THE FEMINIST WELL-BEING PODCAST
It’s Beyond the Food Podcast
Join well-being expert Stephanie Dodier as she guides on how to feel damn good by reshaping your mind instead of your body. Let’s go beyond the food and fight diet culture & patriarchy by living powerfully. Through solo episodes and special guest interviews, you’ll walk away with ressources to embrace your well-being & health in a way that will expand your freedom and power.
Subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
THE WELL-BEING FEMINIST PODCAST
It’s Beyond the Food Podcast
Join well-being expert Stephanie Dodier as she guides on how to feel damn good by reshaping your mind instead of your body. Let’s go beyond the food and fight diet culture & patriarchy by living powerfully. Through solo episodes and special guest interviews, you’ll walk away with ressources to embrace your well-being & health in a way that will expand your freedom and power.
Subscribe to our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
Our Most Recent Episodes
312-How to Be Healthier Without Losing Weight
Are you looking for a guide on how to be healthier without losing weight?
You’ve been trying to lose weight for years on end with no “success”. Yet, you likely have been told that the only solution to your pain and ailments resides in losing weight. Certainly, it does not.
It is scientific fact that you can improve your health without losing weight. This is called the weight-neutral approach to health.
How to be healthier without losing weight
The #1 thing you can do to be healthier without losing weight is to accept your body. In fact, accepting your body will release the stress that you feel about your body and your weight. As a result, your health with also improve.
When you know how to release emotions, you can easily release the constant stress you’re feeling around your body and weight. When you have the right tools, it really is that simple.
This is the thing that gets left out of most conversations about health: health is more than just the physical. Therefore, only focusing on the physical isn’t the key to a healthier life.
It’s normal to want to lose weight in today’s society – to only focus on the physical. But I’m here to remind you that you have a CHOICE. As a woman, you have a right to decide what you will do with your body.
You deserve to know that it is not true that you have to pursue weight loss to be healthier. If you want to be healthier without losing weight, there are a ton of ways supported by science to do that.
If you’re ready to improve your health without losing weight, you need to get in the 3 days masterclass series. It’s time to let go of the shame about your weight. In this free, 3-part masterclass series you’ll learn how to take control of your feelings and end weight stress for good.
What you’ll learn listening to this episode:
- What to do if you believe you need to lose weight for your health
- The true definition of health vs what you think it is
- Why changing your weight doesn’t change your body image
- The #1 thing you can do to reduce stress and be healthier
- How to take control of your feelings and end weight stress for good
Mentioned in the show:
Stop Stressing About Your Weight 3-Day Masterclass
Research Health At Every Size approach
228 – Podcast on Wellness Culture & Healthism
264 – Podcast Health Goals versus Weight Loss Goal
208 – Podcast on weight neutral approach to health
Link between body dissatisfaction and health behaviors
311-Stop Stressing About Your Weight Masterclass
Stop stressing about your weight and learn how to create confidence. Think about the way you feel when you step off the scale. If you don’t like that feeling, then I’m talking to you, sister.
Let go of the shame and stress of weight for good
In order to stop stressing about your weight, you have to accept your body. And to accept your body, you have to accept that you don’t have control over your body.
When you are stressing and feeling shame about your weight, it’s because you’re not accepting what is. You are fighting reality, which means you are fighting the science of weight loss too.
Stop Being Affected By Other People’s Words…
We cannot go on the journey of body acceptance without at the same time learning how to process our emotions. You need to learn how to feel don’t fight and ride the wave (two concepts I’m teaching in the masterclass).
In order to stop stressing about your weight, you need to address the thought error “what will other people say?” When you buy into this thought, you are making “other people” and their emotional well-being more important than your own. Certainly, that will not make YOU feel better or less stressed about your weight.
I’m going to coach you on this on day 3 of the training. I guarantee it will blow your socks off – you don’t want to miss this.
Then Create Confidence
You already have the skillset to create confidence. But you’ve likely only used it to create shame and stress about your body – I know, WOW! The best solution to stressing about your weight is building your own opinion of yourself.
We are going to have time every day in the masterclass to actually DO this work so that you can start embodying it and create confidence.
If you want to completely change the narrative you have about your body right now, get your butt in the masterclass. Join the FREE 3-Day Masterclass to Stop Stressing About Your Weight.
