THE FEMINIST WELL-BEING PODCAST

279-Postpartum the Non-Diet Way with Jaren Soloff

Mar 18, 2021 | Health Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

In my opinion, being pregnant, giving birth, and raising a child is the most magical power of women.

In fact, our bodies as women are capable of creating life. That is to say, we have the power to bring another human to life.

Can we let that sink in for a minute? We create life.

Our bodies have the capacity to expand in such a way that we can create and develop another human life.

Yet as soon as women are done giving birth to this new human, patriarchy and diet culture expect women to shrink back their body and leave absolutely no trace of this magical act.

Diet culture has perfected a narrative that leaves women to feel shame for their postpartum bodies instead of being grateful for the goddess they are.

Non-Diet Postpartum

The non-diet approach to postpartum is the space where women’s bodies are celebrated for the magic they created without patriarchy and diet culture oppressing message.

Our guest today is a non-diet postpartum expert. She’s a dietician who herself gave birth. She decided to dedicate her career to helping other women approach their postpartum in a non-diet way.

Jaren Soloff is a Registered Dietitian and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant who combines her expertise as a skilled nutrition therapist and lactation consultant to support mothers in nourishing themselves and their babies with confidence.

FULL CRCL provides nutrition counselling and lactation consultations to help both mom and baby thrive in motherhood to support them in navigating pregnancy, birth and postpartum from a simple and intuitive framework.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode on non-diet postpartum:

How diet culture infiltrated postpartum
The non-diet approach to postpartum nutrition
Body image challenge post-birth
The weight-inclusive approach to lactation
How to find virtual coaching for the non-diet approach to post-birth

Mentioned on the show:

Non-Diet Post-Natal Book

Connect with our guest:

Evelyn’s new book- Intuitive eating For Everyday

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278-Co-opting Intuitive Eating & Embodiment with Evelyn Tribole

Mar 11, 2021 | Intuitive Eating Podcast Episode, Non-Diet Professional Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

Co-opting intuitive eating is frustrating, problematic and dangerous, but it’s not a surprise.

Intuitive eating is growing in popularity and growing fast. Take a look at the google trend search over the last 5 years.

It’s clear: people are starting to be done with dieting. That is to say, people want out from diet culture and are looking for options.

Certainly, the weight loss & wellness industry are paying attention. For instance, just think of Weight Watcher rebrand in 2019 to WW-Wellness that Works.

Yet another sign of the growth in popularity of Intuitive Eating is when “popular” diet gurus are bluntly co-opting intuitive eating in their weight loss books without even an ounce of shame.

In fact, I see the same growth in my professional training program. The waitlist is consistently 150% to program capacity for the last 12 months and no sign of stopping either.

Spotting Fake Intuitive Eating

I’m honored to welcome Evelyn Tribole to our podcast Going Beyond The Food Show to answer this question: How can we spot when diet culture is co-opting intuitive eating?

Evelyn Tribole is a registered dietitian and the co-creator of Intuitive Eating. Moreover, she has written Intuitive Eating (co-author with Evelyn Resh). Her upcoming book, Intuitive Eating for Every Day: 365 Daily Practices & Inspirations to Rediscover the Pleasures of Eating will be available on March 16th, 2021.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode:

Evelyn’s take on co-opting of Intuitive eating by diet culture
Why intuitive eating is not a trademark
Your best defense against fake intuitive eating
Why embodiment is essential to becoming an intuitive eater
The reason why the act of dieting is a trauma
Why Evelyn wrote her new book Intuitive Eating For Everyday

Intuitive Eating for Every Day by Evelyn Tribole

Evelyn’s new book Intuitive Eating for Every Day will be your ally and solace against a world steeped in diet culture. It will illuminate and encourage your Intuitive Eating journey, with 365 practices and inspirations to help you:

Nurture the Ten Principles of Intuitive Eating with 52 Weekly Intentions
Connect with your body in the here and now with Grounding practices
Cultivate gratitude for different aspects of nourishment with Meal Meditations
Identify self-trust disruptors and awaken inner knowingness
Strengthen your mental, emotional, and physical health by setting boundaries
Reflect on emotions and cravings
Practice self-compassion, body appreciation, and self-care

A 365 days companion with its daily readings—read on their own or as a companion to the author’s best-selling Intuitive Eating—make it easy to integrate this revolutionary program into your life.

Intuitive Eating for Every Day offers constant support to help you make peace with food and reclaim and reconnect with the pleasure of eating. Evelyn’s new book is the perfect companion in a world entrenched in diet culture that will continue to co-opt diet culture.

Mentioned on the show:

Evelyn’s first presence: Episode 186- What is Intuitive Eating?

