Live Well with Arthritis

Episode 49: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast

#49 The Crying Rule: How to Exercise with Arthritis with ‘Rheumatology Physio’ Jack March

Worried that exercise will make your arthritis worse? Host Emily Johnson welcomes Jack March, better known as The Rheumatology Physio, a specialist physiotherapist and educator who usually teaches healthcare professionals, to share what the evidence really says, in plain English.

Jack explains why more pain doesn’t mean your arthritis is getting worse, and why exercise won’t damage your joints in the short, medium or long term. He shares his simple rules for how much pain is okay, how to start by building on what you already do (even from a chair), and his 'average day, bad day, good day' approach for flares and fatigue. From how rheumatology moved on from wax baths and hydrotherapy to running and gym programmes, to spotting exercise advice you can trust, this is a reassuring, myth-busting conversation. And if you’re not keen on exercise, Jack has a message for you too: some is better than none, but the choice is always yours.

Topics covered:

From Gentle to Active

• Into the Basement How Jack ended up in rheumatology, and stayed for ten years
• Then and Now Why wax baths and hydrotherapy gave way to running, gym programmes and sport
• Starting Early Staying active and strong even before a diagnosis

Pain vs Arthritis

• Exercise Is Safe Why more pain doesn’t mean more damage to your joints
• The Crying Rule The 24-hour test, watching for swelling, and keeping up with work and daily life
• What to Expect Muscle, bones, heart health, mood, fatigue and stiffness

Making It Work for You

• Start Where You Are Building on dog walks, standing up from a chair, and thinking in percentages
• Bad Days Still Count Six, ten or fifteen reps: you choose, and something beats nothing
• Advice You Can Trust Red flags, the biggest exercise myth, and why you don’t have to

About the podcast:

With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.

Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.

Emily is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.

Episode Links:

Live Well with Arthritis Programme Waitlist: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist

FREE Workbook: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/signup-free-download

Jack March, The Rheumatology Physio

• All links: https://linktr.ee/rheumatology.physio
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHhn4-49MMmKkqCAl8VzdLA
• Substack: https://rheumatologyphysio.substack.com/
• Website: https://rheumatology.physio/

Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthritisfoodie

Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 48: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast

#48 Facts, Not Fads: Nutritionist Dr Emily Prpa on Gut Health, Hormones and What Actually Helps

With so much noise about gut health online, how do you know what actually helps? Host Emily Johnson welcomes her dear friend Dr Emily Prpa, award-winning PhD nutrition scientist, author, TEDx speaker, and visiting lecturer at King’s College London. Her research focuses on the female gut microbiome and how it shapes women’s health, and her work has helped shape UK food policy. Dr Emily translates complex nutrition into practical, trustworthy guidance and delicious recipes. She's appeared on Channel 4’s Protein: Everything You Need to Know and co-hosts the Feel Good Formula podcast with journalist Zara McDermott. Her first book, Healthy Like a Woman, launches in April 2027 (pre-order link below).

After discovering how often women were left out of nutrition research, Emily made it her mission to turn the science into advice women can actually use. In this episode, she explains what the gut microbiome really is, and how your gut talks to your immune system and your brain too. She shares how hormones shape your gut through your menstrual cycle, perimenopause and menopause. Plus her 'strong back four' for gut health, easy ways to eat more fibre and plant variety, how to choose a probiotic that’s actually backed by evidence, and why it’s okay to just survive a low-energy day. Fun, science-backed and refreshingly honest, with plenty of practical, food-first swaps.

Topics covered:

Women and the Research Gap

• Why Women Were Left Out Being the first in her research group to study premenopausal women, and why hormones make trials harder
• Science Isn’t Done Until It’s Communicated Polyphenols, writing policy briefs for Parliament, and cutting through the wellness noise
• Why Women Get More Gut Issues Hormones, the menstrual cycle, stress and IBS

Your Gut, Immune System and Brain

• What Is the Gut Microbiome? Trillions of microbes, and why what they do matters as much as who they are
• Your Gut Is the Teacher How your gut trains your immune system, and how inflammation starts
• Your Second Brain The gut-brain connection, short-chain fatty acids, and why a little bloating is normal

Hormones, Habits and What Actually Helps

• Oestrogen Is the Beyoncé of Your Body The estrobolome, perimenopause and menopause, and the future of gut-hormone research
• Your Gut Health Back Four Diet, movement, stress and sleep, plus easy fibre swaps and plant variety without the counting
• Probiotics, Detoxes and Low-Energy Days Science-washing, the border collie rule, and why it’s okay to just survive the day

About the podcast:

With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.

Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.

Emily is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.

Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@arthritisfoodie

Episode Links:

Apply to the Live Well with Arthritis Programme: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist

FREE Workbook: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/signup-free-download

Dr Emily Prpa @dr.emily.nutrition

Pre-order Healthy Like a Woman: https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/emily-prpa/healthy-like-a-woman/9781037423741

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.emily.nutrition/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrEmilyPrpa

Website: https://www.dremilyprpa.com

Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthritisfoodie

Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 47: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast

#47 Skatepark to Yoga Mat: Jamie Boder on Movement, Strength and Living Well with Axial Spondyloarthritis

Have you ever been told to stop doing the thing you love most? Host Emily Johnson welcomes Jamie Boder, personal trainer, yoga teacher and director of Yoga for AS, who was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis and Crohn's disease over a decade ago.

Jamie had been skateboarding since he was nine, and at diagnosis he could hardly walk. Handed a sheet of exercises and told to stop skating, he felt unsafe in his own body, isolated from his friends and in denial. YouTube yoga became his way back, and today he helps people with inflammatory arthritis build strength, mobility and confidence through flares, remission and everyday life.

In this conversation Jamie opens up about the grief of diagnosis, explains why arthritis is not an injury, shares practical ways to start moving safely, and guides us through a short breathing practice. Honest, practical and full of hope.

Note: This episode includes a short guided breathing exercise. Please listen to the safety note before you join in.

Topics covered:

Jamie's Story

• From Skateboarder to Diagnosis Being told to stop skateboarding, and what "you're not safe" did to his confidence
• Not Just an Injury Grief, dread and denial, and why inflammatory arthritis is a whole-body condition
• Feeling Alone in a Crowd Isolation, invisible symptoms like fatigue and brain fog, and a "midlife crisis at 18"

Movement for Life

• Beyond the Piece of Paper The gap between physio and lifelong movement, and why progress isn't linear
• Safe, Accessible, Joint-Specific Where to start, from isometrics to a bucket of rice for sore wrists, and the client with a fully fused spine who now stands taller
• Moving Through a Flare Why it's rarely the movement, why you can't out-train inflammation, and gentler options like restorative yoga and hydrotherapy

Breath, Mind and Community

• Light, Slow, Deep A guided breathing practice and the science of breathing less, inspired by Patrick McKeown
• Yoga Nidra and Uncertainty Meditation with ADHD, restoring energy, and learning to tolerate uncertainty
• Your Support Network Matters Finding community, friends who get it, and the real hero's journey

About the podcast:

With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.

Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.

Emily is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.

Episode Links:

Live Well with Arthritis Programme Waitlist: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist

FREE Workbook: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/signup-free-download

Jamie Boder

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamieboder/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JamieBoder

Yoga for AS @yogaforas

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yogaforas/

Website: https://yogaforas.com

Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthritisfoodie

Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie

Also mentioned

The Breathing Cure by Patrick McKeown

Oxygen Advantage: https://oxygenadvantage.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 46: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast

#46 Premier League to Patients: Consultant Dr Sam Botchey on Exercise, Inflammation and Arthritis

What if the one thing that could change your health the most is something you can start today? Host Emily Johnson welcomes Dr Sam Botchey, a consultant in musculoskeletal, sport and exercise medicine based in London, who has worked with Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, Brentford, Saracens and London Irish.

Sam has seen first-hand how elite athletes look after their bodies, from sleep and personalised nutrition to recovery, and he is on a mission to bring that evidence-based approach to everyone else. In this conversation he explains why there is nothing more important than exercise, how metabolic dysfunction and ultra-processed food drive chronic inflammation, the signs you might be chronically inflamed even when your blood tests come back normal, and why muscle is your organ of longevity. He also demystifies orthobiologic treatments like PRP and hyaluronic acid, gives his honest take on supplements, and shares a patient story that shows just how powerful lifestyle medicine can be. Practical, motivating and full of hope, whatever your age or starting point.