What you’ll learn listening to this episode:
- Why most women are not feeling confident about their body and instead stress and shame about their weight
- How to stop feeling stressed and shameful about your body
- How to create confidence
- Where many women are getting tripped up when it comes to body acceptance
- The most common error in thinking I see
- How I can help you feel unshakeable confident and feel good in your skin right now
Mentioned in the show:
Stop Stressing About Your Weight 3-Day Masterclass
310-Body Confidence: 3 Unpopular Truths
Body confidence is a skill that you can build no matter what body size or age you are, sister. However, it cannot be achieved from the quick-fix mentality that we’ve learned from diet culture.
The way we approach body confidence right now is faulty. But it’s not your fault that the way you’re approaching, pursuing, and chasing after body confidence isn’t right. It’s because that’s the way you were socialized to think about body confidence.
You’ve seen the headlines “getting confident is as easy as losing 10 pounds”. And I bet you’ve had the thought “I felt much more confident when my body was smaller”? But what we most often skip or think is not going to work for us, are these 3 unpopular truths about body confidence.
Body confidence: 3 Unpopular Truths
Body confidence is a learned skill. This first truth is for you if you’ve ever had the thought “I’ve never been confident in my body”. In fact, body confidence is not something you’re born with, but something you have to work at.
The second truth builds on the fact that confidence is created by your thoughts, not the size of your body. If your confidence level is shaken by the size of your body, it was never confidence that you were creating. It was the safety of compliance.
The final truth is this: your level of body confidence is determined by your ability to trust yourself. If you want to fast-track your process, you have to trust yourself at a higher level.
What you’ll learn listening to this episode:
- Why confidence is a skill that anyone can build
- How your ability to trust yourself determines your confidence
- The most effective way to regain self-trust and body confidence
- Why one of the most common misconceptions about confidence isn’t true
Mentioned in the show:
309-How to Cope with Emotions Without Turning to Food with Sabrina Rogers
Coping with your emotions without turning to food is an important skill to have. Having the right tools to support your emotions can help you discern when coping with food isn’t helpful.
Here’s the thing: emotional eating is normal, but we don’t often see it that way. This is because the general perception is that emotional eating is bad.
We experience emotions all the time throughout the day. Eating while experiencing an emotion is natural. Therefore, eating emotionally is normal.
The reason why we’ve learned to make emotional eating bad is because of diet culture. Diet culture has taught us that eating ice cream to comfort yourself when you are sad is “bad”. However, eating a slice of cake on your birthday when you are happy is “acceptable”.
The way we view different emotions as good versus bad influences how we judge eating associated with these emotions.
Widening our toolbox beyond the food is the goal here. Coping with food is okay. And, we want to make sure it’s not the only tool we have in our toolbox.
Coping with your emotions without turning to food
Expanding your toolbox will help you cope with your emotions beyond food in 3 main scenarios: avoidance, distraction, and experiencing the emotion.
We need tools to help us avoid emotions when it’s not safe or appropriate to feel them in the moment. However, it’s important to always use avoidance tools with the intention of coming back to experience the emotion later.
You can also build up your toolbox with distraction tools. These tools can help occupy your time (e.g. watching tv) until you are ready to sit with the emotion. The problem with distractions though is when we are constantly using them and never allowing space to feel the emotion.
Finally, we need tools to support ourselves through the process of feeling an emotion. For example, this could be like using music, meditation, or movement to process an emotion.
In today’s episode, Sabrina Rogers is a licensed mental health counselor, intuitive eating and body image expert, and recovering perfectionist. After healing her own disordered eating and body image issues, she’s helping women make the shift to intuitive eating and body acceptance. Sabrina provides counseling to individuals in Iowa and coaching through Healthily Ever After a 20-week program to help perfectionistic women look and feel like they have their shit together. Sabrina is also the host of The Emotional Eating Therapist Show.
What you’ll learn listening to this episode:
- All eating is emotional eating
- Eating to cope works, it’s our first coping tool
- We can also benefit from having other coping tools so we are not always using food
- Examples of these other tools and how to find other coping tools
Mentioned in the show:
Rebellious Eating Solution Masterclass
Connect with our guest:
308-Healthy Eating in 7 Steps
Healthy eating is different for every human. There is no one plan that works for everyone, yet this is what most “healthy eating” plans miss.
You’ll not find healthy eating in a one-size-fits-all meal plan that you can download online. Moreover, there is no universal set of rules to follow. And it is definitely not about being perfect… it actually requires the opposite.
Healthy eating is built upon the foundation of a positive relationship with food and your body. This means that you need a strong connection to your body before you can play around with what you eat.
Healthy Eating in 7 steps
The non-diet approach to healthy eating without restriction can be broken down into 7 simple (but not always easy) steps:
- Have a healthy relationship with food
- Eat enough food
- Seek satisfaction and pleasure from food
- Balance macronutrients
- Permission to be imperfect with your eating
- Eat a variety of foods
- Individualize food to your body
It is crucial that you do not make the mistake of skipping over Steps 1-3.
