Illustrator and author Eliza Wheeler joins us to discuss the intersection of chronic illness and disordered eating. She shares the unexplained symptoms that led her to try more than a dozen different “wellness” diets, her winding path to an eventual diagnosis of Lyme disease under stringent CDC criteria, why the functional-medicine approach didn’t work for her, how starting to heal her relationship with food has made her chronic illness more manageable, and more. Eliza Wheeler is an illustrator ...
Aug 28, 2023•1 hr
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com In this bonus episode, Christy answers audience questions about how to navigate a friendship with a naturopath while trying to reject diet and wellness culture , how to avoid getting sucked into wellness culture's anti-aging advice , dealing with pre-wedding body image struggles, and more. This episode is a recording of the August Q&A for members of Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals course , w...
Aug 25, 2023•9 min
Writer and ex–wellness influencer Lee Tilghman joins us to discuss how she got into wellness influencing in the first place (and the role of her eating disorder in that process), how it affected her mental well-being to be so wrapped up in wellness for work, what it’s been like to leave influencing, her upcoming book about influencer culture, tips for shifting your relationship with social media, and more. Lee Tilghman is a blogger, writer, creator, and speaker who has had many internet evolutio...
Aug 14, 2023•44 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com In this bonus episode, Christy answers audience questions about how to be involved in the food and farming world without falling prey to diet and wellness culture, whether mindful eating is a dieting behavior, how to know if you’re not eating enough, and more. (This episode is a recording of the July Q&A for members of Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals course , which will be enrolling a new co...
Aug 11, 2023•9 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com In this bonus episode, Christy answers audience questions about whether diet drugs can really quiet “food noise,” and whether it means anything for your eating-disorder recovery if you don’t want sweet foods. This episode is for paid subscribers. To hear the full episode, sign up for a paid subscription here ! Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap , is now available wherever books are sold! Order it onl...
Jul 31, 2023•6 min
Dr. Dan Wilson of Debunk the Funk joins us to discuss how he went from believing in conspiracy theories about “hidden” cancer cures to becoming a scientist, what led him to rethink his conspiracy beliefs, the crossover between the anti-vax industry and crunchy wellness spaces, how to think critically about common wellness conspiracy theories, and more. Dan Wilson, Ph.D. Is a molecular biologist who earned his doctorate in biological sciences at Carnegie Mellon University. He currently works as a...
Jul 31, 2023•51 min
Author and journalist Rennie Dyball joins us to discuss why she's reconsidered the rave review of a gut-health diet book she wrote for a major media outlet years ago, why journalists don't often ask critical questions of wellness "experts," why most wellness-diet testimonials you see online are probably wrong, the intersection of wellness culture and breastfeeding, her new book, B Is for Bellies , and lots more. Rennie Dyball is an award-winning author who has written 16 books and counting, from...
Jul 17, 2023•59 min
Author and rhetoric professor Colleen Derkatch joins us to discuss why wellness sells (and her new book by that name), how wellness culture promises an alternative to the biomedical/pharmaceutical model but fails to deliver, why it’s important to acknowledge that certain aspects of wellness culture are helpful to people even as we critique its harms, and more. Colleen Derkatch is Associate Professor of Rhetoric in the Department of English at Toronto Metropolitan University. She is the author of...
Jul 03, 2023•52 min
Cookbook author Julia Turshen joins us to discuss her history with an eating disorder and how orthorexic thinking showed up in her work, how a loved one’s boundary on diet talk helped her realize her relationship with food was problematic, how letting go of diet and wellness rules changed her cooking, how social media is like diet culture and how she’s taken a big step back from it, and more. Julia Turshen is a New York Times bestselling cookbook author. Her latest book, Simply Julia, is a natio...
Jun 19, 2023•51 min
Journalist and medical doctor Seema Yasmin joins us to discuss why misinformation and conspiracy theories about health and wellness are so alluring; how to recognize and fight back against false claims; the difference between misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation; holding the two truths that science is one of the best tools we have for finding facts and science hasn’t always gotten it right; and more. Plus, Christy shares an excerpt from the audiobook of The Wellness Trap about well...
