The incredible Savala Nolan joins us on this week’s episode of the Full Plate podcast to talk about belonging versus conforming, understanding the body as our home, and how to walk away from a lifetime of disordered eating.

I recorded this conversation while I was on my August hiatus from the pod, so I actually got the chance to listen back to the episode and it hit me even harder the second time around.

Savala is warm, funny, kind, smart as hell, and she will blow your mind open when she explains really hard, complex, and nuanced topics. I felt so at home speaking with her, and I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did.

Our conversation covers…

• Growing up with many dualities of race, body size, and class
• Being put on a diet starting at age 4
• Rebelling and conforming
• Our mothers, their diets, and our dieting
• The bond of dieting
• Our body as our home
• Unlearning the language of diet culture
• Quitting diets not being a choice for some
• The body is inescapable
• The cake we all need to have, and eat too

Savala Nolan is the author of the critically acclaimed Don't Let It Get You Down: Essays on Race Gender and the Body.  Her writing has been featured in Vogue, The New York Times Book Review,  NPR, Time, Harper’s Magazine, and more. She holds a law degree from the University of California at Berkeley, where she lectures on identity and law and directs the Thelton E. Henderson Center for Social Justice.  Her second essay collection, Good Woman, is forthcoming from HarperCollins.  

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

 

Patreon is also home to the episode transcripts (which are publicly available to everyone, not just our patrons!). If you’re looking for those, head over to Patreon. 

 

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

 

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

 

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

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

In this week’s bonus episode of the Full Plate podcast, we're walking through the stages of grief and how they show up in the process of accepting our body.

The FULL episode is exclusive to our Patreon community. You'll be able to hear the question and the beginning of my answer in this sneak preview!

This episode is in response to a listener question that came through on Patreon. This listener is also asking about healing from hypothalamic amenorrhea (the loss of a menstrual cycle), and I think this part of the conversation adds another important layer as we explore how healing can look different for everyone.

 

We talk about...

• How do we work through the physical and emotional discomfort of body grief?
• What are we REALLY grieving?
• How do we reorient ourselves towards a new way of living, free from diet culture and body shame?
• How do we prepare ourselves to face a world that may not treat us the same way as our body changes?
• What does body acceptance actually mean, and what about finding meaning in all of this?

 

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

 

Patreon is also home to the episode transcripts (which are publicly available to everyone, not just our patrons!). If you’re looking for those, head over to Patreon. 

 

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

 

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

 

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

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Calling all highly sensitive, anxious humans with lots of digestive symptoms...this one is for you. Correction: this episode is for everyone -- for anyone who has experienced trauma, emotional dysregulation, an overwhelmed nervous system, and / or mental health conditions (particularly those that both led to and resulted from restrictive eating habits). 

Stephanie Mara Fox joins us to chat about all of this an so much more. We get into somatics and body awareness, how to release tension and conjure calming thoughts, and how to use coregulation to promote feelings of calm and safety -- especially when dieting and disordered eating is what has made us feel safe in the past.

You'll hear more about...

• What it means to feel safe or unsafe in our body
• How dieting and disordered eating can occur as a response to trauma
• How restriction itself can be the trauma
• How panic attacks and disordered eating are connected
• Using somatic therapy to cultivate safety in our body
• Investigating the emotions behind our relationship with food
• How to prevent an emotional spiral about your body
• What happens to our body image when our nervous system is constantly overwhelmed
• How to work through IBS and other digestive issues that might be related to anxiety and restriction

 

Stephanie Mara Fox is a somatic nutrition counselor and a mentor. She supports women, coaches, and wellness professionals in feeling empowered and satiated in their relationship with their food, body, and business to cultivate more confidence and create the life they desire to be living. Learn more about Stephanie and her work on her website.

 

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

 

Patreon is also home to the episode transcripts (which are publicly available to everyone, not just our patrons!). If you’re looking for those, head over to Patreon. 

 

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

 

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

 

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

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to SEASON 2! This episode is so good. And it deals with a lot of nuance, because we get into how our relationship with food and our body is shaped and influenced by our parents. I have Virginia Sole-Smith here and I couldn’t be more thrilled for you to listen to this episode.

 

We chat about…

• Hard questions and conversations that led to Virginia's new book

• “I don’t want my kid to have a messed up relationship with food, but I also don’t want them to be fat”

• The Gilmore Girls effect

• Holding compassion for our moms and their influence on our body image and relationship with food

• Why mothers bearing the blame of eating disorders and fatness

• How dads are left out of the conversation and ED research

• The difference between how fat kids and thin kids are fed

• Family dinner and diet culture (helpful or harmful?)

• Having conversations with kids that don’t center on weight

• …and so much more

 

About Virginia: She is the author of the NYT-bestselling FAT TALK: Parenting In The Age of Diet Culture and The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America. As a journalist, she has reported from kitchen tables and grocery stores, graduated from beauty school, and gone swimming in a mermaid’s tail. Virginia began her career in women’s magazines, alternatively challenging beauty standards and gender norms, and upholding diet culture through her health, nutrition and fitness reporting. Motherhood inspired a reckoning, and led to her first book, The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, Scientific American and many other publications. Virginia now writes the popular anti-diet newsletter Burnt Toast and hosts the Burnt Toast Podcast.