(Hint: most healthy eating plans miss these steps). These first steps are foundational to healthy eating. They are required in order to create sustainable habits out of Steps 4-7.
Follow these steps and you will feel powerful in your relationship to food. Food will actually feel pleasurable. In fact, you will be able to enjoy life because you’re not obsessed with food.
This kind of healthy eating is available to you and it’s the outcome of undieting your life.
In Episode 308 of the podcast, I explain each of the 7 steps in more detail so that you can define what healthy eating means for you.
What you’ll learn listening to this episode:
- The 7 steps to healthy eating without restriction
- Why there is no one way of eating for all humans
- What’s missing in most “healthy eating” plans
- How to eat for self-care instead of self-control
Mentioned in the show:
307-Greatest Hits: How to Upgrade Your Body Image
Upgrade your body image with body neutrality so that you can free yourself from all-consuming negative body image.
Body Image
Your body image is not uni-dimensional. Rather, it’s the sum of how you see, think, and feel about your body. And as a result, how you treat your body.
We can look at body image on a scale, which includes: body violence, body hatred, body neutrality, and body respect. Most women who diet (in a non-life-threatening way) will find themselves in the body hatred stage. This is the stage where a lot of your time and energy is consumed by negative thoughts about your body.When I’m working with clients in Undiet Your Life, I teach you how to manage your mind so that you can achieve body neutrality, and ultimately body respect.
Body Neutrality
The goal of body neutrality is to dial down the enormous significance that’s being given to physical attractiveness in our society. The significance of women’s beauty is what causes us to do all kinds of crazy things to look “better”, including dieting. We effectively starve ourselves in order to be beautiful.
This is important to understand… we’ve been buying into the importance of beauty to define our place in this world. If we didn’t do this, we wouldn’t diet or think we need to change the size/shape/look of our bodies.
Body Positivity
Body neutrality goes beyond body positivity, in that it’s not just about pushing back against the beauty ideals of our time. That is to say
Body Positivity challenges the beauty standards by putting forward diverse body types, sizes, skin colours, abilities…
Neutrality on the other end pushes back on all aspects of society that continue to promote beauty ideals as the ultimate accomplishment. As such, it also rejects the idea that a person’s appearance is indicative of their worth.
Body Neutrality says “How I feel about myself has nothing to do with my appearance.”
Body Positivity says: “I feel good about myself, because I know I’m beautiful at any size”.
Can you see the difference?
What you’ll learn listening to this episode:
- The 4 components of body image
- The Body Image Scale
- Why you shouldn’t aim to be body positive
- The feminist approach to body image
- Body neutrality in real life
Mentioned in the show:
Rebellious Eating Solution Masterclass
306-Greatest Hits: 4 Steps to Overcome Binge Eating Behaviors
In today’s episode, we’ll talk about 4 steps to overcome binge eating and restriction
Whenever somebody brings up the topic of how to stop binge eating, I vividly remember the day I caught myself binge eating. This story happens at the peak of my most restrictive dieting period.
It was a Friday and I was picking up snacks at the grocery store for a movie night in. As soon as I walked in, I automatically gravitated towards the foods I was restricting: carbs, dairy, sugar… (hint keto!).
Flash forward to the end of the first movie: I was sitting there on my couch with an empty box of pizza, half-empty bag of brownies, and an ice cream pint just about done… I wondered what just happened.
I suddenly felt the sting of self-loathing. Soon, I was beating myself up, calling myself names that I wouldn’t call my worst enemy. As I bullied myself, I quickly cleaned up and made all evidence disappear out of fear of anyone knowing.
I share this with you because I want you to know that you are not alone.
There is nothing wrong with you and you aren’t broken. There is a reason why you do this. Until you find it and work on healing it, the binge eating will not go away.
What is Binge Eating?
Psychologists define binge eating as eating more food than most people would in a specific amount of time under similar circumstances. It is characterized by a sense of lack of control and is associated with negative emotions. Binge eaters have difficulty regulating their emotions and use food to cope with them.
At the time, I knew that what I was doing was called binge eating or overeating, but I had no idea why I was doing it. I just thought something was wrong with me, so I kept it a secret. Afraid that others might judge me, I hid my shame and guilt behind a façade of strength. Then I punished myself by restricting food the next day.
I now know that I was eating in response to the food restriction I was imposing on myself, and to numb the emotions I didn’t want to feel.
In today’s episode, we will explore how to stop the cycle of binge eating and restricting in 4 steps.
What you’ll learn listening to this episode:
- The spectrum of eating behavior
- Disordered eating versus eating disorder
- Overeating versus binge eating
- How to end the binge-restrict cycle
- 4 steps that will help you overcome binge eating
Mentioned in the show:
Rebellious Eating Solution Masterclass
Canadian National Eating Disorder Information Center
Hotline: 1-866-633-4220
US: National Eating Disorders
Toll-free Number: 1-800-931-2237
305-How to Set Non-Diet Goals-Clean Goals
Set non-diet goals for the new year so that the better life you desire is not conditional on achieving a goal.
Diet culture goals are the ones you’re used to setting. They are the type of goals that focus only on having a better life AFTER you’ve achieved the goal.
Diet culture goals are dirty goals
Have you ever set a big weight loss goal on January 1st that you couldn’t wait to tell everyone about? This is an example of a dirty goal. It gives you a feeling of temporary relief by showing the world you’re being compliant.
Diet culture goals tell us that we need to achieve the thing in order to feel worthy, confident, and happy.
But our emotions are NOT created by an external thing or achievement. Our emotions are created by our THOUGHTS.
This means that you don’t have to earn your worthiness, happiness, or confidence by achieving a goal. In fact, you can use your thoughts to create these feelings right now.
How to set non-diet goals
Decide to set non-diet goals for the new year by getting clear on your intentions behind the goal.
If you want non-diet goals that are clean, that will provide you with a better life, and a feeling of worthiness, confidence, and happiness TODAY…
Then you need to stop setting dirty goals and start setting clean goals.
Clean goals are NOT conditional on achieving the goal to feel the way you desire. Clean goals focus on the journey – the present moment – instead of fantasizing about achieving the goal.
You’ll know exactly how to avoid dirty goals, and start setting clean goals instead, when you tune into this episode!
What you’ll learn listening to this episode:
- The difference between dirty vs. clean goals
- How to feel confident, happy, and worthy right now
- Why the intention behind your goal is important
- How to set clean, non-diet goals for the new year
Mentioned in the show:
304-How to Say No to Diet Culture New Year New You BS and Say Yes to Wowing Yourself Next Year
Say no to Diet Culture New Year New You BS and choose to create yourself this year.
Diet culture has likely taught you that achieving a thinner body is the key to a better life. However, you will see more success with less effort if you sit with the discomfort of getting to know yourself.
You are not something to be fixed, sister. Instead, you get to choose to create yourself. You can choose to unlearn diet culture and embrace food freedom.
Say no to new year new you BS
It’s time to throw out the “new year, new you” list of weight and health resolutions. Instead, commit to unlearning diet culture, believing in yourself, and creating the life you desire in 2022.
Stop pouring all of your energy and resources into Diet Culture’s detoxes, programs, plans, etc. What if instead, you re-directed that energy into unlearning the diet mentality and creating self-acceptance?
How would it feel if you let go of the “I need to fix myself” mindset?
What if you learned to have your back, instead of labeling yourself as a “failure”?
How to create yourself in 2022
Choosing to create yourself is NOT about chasing external goals that are set for you by diet culture.
You get to create yourself as someone who is more than a body. This means that you will choose to have your back. You will also adopt a new way of thinking that liberates you from the “I need to fix myself” mentality.
Creating yourself is about healing on a deeper level, rather than trying to “fix” what you can see on the outside.
Are you ready to create your life without diet culture – aka Undiet Your Life?
What you’ll learn listening to this episode on how to say no to Diet Culture New Year New You BS:
- The origins of chasing resolutions
- Why your body struggles aren’t actually about your body
- How to create yourself instead of fixing yourself
- What to do if you’ve tried the non-diet way and it didn’t work
- How to bring in the new year without diet culture
Mentioned in the show:
The Unretreat – Undiet 2022 with us!
303-The Food Freedom Diet: Diet Culture’s Clickbait
The Food Freedom Diet is diet culture’s clickbait. As a result, “food freedom” gets tossed around a lot and is used to cover up diet culture.
The truth is, it is simply normal eating. It is our innate state of being as humans until the moment restriction comes in.
It layers on restrictions and rules under the disguise of “freedom”.
Diet culture red flags
Learn its red flags so that you can avoid its trap. For example, a red flag is a plan that tells you there is a right or wrong way of eating.
Another red flag is a plan that centres food, body, and weight. When this is the focus, internalized fatphobia goes unexamined.
