The Blog

The Body Image Series

SummerAugust 11, 2021Body Image, Body Positivity, Self-Love, Uncategorized

The Body Image Series is a podcast series for people who are looking for concrete ways to feel better in their body and divest their self-worth from their appearance.

I’ll be covering topics such as how we can build our self-worth outside of our appearance, how our emotions influence our body image, how to navigate social situations when feeling self-conscious, how to stop caring so much about what other’s think and more.

Click on the episode you want to hear below and you’ll be taken to the page where you can play it or search for Eat The Rules and find them on iTunes, Spotify or Stitcher.

#158 – Body Image Series: How To Feel Better In Your Body

In this episode I talk about:

The body image series of podcast episodes I’m going to be doing,
Why I intertwine the words self-worth and body image,
The biggest mistake we make when trying to feel better in our body,
The one question to ask yourself when working on feeling better in your body,
7 ways to feel better in your body mentally,
How to feel better in your body physically,
Your free worksheet with 5 actions to immediately feel better in your body,
Plus so much more!

#159 – Body Image Series: Intuitive Eating & Body Image

In this episode I talk about:

Why body dissatisfaction drives the diet mentality,
Why accepting our bodies doesn’t mean giving up,
5 ways that body image work will facilitate healing your relationship with food,
What it means to “trust yourself” around food and how to overcome that hurdle if you feel like you just can’t,
Your free worksheet – Eat Like A Grown-Ass Adult – 4 prompts to inspire you to live your life without diets,
Plus so much more!

#160 – Body Image Series: Believing You Are Good Enough (Self-Worth)

In this episode I talk about:

What gets in the way of feeling good enough,
How our “shoulds” feed the belief that we’re not good enough,
What is self-worth and why it’s so damn important for you to feel good enough,
The difference between confidence and self-worth,
How perfectionism influences our self-worth,
8 components to build self-worth,
Your free worksheet – 10 Powerful Ways To Reinforce That You’re Good Enough,
Plus so much more!

#161 – Body Image Series: Detaching From The Thin Ideal

In this episode I talk about:

Why it’s so hard to break the attachment to the thin ideal,
Why no one should feel ashamed for wanting to lose weight,
Why breaking the attachment to the thin ideal is a crucial part of body acceptance work,
How to identify and work through the fears that keep us hooked on the thin ideal,
The 5 main fears that keep us hooked on the thin ideal and diet mentality,
Your free worksheet – Goodbye Diet Culture – 5 prompts to help you break up with diet culture for good,
Plus so much more!

#162 – Body Image Series: Overcoming Comparisons

In this episode I talk about:

Why we compare and why it’s not our fault,
The main belief that drives us to compare,
Why comparisons are one of the hardest things to overcome,
8 actions to take to stop comparisons,
Your free worksheet – 6 Ways We’ve Been Conditioned to Compare,
Plus so much more!

#163 – Body Image Series: How to Stop Caring About What Other People Think (Overcoming Fear of Judgment)

In this episode I talk about:

Why we fear judgment and how this is ingrained in us,
What these fears can teach us about ourselves,
Why understanding the source of our fear of what others are thinking is integral to healing self-worth,
7 ways to overcome fear of judgment,
Your free worksheet – 5 Ways to Navigate Social Situations When Feeling Self-Conscious,
Plus so much more!

#175: Body Image Series: 4 Misconceptions About Body Acceptance

In this episode I talk about:

How body acceptance doesn’t mean loving every part of your body,
That body acceptance doesn’t follow the magical thinking of diet culture,
Learning to be more compassionate with yourself,
Facing and rejecting the fears that keep us from acceptance,
Welcoming bad days along with the good ones,
How when we are owning who we are it is often uncomfortable, but also the most gratifying,
The importance of choosing yourself and making space for all the different parts of yourself,
That taking care of yourself looks different to everyone and can change day to day,
How body acceptance is intertwined with self-care,
That this is a process and the work is continuous,
The importance of speaking more compassionately to yourself,
Why this work is not about eliminating self-doubt completely,
The resilience that comes out of doing this work,
Plus so much more!

#180 – Body Image Series: Where Our Body Image Comes From

In this episode I talk about:

How systems of oppression impact body image and how we’re treated in our society,
What body image is and symptoms of poor body image,
The importance of knowing that your self-worth isn’t dictated by your appearance or how other people feel about you,
How our culture has taught us that only certain bodies are worthy,
Beauty as social currency,
How feelings of inadequacy don’t disappear if you change your body to be more in line with beauty standards,
How the desire to fit beauty standards is hardcoded in our DNA,
How external systems of oppression create internalized oppressions,
That this is a systemic and cultural issue and it is not your fault,
How we internalize experiences that make us feel like we’re not good enough and allow them to shape how we feel about our bodies,
Questions you can use to examine your past and be curious about where your body image came from,
The importance of tending to your past wounds in order to heal,
Plus so much more!

#185: Body Image Series: What to do if you still want to lose weight (the answer might surprise you)

In this episode I talk about:

What it means if you still want to lose weight,
How body image is hard-coded in us from birth,
How this work is more than just embracing your “flaws,” it’s about cultivating a sense of worthiness outside of your appearance,
Three things that cause us to feel bad about our bodies and why rejecting these is so important,
The need to be critical of the cultural influences around us,
That the longer you stay in the diet cycle, the harder it is to accept your body,
The game-changing REFRAME that will help you get a lot closer to body neutrality (seriously, my clients love me for this),
The ONE thing you need to get clear on to help you feel better in your body,
That we have nothing to lose by being kinder to ourselves,
Plus so much more!

#186: Body Image Series: How NOT to respond to negative thoughts about your body…

In this episode I talk about:

Potential sources of negative body thoughts and how they’re exacerbated during the pandemic,
The THREE things we’re typically told to do to change our thoughts and why you should avoid them,
A way to visualize how your brain evolves to think about self-doubt and self-compassion,
How our negative thoughts tend to stick more than the positive ones,
How our inner-critic is an innocent part of us that exists to protect us from threats,
The TWO things that need to happen in order for our thoughts to change,
The importance of working with your inner-critic,
The ONE question to ask yourself to start to work on changing your negative body thoughts, Plus, so much more!
Plus so much more!

#187: Body Image Series: Does Body Acceptance Mean You’ll Let Yourself Go?

In this episode I talk about:

Why we believe body acceptance feels like letting ourselves go,
That diet-culture wants you to believe you’re a failure and you’re giving up if you opt-out,
The difference between healthy and unhealthy self-care and why acceptance supports the former,
Examples of healthy self-care and how it comes from a place of compassion and kindness,
Examples of unhealthy self-care and how it comes from a place of inadequacy,
The three main fears to challenge and call-out in order to move to a place where acceptance feels doable,
How when we hinge our self-worth on the external, we’re never going to feel good enough,
Two game-changing reframes on acceptance to make it feel totally doable,
How acceptance is a life-long, daily practice,
Plus so much more!

#188: Body Image Series: When you “intellectually get it” but still feel bad in your body

In this episode I talk about:

How this feeling is incredibly common,
A useful analogy between becoming a parent and starting on the path to a positive body image,
TWO things we can do to feel better in our bodies and why one of them is WAY more powerful than the other,
Where “intellectually getting it” sits within the 4 stages of acceptance and how to bust past that barrier,
Why you have to be intentional about challenging your negative thoughts,
That it’s normal to still have bad body days,
ONE question to visit daily to propel you towards giving less F’s about your body,
Plus so much more!

#191: Body Image Series: Weight Set Point Theory & Your Relationship To It

In this episode I talk about:

What the weight set point theory is,
How we don’t have as much control over our weight as we’ve been led to believe,
The factors that can influence our body size and how they’re mostly out of our control,
How dieting impacts our set point,
How a HAES approach can help you learn to trust your body,
Why the idea of a set point can trigger the diet mentality,
Why we need to disconnect with the idea of a goal weight,
What to focus on instead of getting to your set point,
That there is a grieving process involved in moving forward,
Why our happiness and acceptance can’t be conditional on achieving a certain body size,
Plus so much more!

#193: Body Image Series: Dieting & Body Shame As Coping Mechanisms

In this episode I talk about:

The concept of “emotional dieting” and “emotional weight fixation,”
How emotional dieting distracts us from getting at the real issue and keeps us turning to diets for an answer,
That it’s normal for life to feel out of control sometimes and there’s not always a quick fix or way to control it,
That we’ve been conditioned to think that our bodies are a problem, so it’s no surprise when that becomes our way of thinking about ourselves or processing emotions,
Some common triggers for diet fixation,
The importance of identifying where your sense of fulfilment is not being met in life,
Why this makes accepting your body so hard,
How freeing it is to get comfortable experiencing the messiness of being a human being,
Why the pandemic has been so hard on people’s body image,
How to separate from these things in order to truly move forward,
That you should lead with curiosity and know that your body is not the problem,
Plus, so much more!

#194: Body Image Series: Why It’s So Hard to Stop Dieting

In this episode I talk about:

How dieting is like a drug in our culture,
That there’s an anticipation of this perfect life and perfect body on the radar that keeps us hooked to dieting with a false sense of fulfilment,
That there’s grief, sadness, and loneliness associated with letting go of dieting,
Why community support is so important in breaking free of diet culture,
That the fear of the unknown is at the root of why it’s so hard to let go of dieting,
That dieting, and the identity as a dieter, is a false sense of security and armor that holds us back from having deeper and more real relationships with the people in our lives,
How this is an opportunity to find new coping mechanisms that will actually help you process your feelings and feel better about yourself, regardless of your size,
What life is like without dieting,
The freedom of eating without guilt,
How fulfilment is different from happiness,
That it’s not about having no emotional discomfort, it’s about learning to be with ourselves through the highs and lows,
Plus so much more!

#204: Body Image Series: Why neglecting our needs makes body shame worse

In this episode I talk about:

The meme I posted on Instagram that inspired this episode,
How not putting ourselves first reinforces that we’re not good enough,
Examples of when I’ve put my own needs last,
How we glorify exhaustion, especially of women, in social media,
The hustle of trying to achieve the “female ideal,”
How the “shoulds” that live in the back of our minds stop us from putting ourselves first,
Four reasons we tolerate putting ourselves last,
That we can still support the people in our lives, while also putting our needs first,
Four reframes and two questions to ask yourself to help start to put your needs first,
Plus so much more!

#241: Body Image Series: Do you have Superwoman Syndrome?

In this episode I talk about:

The personal reason I’m doing this episode,
That attempting to do too much is putting others’ needs ahead of our own,
That there’s a diminishing point of returns for this effort,
How this is much for difficult for women of colour or other marginalized groups, as they have to deal with subtle and overt forms of discrimination,
Why this is not an individual defect, it’s rooted in our culture and is a social justice issue,
That most often our purpose and values are not aligned with the expectations we are putting on ourselves,
How our sense of worthiness is often tied to productiveness,
How having the perfect body and/or loving your body is a big part of Superwoman syndrome,
That when we’re burnt out, we’re going to be much more critical on our bodies,
Your free worksheet – 10 ways to reject Superwoman syndrome,
Plus so much more!

#242: Body Image Series: Why You Should Stop Weighing Yourself

In this episode I talk about:

What my Instagram audience said about their relationship to scales and tracking devices,
How this kind of tracking becomes an addiction,
My story with the scale and tracking devices,
That it is nearly impossible to have a good relationship with food or movement when our weight is involved in those decisions,
How we’re giving our power away to these devices,
What this has to do with feeling connected to your body,
That as long as we believe that thinner is better, we’re holding onto fatphobic beliefs and biases,
What about fitbits?? Three questions to ask yourself,
Why calorie counting is useless information,
Six reasons it’s important to ditch scales and tracking devices,
Plus so much more!

#243: Body Image Series: Mirror-Checking & Mirror Avoidance

In this episode I talk about:

How mirror-checking is a hidden form of checking body size,
That it is often done unconsciously, without understanding its impact,
That this is compulsive and habitual for some people, and having awareness is key to breaking this habit,
Four questions to ask yourself to assess if mirror-checking is problematic for you,
How it creates a disconnect between our mind and our body,
Why completely avoiding mirrors can also be problematic,
What happens to our brain when we avoid mirrors,
That we want to drop the expectation of loving our bodies and aim for neutrality,
How we’ve been conditioned to value our worth based on how we look,
Plus so much more!