Breaking Up With Diet Culture

In the Fall of 2019 I found myself getting super frustrated with the way I was viewing food. I had been in survival mode since giving birth to my second child, and finally after getting help for my PPA/PPD - and as my mind became clearer - I realized… Wow, I have a real problem. I no longer had an appetite. I was extremely depressed. I wasn’t eating because it was too hard for me to think about grocery shopping, simply because of all the diet culture damage that had been done to my brain for the last 15 years. Sure, I’d shop for my kids’ food easily. But me? No way. I had no idea where to even start with food because everything I wanted was “bad” and everything that was “good” sounded gross to me. So, I’d starve for days… and then binge. This turned into an extremely destructive cycle and then one day: I stumbled upon Stephanie Dodier on Instagram. Something about what she was saying hit home, and I immediately reached out to her. I needed help. More than any book could do. I needed real, one on one interpersonal conversations with someone who knew exactly what I was going through.

And that, my friends, is how Breaking Up with Diet Culture was born. Below you’ll find the links to the last 8 episodes of my video diet culture therapy sessions with Steph. I was getting so many questions about my journey, and since I am still just figuring this out as I go, I thought that maybe it would make more since just to film my sessions and upload them. Turns out, they’re very relatable and I think you’d benefit from watching them. If you’re interested in learning more about Intuitive Eating, head to this page.

 

Episode 1

Part 1: Ashley digs into her past with disordered eating.

Part 2: Ashley discovers what her biggest issue is right now with disordered eating behavior and @stephdodier starts to dive into intuitive eating.

Part 3: @stephdodier really digs in to self care and how diet culture has altered our expectations of what that means.

Part 4: @stephdodier helps me realize what’s behind my disordered eating behaviors.

Episode 2

Part 1: Is it okay to want to lose weight?

Part 2: @stephdodier explains what the next step is on this healing journey from diet culture and to body neutrality

Part 3: I’ve been struggling to not assign moral value to food.

Part 4: @stephdodier and talk about the difference between “wellness” and diet culture.

Episode 3

Part 1: Thanksgiving Day Triggers and How to Deal

Part 2: What is the difference between listening to what your body wants and giving in to CRAVINGS

Part 3: I tell @stephdodier about my daily struggles with food and the starvation then binge eating cycle I am always on - we start to dissect this issue.

Part 4: Help: I don’t want to feed myself

Episode 4

Part 1:  I talk about some body dyspmorphia triggers I’ve personally experienced lately with @stephdodier

Part 2: @stephdodier talks me through several different ways to move and work through triggers I experience day to day

Part 3: I ask @stephdodier to tell me more about BMI, and recall the most traumatic events from my childhood

Part 4: the conversation about BMI continues with @stephdodier and we talk about taking back your power at doctors visits and traumas

Episode 5

Part 1: If BMI isn’t accurate, how do you measure health?

Part 2: Q&A “Being Overweight Can’t Possibly be Healthy... and also isn’t sugar as addictive as cocaine?! How are we expected to trust our bodies? “

Part 3:I just binge ate, now what do I do?

Part 4: Can you do Weight Watchers and be “body neutral” ??

Episode 6

Part 1: Ashley talks to @stephdodier about why it’s so hard for her to find peace with movement and exercise without it being triggering.

Part 2: Ashley talks to @stephdodier about how we can all find self worth that isn’t tied to exercise or our level of physical fitness.

Part 3: Ashley talks to @stephdodier about her experience of advocating for herself & recovery with her holistic nutritionist.

Part 4: @stephdodier walks Ashley through the next chapter of her intuitive eating journey: understanding and healing her relationship with fullness.

Episode 7

Part 1: “What is joyous movement?” In this episode, @stephdodier talks with Ashley about how to shift our perspective in exercise from achievement to joy.

Part 2: @stephdodier takes Ashley through the process of pinpointing and accepting our needs.

Part 3: Ashley and @stephdodier discuss the vulnerability of asking for our needs to be met, and how crucial this step is in our intuitive eating journey.

Part 4: “I’m bored of food".” @stephdodier explains the process habituation and how it functions in our journey towards a healthy relationship with food.

Episode 8

Part 1:  Ashley shares her recent food triumphs with @stephdodier , and the two discuss what the real “magic” of intuitive eating actually is.

Part 2: How getting help changed my life.

Part 3: @stephdodier walks Ashley through the Intuitive Eating Scale, to assess the progress Ashley is making.

Part 4: Why does nutrition trigger me?

 

Episode 9

Part 1: “Compassion in the Face of Trauma.” Breaking Up with Diet Culture Episode 9 Part 1. In this episode, Ashley discusses why she’s proud of herself lately, and catches @stephdodier up on how she’s been handling the trauma of Covid19.

Part 2: “I’m Finally Showing Myself Compassion.” Breaking Up With Diet Culture Episode 9 Part 1. In this episode, @stephdodier explains the shift from coping to creating, and how we can implement compassionate change in our daily lives.

Part 3: “Why Am I Still Gaining Weight?” Breaking Up With Diet Culture Episode 9 Part 3. In this episode, @stephdodier breaks down how stress and emotional health can change our body’s weight response, and she explains how minimum baseline thinking can help us make small, incremental changes towards better health.

Part 4: “I Want to Work Out Again!” Breaking Up With Diet Culture Episode 9 Part 4. In this final episode, @stephdodier and Ashley explore Ashley’s desire to start exercising again, and how to begin exercising after a lifetime of diets and over-exercise.

Episode 10

Part 1: “Have I Finally Healed?” In this episode, @stephdodier and Ashley catch up on how much her life has transformed in the last year of their work.

Part 2: “I Don’t Need Your Validation.” In this episode, Ashley tells @stephdodier about how she’s reclaiming her power through exercise.

Part 3: “I’m Taking Back My Power” In this episode, @stephdodier and Ashley explore the intersections of diet culture, feminism, fatphobia, and white supremacy.

Part 4: “I Can’t Believe I’ve Come This Far” Ashley and @stephdodier discuss the beauty of realizing intuitive eating has spread through your whole life.