Real Health Radio

Cognitive distortions are patterns of thought that distort our perception of reality, cause us to misinterpret situations, magnify negative emotions, and hold unrealistic expectations of ourselves, others and the world. This can lead to increased misery, anxiety, and self-doubt, ultimately impacting our overall well-being. In this episode, I look at a number of cognitive distortions that you can be on the look out for.

On this episode of Real Health Radio, I'm chatting with Michelle Viña-Baltsas. We speak about Michelle's decades-long struggles with food and body and how she healed her relationship with both of them. We also talk about body image, ageism, menopause, hormonal and physical changes, exercise, self-worth, and some of the positives that Michelle has experienced through ageing.

This week I'm speaking with Jo, a client I've recently finished working with. We cover her recovery journey from the depths of anorexia and now back to health.

Today on the show I'm chatting with Victoria Kleinsman. We cover her 20 year battle with an eating disorder, escaping an abusive relationship, reaching a place of full recovery, how she went from body hate to body love and so much more.

It's very common with eating disorders to put off eating, both while active in the eating disorder and even in recovery. In this episode, I explain a few of the problems with this strategy.

Today on Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Dr. Sasha Gorrell. We talk about the question of is anorexia nervosa an anxiety disorder. We spend a lot of time speaking about the brain and other topics like anxiety, compulsive exercise, the microbiome, and reward and fear circuitry.

Eating disorders seemingly use logic to convince you of why you should or shouldn't do certain behaviours or why something is or isn't important. But in reality, eating disorder are actually illogical and this becomes obvious when we look at them more closely.

Today on Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Alissa Rumsey. We talk about her book Unapologetic Eating: Make Peace With Food and Transform Your Life. We go through the four sections the book contains - fixing, allowing, feeling and growing – and cover some of the ideas and practical suggestions that are offered.

This episode features an interview with my past client Kate Ely, discussing her journey to recovery from an eating disorder. It's an incredibly vulnerable and open interview as Kate discusses many of the family struggles that led to the eating disorder and kept it going for over a decade.

This episode features an interview with past client Jayne Cudia, discussing her journey to recovery from an eating disorder with my guidance. Over two and a half years, they worked closely, transitioning from intensive consultations to a maintenance phase, leading to Jayne's remarkable progress in overcoming her disorder.

This episode was inspired by a recent client conversation (in fact, a conversation I've had many times before). I cover a common fear that comes up connected to making changes and weight gain, something that can stop you in your tracks just as you're getting started.

Full recovery is a term often used in recovery circles, but what does it mean? In this episode, I cover some definitions and different aspects of full recovery and how you can reflect on your own experience to gauge where you are in your recovery.

This week on Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Ragen Chastain. We cover many topics from her book Fat: The Owner's Manual including Health At Every Size, weight stigma, weight bias in eating disorder recovery, and much more.

This week's guest on the podcast is Louise Adams.

Louise Adams is a clinical psychologist who works in private practice from her home in Sydney, Australia and has been practising in this field for more than 20 years. She has written two books, Mindful Moments and The Non-Diet Approach Handbook for Psychologist and Counsellors (with Fiona Willer, APD). She is also the founder of UNTRAPPED, a masterclass for those who desire freedom from diet prison.

Louise is Vice President of Health At Every Size Australia, and is also a Member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS), and a member of the Clinical College of the APS.

She has a special interest in problematic eating, body image, and weight struggles. Louise fights to educate people about the cruel trap of dieting, which only sets us up to fail. She uses an evidence-based anti-dieting approach to empower people to achieve permanent lifestyle change.

Louise is wholly committed to the Health At Every Size (HAES) movement, and to spreading the word about shifting our attitudes about weight and health. Louise is determined to make a difference in changing society’s perceptions about health, diets, weight loss, and bodies. Louise believes that people can approach health and happiness without attaching them to weight changes. She is for body diversity and against fat prejudice.

We talk about how dieting doesn't work, the problems with weight loss surgery, the horrendous fast track trial in Australia and the Obesitive Collective and its connection to Novo Nordisk.