Topics covered:

From Elite Sport to Everyday Life

• What Elite Athletes Get Right Sleep, personalised nutrition and recovery, and why the rest of us are years behind
• Nothing More Important Than Exercise How movement improves every chronic disease, and why a little goes a long way when you're starting out
• You're an Athlete of Life Building a winning mindset for your health

Inflammation, Metabolism and Muscle

• Chronic vs Acute Inflammation How exercise reduces chronic inflammation, and what metabolic dysfunction and ultra-processed food have to do with it
• Inflamed but Normal Bloods? The signs to watch for, from morning stiffness to swollen small joints and night-time pain
• Muscle Is Your Organ of Longevity Anabolic resistance, and why strength training matters more as we get older

Treatments, Supplements and Recovery

• Orthobiologics Explained PRP, hyaluronic acid, bone marrow aspirate and stem cells, and how accessible they are in the UK
• Throw Your Supplements in the Bin? Why untargeted supplements rarely help, and Sam's top three: vitamin D, omega-3 and creatine
• Lifestyle as Medicine The patient whose Achilles pain went before treatment even started, plus quick-fire tips on ice vs heat, morning stiffness and oily fish

About the podcast:

With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.

Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.

Emily is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.

Episode Links:

Live Well with Arthritis Programme Waitlist: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist

FREE Workbook: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/signup-free-download

Dr Sam Botchey @drbotch

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbotch/

Website: https://www.drbotchey.com/

Clinics: Lanserhof at The Shard, Spire Thames Valley Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital Windsor

Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthritisfoodie

Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 45: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast

#45 Not in Your Head: Psychologist Dr Sula Windgassen on Healing Through Mind and Body

Have you ever been told your symptoms are “all in your head”? Host Emily Johnson welcomes Dr Sula Windgassen, a leading health psychologist, researcher and author of It’s All In Your Body: A Practical Roadmap to Healing Through Mind-Body Connection.

Sula knows this territory first-hand. After university, recurring bladder infections turned into persistent pain and symptoms that test after test couldn’t explain, leaving her depressed and without hope. A mindfulness course, explored alongside her psychiatrist dad, began to change how she related to her body and, over time, her symptoms eased, setting her on the path to a Master’s and PhD at King’s College London, research into mindfulness for multiple sclerosis and IBS, and over 30 peer-reviewed papers. In this conversation, Sula explains why it is never “all in your head”, how stress and emotions show up physically in the body, and how to rebuild trust in your body whether you’ve been dismissed, newly diagnosed or living with a chronic condition for years. Compassionate, grounded in science and full of hope.

Topics covered:

Sula’s Story and the Science

• From Patient to Psychologist Unexplained symptoms, a first mindfulness body scan, and the moment her sense of humour came back
• The Biopsychosocial Model Why it doesn’t mean your illness is psychological, and how allostatic load explains the wear and tear of ongoing stress
• Top-Down, Bottom-Up and Bioplasticity Working with both mind and body, and the body’s remarkable capacity to change

Breaking the Symptom Spiral

• The Symptom Spiral How pain, thoughts, emotions and behaviour feed each other, and where you have choices
• Still Waiting for Answers? Sula’s two-track plan for advocating for yourself while looking after yourself in the meantime
• Rebuilding Trust in Your Body Curiosity, non-reactivity, noticing your nervous system states, and why the basics are underrated

Grief, Identity and Simply Being

• The Grief of a Diagnosis Why grief isn’t linear, and why going back and forth doesn’t mean going backwards
• You Are Not Your Illness Two overlapping circles, the three phases of adjustment, and reconnecting with your values
• Human Doings Why rest is productive, how our phones get in the way, and Sula’s daily practice of savouring

About the podcast:

With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.

Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.

Emily is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.

