The Full Plate Podcast with Abbie Attwood, MS

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

What if you’ve been working on your relationship with food and your body for years…and you’re still struggling? Does that mean you’re doing recovery wrong?
This is at the heart of today’s bonus episode of Full Plate, and I think it’s a conversation we desperately need more of.
(To hear the full conversation, become a paid subscriber right here.)
Eating disorder stories are often told from one of two places: from the absolute depths of the struggle, or from the other side, where everything gets wrapped up into a neat recovery story. But most healing happens somewhere in between.
Johanna Scoglio, author and mental health educator, joins me to talk about living with and healing from an eating disorder that has been part of her life for more than 25 years—and what changed when she stopped measuring recovery by whether she could make every thought, urge, or struggle disappear.
Johanna shares honestly about rigid definitions of recovery, weight-centered care, all-or-nothing approaches to food and exercise, and the feeling that struggling meant she was failing.
But we also get into something I think will resonate deeply with anyone who has been doing this work for a long time: the sheer exhaustion of always working on recovery, and figuring out how much of your life to devote to healing.
Listen for more on:
* Why eating disorders are so often about much more than food or body image
* The difference between being “high functioning” and actually being okay
* How perfectionism can follow us straight into recovery
* What Johanna wishes had been different about eating disorder treatment
* Weight stigma and the issues with using weight as a marker of illness or recovery
* Why an all-or-nothing approach to movement can create its own harm
* Harm reduction as an alternative to shame, compliance, and perfection
* Including exercise without an all-or-nothing approach
*The exhaustion that can come from working on recovery for years
* What Johanna believes is the real thing she's healing from (and it has nothing to do with food)
* Learning to trust yourself, your emotions, and your own inner wisdom
* What it means to create a meaningful life while you’re still “in the water”

🎧 To hear the full conversation, become a paid subscriber right here.
Paid subscriptions directly support Full Plate and make it possible for me to continue having long, nuanced, independent, sponsor-free conversations like this one.
If you’ve ever wondered, Why am I still struggling with this?, I really hope this one meets you where you are and offers a way forward.
Johanna Scoglio is an author, educator, and mental health advocate dedicated to reducing stigma and creating compassionate spaces for those navigating eating disorders. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, four bonus children, and their puppy, Copa. Her memoir is called: When the Water Still Holds Me: Letters Through the Tides of a Long-Term Eating Disorder.
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

Today I’m speaking with Stephanie Dodier, a non-diet nutritionist, certified Intuitive Eating counselor, and cognitive behavior coach. Our conversation covers a lot of ground, but constantly circles this question:
What happens when you understand all of this diet culture stuff intellectually…but it still doesn’t quite feel true for you and your body?
We get into:
* The difference between eating something because you genuinely enjoy it and eating it because diet culture told you to
* Why satisfaction and pleasure matter in having a calm, compassionate relationship with food
* How gender, body size, and other identities affect who is “allowed” pleasure with food
* Why Intuitive Eating can feel like it “isn’t sticking”
* The connection between food, body control, self-worth, and belonging
* How patriarchy and cultural conditioning shape our beliefs about our bodies
* Why understanding diet culture intellectually is different from embodying new beliefs
* Why body image work can feel less straightforward than healing our relationship with food
* What embodiment can actually look like in everyday life
* Stephanie’s experience learning to wear short sleeves after years of hiding her arms
* How community helps us grow stronger roots outside of diet culture
* A practical exercise for separating facts from the thoughts and beliefs we’ve attached to them
Stephanie's work is focused on behavioral science, human psychology and body image. Her podcast is called It's Beyond the Food, and you can find her on Instagram at @stephdodier.

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

Support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

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

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
This podcast is ad-free and made possible by paid subscribers on Substack. Subscribe HERE.


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