Eating disorders can have serious and sometimes fatal consequences. In this episode I talk about the recent death of a past client and what I hope people can take from this tragedy.

On this week's episode of Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Emily Troscianko. We talk about her recovery from anorexia and then many of the topics that she has written about, like eating meat in recovery, anorexia and sex, and then research she is doing looking at reading habits and their connection with eating disorders.

Goal setting is an essential part of the recovery process from eating disorders. In this episode I look at different types of goals, when they are applicable and how to best use goals in support of action taking.

There can be a misconception that when you start recovery, all symptoms immediately improve. This is unfortunately not the case, and it is common for symptoms to arise as part of recovery. In this episode, I go through some of these symptoms and why they occur.

Binges while recovering are a common occurrence, despite the fear that they create. As part of this episode, I look at why binges occur in recovery, how to think differently about them and suggestions for what to do after a binge happens.

Today on the show I'm speaking with Dr. Adele Lafrance. We cover Emotion-Focused Family Therapy, which she co-developed, as well as the research and practice of psychedelic medicine, where we cover ayahuasca, MDMA, psilocybin and ketamine.

On this week's episode Real Health Radio, Chris is chatting with Nicola Salmon. Nicola is a fat-positive fertility coach and author of “Fat and Fertile” and the conversation focuses on all things fertility, conception and pregnancy.

This week it's a solo episode and I'm talking about four lies the eating disorder tells you that stop recovery in its tracks and prevent it from even getting started.

On this week's episode of Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Denise Bossarte. We talk about her book, Thriving After Sexual Abuse: Break Your Bondage To The Past And Live A Life You Love. As part of the conversation, we cover many of the activities and practices Denise has done as part of her healing journey.

I'm hosting a three-part live virtual training all about developing resilience in recovery and it starts this Thursday 21st.

This week it's a solo episode and I'm talking about stopping to try to convince yourself.

This week it's another solo episode and I'm covering two common mistakes that people make when approaching recovery.

This week I'm looking at prolonged exposure therapy and its use in treating PTSD while also in recovery from an eating disorder. This is a discussion with an anonymous listener, who shares their journey through 11 weeks of prolonged exposure therapy.

This week it's a solo episode and I'm talking about what's the healthiest way to recover. I explain why we need to rethink our ideas about health, why understanding context is so important and the reason the fear of "I need to do recovery in the healthiest possible way" arises.

This week's guest on the podcast is Deb Dana. As part of the show, we talk about all things polyvagal theory and how eating disorders can impact this.

I'm sharing a solo episode this week and I'm covering six crucial areas in recovery. If you are trying to recover, these are ideas you want to be aware of.

This week it's another interview with a past client. I'm chatting with Alexis who was stuck in a pattern of using dieting as a coping mechanism. Hear how her life has changed through our work together.

This week on the show I'm interviewing a past client called Sam. We worked together for just under a year and it’s incredible the changes that occurred over this time.

This week it's a solo episode and I'm talking about what's been going on in my life over the last year.

My guest this week is Sarah Salmon.

Sarah is a Coach, introvert, homebody, INFJ, brain tumour survivor, Nutritionist, TED talker, and highly sensitive person (HSP). Sarah specialises in helping overwhelmed introverts get their energy back.

As part of the episode, we cover Sarah surviving a brain tumour, introversion, Highly Sensitive Persons (HSP), boundaries and creating a life that is aligned with who you are.

This week's guest on the podcast is Dr. Lauren Muhlheim.

Dr. Muhlheim, is a psychologist, certified eating disorder specialist (CEDS), and IAEDP (International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals) - approved supervisor who provides evidence-based treatment for eating disorders in the outpatient setting. She works with people of all ages and all eating disorders including anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder (BED), Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID), Orthorexia, Muscle Dysmorphia and Male Eating Disorders.

She provides cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for adults and family-based treatment (FBT) for adolescents and adheres to Health at Every Size® principles. She is certified in FBT by the Training Institute for Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders.

Dr. Muhlheim is the author of When Your Teen Has an Eating Disorder: Practical Strategies to Help Your Teen Overcome Anorexia, Bulimia, and Binge Eating. This book is an FBT-based book for parents who are helping adolescents with eating disorders.

Dr. Muhlheim is active in several professional organizations. She is the Eating Disorders Expert for Verywell (formerly About.com) and is Clinical Director of the Eating Disorder Information website, Mirror-Mirror Eating Disorders. She presents nationally to parents, professionals, and trainees. She is active on social media and in eating disorder advocacy efforts. Find her online at EatingDisorderTherapyLA.com

We discuss Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) for Eating Disorders, Family Based Therapy (FBT) for families with adolescents in recovery and Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).

I'm chatting with Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist Justin Sunseri on the podcast this week. This is a deep dive into all things polyvagal: looking at what it is and all the component ideas, how to build safety anchors, getting unstuck from being in a defensive state and dealing with trauma.

This week I'm sharing the details for my new program The Fundamentals Of Full Recovery. If you're interested in joining The Fundamentals Of Full Recovery email info@seven-health.com with the subject line GROUP PROGRAM.

On this week's episode I talk with former US National Team swimmer Eva Merrell from The Hidden Opponent.

This week I chat with fat dietician Kimmie Singh. We discuss Kimmie’s relationship with food and her body, body image and fat acceptance in recovery, the importance of community, mindful eating, redefining health, reframing beauty ideals and much more.

This is a solo episode looking at how restriction and eating disorders affect the brain. I look at how the structure and function of the brain changes, the phenomenon of anosognosia and how long it takes for repair to occur.

This week Aaron Flores returns to the podcast. We discuss anxiety, Aaron’s appearance on the Ten Percent Happier podcast, binge eating disorder and some of the misconceptions with it, feeling comfortable in your body, self-compassion, grief, anxiety and much more.

This week it's a solo episode looking at the many causes of irregular periods, anovulatory cycles and missing periods (hypothalamic amenorrhea).

This week I speak with Naureen Hunani, the founder of RD's For Neurodiversity.

This week's guest on the podcast is Beverly Engel.

Beverly Engel is an internationally recognized psychotherapist and an acclaimed advocate for victims of sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. She is the author of 26 self-help books, including three bestselling books on emotional abuse. Beverly is a licensed marriage and family therapist, and has been practicing psychotherapy for 40 years.

In addition to her professional work, Beverly frequently lends her expertise to national television talk shows. She has appeared on Oprah, CNN, and Starting Over, and many other TV programs.

We talk about childhood abuse and neglect and the negative impact that this can have, with shame being a huge part of this. Self-compassion can be the antidote to shame but for someone with a history of abuse, there can be many obstacles to self-compassion. We talk about these obstacles and the ways to get past them.

This week on Real Health Radio, I take a deep dive into the Minnesota Starvation Experiment.

This week on the show I'm chatting with William Hornby. Wiliam has risen to prominence on social media, speaking about men's eating disorders and mental health and “The Power of Becoming the Advocate You Needed.” We chat about recovery, the rise of eating disorders in boys and men, toxic masculinity and much more.

My guest today is Fiona Willer. As part of the episode, we chat about Fiona’s background and the thesis for her PhD. We talk about Fiona’s history with an eating disorder and how recovery from this helped her move from a weight loss focus to one that’s weight neutral. We also talk about The Look Ahead Study, Malnutrition at every size, overeating, cravings and bingeing and how blood biomarkers are impacted upon restriction.

Today I'm speaking with Jenna Doak, the Co-Founder and Head Trainer at Body Positive Fitness. We talk about Jenna's journey as a personal trainer and her own relationship with exercise. We also cover common topics of discussion with clients: abstaining from exercise when it’s needed, finding joy in movement after a compulsive and compensatory relationship with it, finding joy in movement for the first time in your adult life, psychological flexibility with exercise and lots more.

This week on the podcast I chat with Henry, a client I've worked with since September 2021. He’d been living with an eating disorder for many years, which included lots of over exercise and exercise compulsion. And while he’d worked with other practitioners, he was still struggling. He shares how things have changed since we started working together.

Real Health Radio is back with another guest interview and I chat with Lindsay Kite this week. We cover self-objectification, the problems that arise from learning about 'health and fitness' from mainstream media, research on how children model their parent's behaviour relating to body image and much more!

My guests this week Hilary Kinavey and Dana Sturtevant, the co-founders of the Centre For Body Trust. They have a new book called Reclaiming Body Trust and we get to talk all about it.

This week on Real Health Radio, I do a round up of my favourite books and documentaries of 2022.

This week on Real Health Radio it is a solo show and we're covering everything related to satisfaction from eating. What it is, what are the component parts that make up the sensation, the difference between satisfaction and fullness, some of the fears or objections to eating satisfying meals and some of the ways you can start to practice satisfaction with eating.

This week on Real Health Radio it's another guest interview and Chris is chatting with Anna Sweeney. They chat about her diagnosis with MS at age 15 and how this has impacted on her life. They cover disability, body acceptance, eating disorder recovery and Instagram.

This week on Real Health Radio, I chat with Virginia Sole-Smith. We cover her book The Eating Instinct, her daughter Violet relearning how to eat after a life saving operation at age one month, and the myth of the sugar high.

This week on the show it's a solo episode where we look at the topic of restriction. Restriction can take many forms but is at the heart of the struggles of every person that I work with.

Today on the show I'm speaking with Jacob Clark Blickenstaff, his father Harold Blickenstaff was one of the participants in the Minnesota Starvation Experiment.

In part two of his series on sleep, I explore all the different ways we can get better sleep - including optimising your light exposure, energy intake, pre-bedtime routine, bedroom setup, and more.

My guest this week is Stacie Fanelli and we talk all the about intersection of neurodiversity and eating disorders. We cover what neurodivergence is, helpful accommodations in recovery, screening for neurodivergence, masking and animal-assited therapy.

This week I'm speaking with Amy Green Smith. We chat about speaking up and setting boundaries, fear and how this shows up in our modern lives, understanding our motivation, using progressive language, self-worth, hypnotherapy and the difference between “I can’t” and “I won’t”

In today's solo episode, Chris dives into the science behind sleep. Why do we do it? How much should we be getting? What's a sleep chronotype and why should you know yours? How does circadian rhythm work? Is our sleep quality good enough? This podcast answers all these questions and more.

Today on the show I'm chatting with Johanna Kandel. She is the founder and CEO of the National Alliance for Eating Disorders and the author of Life Beyond Your Eating Disorder. We talk about Johanna’s eating disorder, her recovery, and how she founded The Alliance and how it has grown and changed over the last 21 years. Then we cover many topics from her book and some of the wonderful exercises and analogies she shares in it.

This week on the show it is a solo episode where we look at the topic of Health Inequalities. It's so common when talking about health to focus on "choices" and "personal responsibility" and that "health is in your own hands". But the truth of the matter is that at a population level, health is most directly connected to where you live and socioeconomics. Something we explore in great detail by looking at the recent report "Health Equity in England: The Marmot Review 10 Years On."

This episode is the 2nd edition of my overeating experiment that I did back in 2016. I go through the experiment, what I happened to my body, I look at calories in and calories out and update with new ideas since the original episode came out.

This week on the show I chat with Registered Dietician Emily Fossenback. We chat about Emily's history with orthorexia and her recovery, perfectionism, infertility, adoption, working with eating disorder clients, and feeding children.

I chat with Dr. Rachel Millner - a psychologist, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist Supervisor and a certified Body Trust provider. We cover Rachel's background and own journey with eating disorder recovery and anorexia in higher weight bodies. They also cover Rachel's role as a supervisor, her work with children and families and about depression, anxiety and mental health.

One of the most difficult aspects of being a parent can be mealtimes with kids. This week on the show I chat with Katja Rowell MD. Katja is a childhood feeding specialist. We cover Ellyn Satter’s Division Of Responsibility, Responsive Feeding Therapy, the frequency of feeding issues, typical eating and growth, the mechanics of eating, and the five steps for creating a healthy feeding relationship.