Non- Diet Mentorship Program for Health Professionals

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277-You Don’t Have to Love Your Body

Mar 4, 2021 | Body Acceptance Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

Let’s look at a few questions:

Do you think that the ultimate goal of making peace with your body is to love your body?

I mean, being able to look at your body in the mirror and love every part of it?

Perhaps you think that you should be able to put on a bikini and be able to show off your body to everyone looking with pride?

Perhaps you think that when you finally “heal your body image,” it will mean that you’ll never have a negative thought about your body, and instead, you’ll have adoration thought for each part of your body.

Is that you?

Is this your current belief system when it comes to your body, body image, and body weight?

It sure was me….

You don’t have to love your body.

In today’s episode, we are going to share with you the reasons for this bold statement.

NO, you don’t have to love your body to normalize weight gain or to adopt a non-diet lifestyle.

In fact, you don’t have to love your body to become an intuitive eater or to make peace with your body.

NO, you don’t have to love your body to heal your body image.

What you need is Body Respect.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode:

Why I fail attempting to love my body
How diet brain plays into our body’s perspective
How to trade body love for body respect
The path towards body respect

Mentioned on the show:

276-Coping with Weight Gain

Feb 25, 2021 | Body Acceptance Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

Weight gain is a very sensitive, vulnerable and emotional topic for most women. The ability and willingness to openly talk about weight gain is different for each one of us.

It’s estimated that by the time most women hit their 45th birthday, statistically speaking, we’ve tried 61 diets, plans, programs, detoxes, cleanses, meal plans, regime, an eating system. In an unending battle to shrink our body and, hopefully, change our life.

I want to recognize that simply tuning in to listen to this episode for someone is a huge step… if this is you, I see you and welcome you.

For others who have taken the journey beyond the food and unlearn diet culture, this is a much easier and light topic… I see you too, my sister, and cheer you on.

Coping with weight gain

Weight gain is a difficult topic, a complicated topic and a very nuanced topic.

By no means this one episode is a complete resource for the normalization of weight in women. This episode is meant only to be an introduction to the topic of coping with weight gain. I’ll be speaking about one aspect that I think, as women, we must first understand and integrate in order to release the fear of weight gain.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode:

Why you are not alone: recent statistics review
How patriarchy position weight gain to keep women feeling insecure
Why diet culture is so powerful, particularly for women
How to release the fear of weight gain and claim back your power

Mentioned in the show:

275-Gentle Nutrition with Rachael Hartley

Feb 18, 2021 | Intuitive Eating Podcast Episode, Lifestyle Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

I have been wanting to talk about gentle nutrition for years but couldn’t or rather choose not to until now.

I hold a great level of responsibility for the topic I chose to discuss on this podcast. Moreover, what could happen after the episode is over. In the case of intuitive eating & nutrition, I couldn’t send you to any entry-level resources beyond my own programs. Up to now, the only nutrition books & cookbooks available on the market were filled with diet culture, weight stigma and non-science-based facts about nutrition.

This is now past… the resource I have been awaiting is now here!

Gentle Nutrition: A Non-Diet Approach to Healthy Eating Book

Yes, a book that combines intuitive eating & nutrition is now available. Gentle Nutrition: A Non-Diet Approach to Healthy Eating Cookbook is on the market since February 23rd, 2021.

Today on the podcast, I review the book and interview the author, my new friend and colleague, Rachel Hartley. Rachael is a registered dietician, science-based nutrition therapist and certified intuitive eating counsellor. Some of you may know her from her blog: The Joy of Eating, where she shares practical intuitive eating advice and non-diet recipes.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode on gentle nutrition:

What is gentle nutrition and what it’s not
The difference between gentle nutrition and wellness diet
Top 3 pieces of advice to begin your gentle nutrition journey
Meal planning and intuitive eating
Food intolerances
When it’s time for medical nutrition therapy

Mentioned on the show:

Rachel Hartley’s Book – USA

Rachel Hartley’s Book – International

Connect with our guest

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274-Unapologetic Eating with Alissa Rumsey

Feb 11, 2021 | Intuitive Eating Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

A few years back, I was browsing Instagram, and I noticed a hashtag trending #womeneatingfood. I scrolled through and what I saw was magical: thousands of women eating food absolutely without giving an ounce of worry. Women eating unapologetically.

That’s how I discovered Alissa Rumsey. And since then, Alissa has been on the podcast twice and been teaching inside my Non-Diet Mentorship Program.

Unapologetic Eating: The Book

Today, Alissa is launching a book: Unapologetic Eating: Make Peace With Food and Transform Your Life. In her words, it is about getting back to your roots and who you were before society told you who you should be.