Episode Links:

Live Well with Arthritis Programme Waitlist: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist

FREE Workbook: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/signup-free-download

Dr Sula Windgassen @the_health_psychologist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_health_psychologist/

Website: https://healthpsychologist.co.uk

Book: It’s All In Your Body: A Practical Roadmap to Healing Through Mind-Body Connection

Podcast: How We Really Feel: https://www.howwereallyfeel.com/

Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthritisfoodie

Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 44: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast

#44 Wheelchair to West End: Ana Villafañe on Living with RA for 30 Years

One in four of us live with arthritis, so why do so many of us feel like we’re the only one? Host Emily Johnson welcomes her dear friend Ana Villafañe, the actor and singer who originated the role of Gloria Estefan in Broadway’s On Your Feet! and is now making her West End debut as Ava Gardner in Sinatra: The Musical.

Diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at just seven years old, Ana spent months in hospital and time in a wheelchair as a child, and was told she’d never wear heels or run. Thirty years on, and four years after a hip replacement, she opens up about the parts of RA nobody sees: years of denial, the night she told Gloria Estefan the truth, stilettos on a raked stage, and the question from her rheumatologist that changed everything: “Why don’t you think you deserve to feel good?” Raw, funny and deeply moving, this conversation is a reminder that you are not alone, and you’re going to be okay.

Topics covered:

Growing Up with RA

• Diagnosed at Seven Falling ill at the 1996 Olympics and first hearing the words 'juvenile rheumatoid arthritis'
• Not the Only One How summer camps for kids with arthritis and disabilities changed everything
• From Sick Girl to Showgirl Feeling like a burden, and how singing turned 'the girl who couldn’t' into the girl who could

Denial, Disclosure and the Spotlight

• Rebranding in LA Skipping meds, hiding flares, and dating with an invisible condition
• 'So I Can Trust You' Telling Gloria Estefan about her RA, and eight months on Broadway without calling out
• Behind the Curtain Stilettos on a raked stage, compression boots, and the reality of 8 shows a week

A New Hip and a New Mindset

• Deserving to Feel Good The question that led to a hip replacement six days after wrapping a film
• Visibly Disabled Again Crutches, kindness from strangers, and walking the red carpet anyway
• Non-Negotiables Sleep, fuel, movement and medication, and learning to run after being told she never would

About the podcast:

With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.

Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.

Emily is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.

Episode Links:

Live Well with Arthritis Programme Waitlist: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist

FREE Workbook: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/signup-free-download

Ana Villafañe @anavillafaneofficial

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anavillafaneofficial/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anavillafaneofficial
• New single, Suelta: https://open.spotify.com/track/0ghIrWV5H2CQPmcAtVB4rR
• Sinatra: The Musical, Aldwych Theatre, London

Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthritisfoodie

Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 43: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast

#43 Rage into Change: Evelyn Scott on Endometriosis, Chronic Pain, and Advocacy

Have you ever been medically gaslit, told your pain was “normal,” or that it was all in your head? If so, this episode is for you. Host Emily Johnson welcomes Evelyn Scott, a Surrey-based academic turned women’s health advocate and author of A Bloody Scandal: How Medicine Fails Women in Pain.

Evelyn lives with severe endometriosis, a condition it took fifteen years to diagnose, with symptoms dismissed from her early teens as “just a bad period.” After being failed again and again by the very systems meant to help her, and finally diagnosed by pure chance in A&E, she began sharing her story online, building a community of tens of thousands of women and discovering that gynaecological neglect is a global scandal. In this honest and empowering conversation, Evelyn opens up about medical misogyny, the real cost of years of dismissal, and the practical tools that help her advocate for herself. Whether that is writing notes before appointments, to learning that you can always say no to your doctor. Whether you live with arthritis, endometriosis, or any chronic condition where you’ve had to fight to be believed, this episode is a reminder that you are the expert of your own body, and you are not alone.

