The Full of Beans Podcast

In this week's episode of Full of Beans, Han is joined by Tiffany Luxford. Tiffany is a 24-year-old psychology student at King's College London and an expert by experience, whose own journey with anorexia in her late teens now sits at the centre of both her professional focus and personal work. She contributes to co-production research and shares her story in the training of current and future clinicians, helping ensure the voices of people with lived experience remain central to how eating disorder care is shaped.

Tiffany also works with services across the UK to help design more compassionate and accessible treatment pathways, and is soon launching The Recovery Wave, a website of resources for anyone navigating recovery, particularly those without access to care or who haven't yet found support that fits their needs.

In this week's episode, we discuss:

• The bullying and social pressure that triggered Tiffany's eating disorder
• The impact of unsuccessful A&E trips and delayed eating disorder interventions
• Falling between adult and child eating disorder services during COVID
• Being discharged from eating disorder treatment at 18 due to age, not readiness
• Gaps in eating disorder treatment caused by multiple diagnoses, including OCD
• Why connection in eating disorder treatment supports and hinders recovery
• Why university became the turning point in Tiffany's eating disorder recovery
• Debunking the myth that eating disorder thoughts "never go away"
• Tiffany's lived-experience resource for eating disorder recovery, Recovery Wave

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, inpatient treatment, and mental health diagnoses including OCD and personality disorder. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
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• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Connect with Tiffany via LinkedIn or check out her Tedx Talk

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Dr Sam Chawner, a senior research fellow at Cardiff University.

Sam's research explores the complex links between eating disorders, genetics, neurodiversity and mental health, with a focus on groups who have historically been overlooked in research and clinical practice. His work looks at ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder) , and he is involved in the NHS Wales ARFID Steering Group and the EDGI (Eating Disorder Genetics Initiative) study, working alongside Beat, and those with lived experience to shape the future of ARFID research and care.

In this episode, we explore:

• The links between eating disorders, genetics and neurodiversity
• Why ARFID is still so misunderstood
• The different types of ARFID, including the four subtypes
• The overlap between ARFID and neurodivergence
• What the first ARFID twin study found
• The gaps in ARFID treatment research
• The EDGI study, and how families can take part

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 Sam on LinkedIn
• Find out more about ARFID here
• Find out more about EDGI study here

⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, ARFID, restrictive eating, and fears around choking and vomiting. Please take care while listening.

Thank you to @Nightingale Hospital for sponsoring the podcast.

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Shikha Chopra, a lived experience advocate living with ARFID (Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder) who is currently navigating pregnancy. Shikha is also autistic and is a member of the ARFID Connect lived experience advisory group, led by Cardiff University.

Her advocacy work stems from her own struggle accessing ARFID support through the NHS and her local eating disorder clinic, as well as her experience with recovery and prevention language that didn't fit how she lives with ARFID.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How a traumatic episode of sickness became a turning point in Shikha's ARFID
• What it felt like for Shikha to finally have a name for her struggles
• How Shikha's GP supported her through her ARFID diagnosis
• Gaps in NHS eating disorder treatment for adults with ARFID
• How peer support groups helped Shikha find validation for her ARFID experience
• Why "acceptance" fit Shikha's ARFID better than "recovery"
• The link between ARFID, autism and OCD
• Navigating ARFID and autism through pregnancy
• Advocating for her needs during maternity care with an autism health passport
• Shikha's advice for accessing support for ARFID

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses ARFID, disordered eating, trauma, and pregnancy. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

• Subscribe to the Full of Beans Podcast
• Follow Full of Beans on Instagram
• Check out our website
• Listen on YouTube
• Find out more about ARFID Connect here
• Check out Beat ARFID Page here
• Check out First Steps info on ARFID here

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Ella Clarke, a lived experience advocate currently working for LENs as an Expert by Experience. Ella has her own lived experience of an eating disorder and ADHD, and spent three years in hospital under a section. She now uses that experience to spread awareness and give others hope that recovery is genuinely possible. Outside of her advocacy work, Ella volunteers at Redgate Farm animal sanctuary, is proud crazy cat lady to Bella, a 14-year-old cat she adopted from Redgate last year, and this year travelled to Borneo to volunteer at a sanctuary for orangutans and sun bears.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What motivates Ella to work as an Expert by Experience in eating disorder recovery
• Ella's experience of hospital admission and treatment for an eating disorder
• Why listening to the person, not just the diagnosis, matters in eating disorder treatment
• Ella's experience of misdiagnosis and falling through the gaps between mental health services
• How Ella's ADHD diagnosis became a turning point in her eating disorder recovery
• The overlap between ADHD, anorexia and binge eating disorder
• The small, incremental steps that helped Ella rebuild her relationship with food
• Why normalising food, rather than commenting on it, supports eating disorder recovery
• Reconnecting with hobbies, identity and life beyond the eating disorder, including Ella's trip to Borneo

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, hospital admission, self-harm, and mental health diagnoses including ADHD and personality disorder. Please take care while listening.