In today’s episode, I interview Alissa Rumsey. Alissa is a registered dietitian, nutrition therapist, certified intuitive eating counsellor and the author of Unapologetic Eating: Make Peace With Food and Transform Your Life. Alissa is passionate about advocating for women to reclaim the space to eat and live unapologetically.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode:

Discover the oppressive nature of dieting
How & why eating is a political move
Food can be an entry point to explore and transform
Moving from Unapologetic Eating to Unapologetic Living

Mentioned in the show:

Get the book – Unapologetic Eating

Connect with our guest:

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Facebook

273-Dieting Backlash, Rebound Eating & Emotional Eating

Feb 4, 2021 | Intuitive Eating Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

Dieting backlash

Dieting backlash is the counter-reaction to food restriction, aka dieting.

Things like “food cravings,” urges to eat the restricted foods, nighttime eating, “overeating,” binging, weight regain, depression, anxiety… that’s all dieting backlash, also known as rebound eating.

Dieting backlash & rebound eating are well known & studied phenomenon within the field of the non-diet approach but almost unknown in society at large.

It’s almost like a dark secret tucked away… and for a good reason. If diet culture and weight loss gurus had to declare the inclusion of diet backlash as part of their program, a vast majority of women wouldn’t sign up for the program in the first place.

Dieting backlash food behaviors are 100% normal and expected. That’s the phenomenon explaining the statistics that 91% of dieters regain their weight loss within 1-5 years post diets.

Here are a few examples of thoughts your brain may be offering you as a result of diet backlash or rebound eating:

“I’ve been so bad today… since I’ve blown the day, so may as well enjoy?” “I can’t believe I had carbs at breakfast and lunch. I’m only supposed to eat carb only once a day, so might as well enjoy today and be good tomorrow.”

“I weigh so much I don’t deserve to eat anything. Clearly I have no willpower over food, so might as well overeat.”

Diet backlash, rebound eating & emotional eating are all intertwined

Here’s where it gets interesting… women who deliberately restrict their food intake when under a diet are more likely to overeat, especially in response to an emotional state. What we think as emotional eating may actually be diet backlash or rebound eating.

In a subconscious way, we give ourselves license to eat foods that are normally forbidden, and we use emotion as a way to give ourselves permission in the hope to lower the guilt of “not following the diet,” we lay the blame on emotional eating.

We use our emotions as a way to give ourselves permission to eat the restricted & “bad food.”

These thoughts are what create the feeling of frustration, resentment, low self-esteem and many other unproductive emotions that lead to behaviors of coping, numbing and other componentry food behaviors like binging.

We create these emotions that we later want to numb with food.

It’s the self-fulfilling prophecy of dieting. Nothing has gone wrong. Nothing is wrong with you… it’s biology.

Here’s what I propose…

To reflect on these 4 questions:

How much of what we self-describe as a “problematic relationship to food” is, in fact, due to our own self-imposed diet or food restriction
How much of the food behaviors we hope to fix with our newest “food lifestyle” are made worse by the actual “food lifestyle”?
What if there was nothing wrong with our food behaviors, that our body was reacting exactly how it was created to react in the face of food restriction… then what?
What if the problem wasn’t us, the dieter but the diet… then what?

I’m proposing these questions to you because I’m not here to tell you what you should do… but instead to give you a choice.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode on dieting backlash:

What is dieting backlash
How dieting backlash presents itself in women’s life
Why rebound eating is normal
How we create the situation to produce emotional eating

Mentioned on the show:

272-Comfort Eating: Curiosity or Judgment

Jan 28, 2021 | Intuitive Eating Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

Let’s unpack comfort eating or eating for comfort.

Comfort is defined as a state of ease and freedom from pain or constraint.

When we eat for comfort, we feel uncomfortable; we don’t want to feel discomfort, so we look for a solution to not feel comfortable and that solution is food. So we comfort eat.

Sounds like a pretty legitimate action… it is a coping tool. It’s a variation of the larger family of emotional eating- whereby you eat in response to an emotion. Most often, uncomfortable emotions like stress. Stress eating, comfort eating, emotional eating – all the same thing – using food to cope with physical or emotional discomfort.

Why is it a problem to solve?

Is comfort eating a problem?

Let’s imagine that same person feels the same level of discomfort, but instead of opening the fridge or the cupboard and reaching for food, that same person would say go for a run.

Would it be a problem to solve? ….

Interesting question, right?… but necessary. Especially as women, we must challenge all the beliefs we have learned about food, body and health. Remember that diet culture was created by Patriarchy in order to keep women obedient and insecure.

Why is it that comfort eating is a problem to solve for women? What diet culture is telling us is that it will lead you to eat too much, eat the “bad food,” and gain weight. Diet gurus will tell you that if you could only control your emotional eating, then their diet would work… and you’d be thin!

Familiar…

But here’s my question to you: Would you even desire to eat to comfort yourself if we weren’t relentlessly chasing the thin ideal???

