
Eat the Rules with Summer Innanen
Eat the Rules is dedicated to empowering you to break free of societal standards, body shame and live life beyond the scale. Summer interviews the leading experts in body image, the anti-diet movement, self-help and intersectional feminism, covering a range of topics that include: body positivity, size acceptance, fat positivity, self-worth, self-esteem, intuitive eating and eating disorder recovery, health at every size and positive psychology. Summer also gives practical advice and shares personal experiences to help you accept your body and break free of diet culture. Summer Innanen is a professionally trained coach specializing in body image, self-worth and confidence and is the best-selling author of Body Image Remix.
Latest episodes

Nov 17, 2020 • 28min
#177: Season 6 Premiere: Where to start and what to do if you're on video calls all day
This is the season premiere of season 6 of the podcast. I’m talking about why I changed the name, what you can expect from this season of the show, where to start if you’re new around here and what to do if you stare at yourself all day on video calls.Show notes: summerinnanen.com/177 In this episode, I'm talking about: - Why this work needs to be political, - Why I changed the name, - What to expect from this season, - Where to start if you’re new around here, - What to do if you spend a lot of time on video calls, Plus, so much more! Get the shownotes: summerinnanen.com/177

Sep 8, 2020 • 49min
#176 Part 2: What My Clients Are Saying (You, On Fire Spotlights)
It's a special episode because in this 2 part episode I’m speaking to 4 incredible women, whom I’m willing to bet will have pieces of their story resonate with you. These are 4 of my clients who worked with me during the You, On Fire program and they are here to show you that it is possible to go from obsessing over food and hating your body, to no longer fretting about your reflection and having so much more confidence in who you are outside of how you look. These women go on to be role models to their kids, they have more time so they volunteer or become advocates for social justice, they ask for a raise and a promotion at work, they speak up to their medical professional about HAES or they pursue a new calling. And in all of these little ways, they start to leave a different kind of mark on this world and change the culture. To enroll in You, On Fire go to summerinnanen.com/youonfire Show notes: summerinnanen.com/176

Sep 1, 2020 • 1h 15min
#176 Part 1: What My Clients Are Saying (You, On Fire Spotlights)
It's a special episode because in this 2 part episode I’m speaking to 4 incredible women, whom I’m willing to bet will have pieces of their story resonate with you. These are 4 of my clients who worked with me during the You, On Fire program and they are here to show you that it is possible to go from obsessing over food and hating your body, to no longer fretting about your reflection and having so much more confidence in who you are outside of how you look. These women go on to be role models to their kids, they have more time so they volunteer or become advocates for social justice, they ask for a raise and a promotion at work, they speak up to their medical professional about HAES or they pursue a new calling. And in all of these little ways, they start to leave a different kind of mark on this world and change the culture. To enroll in You, On Fire go to summerinnanen.com/youonfire Show notes: summerinnanen.com/176

Aug 18, 2020 • 40min
#175: 4 Misconceptions About Accepting Your Body (Body Image Series)
I’m unpacking 4 misconceptions about body acceptance that will help you shift your perspective and make accepting your body easier, as part of the Body Image Series.Show notes: summerinnanen.com/175 We discuss: - 4 things I wish I'd known about accepting your body - Why it's not about "liking the way you look," - What it really means and feels like to accept your body, - Why believing we need to be positive all the time is toxic to our well-being, - How I teach acceptance and help people cultivate a sense of worth beyond their appearance, - Why accepting your body doesn't mean "giving up" or not "taking care of yourself" - What it means to take care of yourself, - Why body acceptance is not a one-and-done job, Plus, so much more! Get the shownotes: summerinnanen.com/175

Aug 11, 2020 • 36min
#174 Part 2: My Story & Lessons Learned From Recovering From Chronic Dieting/Body Hate
In Part 2 of this episode, for the first time I'm sharing my story about my history with dieting and body hate and the lessons I learned along the way. Show notes: summerinnanen.com/174 I talk about: - What drove me to study nutrition and what I learned through that experience, - The breaking point when I realized I had a problem and that it wasn't going to be resolved by the food on my plate, - Why we have to stop participating in diet culture in order to heal, - My "anti-diet" awakening and why this process took a long time, - The biggest things that helped me heal and the mistakes I made along the way, - The specific steps I give to everyone who is new to this space and quitting dieting, Plus, so much more! Get the shownotes: summerinnanen.com/174

Aug 4, 2020 • 46min
#174 Part 1: My Story & Lessons Learned From Recovering From Chronic Dieting/Body Hate
In Part 1 of this episode, for the first time I'm sharing my story about my history with dieting and body hate and the lessons I learned along the way. Show notes: summerinnanen.com/174 I talk about: - How I developed the restrict-binge-cycle from the messages I was learning at home, - When and why I began thinking my body was a problem, - How parents can do better to ensure their kids don't developed disordered behaviours with food, - The assignment at school that was the catalyst to starting diets, - How my dieting progressed into disordered eating and exercise addiction, - The lessons I learned about the lies diet and wellness culture sells us, Plus, so much more! Get the shownotes: summerinnanen.com/174

Jul 21, 2020 • 50min
#173 - Finding Your Purpose Outside of Dieting and Appearance - with Shirin Eskandani
I’m interviewing Shirin Eskandani - life coach, public speaker and writer – about how to find your purpose beyond dieting and appearance and how to overcome the fears that get in the way of pursuing more purpose and joy in your life.Show notes: summerinnanen.com/173 We discuss: - Shirin’s relationship with her body growing up and how she was able to accept her body through weight gain and reframe it as something positive, - The impact of being a first generation immigrant and how that shaped Shirin’s body image and self-acceptance, - How to find your purpose and that it’s not something that comes from outside of ourselves, - The difference between a life that looks fulfilling and one that feels fulfilling, - Ways you can connect with your intuitive voice and practice self-trust, - Creating goals based on feelings and doing feeling-checks as you progress, - Practical ways we can find more fulfillment and purpose in our lives, - How to overcome fear and self-doubt when making changes to live more purposeful lives, - How to stop perfectionism and the need to over-achieve from getting in the way of having more joy and fulfillment in your life, - Embracing the idea of doing B+ work, Plus, so much more! Get the shownotes: summerinnanen.com/173

Jul 14, 2020 • 53min
#172 - Aging, Agism and Body Image - with Michelle Vina-Baltsas
I’m interviewing Michelle Vina-Baltsas about agism, how to manage body changes as you age, the increased expectations put on women as they age and how to handle the struggles that pop up around mid-life. Show notes: summerinnanen.com/172 We discuss: - Michelle’s history with dieting, how she left diet culture and how that inspired her to help other mid-life women to do the same, - Michelle’s mixed-race identity and how that influenced the way she felt about herself growing up and how she’s owning it today, - The influence of aging/agism, - The unique struggles that pop up around body image during mid-life, - How the idea that we’re no longer visible comes into play as we age and how to work through those feelings, - Navigating feelings of mortality and uncertainty as you age, - How to practice self-compassion, including 3 steps to aid in compassionate self-talk, - How to use gratitude to appreciate who you are and body changes, - Ways to change your relationship to aging, - How to navigate the information about perimenopause and menopause without being influenced by diet culture, - How to focus on health without having it tied to weight, Plus, so much more! Get the shownotes: summerinnanen.com/172

Jun 30, 2020 • 48min
#171 - Using Stories To Heal Trauma & Change Our Culture - with Michelle Auerbach
I’m interviewing Michelle Auerbach - Author of Resilience: The Life-Changing Skill of Story - we talk about how you can use stories to heal trauma, help others, become more resilient and change our culture. Show notes: summerinnanen.com/171 We discuss: - What inspired Michelle to write Resilience: The Life-Changing Skill of Story, - What a story is and why it doesn’t need to be profound to heal or make an impact, - The 3 ingredients of a story that we can use to heal and help connect with others, - How stories can be used to heal trauma and how they have a physiological impact on our body, - How both listening to stories and telling our story are powerful ways to heal trauma, - Practical ways we can use storytelling to help us in moments of emotional distress, - How we can use stories to be better allies to marginalized individuals,
- Why stories can be a powerful way to reject diet culture and help with body acceptance, - Why journalling can be an incredible tool for sharing our stories and healing, - How we can use stories to bridge the divide and help others to see different perspectives, Plus, so much more! Get the shownotes: summerinnanen.com/171

Jun 23, 2020 • 56min
#170 - Anti-Diet & Intuitive Eating 101 - with Christy Harrison
I’m interviewing Christy Harrison - anti-diet registered dietitian and author of Anti-Diet - about the history of diet culture and beauty standards, the truth about long-term weight loss, how to get started with Intuitive Eating and more. Show notes: summerinnanen.com/170 We discuss: - The history of diet culture and how fat phobia preceded the health arguments that fuel diet culture today, - The evolution of beauty standards and how they were correlated to political shifts happening in women’s liberation, - Why conversations on diet culture must be political and why divorcing diet culture is a political act, - Why Christy refers to diet culture as The Life Thief, - The “Obesity” epidemic - how to came into existence, whether there is truth to it and the real impact on the health system, - What the research really says about long-term weight loss, - How to define health,
- The impact of weight stigma on health, - The impact of weight cycling on health, - The first steps you need to take to become a more intuitive eater, - Why self-trust and focusing on enoughness must come before evaluating fullness, Plus, so much more! Get the shownotes at summerinnanen.com/170