Have you ever felt like you’re constantly trying to "fit into a box" that just wasn't made for you?

This week on the Full of Beans Podcast, Han is joined by Dr. Lauren Lovegood, a psychologist who specialises in the intersection of Eating Disorders, Neurodiversity (ADHD/Autism), and the LGBTQ+ community.

We talk about the "internal sense of difference" that so many of us feel growing up and how, sometimes, an eating disorder can sneak in as a way to find control, "mask" our true selves, or even seek out that much-needed dopamine.

In this episode, we explore:

• The Treatment Spectrum: Why anorexia is actually a much smaller piece of the ED puzzle than society thinks.
• Identity & Belonging: The unique challenges faced by the LGBTQ+ community and how gender-affirming care can coexist with a healthy body image.
• The Neurodivergent Brain: Why "Executive Function" makes university transitions so tricky and why your "fidgety brain" might be driving your food behaviours.
• Gender Affirming Care: We discuss the desire to align our physical bodies with our internal identity.
• The Glorification of Weight Loss: Exploring the challenges of restrictive behaviours in the queer community to cause a more "feminine" or "masculine" look.
• Identity Roles & Stereotypes: How to find where we belong without fuelling obsession with our appearance.
• ARFID & Sensory Safety: Understanding why "beige foods" feel safe and how to branch out without the fear and force gently.
• The Low Self-Esteem Trap: How external pressure to be "disciplined" can fuel the eating disorder voice.

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Lauren via her website

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, body image, neurodiversity, gender and sexuality. Please look after yourself as you listen.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.

Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

We often view exercise as the "golden ticket" for mental health, but for those navigating eating disorders, the line between movement and compulsion is incredibly thin.

In this week’s episode of Full of Beans, Han is joined by Dr. Amit Mistry, a Consultant Sports Psychiatrist at the Nightingale Hospital. Amit brings a unique dual perspective to the table, advocating for the robust mental health benefits of physical activity while managing the high-stakes clinical risks of over-exercise in inpatient eating disorder settings.

We explore why exercise shouldn't be a "black or white" conversation and how we can reintroduce movement without falling back into the trap of rigidity.

In this episode, we talk about:

• The Biopsychosocial Model: How sport serves as "fertiliser for the brain" while providing self-mastery and social connection.
• The Social Media Myth: Why we need to challenge the "exercise is all you need" narrative and replace it with a multi-pronged approach to mental health.
• Inpatient Realities: The difficult balance of prioritising physical stability (cardiovascular status and refeeding) while introducing social exercises like yoga or swimming.
• Exercise as a Spectrum: Identifying when recreational movement crosses the line into a systemic, "drug-like" addiction that impacts bone health and fertility.
• Red-S vs. Depression: The clinical challenge of distinguishing between relative energy deficiency in sport and primary low mood.
• The "Elite" Trap: Why 99% of us aren't elite athletes and shouldn't be following the regimented, high-intake/high-output diets we see in our feeds.
• Diagnostic Switching: Understanding the shift into Orthorexia and why being "high functioning" doesn't mean you aren't in distress.

Something that really stayed with me from this conversation was the idea of Identity vs. Performance. When we strip away the sports and the training, who are we? Recovery isn't about stopping forever; it’s about regaining the autonomy to choose rest without guilt.

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Dr Amit on Instagram (@dramistrypsych)

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, anxiety, restrictive eating and medical trauma. Please look after yourself as you listen.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.

Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

Thank you to Nightingale Hospital for sponsoring Full of Beans.

Anecdotally, we know there is a correlation between eating disorders and suicide, yet until now, there has been no published research to show that.

This week on the Full of Beans Podcast, Han is joined by Dr Una Foye, a Research Fellow at King's College London, who is leading the qualitative arm of an MQ-funded study exploring why people with eating disorders are at higher risk of suicide and self-harm.

We talk about the groundbreaking, and long overdue, research that finally puts lived experience voices at the centre of this conversation, why the data has always been harder to read than it should be, and what the findings mean for the way we think about treatment, recovery, and care.

In this episode, we explore:

• The research gap: Why there has been almost no qualitative work asking people with lived experience about the link between eating disorders and suicidality, until now.
• The hidden statistics: Why deaths connected to eating disorders and suicide are so often recorded under other causes, and what stigma and the historic criminalisation of suicide have to do with it.
• The complexity of risk: How the eating disorder itself, identity loss, social isolation, and the function it serves can increase suicidal thoughts.
• Recovery as a risky period: How the removal of support at the point of weight restoration can leave people more vulnerable, not less.
• Intersectionality and invisibility: How being male, from a minoritised ethnic background, living in a larger body, or being autistic or neurodivergent can compound the risk, and the silence.
• Siloed services: Why being told "you can't be treated here if you're also self-harming" misses the point entirely, and what holistic, joined-up care could look like instead.
• Asking the question: Why clinicians are often frightened to ask about suicidality, and why not asking is far more dangerous than asking.
• Hope in small things: The realisation that support doesn't need to be dramatic - but simple changes and communication can help.
• Lived experience at the centre: Why Una is so passionate about lived experience and how it is the thing which shapes everything she does.

