This is Part 2 of my conversation with Leslie Schilling, RDN. And if you've been navigating the noise around weight loss, nutrition, exercise—while wondering what it actually means to take care of your body right now—I think you're going to find so much support in this episode.
It’s available in full for paid subscribers.
Here’s what we get into:
What weight suppression actually means, and why it has nothing to do with being in a small body
How even “light” under-fueling affects your body behind the scenes, often while you feel like everything is fine
The way exercise intersects with GLP-1 medications, and the informed consent most people aren’t getting
Why knowing when you’re actually eating enough is so hard right now
Muscle loss, sarcopenia, and nourishment as you age
RED-S and why it can happen in any type of body, not just “athletes”
What Leslie calls “weaponized compassion”—when the systems and people around us dress up restriction as care
Belonging: what we sacrifice to fit in, and whether there’s a place we can belong without having to shrink to get there
Body grief, and what it actually looks like to lower the bar for yourself—not as giving up, but as an act of real self-respect
The difference between trying to do this alone and finding community
It makes sense to feel both confused and overwhelmed by the way bodies and eating are being framed in our culture right now. That may mean holding a lot of complicated feelings with nowhere to put them. So, I hope this conversation helps provide some much-needed perspective and a way forward that is aligned with your values.
To listen, upgrade right here. You’ll also get instant access to all the bonus episodes and essays in the archive.
And if you’re not in a place to do that right now, Part 1 is free and it’s a whole conversation on its own. Start there, share it with someone who needs it, and know that however you’re showing up here, I deeply appreciate you.
I always want to hear from you.
One of my favorite parts of this episode was the discussion of belonging, and why so many of us try to find that through a certain body or a way of eating.
Do you relate to the idea that trying to belong has been tangled up in diet culture for you? Where in your life have you felt pressure to shrink—physically or otherwise—in order to fit in? What has helped you reclaim real belonging?
Drop it in the comments. This is a safe place.
