#108: Nourishing an Anti-Diet Pregnancy with Bri Custer

There is a special brand of diet and wellness culture that comes for you when you're pregnant. From the “permission” for your body to change, to pressure around food choices, to beauty standards for pregnant people, we're getting into it all. 

Artist Bri Custer joins the pod to share, vulnerably, about what pregnancy has been like as she heals from a lifetime of disordered eating, and works towards a peaceful relationship with her body. Bri is so special to me as a human being, a friend, and a client. She has done so much reflection around these topics and I think you'll get a lot out of this conversation, whether you are pregnant, considering getting pregnant, or even if you don't ever plan to.

Gentle reminder that this can be a sensitive, difficult, and personal topic. I know this from personal experience. Please listen to this episode if it feels compassionate and kind to listen to a conversation about pregnancy. You are always loved and supported here.

We discuss:

• Bri's experience with dieting as a child

• Unpacking generational cycles of body shame and restriction

• The temporary permission that society gives us for our bodies to change during pregnancy

• The pressure to maintain a specific diet during pregnancy to maintain your own health and a child's

• The blame and shame around not "eating right" during pregnancy

• The popularity of post-partum exercise programs and the harm they can cause

• The pressure for dietary changes to combat PCOS and infertility issues pre-pregnancy

• The importance of combating food morality and going back to foods we love as a kid during times where food and eating is difficult during pregnancy

• How pregnancy is a wonderful lesson in trusting the wisdom of your body

• Setting boundaries around social media and mental resilience to diet culture during pregnancy

• Challenges around body image during pregnancy

• Asking not to be weighed before and during pregnancy, and if weight is needed to monitor one's health and their growing child's

• Beauty standards during pregnancy and how harmful they are

• Body checking during & after pregnancy and the importance of centering curiosity and compassion

 

About Bri:

Bri Custer is an en plein air painter investigating perception, memory, and color through the New England Landscape. Her work has been featured by Clover + Bee, Candyfloss, and on the Create! Magazine blog and can be found at Nahcotta in Portsmouth, NH and Sorelle Gallery in Westport, CT. Bri has been working with Abbie for roughly a year, and began her anti-diet journey in 2022. She is currently a full-time artist based in Concord, New Hampshire with her husband, Bryan and hound-lab mix, Vinny. Follow her @briiiiicuster on Instagram and see more of her art on her website. 

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Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast 

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Group program:

Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching

Group membership:

Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group 

Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy

Podcast Editing by Brian Walters

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