 

 

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

 

Patreon is also home to the episode transcripts (which are publicly available to everyone, not just our patrons!). If you’re looking for those, head over to Patreon. 

 

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

 

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

 

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

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

This is the last episode of the season break, and oh my goodness, is this one of my all-time favorites. Shira Rosenbluth (@theshirarose) joins for a conversation that we all need to hear, and that the ED treatment world truly needs to put into action. You really don't want to miss this one. 

We talk about so much, including:

• What’s going on for Shira in this moment of life with her recovery and her therapy practice
• Balancing structure and flexibility in meals during ED recovery
• The culminaiton of factors that led to Shira's eating disorder
• Weight stigma and diet culture in eating disorder treatment
• The trap of quasi-recovery
• The new AAP guidelines on higher weight children
• The problem with “atypical anorexia”
• Being a “good fattie”
• Health is not a moral imperative
• How we keep healing in this world

For the month of August and through Labor Day, I'll be taking a bit of time reset, rest, and reflect on this season of the pod before kicking things off again in September. And in the meantime, we'll be revisiting a few episodes from last year. Whether you've heard them before or not, they're worth the listen!

Shira Rosenbluth, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker treating clients in New York and California. She specializes in the treatment of disordered eating, eating disorders, and body-image dissatisfaction using a weight-neutral approach. She’s also the author of a popular body positive blog and has been featured in The New York Times, Insider, The Cut, The Everygirl, InStyle, and Healthline. You can find her on Instagram and Twitter @theshirarose. Find more about her therapy practice at ShiraRosenbluthLCSW.com.

 

***

Full Plate is listener-supported (no ads!) so please support the show on Patreon for bonus episodes at Patreon.com/fullplate

Patreon is also home to the episode transcripts (which are publicly available to everyone, not just our patrons!). If you’re looking for those, head over to Patreon.

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Sign up for Abbie's newsletter: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/newsletter

Abbie’s website: www.abbieattwoodwellness.com

Group coaching application: www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

Monthly membership application: 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

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Mailbag episode! This is part of a bonus episode that was released on Patreon many months back, and I thought it would be a good one to air during my August hiatus. It's full of fantastic listener questions, submitted by the brilliant Patreon community.

To support the show, have access to full bonus episodes, and submit your own questions for future episodes, join the Patreon community here: www.patreon.com/fullplate

Here are the questions covered:

1) “How can I spot ways I might be accidentally under-feeding myself? In an episode Abbie mentions past disordered eating behaviors even though she was not intentionally dieting. I think that has been my story for a long time, but I didn’t know it. So these conversations are really shedding light on it for me. Coming from a place of thin privilege, I’ve never gone on a diet. But I have made food modifications to try to manage celiac disease and other autoimmune issues. I have also had stressful seasons of life where I have found it hard to prioritize eating enough quantity of food and/or enough different foods to support my body, including now when taking care of a 3 yr old affects every aspect of how I live."

2) "How can I navigate legitimate dietary needs without it feeling restrictive, cumbersome, and steeped in diet culture? I've had this convo come up with others, so I know I'm not alone. It makes takeout and going out take a bit more energy to make sure they can accommodate."

3) "I’d love some tips on mindset shift to do the movements I know are good for me and tailored to me. I’m in physical therapy, and my prescribed exercises (plus slow mellow walks) help, but I don’t enjoy any of it. After the walk, muscles have loosened up a bit, but I never actually want to do it. Maybe it’s because I’m in chronic pain and it makes me not want to move, but who knows."

 

FOLLOW ALONG:

• Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast 
• Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness
• Join Abbie's newsletter: www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/newsletter

 

FOR MORE 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: 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

 

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

This was a very special episode for me, as someone who has OCD, and a husband with ADHD (fun relationship combination, highly recommend). Aleta is wonderful, and I loved every second of our conversation.

For the month of August, I'll be taking a bit of time reset, rest, and reflect on this season of the pod before kicking things off again in September. And in the meantime, we'll be revisiting a few episodes from last year. Whether you've heard them before or not, they're worth the listen!

--

Aleta Storch joins the pod to talk about her experience growing up with ADHD, how her disordered eating began in college, and the ways in which that manifested alongside her navigating a mental health condition. Abbie shares ways in which this relates to her experiences with anxiety and OCD. We also discuss food rules when you have a mental health condition, how athletes are impacted by diet culture, how Aleta realized she needed support for disordered eating, what finally propelled her to look into a diagnosis for ADHD, and how she came into the weight-inclusive anti-diet approach. We also explore neurodivergence and eating – how to cultivate a less chaotic relationship with food so you can physically nourish your body while supporting yourself mentally and emotionally. This was a wonderful conversation, and I think there is something for everyone in this one, regardless of what you’ve experienced from a mental health standpoint.

Aleta is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist as well as a Washington State Licensed Mental Health Counselor. She is the founder of Wise Heart Nutrition where she provides weight-inclusive, compassionate nutrition and mental health support. Aleta has combined-type ADHD, and dedicates much of her work to the neurodivergent population.

