Insatiable with Ali Shapiro, MSOD, CHHC

The Wellness culture we see as we scroll through Instagram or listen to in our earbuds on various wellness podcasts often casts itself as the opposite of Western Medicine. And yet, both industries overlap via the same value system of Puritans and Protestantism. From “clean eating” to failed functional medicine protocols because “client’s aren’t disciplined enough”, Protestantism and Puritanism are alive and well in both industries. This wouldn’t be a problem except these guiding principles aren’t actually how the body works. As a result, while both industries have different offerings, both limit us because of their blindspots created by these religious values and beliefs. In today’s episode with one of my favorite writers, Dr. Anne Helen Petersen, we discuss:  A background of what Protestantism and Puritanism are and how they’ve influenced diet and wellness culture and the deeper meaning implied in hashtags #blessed, #highvibes, and #nolowvibesHow Protestantism and Puritanism especially influenced fat phobia and the 80s and 90s body ideal of what Anne calls “aspirational containment”.How wellness influencers and celebrities like Peloton instructors have given us secular outlets to satiate the needs that religion provides.How Anne shifted and continues to shift her relationship to exercise and work by incorporating this value that is considered “bad” in Puritanism yet supports the body to thrive.Anne’s process of first intellectualizing how problematic these religious values are in relation to exercise, the body, and work and then actually making the changes to embody new values that support her feeling great and athletic in her body, now in her 40s.  About Anne Helen PetersonAnne is an American writer and journalist. She received her Ph.D in Media Studies, where she did her dissertation on Celebrity Culture…we will get into why here in the episode.She worked as a Senior Culture Writer for BuzzFeed until August 2020, when she began writing full-time for her newsletter "Culture Study" on Substack. I know many of you read it. It’s so so good. Her most recent book “Out of Office” is about the future of work. And she has two new podcasts of her own: Work Appropriate and Townsizing, which is about people living in small towns. Mentioned in this episode:Free Food as Safety Gatherings with Ali: Gather with like-minded health rebels who hate small talk to learn how to apply the Insatiable Season 13 podcasts to your life. Ali will teach, provide coaching exercise, tools and coach a few participants stress eating so you can get to the root of your stress eating and work through it. No white knuckling required.  Culture Study with Anne Helen Petersen The Millennial Vernacular of Fat Phobia The Quiet Glory of Aging Into AthleticismSend me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!

“How can I stop stress eating? is a frequent question I get asked. In today’s episode, I share a more powerful question that’s necessary to ask - “What’s eating you?” - to get back in control of food. No white knuckling required.I share my own current story work related to my burn-out that caused my body to fall apart (and keep 30 pounds of post-pregnancy weight on), answer some listener questions, and offer some client examples for you to get crystal clear on your own stress eating.  In this solo episode, I share:The 3 phases of awareness you need to resolve your stress eatingThe “elephant in the room” causing your out of control and out of alignment with your goals eatingThe role our stories play in stress eatingHow story work gets misunderstood and misinterpreted, creating more tools, work, and “feeling bad for feeling bad” that leads to lackluster results.Two powerful coaching questions to get you started on resolving your stress eating today. Mentioned in this Episodehttp://alishapiro.com/food-as-safetySend me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!

Have you ever thought about your birth?  If you’re like most people, you probably haven’t. And yet, as Stacey shares, according to Ayverveda’s Sankyha philosophy, 25% of who we are comes from our conception and birth. This makes safety and food intimately connected and tangled from before we even make our Earth-side entrance. In order to understand food’s connection to safety, we are starting at the beginning. Specifically, our beginnings as we began growing in the womb and then officially made our Earth side entrance. In this heart-felt, deep conversation, we discuss:Stacey’s tumultuous relationship with food and what she discovered was at the root of her restriction and then binging-purging symptoms. The role our gestation and support our Mother’s do or don’t receive contributes to our sense of safety, according to Ayurveda’s Sankyha philosophy.How food provides a sense of literal structure to our bodies and thus safety. And if we don’t get the structure or felt presence of being “seen, held, and known” in relationships, we turn to food for safety. How early stage eating influences what we were “told” about what and how much is available to us. While mainstream emotional eating advice says we binge or overeat in reaction to restriction, we discuss there’s also overeating in anticipation of not having enough food or other forms of safety. Why we eat during transitions like work to home or Friday night to weekend and how birth as our first official transition can leave an imprint on how we experience transitions today. And some tips for making transitions easier today so we don’t need food. How Stacey’s healing journey to develop a broader sense of safety beyond food led to her first ever awe inspiring pregnancies post-meeting her birth mother. Stacey Ramsower is an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Coach, Holistic Perinatal Consultant, Somatic Sex Educator, and mother. She supports women through their transformation to Motherhood through ritual practices, hands on work, and private coaching. Stacey is currently pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology. She lives in Tucson, AZ with her husband and two kids. Mentioned in this Episode:https://www.staceyramsower.com/Stacey’s InstagramFree Truce with Food Mini-Course  JOIN US AT THE FREE FOOD AS SAFETY GATHERINGS? Do you want to apply the Insatiable Season 13 episodes to your life? Would you love to keep the conversation going with other intrepid health rebels who hate small talk? Join us for a free, Food as Safety gathering, where you can take the first step in your own Truce with Food by working through your current stress eating. Register below for these three, FREE virtual yet intimate gatherings on November 9, December 7, and January 4. Send me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!

The past few years have tested each of us.  We’ve been immersed in Grief. Loss. Relationship fissures. Children’s developmental concerns. Money stress. And these individual challenges are nesting dolls of the escalating war on women’s bodies, caretaking, and the Earth. With this, it’s not surprising that stress and stress eating are at an all-time high.In the American Psychological Association's pandemic anniversary surveys, COVID-19-related stress was associated with unhealthy weight gains and increased drinking. While there were jokes about the initial “COVID 19”, close to 58% of respondents reported experiencing persistent, undesired weight changes and unhealthy behaviors. And many reported worse mental health, lower physical activity, disturbed sleep, and increased reliance on unhealthy habits.If safety is a primal need and stress is inevitable….Listen to the full trailer for more. Send me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!

In this special Insatiable podcast episode, I celebrate a major milestone: 30 years as a cancer survivor. I’ll share how what resolved my acne, depression, IBS, infertility, and out of control eating was learning how to redefine health beyond losing weight and learning to trust in my body feeling satisfied, not sacrificing and suffering. And how this new orientation led to transformational health results I didn’t even know were possible. Including sustainable weight loss, a Truce with Food, and a relationship of awe and gratitude for my body.  Ali shares:Why knowing the difference between Authorities and Experts is essential for transformational results. Especially if like me, as the first generation of childhood cancer survivors, there’s very little research to go on for your own body challenges.How I got out of the insanity of “I know sugar feeds on cancer” yet would binge on it during “scanxiety” season. If you struggle with health issues that are exacerbated by eating things you know you shouldn’t, this mindset shift helps.How mainstream goal setting, predicated on “You are not your story! Day 1 starts today”” sabotages us exactly like "Diet starts tomorrow" and a different approach to goal setting that resolves our root-causes and works in our real lives. The root cause of my bingeing and weight loss obsession that cancer deepened but wasn’t any more destructive than diets. And a simple practice for you to get to the root of your destructive eating habits.What I now believe about how weight is or isn’t related to health. And then I answer listener questions, which includeWhat role does diet play in your life as a survivor? Have you put your cancer in the rear view mirror, or does it still occupy your thoughts?Residual worries and things you have to be concerned about that others don’t?How can friends be supportive?  Mentioned in this episode:SMART Goals: How they Sabotage Eating and Exercise Goals and What Works for Deeper Coaching Impact on August 23 at 12 pm.   In this workshop for Coaches, Therapists, and Other Health Professionals, we will cover:The emerging research on why eating and exercise are in a unique change category and how this changes the client goals and coaching for deep impact.The protective role of bad habits and why this understanding is essential for sustainable change (i.e. compliance), including the idea that a client has to “Tony Robbins” their way out of their bad food and health habits.Why more tools that stay on the surface aren't the answer and how an evidence-based, root-cause resolution of a client’s resistance to change creates elegant solutions so they aren't failing at one more thing“Complexity fitness” and its role in empowering clients by ending the sabotaging, all or-nothing mindset. Send me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!

Confidence is foundational to satiation or as Andrea defines satiation, fulfillment. Too often, we think confidence comes from weight loss, in a bottle promising beauty or is something we are born with. The good news is confidence is a skill-set and involves as Andrea Owen says in her new book, Make Some Noise, unlearning how we’ve been socialized to think about confidence and what it means to be a “good” woman.  In this episode, we discuss:The 3 confidence mythsHow realizing her confidence was weight-dependent led Andrea to break-up with diet cultureThe root of Andrea’s eating disorder (hint: it wasn’t about food)Reckoning with the complexity of thin, youth and beauty privilege and fat-phobia when beauty is currency and power (and how maybe we are giving into the patriarchy in the name of beauty and when is that OK?)How the Kavanagh hearings led Andrea to examine her own anger and socialization around being an “angry woman”.Interested in Truce with Food, where we challenge the socialization around our hunger and bodies capabilities that make us feel out of control around food? Registration is open now. Taste a free sample with the Truce with Food Masterclass: I Want to Want to Eat Healthy Send me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!

We live in a world that teaches us to battle our bodies. Fight your hunger. Battle your weight. The war on mental health. This omnipresent battle narrative makes it appear natural and the only choice is to battle our bodies.Is there another way? Yes. In fact, there are lots of other ways. My client Kristin Leslie joins us to discuss how challenging her self-doubt story, which included normalizing distrusting her body and voice, led to one of the peak experiences of her life in a home birth she never originally envisioned. This is a story most deeply about unlearning normal, including who you think you are.  In this inspiring episode, we discuss:1. How Kristin not talking until age four was a driving force in battling herself. Diets aggravated this battle but weren’t the original issue. 2. How the media and stories about fearing birth originally influenced Kristin to assume she’d have a hospital birth (with her legs in stir-ups).  3. The three keys that enabled her to see other birth options aside from “normal” and that can serve any of us looking for more satisfying choices outside of black and white thinking.  4. How Kristin incrementally challenged her body doubt versus self-trust being one big epiphany of “this is the answer”. This was key when COVID hit and all her birth plans went side-ways.  5. Navigating that we do and don’t have control over our bodies and how we can take charge of our stories to no longer feel powerless over food. Interested in Truce with Food, where we take charge of the stories that make us feel powerless over food? Registration is open now. Check out this free sample of the Truce with Food Masterclass: I Want to Want to Eat Healthy Send me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!

Platinum-selling artist Serena Ryder had her worst fear come true when she ended up in a mental hospital. Her recent album, The Art of Falling Apart, invites listeners to join her mental wellness journey and helps us understand the importance of sitting with the uncomfortable moments and the wisdom in their messages.  In our interview together, we discuss:The importance of soul satisfaction in the art of our wellness journeyHow our work together was about not being so rigid with her diet and mental health tools (hint: what got us to one level of health probably won’t get us to the next level)How food was her original issue and then how alcohol and drugs got piled on topThe Truce with Food story work Serena and I did together that ended her bingeing, including not having to be an “old soul” all the timeThe nuances of when weight loss does support your health, specifically with her endometriosis (and why she’s glad she did the Truce with Food work first on her weight loss journey)Sign up for Ali’s free, 2-part Truce with Food Masterclass, I Want to Want to Eat Healthy on Wednesday, December 1 and 8th at 12 pm EST.Send me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!

Did being gluten-free used to feel easy and now it feels depriving? Or maybe you’re burned out and getting back in shape sounds great but feels too much. Or like me recently, you’re on a roll and then you fall off track. To the untrained eye, there’s a willpower and discipline problem. Yet when you understand the connection between emotional satisfaction and food freedom, you can unlock powerful energy and motivation to eat well – and like it. In this episode, we discuss:1. How knowing your “Why Not” is more important than “Know Your Why”2. How bad eating and exercise habits are protective3. What your emotional immune system is and why it matters to our food and health4. How our stories cause us to eat out of control5. The connection between safety, emotional satisfaction and our food choicesSign up for Ali’s free, 2-part Truce with Food Masterclass, I Want to Want to Eat Healthy on Wednesday, December 1 and 8th at 12 pm EST.Send me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!

In her new book, Call of the Wild: How We Heal Trauma, Awaken our Own Power and Use it for Good, Kimberly Ann Johnson gives us the critical language to understand our nervous system and why this matters for us to heal trauma and feel enough.An important part of trauma work is building our capacity to be with pleasure and satisfaction. In our interview, Kimberly shares her perspective on satiation, which is asking the question “What is enough?” and how this question is critical to how we eat and relate to our bodies.  In this episode, we discuss:Why satiation or “enoughness” in Kimberly’s words, matters to our nervous systemWhat safety feels like in your social nervous system, including thinking about who we eat with changes our experience of a mealWeight struggles as a symbolic attempt at “having weight” in what we can create in our lives and for each other instead of being so “I” or “me” centeredIdeas of how to soothe your nervous system when you want to reach for food or social mediaHow being told to “calm down” or “let it go” when stressed can backfire and cause us to turn to sugar, overeat or bingeHow good bodies depend on where you live and the body as an emergent process instead of something to judgeSend me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!