Topics covered:

Fighting to Be Believed

• Normalised From the Start Bleeding through her school uniform, being bullied, and told “everyone has periods”
• Fifteen Years to Diagnosis Dismissed for over a decade, “normal” scans, and a diagnosis found by chance
• Finally Seen The strange relief of proof that it was never “all in her head”

A Bloody Scandal

• Medical Misogyny “Just get pregnant,” “you’re wasting our time,” and being called hysterical
• Why Women Are Failed Gynaecological neglect across the UK, US and Australia
• A Better Way Empathy-led medicine, care plans, and treating endometriosis as an inflammatory disease

Advocating for Yourself

• You Can Say No Noting dismissals on your records and asking for second and third opinions
• Your Secret Weapon Writing notes, bringing someone with you, and using PALS and your MP
• Rest and Be Kind Painkillers, hot water bottles, therapy, and learning to trust your body again

About the podcast

With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.

Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.

Emily is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.

Episode Links

Live Well with Arthritis Programme Waitlist: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist

FREE Workbook: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/signup-free-download

Evelyn Scott @evelynscott1987

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evelynscott1987/
• Book: A Bloody Scandal: How Medicine Fails Women in Pain (available from Waterstones, Amazon, WHSmith and all good booksellers)
• Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-bloody-scandal/evelyn-scott/9780008761349

Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthritisfoodie

Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 42: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast

#42 Ways to Cope: How Self-Love Can Help You to Live Well with Arthritis and Feel Better, with Emily

What if one of the most powerful tools for living well with arthritis is learning to love the body you're in? In this special episode, the tables turn. Croatian journalist Mija Dropulić, founder of Under Dream Skies, creator of the #volimsebe ('I love myself') project and our guest back in episode 30, interviews host Emily Johnson.

Emily shares how she went from denial to acceptance. She was diagnosed in her twenties in a waiting room where nobody looked like her, told it was freshers' flu, and turned away from A&E with thumbs too swollen to bend. She talks about the rock-bottom flare that led her to change her diet, why she won't choose between medication and lifestyle, and how honesty, asking for help and community changed everything. She also opens up about her own ways to cope on the hard days, from nature and meditation to Epsom salt baths, and why she now tells her body she loves it every day. Whether you're newly diagnosed or years into your journey, this conversation is a gentle reminder that there's always something you can do, and that you're not alone.

Topics covered:

Self-Love and Acceptance

• Denial to Acceptance: Being diagnosed young, and struggling to believe it
• Your Body Is Your Friend: Why Emily tells her body she loves it every day
• Loving Every Part: What self-love really means, and why beating yourself up makes you feel worse

Ways to Cope

• Bad-Day Toolkit: Nature, rest, herbal tea, Epsom salt baths and a nourishing meal
• Meditation: Emily's daily practice and the free chronic pain meditations she uses
• Always Something You Can Do: Small, doable swaps for the newly diagnosed

Living Well, Together

• Meeting in the Middle: Why medication and lifestyle work best together
• Honesty and Asking for Help: Talking to family and friends, because no one can read your mind
• Anonymous to Author: How a food diary became Arthritis Foodie, two books and a coaching programme

About the podcast:

With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.

Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.

Emily is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.

Episode Links:

Live Well with Arthritis Programme Waitlist: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist

FREE Workbook: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/signup-free-download

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livewellwitharthritis_/

Mija Dropulić @mijad

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mijad
• Website: https://www.underdreamskies.com

Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthritisfoodie

Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 41: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast

#41 Physio to Patient: How Zoe McKenzie Makes Movement Accessible and Achievable

What if the problem was never that you can’t exercise, but that no one ever showed you the right dose for your body? In this episode, host Emily Johnson welcomes Zoe McKenzie, a physiotherapist, Pilates instructor, author, and the founder of Actively Autoimmune, where she helps people living with chronic illness, persistent pain and fluctuating energy find movement that genuinely works for them.

Zoe brings both professional training and deep personal experience, living with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and lupus, she knows first-hand what it takes to move your body when it feels like you can’t. From a yoga mat, frustrated by the lack of visibility for people like her, she built Actively Autoimmune, with clients all over the world, and wrote her book Exercise Well with Autoimmunity (which Emily wrote the foreword for). Zoe also contributed to Emily’s very first book, Beat Arthritis Naturally. Whether you’re brand new to movement, starting again after a setback, or feeling stuck, this conversation offers warm, practical, science-informed guidance to help you move in a way that supports your body, not against it.

