Shana Spence, a registered dietitian (who you might know as @thenutritiontea on social media), joins the pod to bust myths about processed foods and to discuss how family, culture, privilege, and societal influences shape our relationship with food.

This is a rerun – we recorded this conversation over a year ago, and misinformation about food and ingredients has only intensified. This episode feels important to share again right now, especially in light of recent reductions in food assistance programs.

Shana shares how her initial career path and disordered eating fueled her decision to become a dietitian, and reflects on how dietetics education perpetuates diet culture, focusing on BMI and stereotypes. She talks about her perspective shift over time, the process of moving toward an anti-diet and weight-inclusive approach, and why the social determinants of health matter more than individual food choices.

Tune in to hear more about…

The pressure of food restriction as a badge of honor

Privilege affecting food choices

The misleading fears about processed foods

The oversimplification of food into good vs. bad categories. 

How family and cultural background impact dieting

External societal pressures on our relationship with food

Diet culture and healthism

Dietitian education's role in perpetuating diet culture

Stereotyping in healthcare

Shana’s perspective shift on nutrition and dieting

Restriction as a form of validation

Black-and-white thinking in nutrition

Why we don't need to "fix" people's eating habits

Shana Spence is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist based in New York, who considers herself an “eat anything” dietitian, and counsels on a HAES (Healthy At Every Size) and an Intuitive Eating approach. She is also the author of Live Nourished - Make Peace with Food, Banish Body Shame, and Reclaim Joy. Find her website here https://www.thenutritiontea.com/  and find her on instagram at @thenutritiontea.

Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

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Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

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Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from your support on Substack. Subscribe HERE.

I'm joined by Dr. Regina Lazarovich, a clinical psychologist, Health at Every Size (HAES)–aligned provider, and someone with lived experience of binge eating and perfectionism. Together, we unpack the lesser-discussed connection between high achievement, perfectionism, and binge eating, and how shame and restriction can keep us stuck in painful cycles with food.

Tune in as a paid subscriber for more on:

*The connection between perfectionism and binge eating — and why it’s rarely talked about.

*Why restriction (mental, emotional, and physical) often drives binge eating, not “lack of willpower.”

*Regina’s story of developing binge eating disorder amid academic and cultural pressures.

*The shame cycle: how guilt after binge eating fuels renewed restriction and perfectionistic resolve.

*Why binge eating is a protective response from the body — not a personal failure.

*The impact of immigrant identity, family expectations, and internalized achievement pressure on self-worth and body image.

*The moral hierarchy of eating disorders — and how fatphobia shapes which struggles get compassion.

*Tangible ways to interrupt the binge–restrict cycle and begin to bring compassion to our relationship with food.

*Approaching binge eating through a body-trusting, HAES-aligned lens.

This is a bonus episode for paid Substack subscribers. Paid members receive:

*Extra full-length conversations like this one

*Bonus in-depth essays on body image, food, and movement

*Access to the entire archive of paywalled episodes and newsletters

*Deeper, more personal reflections and behind-the-scenes insights

Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:

Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from your support on Substack. Subscribe HERE.

About Regina: Dr. Regina Lazarovich, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, trained teacher of Mindful Self-Compassion, and the founder of the private practice Compass CBT, serving clients across California, New York, and Florida. Dr. Lazarovich has dedicated her fifteen-year career to helping individuals break free from anxiety, panic attacks, OCD, disordered eating, binge eating disorder, body image struggles, people-pleasing, and perfectionism.With a wealth of expertise in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Inference-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Dr. Lazarovich approaches each client's mental health journey with kindness and understanding. As a Health at Every Size (HAES®) aligned therapist, she wholeheartedly believes that every body deserves care, compassion, and respect.

Oona Hanson, educator and parent coach who supports families navigating diet culture and eating disorders, joins the pod to talk about midlife body challenges as well as the pressures teens are facing around food and weight. Specifically, we get into what it's like to be navigating perimenopause while your kids are hitting puberty.

Tune in for more on:* The overlap between perimenopause and puberty, and what it means for family dynamics

* How diet culture sneaks into every corner of parenting and self-worth

* Practical ways to support teens and college students around food and body image

* Reparenting ourselves so we can show up with more patience, compassion, and curiosity

* How even small attempts to restrict or control food can become slippery slopes toward disordered eating

* Why creating a home that feels like a safe haven from diet culture is one of the most powerful gifts you can give your kids.

Oona Hanson is a nationally recognized writer, educator, and parent coach who supports families navigating diet culture and eating disorders. In addition to her private practice as a parent coach, Oona has also worked as a Family Mentor at Equip Health, where she was part of multidisciplinary care teams treating children with eating disorders.

Find Oona on Substack: https://oonahanson.substack.com/

Support the show:

Enjoying this podcast? Please consider supporting the show on Substack as a paid subscriber for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Abbie’s Group Membership:

If you've been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning, you can apply for Abbie's membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

 Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from your support on Substack. Subscribe HERE.

Ragen Chastain is back to continue our conversation about weight, health, and diet culture — this time answering listener questions about the GLP-1s you’ve been hearing so much about: Wegovy, Ozempic, and other weight-loss drugs.

Following up on last week’s episode, Ragen helps us separate hype from reality. We dive into how these drugs actually work — and don’t — their risks and side effects, and the broader context around the pharmaceutical industry and public discourse on weight.

In this episode, we cover:

What GLP-1s actually are and how they function in the body

The side effects and potential health risks of these drugs

How effective they really are for long-term weight management

What happens when weight loss plateaus while taking them

The impact of pharma companies, marketing, and the weight-loss industry

The shortages affecting diabetics who rely on GLP-1s for medical reasons

Tune in to get a clear, evidence-based perspective on the weight-loss drug craze, and to continue unpacking the bigger conversation about weight, health, and stigma.

Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:

Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from your support on Substack. Subscribe HERE.

We’ve all heard it: fatness automatically equals poor health. It’s treated like an unquestionable fact, reinforced by headlines, medical guidelines, and cultural narratives. But is it really true? And what does the research actually say about weight and health outcomes?

In this episode, I’m joined by the incredible Ragen Chastain — researcher, writer, speaker, and thought leader in weight science and weight stigma. Together, we unpack one of the biggest myths upholding diet culture and anti-fat bias: “Isn’t being fat bad for your health?”

We explore the origins of the so-called “obesity epidemic,” the flaws in research connecting weight and health, and how stigma, medical education, and the weight-loss industry continue to shape public perception. Along the way, Ragen shares her personal story, her experience in dance and sports culture, and how she navigates a world obsessed with size and shape.

About Ragen Chastain:

Ragen Chastain is a speaker, writer, researcher, Board Certified Patient Advocate, multi-certified health and fitness professional, and thought leader in weight science, weight stigma, and health. She is the author of Fat: The Owner’s Manual, editor of The Politics of Size, the author of the Weight and Healthcare newsletter, and co-author of the HAES Health Sheets. She’s also a national dance champion, triathlete, marathoner, and Guinness World Record holder for Heaviest Woman to Complete a Marathon.

Ragen's Substack: https://weightandhealthcare.substack.com/

Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:

Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from your support on Substack. Subscribe HERE.

When we talk about eating disorder recovery, we tend to imagine two extremes: acutely ill or completely healed. You’re either in crisis or you’re “all better.”

But what about the space in between?

The messy, unglamorous, everyday middle place.

That’s where journalist and author Mallary Tenore Tarpley found herself — and it’s what her new book is about. She writes about living in that liminal space: no longer in “danger” the way she once was, but not walking around with a tidy “fully recovered” bow tied on top either.

We talk about:

- Why the “middle place” matters, and why so many people feel shame about being there.

- How grief and trauma can play into disordered eating.

- The role of perfectionism and control in shaping recovery.

- Navigating the challenges of motherhood while protecting her kids from body shame and diet culture.

- Why self-compassion and vulnerability are essential on this journey (and what the hell that actually means).

This episode challenges the binary of sick vs. recovered and makes space for a more honest, human version of recovery — one that allows for complexity, setbacks, and resilience.

"Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

 Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:

Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

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 Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from your support on Substack. Subscribe HERE.

Mallary Tenore Tarpley is a journalism professor at The University of Texas at Austin's School of Journalism and Media and McCombs School of Business, where she teaches writing and reporting courses for undergraduate and graduate students. Mallary's articles and essays have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Tampa Bay Times, Teen Vogue, Harvard University’s Nieman Storyboard and more. She also maintains a weekly newsletter, Write at the Edge, where she shares writing tips and best practices. Mallary’s debut nonfiction book, “SLIP: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery,” blends immersive reporting, emerging science and social history around eating disorders alongside Mallary’s own harrowing journey from a childhood with anorexia to her present-day reality as a mother in recovery.

Mallary's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mallarytenoretarpley/

Mallary's website: mallarytenoretarpley.com

Mallary's newsletter: mallary.substack.com

Find her book here

Sandi James — a registered psychologist and Certified Eating Disorder Recovery Coach — joins Abbie to talk about her lived experience with both eating disorders and substance abuse, and how her own healing has profoundly shaped her work.

Listen in for a compassionate conversation on:

- The overlap between substance use and eating disorders as coping strategies

- Sandi’s early experiences with hush-hush, shame-based treatment in Australia

- The impact of COVID, loneliness, and financial stress on relapse

- Harm in treatment: rigid meal plans, punishment, coercion, and being labeled “non-compliant”

- The contrast of supportive care that treats people like humans

- Why one-size-fits-all treatment approaches often fail

- The promise of harm reduction and meeting clients in their “window of tolerance”

- Using challenge meals over telehealth as a collaborative, supportive tool

This episode is for anyone who’s felt let down by treatment, struggled with co-occurring challenges, or wondered if there’s a gentler, more human way forward in recovery.

Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please consider supporting the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

 Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:

Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

About Sandi: Sandi James is a registered Psychologist and Certified Eating Disorder Recovery Coach with more than 15 years working in mental health, eating disorder, and addiction treatment. She is a lived experience clinician and dedicates her career to working with clients who feel let down by current systems of care and treatment approaches. Her primary focus includes mental health and trauma recovery, with a particular emphasis on co-occurring presentations including substance use or food and compulsive exercise-related difficulties. Sandi has extensive experience working with individuals and families to heal and recover from trauma, addictions, eating disorders, and mental health conditions. She is dedicated to working with clients and families from an inclusive and person-centred approach to improve quality of life from a harm reduction perspective. She is a passionate and committed clinician, working alongside and guiding clients in the recovery process. Sandi is building a practice integrating joyful movement and somatic healing approaches to treatment as well as working towards her PhD, conducting qualitative research looking at experiences of eating disorder treatment: identifying, responding to, and addressing harm experienced throughout the treatment process.

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from your support on Substack. Subscribe HERE.

MAHA, diet culture, and toxic fitness ideals...this is the second half of my conversation with Ilya Parker. We go deeper into the toxic roots of mainstream fitness culture and explore how ableism, conformity, and control are built into the system.

Ilya draws SO many incredible connections in this episode...between patriarchy, body ideals, the current political climate, and the goals of mainstream fitness culture. They ultimately challenge us to reimagine what movement can look like when it’s rooted in compassion, accessibility, and community care.

You don't want to miss this one. I promise.

About Ilya: Ilya (he/they) is a Black, non-binary, fat, movement practitioner and founder of Decolonizing Fitness. They are also a Physical Therapist Assistant and an ACE certified Medical Exercise Specialist. Ilya is deeply invested in creating more access for queer, trans and gender expansive people to engage in intentional movement. While drawing wisdom from community-led solutions that are rooted in body liberation and involve the revitalization of Black and Indigenous ancestral approaches.

Support Ilya on Patreon here.

Find Ilya’s bookshop here.

Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:

Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from your support on Substack. Subscribe HERE.

Ilya Parker, founder of Decolonizing Fitness, joins Abbie to share how gender transition, weight stigma, and ableism shaped their path into fitness and ultimately inspired a new vision for movement. They unpack the toxic culture of mainstream fitness and imagine a world where wellness means compassion, accessibility, and bodily autonomy.

This episode is for anyone who’s felt alienated by gyms, group classes, or wellness spaces—and anyone who’s curious about how fitness can transform when it’s rooted in care, inclusion, and liberation.

Because every minute of this conversation felt sacred, we’re airing it in two parts. This is the first half, and next week we’ll release the second half.

About Ilya: Ilya (he/they) is a Black, non-binary, fat, movement practitioner and founder of Decolonizing Fitness. They are also a Physical Therapist Assistant and an ACE certified Medical Exercise Specialist. Ilya is deeply invested in creating more access for queer, trans and gender expansive people to engage in intentional movement. While drawing wisdom from community-led solutions that are rooted in body liberation and involve the revitalization of Black and Indigenous ancestral approaches.

Support Ilya on Patreon here.

Find Ilya’s bookshop here.

Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:

Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from your support on Substack. Subscribe HERE.