renewed the podcast

In this episode, I share why I decided to deactivate Instagram and what happened when I stepped away from the screen. I chat about the hidden pressure of performative posting, finding internal validation in recovery, and how shifting my focus to Substack has brought intentionality back to my life.

Key Takeaways

• Presence vs. Performance: Breaking the habit of turning real-life moments into content.

• Recovery Offline: Detaching from external approval to build internal validation.

• Real Connection: Why viewing someone's story isn’t a substitute for actual friendship.

• Choosing Substack: Moving away from algorithms and toward reflective, long-form writing.

Reflection QuestionWhat could you do this week to be a bit more present in moments that feel performative?

Links & Resources Mentioned:

• Substack: Renewed with Jenn
• Substack article on this same topic

• Product Mentioned: Remington Aero 2000 Hair Dryer

In this episode of Renewed The Podcast, I sit down with holistic period recovery practitioner, Portia (@wellwithportia). Portia shares her journey from being an active, sports-loving teen and fitness trainer to navigating an anorexia diagnosis, years without a period, and eventual diagnosis of Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA).

Key Topics we Cover:

• Portia's Health Journey: Growing up in sports, navigating multiple school moves, and how exercise became a coping mechanism for stress.

• The Fitness Facade: The reality of coaching and working in the fitness industry while secretly struggling with disordered eating, anxiety, and amenorrhea.

• Understanding Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA): Why period recovery requires more than just physical weight gain.

• Navigating Post-Recovery Cycles: Viewing symptoms as neutral information rather than a panic trigger, and treating period recovery like going through puberty as an adult.

• Nervous System & Evening Rituals: Simple daily practices for de-stressing, including phone-free evenings, slow mornings, tarot cards, and meaningful connection.

Connect with Portia:

• Instagram: @wellwithportia

• Podcast: Wellness Etc.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Water for Elephants (Movie)

Strawberry Matcha Coconut Water

Solo Zero Sugar Lemon Raspberry

TW: I always talk about eating disorder recovery on this podcast and I also am currently sharing more about m journey with running. If that's not a helpful mix of topics for you right now, please take care of yourself and feel free to give this episode a skip. 🫶

In this episode, I give you all a little life update before diving into a thoughtful discussion on a listener-requested topic: knowing when (and when not) to share your history with eating disorders, trauma, and mental health struggles. I explore how openness shifts across different stages of recovery, dating, and friendships, and why examining your true motives for sharing is key.

Resources Mentioned

• Butterfly Foundation (Australia)

• InsideOut Institute (Australia)

Connect with Jenn

• Instagram: @renewedwithjenn

• Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast on your favourite platform!

While all of my episodes discuss things in relation to eating disorders, this one in particular has an additional TW for diet pills & dieting. If this isn't something you're up for listening to right now, please take care of yourself!

Episode OverviewIn this episode of Renewed The Podcast, I sit down with mid-size fashion creator and stylist Laura. We dive into unlearning harmful fashion "rules," navigating postpartum body changes, and the therapeutic power of getting dressed for the body you have today. Laura shares her journey from chasing diet culture standards to finding empowerment through thrifting, personal styling, and self-compassion.

Key Topics Covered

• The Origins of Body Confidence: How Laura shifted from hiding her body to finding representation and empowerment in mid-size fashion.

• Unpacking Fashion Myths: Why the word "flattering" is often rooted in fatphobia and how to dress for joy instead of trying to look thinner.

• The Postpartum Wardrobe Pivot: Navigating changing bodies, letting go of old wardrobe guilt, and creating a functional base closet.

• Practical Closet Edits: Why you shouldn't keep clothes that make you feel guilty, and how thrifting can make a wardrobe refresh accessible.

• The "Look Good, Feel Better" Mindset: How small morning rituals, like putting on an outfit you love, can support mental health during difficult seasons.

  
  

Connect & Resources

Follow Laura: @prettylittlelaaura

Also mentioned in this episode: @thebirdspapaya (a queen!!!)

Follow me: @renewedwithjenn

Don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe to Renewed The Podcast on your favourite platform! Thank you so much for being here. 💜 xx

TW: while this podcast always discussed eating disorder recovery, this episode in particular has personal refelctions on where I'm at currently and some challenges I'm navigating on the dietetics side. If this doesn't seem like something that would benefit you right now, please skip this episode and take care of you. 💜

In this solo episode, I dive into the nuances of navigating the eating part of eating disorder recovery 🤪, particularly in social settings.

I chat through some of the personal challenges around social eating I’ve been noticing lately, unlearning implicit recovery "rules," and real-time reflections on what it takes to prioritise adequacy and regularity.

I also briefly discuss the RAVES model which you can read more about here. I chat about balancing spontaneity with structure, fuelling for active goals like half-marathon training, and why advocating for your own needs, even when those around you aren't eating, is such a crucial step forward in recovery.

Unexpected Favourite of the Week:The Canadian-based coming-of-age drama Sterling Point on Amazon Prime.

Connect & Support:

• Instagram: @renewedwithjenn

• Subscribe & Review: If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe on your favourite podcast platform! It means the world. 🫶

What happens when you stop shrinking yourself to fit the room?