Topics covered:

Moving With Pain and Fatigue

• Right Dose Why movement is a dose to adjust and not a fixed programme to force
• Start Low, Go Slow Learning how to not push too hard and hit the wall
• Good Pain vs Bad Pain Finding your baseline and the warning signs to pull back

Pacing and the Activity Cup

• The Activity Cup How Zoe’s cup analogy helps to see activity building during a given day
• Boom and Bust The pattern of too much too fast and what to do about it
• Power of Rest Why rest is non-negotiable and never something you have to earn

Starting, Restarting and Staying Consistent

• First Steps Gentle strength and mobility and meeting your body exactly where it is
• After a Setback Using the dimmer switch mindset and that strength does return
• Finding Your Why Motivation, joy, and the five-minute-rule

About the podcast:

With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.

Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.

Emily is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.

Episode Links:

Live Well with Arthritis Programme Waitlist: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist

FREE Workbook: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/signup-free-download

Zoe McKenzie @activelyautoimmune

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/activelyautoimmune/

• Website: https://www.activelyautoimmune.com

• Book: Exercise Well with Autoimmunity

Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/

• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arthritisfoodie

Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 40: The Live Well with Arthritis Podcast

#40 A Rheumatologist's Verdict: Why Dr Julie Recommends the Live Well with Arthritis Programme

"I went from 'I'll return to work', to 'I can't get out of bed', to now moving from surviving to designing my life". That's Shamim's reflection after the Live Well with Arthritis Course and Coaching Programme. She lives with rheumatoid arthritis, and was a founding member of Emily's first Spring cohort.

In this episode the tables turn as NHS consultant rheumatologist Dr Julekha Wajed (Dr Julie, @arthritis_dr) interviews Emily to delve deeper into the programme she's spent two years building, with the medical perspective from a rheumatologist who has read every lesson and contributed to it herself.

Together they explore why it had to be a course and coaching side by side, how the 12 weeks are structured, the experts who shaped every week, and what genuinely changed for the Spring cohort, plus Dr Julie's view from the clinic on why informed, supported patients have better outcomes, and how this complements (never replaces) medical care.

Topics covered:

• From Diagnosis to Driving Seat: Emily's diagnosis at 20, the isolation and denial that followed, and what becoming the 'CEO of your life 'really means
• Why It Can't Just Be a Course: why coaching is so powerful, why the two run live and side by side, and why there's no self-paced version
• Inside the 12 Weeks: the three pillars (nutrition, lifestyle, tools for life), the early foundations including medications, and the mid-programme study break
• Tools, Not Prescriptions: the Wheel of Life, group and one-to-one coaching, grounding and Future Self meditations, and support in the 'how'
• The People Behind It: 15 contributors, such as rheumatologists, a chronic pain specialist, nutritionists and movement experts who shaped every method
• A Rheumatologist's Perspective: why Dr Julie believes the programme fills real gaps in NHS care
• Real Cohort Stories: what shifted for Julie (RA) and Helen (osteoarthritis) in their own words, and the mix of ages and countries in the Spring cohort
• How to Join the Autumn Cohort: enrolment is open now, the free discovery call, scholarship places, and the founding-member discount

About the podcast:

With a focus on reducing inflammation and improving daily life, this podcast features expert interviews, science-backed strategies, and real stories from people living with all types of arthritis.

Emily combines her 12+ years of lived experience and insights from healthcare professionals to offer practical, encouraging steps that help you feel healthier, happier, and less alone when living with arthritis.

Emily (Arthritis Foodie) is a bestselling author, certified coach, and founder of Live Well with Arthritis.

Episode Links:

Applications for the Live Well with Arthritis 12-week programme are open (Autumn cohort applications close 18 September).

Apply now: https://www.livewellwitharthritis.com/waitlist

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livewellwitharthritis_

Dr Julekha Wajed @arthritis_dr:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritis_dr/
• Website: https://www.nuffieldhealth.com/consultants/dr-julekha-wajed

Emily Johnson @ArthritisFoodie:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arthritisfoodie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arthritisfoodie/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@arthritisfoodie

Further Resources: https://linktr.ee/arthritisfoodie

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