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 Ella via LinkedIn

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Shannon Travers-Spencer, who has lived experience of anorexia, autism, ADHD, ARFID and chronic illness, and shares their journey online. Shannon is a passionate advocate for inclusive care for neurodivergent individuals within eating disorder services, and spoke at this year's Dump The Scales march about navigating the UK's eating disorder system, and the barriers and accommodations they faced along the way.

In This Episode:

• Shannon's experience of ARFID from childhood, and anorexia developing later as a teenager
• Untangling autism, ARFID and anorexia when they overlap so closely
• Why an autism diagnosis partway through inpatient treatment changed everything about Shannon's care
• The nuance clinicians face in adapting treatment without it being exploited by the eating disorder
• How Shannon and a dietitian mapped out "autism-safe" versus "anorexia-safe" foods to understand what was really driving their eating
• How undiagnosed autism may have contributed to the development of Shannon's eating disorder
• Practical, simple adjustments that can make a significant difference in autistic-affirming care
• Why listening to the patient, and being willing to adapt language and approach, matters more than any grand overhaul
• The importance of joined-up care between eating disorder services and mental health teams

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, ARFID, autism, suicidality, and inpatient psychiatric treatment. Please take care while listening.

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 Shannon via Instagram @a.froggy.life
• Watch Shannon's Dump The Scales speech here
• Check out the Peace Pathway here

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Lexie Kirwan-Jones. Lexie is a psychology student at Durham University, an eating disorder peer support worker, and someone involved in research relating to eating disorders and neurodivergence.

As Lexie shares, her university experience hasn't been a straight line, but is one that might sound similar to those who have been navigating an eating disorder at university. After taking a year out of her costume design degree due to her eating disorder, she re-evaluated her career plans and returned to university in 2024 to study psychology to pursue a career in clinical psychology.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Lexie's honest account of living with bulimia and disordered eating
• Why bulimia and binge-purge cycles can feel worse than restrictive eating disorders, despite looking "healthy" on the outside
• How weight-focused feedback in eating disorder treatment can reinforce disordered behaviours
• Understanding binge eating disorder: what a binge actually feels like, and why it isn't about willpower
• The turning point in Lexie's eating disorder recovery
• Why the right GP can make all the difference in accessing eating disorder treatment
• How university stress and perfectionism fuelled Lexie's eating disorder
• Taking a year out of university for eating disorder recovery, and the fear of judgement
• Lexie's advice for navigating university with an eating disorder

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, including restriction, binge eating and bulimia, and disordered eating behaviours. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

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

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Jessica Parker and Gemma Fieldsend, co-founders of Cog-Spark, a mental health training and consultancy organisation with more than 40 years of combined experience across mental health, psychology, education and research.

Gemma brings extensive clinical experience from senior roles within the NHS, higher education and specialist mental health services, while Jessica's background is in psychology, education and doctoral research focused on eating disorder prevention and early identification.

Together, they combine frontline and clinical experience with research to deliver evidence-based, practical training to schools, universities, workplaces and community organisations. As pupils head back to school, this episode focuses on helping educators and parents recognise and respond to eating disorders in school-aged children.

In this week's episode, we discuss:

• Why eating disorders don't have a "look," and can affect any child regardless of background, age or gender
• Early warning signs of eating disorders in school-aged children, beyond weight
• Recognising ARFID and sensory eating difficulties in schools
• How perfectionism and high achievement can mask an eating disorder in children
• How to talk to a child when concerned about an eating disorder
• Practical strategies for schools to support children with eating disorders
• How to talk to parents about a suspected eating disorder in their child
• Removing blame and shame from eating disorder conversations with families
• Why joined-up support between schools and families improves eating disorder recovery in children

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, disordered eating, and supporting children and young people. Please take care while listening.