I sit down with Barbara Allen to dive into the topic of high sensitivity. What is it? How do you know if you are a highly sensitive person? How can we turn it into a strength?

This week on Real Health Radio I chat with Bri Campos. We talk about body image, specifically through the lens of body grief.

I sit down with Will Siu, MD to discuss the current state of the research on psychedelics as well as their therapeutic potential.

This week on Real Health Radio I chat with Betsy Brenner all about her memoir The Longest Match: Rallying to Defeat an Eating Disorder in Midlife. We chat about her childhood, emotional trauma, profound grief, anxiety, depression, the development of an eating disorder in her 40s and everything she did to recover.

Welcome back to Real Health Radio. This week I sit down with my former client Ilinca and we chat about her history with a restrictive eating disorder, being stuck in quasi recovery and getting her period back. We also cover what it was like working together, feeling understood and supported and Ilinca's changing relationship with sleep, food, exercise and happiness.

On this episode of Real Health Radio, it is a solo show and it is all about eating disorder recovery. I cover the many aspects that make up recovery when we truly want to get at all the ways that an eating disorder infiltrates one’s life

This week I talk with personal trainer turned online educator Rini Frey. We chat about her history with an eating disorder, how she healed her relationship with food, and her current work with body acceptance.

On this episode of Real Health Radio, my guest is Dr. Colleen Reichmann. We chat about Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), person-focused therapy, eating disorder recovery, motivation, harm reduction versus full recovery, the pros and cons of different levels of care, motivation and her book The Inside Scoop On Eating Disorder Recovery.

Today I'm interviewing Harriet Brown about strained family relationships and how estrangement estrangement can sometimes be the ultimate form of self care. We also discuss attachment and conditional versus unconditional parenting, and how experiences in early life have a huge impact on someone’s sense of self and self-esteem for the rest of their life.

On this episode of Real Health Radio, I'm chatting with Summer Innanen. For many of you, Summer doesn’t need an introduction. This is her third appearance on the show and someone I have been a fan of for nearly a decade.

This episode is all about body image, with Summer and I talking about how we help clients in this area. We cover:
What body image is and how it’s connected to self-worth
Confidence and its connection to body image
The common mistakes people make when trying to improve body image
Feelings and emotions and how important they are with this work.
Dieting, exercise, body trust, comparison, and the judgement of others and how each of these is connected to body image
And much more

Welcome back to Real Health Radio. Today’s guest interview is with Dana Sturtevant.

Dana Sturtevant, MS, RD is a nutrition therapist, facilitator, educator, speaker, writer, and activist specializing in chronic dieting, disordered eating, and body acceptance. A Certified Kripalu yoga teacher, Dana draws from her yoga teaching experience to incorporate mindfulness and self-acceptance practices into her conversations about food, body shame, health, and healing. After becoming a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers in 2002, Dana has traveled around the country training thousands of helping professionals in the art and science of behavior change counseling. As a speaker and writer, Dana advocates for compassionate, weight-neutral self-care and offers supervision, training, and consultation for helping professionals. Her work has been featured in Self, Real Simple, Huffington Post, and The New York Times.

We chat about her history studying nutrition, how she became disillusioned with the weight loss model, and her use of motivational interviewing.

On this episode of Real Health Radio, I'm chatting with Michael Mithoefer, MD, who has completed a number of clinical trials testing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. We discuss what makes MDMA so useful, what the psychotherapy sessions look like and the remaining steps that are needed for MDMA to be reclassified again.

I chat with Virgie Tovar about plus size fashion, changes in book publishing, and how fat acceptance is making its way into the media

On this episode of Real Health Radio, I'm chatting with Michelle Viña-Baltsas. We speak about Michelle's decades-long struggles with food and body and how she healed her relationship with both of them. We also talk about body image, ageism, menopause, hormonal and physical changes, exercise, self-worth, and some of the positives that Michelle has experienced through ageing.

This week Real Health Radio is celebrating its 250th episode! The show is an ASK Me Anything (AMA) episode, where I answer your questions.

Welcome back to Real Health Radio. Today’s guest interview is with Vania Phitidis. Vania is a certified Intuitive Eating Counsellor, a certified MB-EAT teacher (Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training) and a qualified Self Esteem mentor with the More to Life Programme. She has been coaching and mentoring people to become more of their authentic selves for over 25 years. She works with a Health At Every Size (HAES), weight inclusive approach.

I sit down with Connie Sobczak to discuss her history with an eating disorder, the death of her sister, the birth of her daughter, and how all of those things influenced her to co-found The Body Positive, an organization that works with adults and youth in a variety of settings to support positive body attitudes and self-care behaviours.

On this episode of Real Health Radio, it's a solo episode all about healing from trauma. I go through many of the different healing modalities that can be used to process and heal from trauma - explaining what they are and how they work.

On this episode of Real Health Radio, I'm chatting with Dr. Roberto Olivardia. We speak about ADHD, both in its connection to eating disorders and more generally. We also talk about his book The Adonis Complex, covering muscle dysmorphia and eating disorders in boys and men.

Welcome back to Real Health Radio. Today’s guest interview is with Kayla Rose Kotecki.

Kayla is a Non-Diet Holistic Nutritionist, Author, and influencer who helps people to stop feeling crazy and uncontrollable around food. She teaches how to overcome the diet-binge-purge cycle by showing people the tools needed to heal their relationship with food and their body, in order to gain their life, health, and freedom back. She wants to help guide people back from the mental and physical damage and programming that is done from the media, modern society, the health and fitness industry, and other various popular “fad” diet trends.

Today on Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Elisa Oras. Elisa recovered from bulimia, orthorexia, and extreme dieting and we talk about her experience as well as the clients she now works with.

This episode is the 2nd edition of a podcast I did a while back on the menstrual cycle. I review the stages of the cycle, what causes menstruation, what happens if conception occurs, and update you with some new information we've learned since the last episode came out.

Chris talks with Josie Geller, PhD, about her research in the eating disorder field. They cover topics like predictors for success in recovery and predictors for relapse, the difference between collaborative and directive change, and the importance of self-compassion in recovery.

Today on Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Dr. Sasha Gorrell. We talk about the question of is anorexia nervosa an anxiety disorder. We spend a lot of time speaking about the brain and other topics like anxiety, compulsive exercise, the microbiome, and reward and fear circuitry.

Today's interview is with registered dietitian nutritionist, Aaron Flores. We chat about his transition from traditional dietetics to Health At Every Size, his experience with the Body Trust Certification, and his work with body image and men.

Today on Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Alissa Rumsey. We talk about her book Unapologetic Eating: Make Peace With Food and Transform Your Life. We go through the four sections the book contains - fixing, allowing, feeling and growing – and cover some of the ideas and practical suggestions that are offered.

On this week's episode of Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Emily Troscianko. We talk about her recovery from anorexia and then many of the topics that she has written about, like eating meat in recovery, anorexia and sex, and then research she is doing looking at reading habits and their connection with eating disorders.

Welcome back to Real Health Radio. This week is another solo episode and we’re revisiting something I’ve covered in the past – how thinking can affect health. We discuss cognitive dietary restraint (aka dieting) and and see if it can impact our physical health and brain power. We review several studies that have been done in this area and chat about what we can take from these scientific papers and apply to our lives.

On this week's episode of Real Health Radio, I'm sharing a life update with everything that has been happening over the last 6 months or so.

Welcome back to Real Health Radio. On this week's episode, I sit down with my former client Lauri to talk about what it was like working with me. We discussed what prompted her to get in touch, the details of her relationship with food and body image, and what improvements she's noticed since working together.

On this week's episode of Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Denise Bossarte. We talk about her book, Thriving After Sexual Abuse: Break Your Bondage To The Past And Live A Life You Love. As part of the conversation, we cover many of the activities and practices Denise has done as part of her healing journey.

This week on Real Health Radio, I'm speaking with Ragen Chastain. We cover many topics from her book Fat: The Owner's Manual including Health At Every Size, weight stigma, weight bias in eating disorder recovery, and much more.