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Una via the KCL website

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, self-harm and suicide. Please look after yourself as you listen.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.

Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

In this week’s episode of Full of Beans, I’m joined by Dr Jessica Eccles, an award-winning researcher and neurodevelopmental psychiatrist specialising in the links between brain and body, particularly as they relate to hypermobility.

Jessica is an Associate Professor in Brain-Body Medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Also, she works in the Sussex NHS Neurodevelopmental Service, where she and colleagues have set up the world’s first Neurodivergent Brain Body Clinic. She has been exploring the intersection between hypermobility, neurodivergence, and mental health since 2009, and is passionate about challenging stereotypes and encouraging curiosity.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What hypermobility actually is, and why it is about more than being “bendy”
• The links between ADHD, autism, hypermobility, anxiety, and eating disorders
• How gut issues, autonomic dysfunction, and interoception may play a role
• Why body sensations can sometimes be misread as anxiety
• The connection between proprioception, body awareness, and emotion regulation
• Why neurodivergent people may be more vulnerable to restrictive eating patterns
• The importance of looking at the full picture, rather than separating the brain and body

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Jessica via her LinkTree

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, anxiety, restrictive eating and medical trauma. Please look after yourself as you listen.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.

Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

In this week's episode of Full of Beans, we are joined by Dr. Hannah Lewis, a Postdoctoral Researcher at Queen Mary University of London. Hannah’s work sits at the vital intersection of eating disorder prevention and school-based body image interventions.

We step inside the halls of Westminster to discuss a recent Eating Disorder & Education Roundtable convened by the APPG on Eating Disorders and the Dump the Scales campaign.

Key Discussion Points

• Inside Parliament: What actually happens at an APPG roundtable? We break down the meeting between researchers, MPs, and stakeholders to push for better school resources.
• The Evidence is Ready: We have over 20 years of research supporting cognitive dissonance-based interventions (such as the Body Project), yet they are still not standard in the UK curriculum.
• What the Science Says: A look at why "media literacy" alone isn’t enough to prevent eating disorders and why we need more active, group-based challenges to appearance ideals.
• Prevention vs. Treatment: Clarifying that prevention isn't about asking teachers to "treat" disorders; it’s about addressing risk factors like body dissatisfaction, perfectionism, and appearance anxiety.
• The 2017 Training Gap: Why a major hurdle remains the lack of specific body image and eating disorder training for Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs) during their qualification.
• The "Sick Enough" Threshold: Discussing how clinical barriers are moving into schools, often preventing young people from getting help until they reach a crisis point.
• Diversity & Intersectionality: Why "standard" interventions can fail marginalised groups. We discuss the Brown is Beautiful project and the need to adapt the Body Project for South Asian girls.
• Current School Programmes: Routine weighing in PE lessons, calorie counting as a maths exercise, the policing of "high sugary foods" in lunchboxes and weight loss adverts at school are policies we can change.
• Neurodiversity & ARFID: Acknowledging that not all eating disorders are driven by body image. We explore the link between Autism, ADHD, and sensory-based eating struggles.
• The Future: Moving toward an open letter to Parliament and ensuring the outcome of these discussions leads to tangible policy action.

Connect with Us:

• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube

• Follow The Brown is Beautiful Project on Instagram (@thebrownisbeautifulproject)

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorder prevention, body dissatisfaction, and mental health policy. Please look after yourself as you listen.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.

Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

In this week’s episode of Full of Beans, I’m joined by Joshua Hills, a nutritionist, sports therapist, and author of You Can Eat That, whose work challenges diet culture and helps people feel calmer, more flexible, and more themselves around food.

Joshua shares how growing up alongside his mum’s experience of anorexia shaped the way he understands food, connection, and recovery.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Joshua’s experience of growing up with a parent with anorexia
• How his mum’s relationship with food shaped his interest in nutrition
• Why food is about more than nutrients, and also about connection and enjoyment
• The difference between helpful nutrition habits and more disordered patterns
• Why the same behaviour can feel supportive for one person, but unhelpful for another
• Emotional eating, and why it is not always something to fear
• Building an “emotional toolbox” rather than relying on one coping strategy
• How to start making changes around food without going all-or-nothing
• Why balance looks different for everyone
• Joshua’s new book, You Can Eat That

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Joshua via Instagram or email [email protected]

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, anorexia and disordered eating. Please look after yourself as you listen.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.

Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

In this week’s episode of Full of Beans, I’m joined by Jacqui Russon, an occupational therapist and accredited DBT therapist, to explore the overlap between eating disorders and addiction.

We talk about the obsessive thinking, shame, rigidity, and emotional pain that can sit beneath both, and what this means for recovery.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The similarities and differences between eating disorders and addiction
• Why neither are simply a “choice”
• Obsessive thoughts, rigidity, and compensatory behaviours
• The role of shame, guilt, and emotional avoidance
• Why understanding the function of behaviours matters
• Developing safer, more supportive coping strategies
• Anger, boundaries, and finding your voice in recovery
• What occupational therapy actually is (and why it matters)
• Why recovery needs to involve real-life practice, not just talking

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Jacqui via Purpose People or the Nightingale Hospital

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, addiction and trauma. Please look after yourself as you listen.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.

Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

In this episode, Hannah is joined by Judy Krasna, Executive Director of F.E.A.S.T. (Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment for Eating Disorders). Judy is a writer and eating disorder advocate based in Israel, and after volunteering for F.E.A.S.T. in multiple capacities, she became the organisation's Executive Director in February 2021.

Judy joins Hannah for a deeply moving and insightful conversation about what it means to be a parent supporting a child through an eating disorder: the isolation, the guilt, the exhaustion, and the incredible power of love and community. Judy also shares her own personal journey, including the tragic loss of her daughter Gavriella, who passed away in 2020 after a 13-year battle with anorexia nervosa.

This one is raw, honest, and so important. We hope it brings comfort and clarity to any parent or loved one who needs it.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What F.E.A.S.T. is and how it supports families across the world
• Why eating disorders can be so isolating for parents and carers
• The damaging impact of parent blame in treatment
• Why families should be seen as part of the solution, not the problem
• The long-term impact of trauma on parents supporting a loved one
• How eating disorders can distort trust, self-trust, and family relationships
• Why support systems are so important in recovery
• The challenge of balancing protection with independence
• What Judy wants parents at breaking point to know
• Judy's incredibly honest reflections on losing her daughter, Gavriella

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with FEAST via their website (feast-ed.org/)

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders and suicide. Please look after yourself as you listen.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.

Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

In this episode, I'm joined by Mel Nelson, a qualified counsellor, Senior Counsellor at an eating disorder charity (SWEDA), and autism-informed practitioner, to discuss the intersection of undiagnosed neurodiversity, compulsive exercise, and eating disorder behaviours.

Mel spent over 25 years working in the dance and fitness industry before retraining as a counsellor, and she brings together a really rare combination of lived experience and professional expertise. We got into some really honest territory in this one, and I think so many of you are going to hear yourselves in this conversation.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why bulimia stays hidden for so long (and the shame that keeps it that way)
• The "fitting in" feeling and why it can make an eating disorder so hard to spot
• How neurodivergence and eating disorders can look so similar from the outside
• Why routine isn't always just a neurodivergent thing (and how to tell the difference)
• What compulsive exercise and purging have more in common than people realise
• The late diagnosis that changed everything, and why it's never too late
• Why recovery sometimes has to start with the smallest of changes

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Mel via her website (newday-counselling.co.uk) or Instagram (@newday_counselling)

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, compulsive exercise, bulimia, depression, and neurodivergence. Please look after yourself as you listen.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.

Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛

This week on the podcast, I’m joined by Holly Marsh, a psychotherapeutic counsellor who specialises in eating disorders in private practice, and someone who also brings her own lived experience of recovery into the room.

Holly shares how, during her own recovery, she often found parts of treatment confusing… especially when they seemed to echo the very voice she was trying to challenge of not being "sick enough". That experience has really shaped how she now thinks about recovery, both personally and professionally.

What We Cover in This Episode

• What the “eating disorder voice” actually is (and why it can feel confusing)
• How the eating disorder can shape-shift and mimic your own thoughts
• The “superpower” feeling and why it can be so hard to let go
• Why recovery can feel worse before it feels better
• The role of values in guiding recovery
• How to start separating your thoughts from the eating disorder
• The short-term “payoff” that keeps people stuck
• Navigating relationships and rebuilding trust with loved ones
• Honesty, identity, and the role of lived experience in recovery and professional work

Connect with Us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, anorexia and recovery. Please take care when listening.

If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help us spread awareness.

Sending positive beans your way, Han 💛