The Full Plate Podcast with Abbie Attwood, MS

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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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

I'm joined by DK Ciccone — comprehensively certified Pilates instructor, pain reprocessing therapy practitioner, and author of You're Meant to Move — for a conversation that is both deeply personal and clinically rich. We talk about what chronic pain actually is, why so many people have been dismissed or mislabeled, and what it looks like to rebuild a relationship with movement that isn't driven by fear, punishment, or diet culture.
This was originally a paid episode. Consider upgrading to a paid subscription to keep Full Plate going: https://abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode:
DK's journey with chronic pain and her past as a dancerHow chronic pain forms and why the pain is real even in the absence of ongoing tissue damage
The nervous system science behind pain sensitization — and why catastrophizing physically amplifies pain
Kinesiophobia: the fear of movement that develops after chronic pain, and how to work through it
Somatic tracking and pain reprocessing therapy as tools for understanding pain signalsHow to explore the difference between pain and discomfort
DK's "refuge and reach" framework for rebuilding a movement practice incrementally
Exploring functional movement versus "exercise"The research debunking weight loss as a solution for chronic pain
Why restriction and dieting actually increase chronic pain risk — and the clinical evidence behind it
How trauma and disconnection from the body compound the chronic pain experience
What embodied movement looks like when you're coming back from years of diet culture messaging
About DK Ciccone: Dana Karen ("DK") Ciccone is a comprehensively certified Pilates instructor who helps people in pain improve strength, mobility, and well-being in a weight-neutral environment. She is trained in pain reprocessing therapy through the Pain Psychology Center and is the founder of Movement Remedies, a chronic pain–focused Pilates studio and movement coaching business. Her book, You're Meant to Move: A Guide to Conquering Chronic Pain, Increasing Stress Resilience, and Reclaiming an Active Life, was released in December 2023.

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
 
Social media:
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

This week's episode is one I have been so excited to share. I'm joined by two brilliant, generous, and deeply thoughtful guests — writer, educator, and body liberation advocate Chrissy King, and creative and founder Claire — who have co-created the Child-Free Coven, a community and mutual aid space for people who are child-free, by choice or by circumstance.
In this episode:
*What the word “childfree” actually means — and why Chrissy and Claire are actively reclaiming it
*Why being childfree is not anti-child, and the James Baldwin quote at the center of their community
*Chrissy’s story: ending a marriage, being the first woman in her lineage to have this choice, and what liberation actually feels like
*Claire’s story: knowing from her early teens, navigating a partner’s uncertainty, and how 25 years of undiagnosed endometriosis is inextricably linked to her childfree journey
*The things people say to childfree women and what to make of them
*The connection between body liberation and the childfree experience
*Race, reproductive justice, and how this conversation is profoundly different depending on who you are
*The political moment we’re in — bodily autonomy, forced birth, and what history tells us about these tactics
*What it means to pour your love, attention, and energy into the world without motherhood as the vehicle
*The difference between grief and regret
*What Chrissy means when she says she wanted more than “fine”

Resources:
Find The Childfree Coven on Substack and Instagram
Chrissy’s book: The Body Liberation Project
Claire on Instagram and Chrissy on Instagram
Rachel Cargill / Rich Auntie Supreme
Resmaa Menakem, My Grandmother’s Hands
Tricia Hersey / Rest is Resistance
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: 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