Think about that for a minute?…

How much of our discomfort physically and emotionally that we appease with food is caused by the relentless pursuit of the thin ideal, therefore diet culture

A shit load of it… lol.

Since this is a feminist podcast that promotes women empowerment with food and their body… I’m not going to teach to shame you for comfort eating or tell you that it is to be avoided.

No… that’s diet culture way.

In this podcast episode, we will unpack this subject in a non-diet way… by asking WHY.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode:

The reason why diet culture of comfort eating is so toxic
The non-Diet approach to comfort eating
The two questions to ask yourself when feeling the urge to eat emotionally
Comfort food versus Comfort eating

Mentioned on the show:

271-People-Pleasing 2.0

Jan 21, 2021 | Mindset Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

People-pleasing isn’t a character trait or, for that matter, a personality trait that we are born with.

In fact, people-pleasing is a belief, a set of thoughts that we as women are socialized to. More precisely, we aren’t socialized or educated to be people-pleasers… we are socialized to be “good girls”.

The Good Girl Syndrome is like a character we are asked to play as women and from a very young age. As people identifying as women, we are socialized to be polite, modest, quiet, not to argue, not to fight, play within the parameters, and most importantly, fit the norm…

Indeed, we are socialized to believe that we are responsible for other people’s perceptions of us. Other people’s perception of us is more valuable than our own opinion of ourselves.

So effectively, we are taught to be people-pleasers.

But I’m not a people-pleaser… really?

If you are thinking right: well, this is not me, BUT you are struggling to accept your body. I’m afraid to tell you, my sister, it’s you.

Women’s relentless pursuit of the thin ideal and unwillingness to accept their bodies is grounded in our socialization to be good girls and meet others’ expectations.

This is why in great part, most people identified as men aren’t affected by body image. Moreover, they can’t even begin to comprehend why we care so much about what other people think of our bodies. That is to say, they aren’t socialized the same as we are as people identified as women.

It’s not built in their belief system as it is for us.

So, how does being a people-pleaser show up in other parts of your life? That’s what we will unpack in this podcast episode.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode on people-pleasing:

How women are socialized to be people-pleasers
Understand the link between body dissatisfaction and people-pleasing
The big lie fueling the desire to please others
The 4 steps for women to free themselves from people-pleasing

Mentioned on the show:

270-Tuning Out the Weight Loss Industry

Jan 14, 2021 | Mindset Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

Tuning out the weight loss industry

This podcast is going to be for every woman – every woman who has been targeted by dieting ads.

I have chosen this title for a reason: “Tuning out the weight loss industry” instead of “tuning out diet culture” for a reason: to reach more women.

When you are at the beginning of your journey shifting out of dieting, the word diet culture doesn’t mean a thing… actually, for many, it means being on a diet.

Diet culture is a new term that is not part of women’s vocabulary, and for a good reason. As women, when we learn about the word “diet culture”, it has a massive impact. In #5, I share the definition of diet culture for all the newbies.

Tuning out the dieting noise is a choice

This podcast intends to help all women make a choice.

A choice in the face of all the marketing from the weight loss, fitness and wellness industry aimed at women and our bodies.

To help women make an educated choice about their body, how they live their life, the way they eat, and the way they take care of their mind, body and soul.

For women to free themselves from the thought “but I have to “and trade it for “I chose to”.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode tuning out the weight loss industry:

10 thoughts to consider as women when considering dieting.
10 tips for you to process the weight loss, fitness and wellness marketing

Mentioned on the show:

The Good Girl Syndrome

269-How to Move (or Exercise) More

Jan 7, 2021 | Lifestyle Podcast Episode | 0 Comments

“I want to move with joy.”

“I want to get out of the funk of no movement.”

“How do I motivate myself to move more without dreading it.”

“I know exercise is good for me… just can’t bring myself to do it.”

That you are at the beginning stage of challenging the concept of dieting or an advanced intuitive eater that now wants to work on reclaiming their relationship to exercise… Or that you have made peace with food already and now want to tackle your relationship to movement…

This podcast going to help you.

How to move more

I know for me I’ve known that I SHOULD exercise more often for decades. And my solution for years has been to sign up for a gym membership and to resort to using discipline, punishment and willpower to force me into the gym until, just like dieting, it didn’t work.

Diet culture has taught us to jump into action… without ever asking why and how we got there in the first place is the reason why we keep repeating the same patterns time after time.

The place to start is to find the reason(s) why we resist exercise…. That’s the starting point of reclaiming the joy of movement.

What you’ll learn listening to this episode on how to move more:

Why we resist exercise
The power of changing vocabulary
The simple process to create more movement action in your life
My movement goals for 2021 and game plan

Mentioned on the show: