The Appetite

Body Image can be a struggle at any time, but what about when you've had a baby? For the birthing person, one's relationship to food and body can be vastly impacted by the perinatal experience. In a roundtable conversation, Opal: Food + Body Wisdom Co-Founders Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD-S, CD, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, and Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS are sharing their (quite varied) experiences of pregnancy and being postpartum. As eating disorder experts, their stories serve as a reminder that everyone's body and story is different. From the experience of infertility, the role of recovery during pregnancy, and thoughts on the "pre-baby body," we're jumping in!

Connect with Opal:

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Thank you to our team...

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

What assumptions do you think are made about pregnancy and the postpartum experience? Doula Davinah Simmons and postpartum-focused therapist Julie Davidson, LMHC join Carter Umhau, LMHC to explore the ways in which our society under-prepares the birthing person or mother for the "emotional infancy" that begins when baby arrives. They'll explore how the perinatal experience brings about new body image concerns, can impact eating disorder recovery, and the identity crisis that can often ensue. This conversation elucidates the powerful work that is required in matrescence, and why this "development phase" requires a new way of thinking about body, personhood, attachment, and becoming.

Learn more about the work of Davinah Simmons at https://www.bornrooted.com/ and on Instagram @rootedbirthdoula

Learn more about Julie Davidson, LMHC's work at http://www.juliedavidsoncounseling.com/ and on Instagram @onbeingamother

Alexandra Sacks' TED talk on matrescence: https://www.ted.com/talks/alexandra_sacks_a_new_way_to_think_about_the_transition_to_motherhood?language=en

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos

Thank you to our team...

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

Can we truly control our bodies in order to change the way we look? As talk of New Year's "lifestyle changes," diets, and new exercise regimens fill our feeds, we're here to talk about a major function of the body impacted by unhealthy dieting and changes in exercise: METABOLISM. In this episode we're exploring what it is, how it works, and whether or not the assumptions diet culture has made about our ability to control it are scientifically valid. (Spoiler alert: they aren't.) In conversation with host, therapist and not-a-scientist Carter Umhau, LMHC, Opal Co-Founder and Nutrition Director Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD-S, CD expertly explains and debunks myths around metabolism, explaining how dieting can harm our metabolic processes for good.

Links:

Thanks to Taylor Chan, MS, RD, CPT for the banner art today! Check them out here: https://www.instagram.com/foodandfearless/?hl=en

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos

Thank you to our team...

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

What makes a good coach? With no agreed upon definition of a "qualified coach," this is a question often ignored! Julie McCleery, PhD, of the Center for Leadership in Athletics at the University of Washington, joins us to talk about how the often toxic culture in sports could be transformed through better, more holistically-minded training for coaches. With Opal: Food+Body Wisdom's Exercise+Sport Director Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, and host and therapist Carter Umhau, LMHC, Julie discusses how allegations of abuse in the professional sports sphere reflect our need for a more robust understanding and care of the athlete as a whole person. Julie will offer context around her training model of "Ambitious Coaching" and how coaches can approach youth sports differently to create positive change starting in athletes' younger years.

Links:

Make sure you join us for the "Creating a Healthy Sports Culture: Facilitating Athletes' Positive Relationship with Food, Body, and Exercise." Workshop hosted by Opal: Food + Body Wisdom at the University of Washington THIS Saturday January 11th. More information is available here: https://www.opalfoodandbody.com/event/creating-a-healthy-sports-culture/

Learn more about the Center for Leadership in Athletics here: http://sites.education.washington.edu/

"What To Do If You Have (or Notice) an Abusive Coach" by Elizabeth Carey: https://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/a30150327/what-to-do-if-you-have-an-abusive-coach/

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos

Thank you to our team...

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

Are you sick of making New Year's resolutions you don't keep? Instead of goal setting, try commuting to self-exploration! As an alternative to resolutions, Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS leads The Appetite crew in the journaling process of "self-inquiry," a Radically Open DBT concept in which you move toward discomfort for the sake of growth. Lexi, along with Opal Co-Founders Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD-S, CD, and host Carter Umhau, LMHC share from their journals about the hopes they have for the new year and the kinds of questions they hope to live into.

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos

Thank you to our team...

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

How do the holiday festivities impact your diet? For many—especially those already struggling with a disordered relationship to food and body—the holiday season can be chock-full of challenges. From holiday drinks with friends, to office parties, to busy schedules, and all of the special treats and seasonal foods, there's a lot that's both exciting and stressful! Opal Co-Founders Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD-S, CD and host and therapist Carter Umhau, LMHC talk about how to approach the novelty of the holidays through attuned eating skills. In this episode, they'll offer not only helpful tips on how to prepare on the day of a big food-filled party, but also how to embrace the celebratory spirit.

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos

Thank you to our team...

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

Does sport culture need to change? We say, absolutely—and especially around weight! Mary Cain was the fastest high school distance runner in the world until she joined the best distance running program in the country, the Nike Oregon Project, coached by Alberto Salazar. From there, the abusive pressure to become thinner and thinner consumed her running career, leading her to disordered eating and suicidal thoughts, until she finally quit the team. In this episode of The Appetite, Opal Co-Founder and head of the Exercise + Sport Program Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS sits down to talk about how Mary Cain's story has started a landslide of advocacy within the distance running world. Kara explores how the culture of sport has become toxic, and what coaches can do about it.

Join Opal: Food + Body Wisdom on January 11, 2020 for our coaches workshop (hosted at the University of Washington): Creating a Healthy Sports Culture: Facilitating Athletes' Positive Relationship with Food, Body, and Exercise

Watch the NYT Opinion piece on Mary Cain via YouTube: "I Was the Fastest Girl in the World, Until I Joined Nike"

Read Mary Cain's OpEd in the New York Times:

Sports Illustrated on Nike

Mary Cain tells her story on the Clean Sport Collective podcast

Mary Cain on The Science of Sport podcast

The Amelia Boone Interview: How the "Queen of Pain" Faces Down Her Demons

Lauren Fleshman, "I Changed My Body for My Sport. No Girl Should." | NY OpEd

Jen Rhines on Weight and Body Composition in Running

Hierarchy of Food Needs

Relative Energy Deficiency-Syndrome (RED-S) Clinical Assessment Tool

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos

Thank you to our team...

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

What does food and body wisdom look like? With the concept front and center in Opal's name, we decided to poll the staff (dietitians, therapists, and beyond!) to hear what body wisdom means to them. From pursuing the wisdom of one's appetite cues, attachment style, and experience of privilege, our awesome staff came at this topic from all sides, all while exemplifying the Opal spirit. Listen to this unique episode where we leave the studio and record within the walls of Opal.

Links:

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos

Thank you to our team...

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

How does your body carry emotion? Did you know that the answer to this question can serve as a window into understanding not only your relationship to food but your attachment style and personality as well? Opal's Milieu Therapist Lead, Madeline Young, BS, RYT, LMT, joins host Carter Umhau, LMHC to discuss her work with somatic psychotherapy and Core Energetics. Carter and Madeline will discuss the connections between mind, body, and emotions and how this can be applied in eating disorder recovery. Madeline will walk listeners through a visualization exercise to better understand these concepts through embodied learning.

Links:

More about the Seattle School of Body Psychotherapy and a a place to find their blog: http://www.bodypsychotherapyschool.com/

Learn more about Madeline's offerings: https://www.madelinelyoung.com/

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos

Thank you to our team...

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com

Why is anger an important emotion? The Appetite crew talks about why anger is useful, and how our perception and expression of it is impacted by gender and race. Opal: Food + Body Wisdom Co-Founders Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS and Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS let you into a small moment of anger between them, displaying how we often "sanitize" anger. Then, with host Carter Umhau, LMHC, we discuss how Beyoncé's visual album, "Lemonade" portrays the many facets of anger, and why we think it's so effective.

Links:

Good and Mad Book

Watch Beyoncé's visual album, by purchasing "Lemonade" on iTunes: https://music.apple.com/us/album/lemonade/1460473526

Connect with Opal:

www.opalfoodandbody.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/

Instagram: @opalfoodandbody

Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos

Thank you to our team...

Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/

Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/

Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com