The Full Plate Podcast with Abbie Attwood, MS

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This is part two of my conversation with Ragen Chastain. We pick up with the question of what happens when people stop taking GLP-1 medications, and whether “taking them for life” is actually supported by the research.
From there, Ragen takes us deeper into the research on weight regain, body composition changes, and the increasingly broad claims that GLP-1 medications can treat everything from cardiovascular disease to mental health concerns. We also talk about pharmaceutical influence on healthcare providers, what happens when doctors are working from incomplete or biased information, and how patients can advocate for themselves when / if their doctor presents a GLP-1 as the answer.
This is a bonus episode for paid subscribers. To join us, upgrade here.
And if you’re already a paid subscriber: thank you for making this possible. I genuinely mean that.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
* What the research actually tells us about weight regain after stopping GLP-1 medications
* The idea that GLP-1 medications need to be taken for life
* Weight regain, muscle loss, and changes in body composition
* How researchers define “maintaining” weight loss and why those definitions matter
* The way GLP-1 research is presented in headlines, abstracts, and public conversations
* Claims that GLP-1 medications may benefit conditions beyond type 2 diabetes and weight loss
* Why the dose being studied matters when we’re trying to understand health outcomes
* How pharmaceutical companies influence healthcare providers through research, education, and financial relationships
* The difference between a doctor being malicious and a doctor being misinformed
* What happens when GLP-1 medications are presented as a solution to almost every health concern
* How weight stigma can shape which treatments are offered to higher-weight patients
* BMI-based denials of care and the way weight loss can become a prerequisite for receiving healthcare
* Questions patients can ask when a provider recommends a GLP-1
* How to advocate for weight-inclusive care, even when there is a power imbalance between doctors and patients
* Why informed consent requires more than simply being told that a medication “works”
* What Ragen hopes people take away from the larger conversation about weight, health, and healthcare
Ragen Chastain is a researcher, writer, speaker, and board-certified patient advocate who has spent more than 20 years examining the intersections of weight science, weight stigma, and healthcare. She brings a research- and statistics-informed perspective to a conversation that is often dominated by pharmaceutical marketing, influencer anecdotes, and very simplified claims about what these medications do.
Find Ragen at weightandhealthcare.substack.com and on instagram at @ragenchastain
Support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership for live sessions every other week and a community of support from healing from diet culture:
https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group
Social media:
Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast
Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound have gone from relatively niche diabetes medications to one of the biggest (and most controversial) stories in health and wellness.
As you may have noticed, I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus from the podcast the past couple of months while I’ve been recovering from a SCAD heart attack.
Today, I'm back with a brand new conversation about weight loss drugs with Ragen Chastain, a researcher, writer, speaker, and board-certified patient advocate who has spent more than 20 years examining the intersections of weight science, weight stigma, and healthcare. She brings a research- and statistics-informed perspective to a conversation that is often dominated by pharmaceutical marketing, influencer anecdotes, and very simplified claims about what these medications do.
We do a deep dive into GLP-1 medications, weight loss, food noise, hunger, weight stigma, and what we actually know about the safety and long-term effects of these drugs.
In this episode, we get into:
* Ragen’s journey from dieting and doing her own literature review to becoming a researcher and advocate in the weight-inclusive healthcare space
* What we know about the failure of long-term weight-loss interventions
* Weight-inclusive healthcare and why it shouldn’t depend on whether we believe people can or cannot lose weight
* How GLP-1 medications work, including their effects on blood sugar, gut motility, digestion, and hunger
* The difference between diabetes dosing and the higher doses used for weight loss
* What “food noise” actually means (and what it doesn’t mean)
* How diet culture and restriction can affect hunger and thoughts about food
* The medicalization of hunger
* Why the same symptoms can be interpreted and treated differently depending on the size of the person experiencing them
* Weight stigma in healthcare and the assumption that weight loss is the answer to an enormous range of health concerns
* What we know and don’t know about the long-term safety of GLP-1 medications
* Why research on a medication at one dose cannot automatically answer questions about that medication at another dose
* Study dropout and what can get lost when we look only at headlines, abstracts, and conclusions
* Conflicts of interest in pharmaceutical research
* Concerns about the quality and transparency of long-term safety data
* What happens when medications designed to suppress hunger are used in people whose bodies are otherwise regulating blood sugar normally
This is part one of the conversation. In part two (releasing next week) we’ll dig further into weight regain, body composition, how GLP-1 research is presented to the public, the explosion of claims that these medications can treat everything from cardiovascular disease to mental health concerns, pharmaceutical influence on healthcare providers, and what you can actually do when a doctor recommends a GLP-1.
Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:
If you're looking for community and continued learning, apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group. We meet every other Thursday, and have a private online space for ongoing conversations between sessions.
Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
Find more resources from Ragen:
Substack: https://weightandhealthcare.substack.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ragenchastain/?hl=en

 



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

What does it mean to live in a body that doesn’t always do what you wish it would? A body that’s unpredictable, maybe in pain, maybe exhausted — a body shaped by chronic illness, disability, or medical trauma?
This week on the podcast, I’m revisiting an episode with the deeply compassionate Dr. Jennifer Caspari, a psychologist who specializes in health psychology and lives with cerebral palsy. Her personal and professional wisdom come together in such a powerful way — this conversation felt like a breath of fresh air in a world that so often asks us to override, fix, or fight our bodies.
We talk about what it means to be in relationship with your body when it doesn’t feel like it’s on your side — and how to cultivate self-compassion, presence, and joy even in the midst of that. (Her new book is a beautiful read, by the way).
Jen shares her own story — how she came into therapy, what it’s like navigating the world in a disabled body, and the mindset shifts that have helped her most during painful or difficult seasons.
We explore:
* How societal body image pressure intersects with disability and illness
* Why we don’t have to wait for symptoms to go away in order to start living
* The role of values-based living and gentle courage in hard moments
* Practical strategies for coping with chronic pain
* What it really means to practice radical acceptance
* Why chronic illness often involves grief — of function, identity, possibility
* Navigating relationships and communicating needs with loved ones
* Finding agency, even when so much feels out of your control
* Living fully with a body that’s chronically ill — and maybe always will be

Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
 
Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:
If you're looking for support, live sessions, community, and continued learning, apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group
Social media:
Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast
Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness
 
Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy
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This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com

https://abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
Today's episode is a bit different than usual. I'm sharing (solo) a bit about where I've been, what's been going on with my health, and what it all means for this podcast.
To listen, upgrade to paid right here. Paid subscribers get access to all bonus content -- including the full archive of paywalled podcast episodes and newsletters.
In the episode, I get into:
- what happened (the heart attack, the hospital stay, and how my husband and family played a role)
- trusting your body even in the middle of a crisis
- the ways a medical condition overlaps with diet culture
- holding space for how unique everyone's experience with a health condition is, even when it's the same diagnosis
- the emotional impact of a life-threatening experience
- leaning into rest as a radical act of self-care, and how hard that can be in our culture
- where I'm finding the capacity for understanding and patience with my body, and where I'm not
- what this means for the podcast and my business
Thank you so muxh for supporting me -- both as a person, and as an independent writer / producer. It means the world.

Abbie is joined by the incredible Monika Ostroff, executive director of MEDA, clinician, author, and person with lived experience of both anorexia and DID — for one of the most illuminating conversations the show has ever had. This one will change the way you think about survival, the body, and what healing actually asks of us.
In this episode:
- What dissociative identity disorder (DID) actually is — and how it's almost nothing like what you've seen in media
- Why DID is far more common than most people realize, and why diagnosis takes so long
- The striking overlap between DID and eating disorders, and what that tells us about both
- How eating disorders function as a trauma response — and why that framing matters for recovery
- What it means to approach an eating disorder with compassion rather than shame
- The clinical and personal complexity of treating multiple eating disorder presentations within one system
- Why the "control freak" narrative around eating disorders misses the point entirely
- Monica's own lived experience with anorexia, DID, and what recovery has looked like
- The single piece of wisdom that reoriented Monica's entire relationship with herself
About Monika: Monika Ostroff, LICSW, CEDS-S is the Executive Director of the Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association, Inc (MEDA). She has over 25 years of experience in the field of eating disorders. Prior to leading MEDA, she directed several residential, partial hospital and intensive outpatient eating disorder programs in addition to having owned a thriving private practice. 
Practicing from a trauma informed, social justice and staunchly HAES® aligned lens, Monika is a dedicated ally and strong advocate working to ensure access to equitable, compassionate, and affirming care for all. Find Monika: Healing My Parts on Substack, Instagram, and podcast
Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:
Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group
 Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast
Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness


This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe