Chrissy is an incredible recovery coach, currently training to be a counsellor, and has experience working at a clinic as both an eating disorder recovery coach and mentor. She has a passion for ED recovery, mental health, body-image and self-compassion since she started her own recovery journey seven years ago. At the start of Chrissy’s journey, she was in treatment for an eating disorder, describing these as one of her symptoms, but in fact was really in recovery for all areas of her life. Since then she has also delivered workshops on body-image and the history of diet-culture, the science behind why diet culture tells us lies and why fatphobia and body ideals are just plain wrong. Her core message is that no one deserves to feel that they are inherently unlovable for whatever reason; their body, their soul, their voice or anything. She speaks about the fact that sadly there is much trauma that we, individually and societally, are hurting from and self-hatred is a huge product of that. Her biggest hope is to help others realise that they are worthy of love and a good life, as she  was helped to discover on her own journey. She has a particular interest in the relationship between self-image and body-image, how the two exist in parallel and impact each-other.

Topics covered:

• Chrissy’s own recovery journey and how she became interested in body image
• History and origins of diet culture, and how racial, patriarchal, healthcare and all sorts of systems play a part.
• Our bodies having their own ‘genetic set range’ and how respecting this impacts living a fulfilling life 
• Detaching her own sense of ‘lovability’ from body aesthetics
• Connection between body image and trauma
• Navigating diet culture and body expectations we are surrounded by  
• Where to start in developing a better relationship with our body and self as a whole

Find Chrissy here:

Instagram: @chrissy_shroomie 

You can find us on social media:

Tallulah Self (editor and Producer)

Instagram: @tallulahself

Meg:

Instagram: @megsy_recovery

YouTube: Megsy Recovery

TikTok: megsy recovery

Safia: 

Email: [email protected] 

Instagram: @safia_edrecoverycoach

Member of the Beyond Body Coaching team: https://www.beyondbodycoach.com

Please keep in mind we’re not medical professionals, and the podcast content reflects our own experiences and opinions, as well as that of our guests, so it shouldn’t be taken as medical advice. If you’re struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating please reach out to a medical professional to discuss your own situation and get professional help with your own unique recovery.

Leading Sports and Eating disorder specialist dietitian Renee McGregor joins us on the podcast. With 20 years experience working in clinical and performance nutrition, with Olympic (London, 2012), Paralympic (Rio, 2016) and Commonwealth (Queensland, 2018) teams she comes with a wealth of experience. She is also the author of five brilliant books and the co-founder and director of #TRAINBRAVE, a campaign raising awareness of eating disorders in sport. In this episode, Renee speaks openly and bravely about the childhood trauma she experienced and how that led to her battle with an eating disorder. She also shares her thoughts on eating disorder treatment today and how it could be improved. 

Topics covered:

• Eating disorder treatment today and how it could be improved.  
• Reasons why people relapse. 
• Why teaching about emotions in schools is essential for preventing eating disorders.
• The pedestal we put the top level athletes on and how that can put too much pressure on the younger generation to achieve.
• Social Media’s impact on mental health.
• Orthorexia 
• What healthy eating truly is.
• Why the pandemic has resulted in eating disorders rising. 
• The importance of human connection. 
• How your metabolism adapts but can’t be broken. 

Find Renee here:
Instagram: @r_mcgregor
Website: https://reneemcgregor.com
Twitter: @mcgregor_renee

You can find us on social media:
Tallulah Self (editor and Producer)
Instagram: @tallulahself

Meg:
Instagram: @megsy_recovery
YouTube: Megsy Recovery
TikTok: megsy recovery

Safia:
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @safia_edrecoverycoach
Member of the Beyond Body Coaching team: https://www.beyondbodycoach.com

Please keep in mind we’re not medical professionals, and the podcast content reflects our own experiences and opinions, as well as that of our guests, so it shouldn’t be taken as medical advice. If you’re struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating please reach out to a medical professional to discuss your own situation and get professional help with your own unique recovery.

We chat about how we challenged our fear foods and food rules in recovery. How we had to repeat food challenges, several times a week, in different settings and contexts, and without compensating around the food, until they began to neutralise. And then, crucially, keeping all these foods in as permanent parts of our diets.

• What process we used to challenge food rules/fears
• Not compensating
• Not treating challenges as a one off
• Food obsessions
• Did we go all in?
• Tools we used during challenges
• Coping with feelings of anxiety, guilt, frustration etc...
• Mantras
• Challenging in different contexts

You can find us on social media:

Tallulah Self (editor and Producer)

• Instagram: @tallulahself

Meg:

• Instagram: @megsy_recovery
• YouTube: Megsy Recovery
• TikTok: megsy recovery

Safia: 

• Email: [email protected] 
• Instagram: @safia_edrecoverycoach
• Member of the Beyond Body Coaching team: https://www.beyondbodycoach.com

Please keep in mind we’re not medical professionals, and the podcast content reflects our own experiences and opinions, as well as that of our guests, so it shouldn’t be taken as medical advice. If you’re struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating please reach out to a medical professional to discuss your own situation and get professional help with your own unique recovery.

Hope Virgo is a multi-award winning campaigner, speaker and author of three amazing books: ‘Stand Tall Little Girl’, ‘Hope Through Recovery’ and ‘You Are Free (Even If You Don’t Feel Like It)’. In this inspiring episode, she candidly shares her own personal experience of suffering from an eating disorder and offers lots of great practical recovery tips to stay motivated. With her super cute newborn cuddled up on her throughout this is an episode not to be missed.

Topics covered:

• Hope’s experience of pregnancy and motherhood, the overwhelming gratitude for her little one as well as the more challenging messaging around food and body that she received when pregnant. 
• Her concerns regarding calories being put on menus and the prevalence of diet culture in children that she has become aware of from speaking in schools.
• The campaigns she has spearheaded: #DumpTheScales and #ChangeTheStory
• Her beautifully written, raw and relatable memoir: ‘You Are Free (Even If You Don’t Feel Like It)’ in which she includes reflective exercises, insightful interviews and advice from her own experiences.
• Why to fight for full recovery and how to break out of the halfway house, stuck-in-the-mud stage of recovery.
• The role her faith has played in her recovery.
• Advice for how to reach out to others you can be vulnerable with for support and motivation.
• Great ideas for supporting loved ones suffering from an eating disorder on their recovery journey. 

Find Hope here:
Instagram: @hopevirgo_

You can find us on social media:

Tallulah Self (editor and Producer)
Instagram: @tallulahself

Meg:
Instagram: @megsy_recovery
YouTube: Megsy Recovery
TikTok: megsy recovery

Safia:
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @safia_edrecoverycoach
Member of the Beyond Body Coaching team: https://www.beyondbodycoach.com

Please keep in mind we’re not medical professionals, and the podcast content reflects our own experiences and opinions, as well as that of our guests, so it shouldn’t be taken as medical advice. If you’re struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating please reach out to a medical professional to discuss your own situation and get professional help with your own unique recovery.

Is your relationship with movement a problem? In this episode we chat about the role exercise played in Safia’s eating disorder and what she did to gain a positive relationship with it now. Throughout the episode there are some red flags to look out for if you are unsure as to whether your relationship with movement is a healthy one. 

Topics covered:

• How Safia’s relationship with movement has changed from when she had her eating disorder to now she is recovered
• What drives the need to move when you have an eating disorder
• The negative impacts of compulsive exercise 
• Ideas of how to heal your relationship with movement 
• Tools and strategies to use in the moment when you have the urge to exercise 
• Cutting back vs cold turkey
• Severing the tie between exercise and food
• Severing the tie between exercise and mood
• Becoming accountable to yourself
• Messaging in society which is not in line with what would be healthy for you personally

You can find us on social media:

Tallulah Self (editor and Producer)

• Instagram: @tallulahself

Meg:

• Instagram: @megsy_recovery
• YouTube: Megsy Recovery
• TikTok: megsy recovery

Safia: 

• Email: [email protected] 
• Instagram: @safia_edrecoverycoach
• Member of the Beyond Body Coaching team: https://www.beyondbodycoach.com

Please keep in mind we’re not medical professionals, and the podcast content reflects our own experiences and opinions, as well as that of our guests, so it shouldn’t be taken as medical advice. If you’re struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating please reach out to a medical professional to discuss your own situation and get professional help with your own unique recovery.

Ragen is a multi-talented writer, speaker, trained researcher, award winning dancer, elite professional athlete and self acclaimed lover of medals which has resulted in her completing a marathon. She is an inspirational and passionate thought leader in the fields of Health at Every Size, weight stigma and weight inclusive healthcare and fitness after being subject to size discrimination herself. Ragen’s incredibly articulate and research based answers resulted in us learning a lot in this chat. Hope you enjoy it too! 

Topics covered:

• How the diet industry operates.
• The harm of weight cycling/yoyo dieting.
• Definition of health and why you can’t judge health by looking at a person.   
• Why BMI is not a measure of health. 
• The activism work Ragen has been doing to try and change weight stigma in the healthcare system.
• How to advocate for yourself when you go to the doctors.
• How to achieve body acceptance and a positive body image.
• Advice for people who want to get involved in movement, but feel they could be judged. 
• Creating a positive relationship with movement and detaching it from an aesthetic goal. 
• Activism burn out and what we can all do to support HAES. 

Find Ragen here:
Instagram: @ragenchastain
Website: https://danceswithfat.org
Twitter: @danceswithfat

You can find us on social media:
Tallulah Self (editor and Producer)
Instagram: @tallulahself

Meg:
Instagram: @megsy_recovery
YouTube: Megsy Recovery
TikTok: megsy recovery

Safia:
Email: [email protected]
Instagram: @safia_edrecoverycoach
Member of the Beyond Body Coaching team: https://www.beyondbodycoach.com

Please keep in mind we’re not medical professionals, and the podcast content reflects our own experiences and opinions, as well as that of our guests, so it shouldn’t be taken as medical advice. If you’re struggling with an eating disorder or disordered eating please reach out to a medical professional to discuss your own situation and get professional help with your own unique recovery.