This week I'm joined by Isabel Negrete (@isabelnegretev), a beauty and skincare creator who moved from Mexico to Sydney and built her platform by refusing to tone down her culture, her heritage, or her whole personality.

We get into the messy, beautiful reality of building something online: comparison, the algorithm, and the "why" that keeps you going when the numbers mess with your head.

Plus, a surprise trip to Korea that started with a random Friday night DM, why strangers on the internet sometimes hype you up harder than the people in your life, and our very serious stance that there are levels to being a Disney adult.

Come hang out.

Isabel's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isabelnegretev

And if you don't yet follow me on Instagram, you can do so here: https://www.instagram.com/renewedwithjenn/

If you loved this episode, don't forget to rate, review and subscribe. It would mean the world to me. 🫶

Exercise is one of the trickiest parts of eating disorder recovery, and this week I'm getting into all of it.

In this episode I chat about:

• The Intersection of Movement & Recovery: Why exercise is such a complex topic and why I think it's so important to discuss and be open about in recovery.

• The "Quiet" Compulsions: Shedding light on the subtle, internal rules around movement that aren't often talked about.

• Navigating the Fitness Industry: The culture clash between promoting true health/strength versus the industry's obsessive weight-loss focus.

• Rediscovering Joyful Movement: What it actually looks like to heal your relationship with activity (and what it can teach you).

• The Nuanced Middle Ground: Why formal exercise isn't required for recovery, but why writing it off completely misses the mark.
• A Mini Rant: A little bonus breakdown on the current state of protein marketing.

Support the Show: If this episode resonated with you, leaving a rating or review would mean the absolute world to me. Thank you for being here! 💜 And feel free to follow me over on Instagram as well: @renewedwithjenn

This week I'm joined by my beautiful friend Tayla, a dietitian working in the eating disorder space whose own lived experience informs her practice.

If you've ever needed permission to take a rest day, or wondered whether your story is "too much" to share, this episode is for you.

What We Cover in This Episode:

• Tayla's path into dietetics: How a positive experience with a sports dietitian as a teen, followed by her own recovery journey, shaped her career.

• The "professionalism" myth: Being told early on that sharing lived experience wasn't professional, and why she disagrees with that now.

• Real life & boundaries: How lived experience shows up in her friendships and day-to-day life.

• Redefining movement: Navigating exercise through recovery and pushing back against online fitness culture's all-or-nothing mindset.

• Breaking down barriers: The real fears that stop people from working with an ED dietitian.

• The messy middle: Why having a practitioner who truly "gets it" changes what you're willing to ask for in recovery.

  
  

You can find Tayla at @fuelled.with.tayla on Instagram.

If this episode resonated, I'd love to hear from you! Come say hi over on Instagram at @renewedwithjenn, and if you're enjoying the pod, rating, leaving a review or subscribing means the absolute world.

See you next week. x

What if slowing down isn't giving up?

This week I'm joined by my friend Jardan, who spent over 15 years in the fitness industry before realising she'd outgrown the identity she built there. Now she's pivoting into the creator space and building a life around slow, intentional living instead of the constant grind.

We get into the messy middle of it all: unlearning the belief that rest makes you weak, why she couldn't keep giving fitness advice to the internet, and the fear of being seen as yourself instead of your job title.

We also talk about the joy of missing out (yes, JOMO is a thing), my 2am phone-checking habit as a Canadian living across the world from home, and why 10 minutes of journaling counts even when it's chicken scratch.

If you've ever felt like you're outgrowing a version of yourself that everyone else still expects you to be, this one's for you.

• Jardan's story: body image comments as a teen, 15 years in fitness, and the slow realisation she'd outgrown it
• Why softness and rest are a strength, not a weakness
• JOMO: the joy of missing out, and what you're NOT missing when you put your phone down
• My 2am phone checks, grief, and the app blocker that asks "do you really need to be on right now?"
• Jardan's first steps to slow living: 10-minute goals, habit tracking without perfectionism
• Romanticising your journaling vs just grabbing the ugly notepad (both count)
• Burning out on fitness content and pivoting to what actually feels like you
• The "respectable career" myth sold to millennial women, and redefining success on your own terms

The Substack article we mentioned on millennial women and "legitimate" careers.

• Follow Jardan: @just.jardan
• Follow me: @renewedwithjenn

If this episode resonated, I'd love to hear from you. Come say hi over on Instagram, and if you're enjoying the pod, a like, comment or subscribe means the world.

See you next week. x

Getting back on the dating apps mid recovery is its own kind of chaos, and this episode goes there.

After leaving residential treatment, moving to the Sunshine Coast, and slowly easing back into life, I found myself back on the apps. Some dates were sweet (shoutout to the guy who brought me a Diet Coke). Some were a hard no right off the bat.

In this episode I discuss:

• Telling a date about my eating disorder for the first time

• The green flags that matter when you're in recovery

• Anxious attachment & nervous system spirals over unanswered texts

• What it's like dating at 29 when you've never had a long term relationship and the pressure that comes with it

This one's honest, a little messy, and very real. If you've ever felt like dating and recovery don't talk to each other enough, you're going to feel this episode.

This week's unexpected fav is RUEL's album Kicking My Feet & Screaming 🎶

Follow me on Instagram here. 💜

Attached by Amir Levine, Rachel Heller