The Full Plate Podcast with Abbie Attwood, MS

Two returning guests join us (who happen to be my amazing friends and colleagues): therapist Edie Stark and fat activist Sharon Maxwell. We're getting into the impact of GLP-1s (like Ozempic, Wegovy, etc.) on disordered eating recovery, body acceptance, and generally navigating this world in a human body amidst the constant chatter about weight loss medications. 

Edie and Sharon share their wisdom and lived experience as we talk about how we can keep hopeful in the face of increasingly problematic diet culture messaging, GLP-1s, and general uncertainty in the world. We explore the differences between individual and macro change, and the need for tangible ways to resist diet culture and comparison. It gets real, and honest, and I think it is a timely episode for anyone who has felt hope waiver these past few weeks. 

Tune in to hear more about:

• What’s on their plates, literally and metaphorically
• Eating easy things when you’re feeling uninspired or overwhelmed
• How Ozempic and GLP-1s are impacting weight-inclusive and anti-diet movements
• What to do when the weight loss conversation feels louder than ever (especially in disordered eating recovery)
• Hope in the context of both diet culture and the world right now
• The role of macro and micro efforts in overcoming systemic issues 
• Differences between body positivity and body liberation
• Social media's role in perpetuating the Ozempic craze and misinformation
• What it looks like to invest in the fat-liberation movement
• How we can overcome moments of doubt and body grief
• Ways to cultivate community around our values
• Sharon's call for more fat joy
• So much more!

This episode is the first of two parts, so stay tuned for next week's second act!

About Edie: 

Edie Stark, MSc, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker and the owner of Stark Therapy Group, a psychotherapy group practice specializing in eating disorders, trauma, and anxiety from a humanistic, fat-positive, and inclusive lens. She believes in the value of lived experience being met with clinical knowledge to create a collaborative therapeutic experience for all of the clients. Edie is passionate about Trader Joe's snacks– we talk a little bit about that–dismantling the US healthcare system, and the complete and total takedown of diet culture in no particular order.

Learn more at https://starktherapygroup.com/

About Sharon:

Sharon Maxwell (She/Her) is a mental health advocate and fat activist. She works as a weight inclusive consultant, providing education to treatment centers and healthcare providers on the immense harms of weight stigma. Due to her lived experience facing weight stigma, Sharon provides unique insight and offers practical tools to make treatment centers and healthcare settings safe and accessible for fat folks. Sharon is passionate about breaking down the stigma around eating disorders and working to eradicate societal anti-fat bias. When she’s not studying or engaged in her activism work, Sharon can be found exploring San Diego with her dog and her best friend.

Read "You Don't Look Anorexic" in New York Times Magazine

Connect with Sharon on IG: @heysharonmaxwell

Learn more about Sharon: https://www.heysharonmaxwell.com/

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

Group program:

Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

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

Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate

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.

Listen Ad-Free on Patreon!

We recorded this conversation before the election, but given the outcome, we're going to see an influx of misinformation about wellness, health, and nutrition -- so this episode feels timely.

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 Patreon for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at Patreon.com/fullplate

Group program:

Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

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

WalkingPad Discounts:

Use code ABBIEATTWOODWELLNESS for 30% off their WalkingPad Use code ABBIEWELLNESS for 20% off their treadmills

Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

Podcast Administrative Support by Alexis Eades

Listen Ad-Free on Patreon: www.patreon.com/fullplate

Hi, my friends. In this last-minute episode, I am talking to you about election anxiety, and why times of political and personal uncertainty can stir up disordered eating thoughts and behaviors. From control to distraction, we often tend to turn to bodies as a coping tool. Join me for this brief (but hopefully meaningful) conversation about these thoughts, why they surface, and  supportive tools to nurture yourself through challenging times. I hope this is a compassionate reminder on why and how we are reclaiming our power when we choose food, rest, and radical self-care. We're in this together -- you are not alone.

PS: This is an expanded version of my newsletter from Friday. You can read that newsletter as a member of Patreon right here.

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

Group program:

Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

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

Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate

This is a free preview of a BONUS episode! To hear the full episode, make sure you're subscribed on Patreon. Your support is what keeps the lights on around here, so, thank you!

It's Halloween time. And that means...plenty of candy. Maybe more than usual? Maybe not. In this special bonus episode, I'm answering a listener question about what to do if you feel like you can't eat candy without binge-eating it, how to approach candy with your kids, and whether we can truly give ourselves unconditional permission to eat all that sugar.

👉 Listen to the full episode right here!

