outlets, including the Today Show and ABC News. In this talk, Stacey shares with us: – When her first judgment about her body entered her mind – What she found out in all of her years of clinical work with regards to women and eating issues – What the terrible consequences can be of the myopic depiction of eating disorders in the media – Why people so often deny having a troublesome relationship to food, weight and exercise – What she has to say to those people who are "waiting" for the symptoms to go away as they age – What defines disordered eating, eating disorders and a compulsive relationship to exercise – The different ways in which she sees the display of disordered eating – How she uses motivational interviewing with her patients – Why it is that eating issues often go unaddressed in therapy, and the cost of that – What it is that connects eating issues with alcohol and/or substance misuse – What is wrong with the increasingly thoughtless prescription of (speed-like) drug for ADHD – Why bodies break down when they are pushed to the limit, be it with exercise/drugs/etc. – What a person with an addiction is trying to get away from – How everything can be used to self-medicate, but sadly, some of those behaviors even get applause (work/exercise/perfectionism/restriction), no matter how hellish the person might feel inside – Why we don't really want to be accepted for a facade-like life, but our real selves, warts and all – What happens when women start asking themselves what they could be doing with all the mental and physical energy wasted on "managing their appearance" (diets/exercise/surgeries, etc.) – What she means when she says "women are zoomed in way too much" – Why the concept of exercise and the concept of food should be divorced to avoid unhealthy coping mechanisms and obsessive behaviors – Why the fitness classes she teaches are different than the usual ones – How we can let go of exercising compulsively and reframe "success" – How to become a more critical consumer of media instead of getting sucked in by its toxic messages about bodies – Why language (towards ourselves and other people) is so important – Which of her findings should really shake us all awake to how much this general "fear of fat" is holding us back – How to recognize if a professional who specializes in eating disorders still has their own issues and biases... ... And so much more! Check out Dr. Stacey Rosenfeld's website: www.gatewelltherapycenter.com Here's the link to her book "Does Every Woman Have An Eating Disorder?": https://www.amazon.com/Eating-Disorder-Challenging-Nations-Fixation/dp/0989851834 Please consider supporting the podcast by becoming a "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted Like the podcast? Great! Do subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We're right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/

Download Episode! Lovely radicals, let me make your ears happy: Podcast ahead! In today's episode of the "Life Unrestricted." podcast, I get to talk to Josée Sovinsky from Toronto, Canada. Josée is a Registered Dietitian with French Canadian roots, who, after facing and dealing with her own struggles with disordered eating during her degree, developed a passion to help those affected by eating disorders and mental illness. She now specializes in eating disorders, intuitive eating, community nutrition and seniors' health. She holds an Honors Bachelor in Nutrition Sciences from the University of Ottawa, and she has educated herself on topics such as body-acceptance, Health at Every Size and feminism, all topics that guide her work as a non-diet, weight-inclusive, body positive and dietitian whose dreams are similar to mine: We both want to see a world free from mental health stigma, body shaming, dieting and disordered eating, where people of all sizes deserve nourishment, wellbeing and happiness. You'll hear Josée talk about: – How she felt in her body as a little girl – Why she didn't develop bad body image until later in life – How lucky she was to have her parents be her biggest cheerleaders – Why she felt different than other kids when she was a teenager – How studying nutrition can easily trigger disordered eating for people who feel insecure – Why she became convinced that changing her body was the way to acceptance and happiness – How exercise turned into a problem for her – Why it is so dangerous to marry the concepts of weight and exercise – Why nothing she did ever felt "good enough" – Why, for a very long time, she didn't actually realize how disordered she had become with eating and exercise – How she never told anyone that she was struggling, so no one was suspicious – Why it is especially dangerous for nutrition students to have their struggles go undetected for way too long – What her deepest fears were when she considered opening up about her struggles – What her own denial looked like – What it was that made her realize that what she went through was a serious thing – Where she first came across body positivity and the non-diet-approach – What's wrong with official guidelines regarding diabetes and weight – Why she thinks no one who adopted the Health at Every Size (HAES) model ever turned back – Why it is so important to recognize that neither fame, money, looks or any other source of potential outside approval will ever be enough to fill a void that exists in our soul (no matter what advertisement, movies or media might make us believe!) – Why it is so easy to fall into the trap of comparing our insides to other people's "performance of happy" – What the steps to true healing can look like (and what the key ingredients are) – Why she decided to truly take a break from exercise, and why this could be key for all of us who struggle with divorcing the concepts of weight and exercise – Why accepting size-diversity is the key to healing our relationship to food and weight – How she introduces the concept of Health At Every Size to women who haven't heard of it before – Why facing our fears is key (even if remaining in a disordered place might feel "easier") – How to become aware of the different ways our inner Gremlin pushes us into behaviors that don't serve us and our recovery – Why opening up about our struggles contributes to healing on a much larger scale... ... And so much more! Check out Josée and her work here: www.joseesovinskynutrition.com Like the podcast? Great! Do subscribe on iTunes (Apple): https://itunes.apple.com/ch/podcast/life.-unrestricted.-podcast/id1130713233?mt=2 or on Stitcher (Android): http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=93987&refid Please consider supporting the podcast with a donation on "Patreon"; so that I can keep producing it. Thank you! Here's the link: https://www.patreon.com/lifeunrestricted ********* Don't forget!********* Make sure to join my tribe and meet some of the most supportive, loving and kind people of all shapes and sizes, including great coaches and leaders! We're right over here at: http://www.lifeunrestricted.org/join/