Connect with us:

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

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Ruby Phelan and Margherita Barbieri to talk about their new film, The Last Pancake. Ruby is a multi-award-winning filmmaker, activist and illustrator who wrote and directed the film, and previously worked as a director's assistant on Netflix's The Crown after her acclaimed short The Mermaid & the Artist. Margherita is a British-Italian actor and producer, best known for starring as Simone in Spellbound for ITV and Hulu, and leads as Amanda in the film. The Last Pancake is a magical-realist drama in which Amanda ventures to the titular cafe, awakens her suppressed appetite, and finds herself reunited with her nine-year-old self. The film is independently produced by Ethan McDowell of AnyOther Productions, with support from mental health organisation Voices with Impact, and also stars Lia Williams (The Capture, The Day of the Jackal) as Martha and introduces Luana Souza Rodrigues as Little Amanda.

In This Episode:

• The story behind The Last Pancake and depicting recovery's fear and bravery
• Reconnecting with your inner child in eating disorder recovery
• The neurodivergent overlap with eating disorders
• The subtle details in the film that spoke so directly to the eating disorder experience
• Why "shedding" relationships is one of recovery's hardest, least talked about parts in recovery
• The quiet power of simply being there for someone, without needing to fix anything
• Redirecting determination and drive from disordered eating into something life-affirming
• Using storytelling to open conversations that are hard to put into words

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, disordered eating, and recovery. Please take care while listening.

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 the team:
  • The Last Pancake on Instagram (@thelastpancakefilm)
  • Writer & Director - Ruby Phelan - @ruby_phelan
  • Amanda - Margherita Barbieri - @alwaysmargi
  • Producer - Ethan McDowell - @ethansmcdowell
  • Production Company - AnyOther. Productions - @anyother.productions
  • Follow Ruby and Margi's recovery community, @play.brave, on TikTok

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Sophie du Plessis, a final-year Master of Nursing student in Adult and Mental Health Nursing at King's College London and founder of ED Informed.

Sophie previously studied psychology at the University of Toronto, where she capped off a 15-year career as a national-level swimmer, co-captaining the varsity women's team to a second-place finish at Canadian Nationals.

Drawing on her background in competitive sport and her own lived experience of an eating disorder, Sophie set up ED Informed, a campaign calling on gyms and fitness spaces to become eating disorder informed.

She's currently working with Beat to develop accredited training for fitness staff to help them recognise and signpost people at risk of disordered eating and compulsive exercise, alongside piloting screening measures at the King's College London campus gym.

In This Episode:

• Sophie's journey from competitive swimming to compulsive exercise and eating disorder
• Spotting the difference between healthy training and compulsive exercise
• Why disordered exercise can sneak in quietly, unnoticed
• Discipline vs wellness culture vs compulsive exercise
• Signs gym staff can look out for in clients
• Sophie's work piloting eating disorder awareness training for gyms
• Rebuilding a healthy relationship with exercise after an eating disorder
• Sophie's vision for ED Informed and eating disorder-informed gyms

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, compulsive exercise, and body image. Please take care while listening.

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 Sophie and ED Informed via her website or Instagram (@edinformed)
• Health policy petition: https://www.change.org/EDInformed_HealthPolicy

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Dr Stella Kozmér, an NIHR SPCR-funded Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Exeter, a Researcher at the University of Oxford, and an incoming Trainee Clinical Psychologist at the University of Oxford. Coming from an Eastern European background, Stella's research focuses on the identification and management of binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa in primary care settings, using mixed-methods research to inform NHS clinical guidelines, policy and practice. Her work is driven by her own lived experience, which she integrates into the core of what she does.

In This Episode:

• Stella's personal and professional journey into binge eating disorder research
• How Stella felt in recognising BED after a decade of not having a name for it
• Why Stella felt stigma and shame disclosing her mental health issues in healthcare
• Why lived experience is a strength in research, not a bias to hide
• Why primary care screening tools for binge eating disorder and bulimia fall short
• The problem with SCOFF and other outdated eating disorder screening criteria
• How weight stigma affects whether binge eating disorder gets identified at all
• Why GPs are hesitant to talk about BED without services to refer patients to
• The real-world cost of untreated binge eating disorder and its comorbidities
• How to use the diabetes care model as a blueprint without more funding
• A review of GLP-1 medications for binge eating disorder
• What the GLP-1 evidence does and doesn't tell us, and the misuse risks to consider
• Why treatment for binge eating disorder must be personalised, not one-size-fits-all

⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders (including binge eating disorder and bulimia), disordered eating, weight stigma, obesity, and prescription medication. Please take care while listening.

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 Stella Kozmér: via LinkedIn
• Read Stella's research via Research Gate