--

Full Plate is listener-supported (no ads!) so please support the show on Patreon for bonus episodes at Patreon.com/fullplate

Patreon is also home to the episode transcripts (which are publicly available to everyone, not just our patrons!). If you’re looking for those, head over to Patreon.

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Sign up for Abbie's newsletter: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/newsletter 

Abbie’s website: www.abbieattwoodwellness.com

Group coaching application: www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

Monthly membership application: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group 

Aleta’s website: https://www.wiseheartnutrition.com/ADHD 

 

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 public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

I loved recording this episode, and I adore Colleen. She is doing such important work in the eating disorder field. 

For the month of August, I'll be taking a bit of time reset, rest, and reflect on this season of the pod before kicking things off again in September. And in the meantime, we'll be revisiting a few episodes from last year. Whether you've heard them before or not, they're worth the listen!

Dr. Colleen Reichmann joins the pod to talk about her own lived experience with an eating disorder and the rocky road of recovery that led to her becoming a psychologist who specializes in eating disorders. We also talk about how early childhood and our personality and temperament impact why and how we reach for coping mechanisms like food restriction. Colleen speaks openly and generously about infertility and IVF, how that relates back to her experience of ED recovery, and the ways in which she is approaching (and fighting!) diet culture with her children. We get into so much – including plenty of laughs. I appreciate Colleen for her wisdom, her work in this space, and her humor. I think you’ll love this conversation!

Dr. Reichmann is a licensed clinical psychologist in Philadelphia, PA, and the founder of Wildflower Therapy LLC. She is an eating disorders specialist but also specializes in mental health specific to college students, maternal mental health, anxiety, and depression.

 

--

Full Plate is listener-supported (no ads!) so please support the show on Patreon for bonus episodes at Patreon.com/fullplate

Patreon is also home to the episode transcripts (which are publicly available to everyone, not just our patrons!). If you’re looking for those, head over to Patreon. 

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast 

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness 

Abbie’s website: www.abbieattwoodwellness.com 

Group coaching application: www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

Monthly membership group application: 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

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

For the month of August, I'll be taking a bit of time reset, rest, and reflect on this season of the pod before kicking things off again in September. And in the meantime, we'll be revisiting a few episodes from last year. Whether you've heard them before or not, they're worth the listen!

This week is a revisited episode with Kristina Bruce, who is a body acceptance coach. 

We talk about how our thoughts and conditioning shape our the experience we have in our body. We discuss the impact of body comments on body image, why dieting and body control can feel like a form of safety, how diet culture keeps us from living an authentic life, and what we can do to begin challenging the negative beliefs we hold about our bodies. 

About Kristina: As a Body Acceptance Coach, Kristina Bruce specializes in helping women know their worth and value beyond their body size and appearance. Calling upon her training and as a certified Integrative Life Coach, education in health studies, sociology, yoga, meditation, and self-inquiry methodologies, Kristina works with clients to help them re-connect to their deeper selves so they can live empowering lives in the bodies they have. You can find her on IG @kristinabrucecoach

--

Full Plate is listener-supported (no ads!) so please support the show on Patreon for bonus episodes at Patreon.com/fullplate

Patreon is also home to the episode transcripts (which are publicly available to everyone, not just our patrons!). If you’re looking for those, head over to Patreon. 

Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast 

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness 

Abbie’s website: www.abbieattwoodwellness.com 

Group coaching application: www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

Monthly support group: 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

 

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Whether you call them smart watches, wearables (as Jeb informs us), fitness trackers, or something else...these gadgets are everywhere. How do they impact our relationship with movement? What about food? Or our body image overall? 

You can listen to the FULL episode by joining Patreon: www.patreon.com/fullplate

This was a topic that was voted on by the folks on Patreon as one of the episodes you'd love to hear most about. We're talking about how to examine your relationship with your fitness tracker, and answering the question: "Are these harmful or helpful?".

Abbie's husband, Jeb, joins on this one, because we can't think of a human being who has a more neutral relationship with their watch. And also, because it's fun to annoy him and invite him on the pod.

This week is a free preview of the full episode, which is available to everyone who is supporting Full Plate on Patreon. The full episode can be found HERE.

 

In the episode we discuss:

• Both Abbie and Jeb’s relationship with smartwatches
• How Jeb looks at the data vs. how I did
• Signs that you and your watch might need a break
• How to assess intentions with your fitness tracker
• Comparison and competition in fitness tracking
• Can these devices ignite disordered eating?
• Can these devices disrupt body attunement and body trust?
• What to do if you’re unsure about how your fitness tracker is impacting you
• What it looks like to have freedom and self-care with movement

 

We look forward to seeing you in the Full Plate Patreon community. This is a low-cost way of supporting Abbie's work, the podcast, this newsletter, and the content she shares every day on Instagram. It starts as low as $3 / month…Consider it the gift of a big doughy chocolate chip cookie. You’ll also have access to Full Plate episode transcripts, exclusive Q&A’s with Abbie, and additional bonus content.

 

FOLLOW ALONG:

• Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast 
• Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

 

FOR MORE 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: 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

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe