I had the opportunity to speak with Stefanie Michele , whose work I have been following for some time and who is one of these people with an amazing gift with words. She can put language to complex topics in a way that gets straight to the heart of the matter, and fits onto tiny Instagram squares!
Her work is nuanced and touches on so many of the patterns I have witnessed time and time again, in my own clinical work. I hope you will enjoy this conversation as much as I did.
Stefanie is a Binge Eating Recovery & Body Image Coach specializing in helping people overcome food and body image issues. She holds degrees in Human Development Psychology and Occupational Therapy with a certification in Integrative Health Coaching and Intuitive Eating Counseling, and is currently working towards her certification in Somatic Experiencing. However, she considers her lived experience of recovery her most valuable asset. Stefanie lives in NJ with her husband and 3 daughters.
In this podcast episode we talk about:
- Stephanie Michele’s own lived experience with dieting, disordered eating and her recovery journey into a kinder relationship with food, eating and her body
- Body Neutrality as a catalyst for change
- “Binge-permitters” as different to “binge-restrict” types
- How trauma can impact how we experience binge eating and/or weight gain as “danger”
- The complexity and layers of healing and how so much of what feels like barriers are not a willpower issue but often trauma reactions which takes place subconsciously
- Binge Eating is a coping mechanism and sometimes giving it up can feel so hard, especially if there is nothing else to take its place
- Intuitive Eating is not the place to start, however we do need to bring food along in the recovery journey, instead of simply learning to *not* engage in that behaviour
- That we can (re)learn that saying no isn’t necessarily always restriction.
Though this podcast episode is focusing in binge eating, there are definitely pearls of wisdom even if you are identifying more as a restictive eater, who don’t really binge or emotionally eat.
Find more of Stephanie Michele’s work here:
Website: www.iamstefaniemichele.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/iamstefaniemichele
Podcast: Life After Diets
Substack: https://substack.com/@iamstefaniemichele
I am currently taking on new clients so if you are interested in exploring us working together please book in on the link below ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
Find me over on Straightforward Nutrition
https://straightforwardnutrition.com/
My 1:1 work
https://straightforwardnutrition.com/eating-disorder-support/
Book in for a 30 min free initial session
https://eatingfreelycallwithlinn.as.me/schedule.php
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