We feel attracted to this because it feels comfortable and it doesn’t ask us to change our beliefs. As a result, we stay stuck in the system of diet culture.
It’s easier to fix your body than to unpack the fear of fatness
Diet culture makes you feel like the problem. However, the oppressive systems of diet culture are what really need to be fixed.
You have to unpack your fear of fatness and address diet culture beliefs to embrace true freedom. Unfortunately, focusing on food and body alone won’t get you there.
What you will learn listening to this episode on food freedom:
- Food Freedom is the new clickbait of diet culture
- Definition of Food Freedom
- Diet culture red flags
- 5 questions to ask yourself before buying into a new plan
Mentioned in the show:
The Unretreat – Undiet 2022 with us!
As per podcast – Google search screenshots
302-‘Tis the Season (to smash down diet culture) with Unyime Oguta
‘Tis the season to smash down diet culture… and if we want that, we need to understand the roots of the holiday season so that we can smash down the roots of oppression.
Holiday feasting, in times, happens when we only had access to certain foods (like oranges) over the holidays and it was common to be living under food restrictions beyond your control.
But now… why do we continue to feast when we have access to the same foods all year round? Why do we restrict all year to then “indulge” over the holidays, when we don’t have to?
Indulging Over the Holidays
“Indulgence” roots in the diet culture. It tells you that you’re “bad” for eating something that isn’t in line with diet culture’s pursuit of thinness.
“Indulgence” sets you up for eating out of control because diet culture makes you feel ashamed for your food choices over the holidays.
“Indulgence” goes hand-in-hand with “I deserve it” eating. It is a stepping stone on the path to binging because this mentality towards food is tied up in your self-worth and body image.
What if you chose to bring awareness to diet culture this season? And what if you paid attention to your thoughts around food and how it affects how you feel about yourself?
In today’s episode, we are joined by Unyime Oguta, an Undiet Your Life coach, a mum of 3, a Non-Diet Nutrition Coach, Certified Intuitive Eating Counsellor, speaker and podcast host of The Thriving Mum Podcast. She commits herself to providing compassionate, holistic, evidence-based nutrition care to mothers and their families worldwide through her virtual nutrition coaching practice, Olive and Bliss Wellness.
What you’ll learn listening to this episode on ’tis the season (to smash down diet culture):
- The origin of the holiday season & how it became commercialized
- How holiday norms perpetuate patriarchal ideals
- Why holiday “indulgence” is harmful to your self-worth
- How to bring awareness to diet culture during the holidays
Mentioned in the show:
Rebellious Eating Solution Masterclass
Connect with our guest:
301-Q&A: I’m just too busy to… but I know I should do this? The link between time, body and food scarcity
There’s a link between time, body, and food scarcity.
Body dissatisfaction, disordered eating and time scarcity all come from the same place-a belief of “not enough.”
There’s nothing wrong with you…you are responding to the system exactly as designed.
The link between time, body, and food scarcity
Let’s check-in: Do you believe:
- Your body is not small enough
- Your food is not controlled enough
- That your food choices are not good enough
- You don’t have enough time.
- And that you’re not productive enough
- You’re not perfect enough
- You’re not nice enough
I would have checked everything once for these statements before. I get it.
You see our brains have been trained to think that many aspects of your life as “NOT ENOUGH”…
For example, because we believe that time is rare we approach our schedule with the thought: Time is scarce and as a result, we do experience time as not enough.
The same is true about our bodies and food.
Do you have a belief that time is scarce?
Do you often answer the question “How are you doing?” with “ I’m just so busy….”
Or if you often think, “I know I should do THIS for myself but I just don’t have the time” or “ It’s just not the right timing now. I’ll wait a few months when I have more time.”
In this podcast episode, we will teach you how time scarcity is linked to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. It’s all bundled up together…
What you’ll learn listening to this episode on the link between time, body, and food scarcity:
- The link between time scarcity, body dissatisfaction and disordered eating
- The little cousin to diet culture… hustle culture
- The sneaky ways hustle culture support diet culture
- How to shift out of time scarcity
Mentioned in the show:
Welcome!
I’m Stephanie Dodier
Feminist Nutritionist & Coach.
I guide women on how to feel damn good by reshaping their mind instead of their body. Let’s go beyond the food and fight diet culture & patriarchy by living powerfully. You’ll walk away with ressources to embrace your well-being & health in a way that will expand your freedom and power.
Is the problem you or your diet?
I asked myself this question for years…and I figure you likely have the same question so I create a assessment for you to figure it out. Take the quiz now.
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY TODAY!
Get fabulous weekly newsletter!