Jun 05, 2023•48 min
Author and podcaster Mary Jelkovsky joins us to discuss her history as a fitness influencer starting at age 16, and how it triggered and exacerbated her eating disorder; how social media algorithms drive us toward extreme diet and wellness content; why and how Christy took a huge step back from social media, and why Mary is contemplating doing the same; career moves for influencers after influencing; why “just try not to think about it" is sometimes the most helpful advice in the face of wellnes...
May 22, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Author and journalist Virginia Sole-Smith joins us to discuss the allure of wellness approaches for those with chronic pain and illness, her experience navigating endometriosis and migraines in diet and wellness culture, the difficulty of describing pain, the notes of orthorexia and fatphobia that show up in otherwise helpful kid-feeding philosophies, her book Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture , and more. Virginia Sole-Smith is the author of Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Cu...
May 08, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Katie Dalebout guest-hosts the show to interview Christy about her new book, The Wellness Trap ! Christy shares why she wanted to write a book about wellness, the potential harms of integrative and functional medicine (and why we’re understandably attracted to these approaches), the connections between wellness culture and diet culture, the legacy of the “hysteria” diagnosis and why women are still having to push back against the idea that symptoms are all in our heads, the role of social media ...
Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 20 min
Nutritionist and author Laura Thomas joins us to discuss what it’s like for kids living in the long shadow of “clean eating,” the “almond mom” trend on TikTok, the "wellness to woo pipeline," how parents and caregivers can let go of wellness-culture beliefs about food for themselves and their kids, and more. Laura Thomas is an anti-diet Registered Nutritionist. Her clinical work focuses on supporting parents and families to end intergenerational dieting and body shame, and work towards a greater...
Apr 10, 2023•1 hr 1 min
Alan Levinovitz, religious-studies scholar and author of Natural and The Gluten Lie , joins us to discuss the problems with framing eating and wellness practices as “natural,” the weird parallels between gun culture and wellness culture, the tricky balance between empathizing with why people are driven to harmful wellness practices and being clear in calling out misinformation, the need for nuance when discussing the connection between physical and psychological issues, and more. Alan Levinovitz...
Mar 27, 2023•59 min
Jenée Desmond-Harris, Slate Magazine's Dear Prudence advice columnist, joins us to discuss her history with wellness culture, how infertility can make people desperate enough to try dubious wellness treatments, the harmful wellness messages she’s gotten while navigating her son’s sensitive stomach as a breastfeeding parent, how social media influences our relationships with food and body, and lots more. Jenée Desmond-Harris is a Slate staff writer and editor. She writes the Dear Prudence advice ...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr
Casey Gueren, award-winning health journalist and author of It's Probably Nothing , joins us to discuss how to deal with health anxiety, strategies for recognizing and avoiding wellness misinformation online, how to develop greater media literacy, and more. Casey Gueren is currently the Head of Content at Wondermind and the former Executive Editor and Health Director at SELF Magazine. An award-winning journalist and fierce advocate of accessible health information, she was also an editor and wri...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Fitness and wellness historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela joins Christy to discuss her new book, Fit Nation ; the historical shifts that made fitness go from being viewed as a narcissistic practice to being seen as a good thing across the political spectrum; why so many people are disillusioned with our medical system and looking for answers and validation in the alternative medicine space; how people can be critical consumers of online wellness content; and more. (Content warning: discussions of ...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 7 min
Welcome to Rethinking Wellness, a podcast exploring the diet culture, disinformation, dubious diagnoses, and disordered eating that are so pervasive in contemporary wellness culture—and how to avoid falling into these traps so that you can find your own true well-being. Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts for new episodes every other Monday, and get transcripts via email by visiting rethinkingwellness.substack.com . This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscri...
Mar 09, 2023•2 min