You'll hear more on:

• Whether it's possible to no longer feel out of control around candy, especially if you've had a history of binge eating
• Dealing with the fear and anxiety of having tons of candy around
• Strategies for helping kids develop a positive relationship with candy
• Fears associated with eating "too much" sugar or being "addicted" to sugar
• The truth about health impacts of eating a lot of candy
• Interacting with other people's perspectives on sugar
• What self-compassion has to do with all of this
• Releasing the scarcity mindset to feel more at ease around food (and candy)

Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Patreon for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at Patreon.com/fullplate

That's where you'll find this bonus episode, right at the top of the feed. 

If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Patreon or on my website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Enroll for Group Support:

• Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program, which kicks off in January: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching
• 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 

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate

Author and well-being educator Nakeia Homer joins us to talk about releasing things (habits, people, beliefs) we've clung to for years—sometimes decades. As Nakeia beautifully explains, letting go is rarely about the thing or person itself, but rather what it symbolizes for us.

We discuss self-forgiveness, finding our people, making peace with other people’s opinions of us, and what real self-care is all about. Nakeia also walks us through the process of building habits that help us heal; that help us become whole; that help us find ourselves.

Things that stood out to me most:

• How to know when it’s time to let go, and what it might be costing you to hold on
• The courage required to "give up" on something that no longer aligns with your values
• How we can reframe letting go as a powerful act of self-care and strength
• Why we seek validation and how we can get what we actually need instead
• How to know when you've found your people
• Practical tools for caring less about external judgment and other people's opinions
• Not comparing our experiences to others', especially when it comes to trauma

Nakeia Homer is a Well-Being Educator, Author, and the founder of Heal & Grow Daily, a well-being community and private membership.

Through programs, speaking, workshop facilitation, and corporate wellness consulting, Nakeia helps people sustain their well-being, operate in their brilliance, and show up in their lives and work as the best versions of themselves. Her first books, I Hope This Helps (2020) and All the Right Pieces (2022), have been great resources for those seeking healing and growth all over the world. Her thrid book, Habits For Healing: Reclaim Your Purpose, Peace, & Power was released in the Fall of 2024 and is already dubbed "A Roadmap to Healing".

Nakeia is a sought-after wellness & well-being expert and trauma-informed educator, facilitating powerful workshops and keynotes on the power of story, self-love/self-care, and purpose. You can find her course, Healing Inequality Through Allyship, at David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah.

To stay connected, hire her to speak at your next event, or join her community, visit nakeiahomer.com and follow Nakeia on social media @nakeiahomer.

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

Group program:

Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

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

Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate

Chrissy King is BACK for her second round on the pod. This time, we’re diving deep into the intricate ways diet culture, body autonomy, dating culture, and yes, even childless cat ladies, are all connected. I promise there’s a through-line here—and it’s more liberating than any “hot girl summer” meme you’ve ever scrolled past.

Some of the things we chat about...

• What is on Chrissy’s Plate
• How she is accepting rest as a part of achievement 
• How we can think of rest as a privilege and as freedom
• Childless cat ladies and being child-free by choice
• The parallels between dating culture and diet culture
• What Chrissy means when she says she is decentering men in her life
• The choice to not have children 
• Why chasing men is like chasing thinness 
• Breaking free of rules for how to live as a "good" woman
• Liberation beyond the body
• How to know what we want and choose that
• No longer organizing our life around our appearance
• Reclaiming time and energy from chasing what isn’t meant for us
• And so much more!

Good news! Enrollment is open for Abbie's next group program:

Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

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

Buy Chrissy's book "The Body Liberation Project" right here.

Chrissy King is a writer, speaker, strength coach, and educator with a passion for creating a diverse and inclusive wellness industry.  She empowers individuals to stop shrinking, start taking up space, and use their energy to create their specific magic in the world. She has been featured in SELF, SHAPE, Health, Cosmopolitan, BuzzFeed, Muscle and Fitness, and Livestrong, among others.  With degrees in Social Justice and Sociology from Marquette University, Chrissy merges her passion for Social Justice and her passion for fitness to empower individuals within the fitness and wellness industry to create spaces that allow individuals from all backgrounds to feel seen, welcome, respected, and celebrated. 

She empowers individuals to stop shrinking, start taking up space, and use their energy to create their specific magic in the world. When she’s not serving her clients by empowering them to create stress-free and sustainable lifestyles and feel confident and empowered in their skin, she spends her time lifting all the weights, reading, traveling, and hanging with friends and family.

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

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate

This is a free preview of a paywalled episode. To hear the FULL episode, join Patreon here. Patreon supporters make this show possible and keep the lights on around here, so, thank you!

In this bonus episode, I'm answering a listener question about why seeing photos of ourselves—especially in group settings—can trigger feelings of body shame and comparison. The question is specifically about hating a photo and feeling the strong desire to lose weight (despite knowing intellectually that all bodies are worthy bodies, and believing in the anti-diet culture movement).

Tune in to hear more about: 

• body neutrality and emotional triggers

• how diet culture conditions us to view our bodies through a critical lens

• why photos can be another form of body checking

• how to cope with photos we hate

• social comparison theory and why we compare ourselves to others

• unraveling the habit of comparison

• intersectionality and body hierarchies

• using self-compassion as a tool for navigating body grief

• practical tips for how to reclaim your body from guilt and shame

• using mindfulness to separate our thoughts from our self-worth

• actions we can take to reduce the negative feelings that accompany photos

GOOD NEWS! Enrollment has opened for my next 10-week group program:

Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for the next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

You can also apply to join my monthly group membership:

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

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

Social media:

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate

Have you ever wondered how alcohol fits into diet culture, or how it can intersect with and impact restrictive eating? We're diving into the connection between drinking and diet culture in this episode. Lael Atkinson, a recovery coach, joins Abbie to share their experiences with disordered eating, alcohol, and body image, how these issues have intersected with queerness, and other manifestations of these coping tools in their life. The conversation also explores the differences and similarities between drinking and dieting, how shame and body disconnection can show up in both, the overlap of substance abuse and disordered eating, and how this shows up in gender and sexuality. 

If you want to hear a full episode all about whether "food addiction" is an evidence-based concept, Abbie went deep on that in this bonus episode.

Important note: Lael's group program will now be launching in October, rather than September. You can learn more about it right here!

Lael Atkinson (they/them) is a certified professional recovery coach who works at the intersection of drinking and dieting. They support folks who struggle with alcohol and/or with disordered eating & body image issues. Lael also runs the Beyond Shrinking & Drinking course and group coaching program. Grab her free resource on how to avoid feeling "addicted" to food and sugar right here.

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

Group program:

Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

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

Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate

Summer returns for her second (!!) time on the pod to speak with Abbie about the challenges of body image during perimenopause. With the ever-present pressure from diet culture -- preying on our insecurities, selling us anti-aging creams, 'fixes' for menopause symptoms, and endless diets to keep our bodies as small as possible -- it’s exhausting. This conversation takes a deeper look at what's happening as we age out of the beauty standard, the challenges we face with body grief, and how we can truly support ourselves and our changing bodies.

We chat about so much in this one, including...

• What's happening to the body in perimenopause
• Why body image can worsen in midlife
• Navigating physical and hormonal changes
• Experiencing body grief as we age
• The effects of psychosocial and life stressors on body image
• How diet culture targets women in midlife
• Marginalized identities and aging
• Social comparison and anti-aging culture
• Managing social media around diet culture and aging
• Taking a compassionate approach to aging
• How to challenge our negative beliefs about getting older

Summer Innanen is a professionally trained coach specializing in body image, self-worth and confidence. She is the host of the podcast Eat The Rules and creator of You, On Fire – an online group coaching program dedicated to helping people get free from body shame. She also co-runs the Body Image Coach Certification program with Danni Adams to train professionals to be better equipped to work with clients around body image. She helps people all over the world to stop living behind the numbers on their scales through her private and group coaching at summerinnanen.com.

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

Group program:

Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

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

Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate

Welcome to a very special bonus episode, where Abbie hosts a live Q&A call with the Full Plate Patreon community. This is a FREE preview of the conversation, but you can hear the FULL episode right here as a member of Patreon.

To join Patreon and hear the episode, as well as all future bonus episodes and newsletters, visit: www.patreon.com/fullplate.

In this episode...

• We discuss whether food addiction is real: how to navigate that feeling through the lens of body autonomy and self-compassion, and the role that diet culture and anti-fat bias play in cultural assumptions about eating behaviors.
• We also go deep on IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), and how to manage symptoms without a restrictive mindset, and without falling prey to the plethora of advice for digestive issues that trigger disordered eating.
• Celiac disease also comes up in this episode as part of the discussion around digestive issues, and what we can do to cope with true allergies and intolerances (especially when it feels eerily similar to dieting).
• Finally, we start a conversation around body grief in photos, and will return in a future episode to go even further on this topic.

We really hope you enjoy this amazing conversation with beloved supporters of the show. It was so fun to have folks join live, and we'll be doing this again soon!

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

Group program:

Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

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

Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate