Being immersed in diet culture since I was 12 years old, it’s now been over 30 years that weight loss, food rules, and body image has consumed my life. It makes me sad to know I’m not alone; I don’t know a single woman how hasn’t dieted or tried to change her body to fit society’s BS standard of beauty. Over the past year, I’ve been slowly reclaiming the life diet culture has stolen from me and have been focusing on doing things that help me love and accept my body, such as embracing intuitive eating.
There are so many amazing resources out there about body positivity, and I recently started listening to this eye-opening, powerful, life-affirming podcast How to Love Your Body, by The Body Love Society. It’s described as “The non-diet, intuitive eating podcast to help you stop dieting and find wellness without the obsession.”
Hosted by intuitive eating counselors Jenna Free and Lauren Mcaulay, who are so relatable because they too were obsessed dieters who thought about food and weight all day, and have went through a transformation to become free from dieting and are now intuitive eaters. They coach other women on their wellness journeys to becoming balanced, confident, and happy “undieters.”
The conversations between Jenna and Lauren are honest, welcoming, helpful, and supportive — it feels like I’m sitting down talking to my wise girlfriends telling me to eat the damn cookie if I want to and move on with my life! Everything they talk about makes complete sense and describes the life I want to live. Stop dieting and have freedom around food? Yes, please!
I started from the beginning (there are 78 episodes), and actually love listening on my relaxing trail runs. It’s just nice to hear reinforcement and advice on how to break free from the dieting cycle and how to have a healthy relationship with food. Here are some of my favorite episodes so far:
After spending decades with food and exercise rules, thoughts about my body and my weight, and just feeling like a failure because what I was doing wasn’t working, listening to this podcast and learning about a new way of living just feels so exciting and refreshing. In just the couple weeks I’ve been listening, I already feel a shift in my thoughts and my actions. If you’ve been wanting to try intuitive eating and give the middle finger to diet culture, this podcast is a great step on your journey.
Image Source: How to Love Your Body