Full Plate is a podcast about healing from diet culture, creating peace with food, reclaiming body autonomy and trust, and taking a weight-inclusive approach to our well-being.
Each week, Abbie interviews guests or answers listener questions that explore our relationship to food and our bodies.
Abbie is an anti-diet nutritionist with a master’s in nutrition and integrative health. She is also the founder and owner of Abbie Attwood Wellness, a virtual private practice dedicated to weight-inclusive care, food freedom, body image healing, and dismantling diet culture.
Find Full Plate on Instagram @fullplate.podcast
Abbie is @abbieattwoodwellness
This show is ad-free and listener-supported. For bonus episodes and more content, join us on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/fullplate
Is Diet Culture a Cult? Beauty, Patriarchy, and the Worship of Thinness with Paula Atkinson
mardi 3 novembre 2026 • Durée 01:02:53
Today’s episode is free for everyone. Full Plate is made possible by paid subscribers. To receive bonus posts and support the pod, consider upgrading to paid. It really means the world, so, thank you!
Paula Atkinson is a psychotherapist and Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker who has spent decades working with people around trauma, disordered eating, body image, internalized weight stigma, anxiety, grief, and relationships. For ten years, she was also a professor of Weight & Society at George Washington University, where she taught about our culture’s obsession with thinness, the history and politics of body ideals, and the oppression of larger bodies.
Listen for more on:
Paula’s experience growing up in a fat body, developing an eating disorder, and discovering how differently people treated her when her body became smaller
Why Paula thinks of thinness as a cult, and what makes its promises so difficult to walk away from
The relationship between beauty, patriarchy, white supremacy, and the policing of bodies
How attractiveness became tied to women’s survival, and why beauty standards shift alongside social and political power
Thinness as a moral hierarchy, and the promises of purity, superiority, and belonging
GLP-1s, starvation, and the normalization of suppressing our bodies’ most basic needs
Why understanding body hatred as a systemic issue can change the way we approach recovery
The grief of letting go of the promises attached to thinness, even when we know they aren't real
What to do when you know the body hierarchy is b******t but still struggle with your own body (hint: seething feminist rage)
Find more about Paula here. Follow her on Instagram here. And if you’re not following Full Plate on Instagram, make sure to do that here!
What if our struggles with food and body image have as much to do with our need for safety and connection as they do with food itself?
Upgrade to paid to hear the second half of the conversation right HERE.
Today I'm welcoming back Dr. Vanessa Scaringi and Kate Garland, therapists, eating disorder specialists, and authors of Hungry for Connection: Heal Your Relationships with Food and People in an Insecurely Attached World.
In our first conversation, we explored attachment theory and how our relationships with other people can shape our relationships with food and our bodies. This time, we're taking that conversation further, looking at how diet culture, weight-loss messaging, and the world we're living in can make it difficult to trust ourselves and feel like we belong.
Part One: Free for everyone
In the first part of our conversation, we explore:
*How attachment theory helps us understand our relationships with food and other people
*Why fitting in and genuinely belonging are two very different things
*The connection between loneliness, disordered eating, and our need for safety
*How our relationships can influence our ability to trust ourselves
*Why so much of diet culture recovery involves more than talking about food or bodies
Part Two: For paid subscribers
Upgrade
“I Refuse to Be Good”: The Politics of Thinness and the Cost of Obedience with Savala Nolan, Author of “Good Woman: A Reckoning”
mardi 20 octobre 2026 • Durée 01:16:04
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a good woman. Particularly in light of what’s been happening at Cornell, the actions of this administration, and the ways we’re watching people and institutions respond to injustice, violence, and abuses of power.
And I keep coming back to this conversation with Savala Nolan.
Savala Nolan is an essayist, speaker, and teacher whose work explores race, gender, power, and the body. She is the author of Good Woman: A Reckoning, which is the book at the center of our conversation. It’s a beautiful, challenging examination of what it means to be raised to be “good” in a culture that has very specific ideas about what goodness looks like for women.
Tune in for more on:
* The myth that being “good” (thin, quiet, agreeable) will keep women safe
* The connection between dieting, thinness, patriarchy, and social control
* Why the endless pursuit of body improvement can keep us from fully participating in our own lives.
* What happens when we stop performing the familiar rituals of body shame and food guilt.
* The discomfort and freedom of becoming a woman who no longer follows the expected rules.
* Raising girls who feel empowered to question authority and resist harmful expectations.
* Race, white supremacy, and the particular ways white women are rewarded for maintaining the status quo.
* Midlife as rupture: dieting, divorce, and the unraveling of social conditioning
* Body liberation as a daily practice — especially in the age of GLP-1s
* What it means to become “illegible” to misogynistic culture
* Savala's powerful question: Where am I being asked not to bear witness?
This conversation is about so much more than food or body image. It's about the price of belonging, what we're taught to ignore in order to remain acceptable, and the difference between being perceived as good and actually living according to our values.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
“You’re Here for a Reason”: Living Fully When Eating Disorder Recovery is Still Unfinished with Johanna Scoglio
What if you’ve been working on your relationship with food and your body for years…and you’re still struggling? Does that mean you’re doing recovery wrong?
This is at the heart of today’s bonus episode of Full Plate, and I think it’s a conversation we desperately need more of.
(To hear the full conversation, become a paid subscriber right here.)
Eating disorder stories are often told from one of two places: from the absolute depths of the struggle, or from the other side, where everything gets wrapped up into a neat recovery story. But most healing happens somewhere in between.
Johanna Scoglio, author and mental health educator, joins me to talk about living with and healing from an eating disorder that has been part of her life for more than 25 years—and what changed when she stopped measuring recovery by whether she could make every thought, urge, or struggle disappear.
Johanna shares honestly about rigid definitions of recovery, weight-centered care, all-or-nothing approaches to food and exercise, and the feeling that struggling meant she was failing.
But we also get into something I think will resonate deeply with anyone who has been doing this work for a long time: the sheer exhaustion of always working on recovery, and figuring out how much of your life to devote to healing.
Listen for more on:
* Why eating disorders are so often about much more than food or body image
* The difference between being “high functioning” and actually being okay
* How perfectionism can follow us straight into recovery
You Understand Diet Culture, So Why Do You Still Hate Your Body? with Stephanie Dodier
mardi 29 septembre 2026 • Durée 47:54
Today I’m speaking with Stephanie Dodier, a non-diet nutritionist, certified Intuitive Eating counselor, and cognitive behavior coach. Our conversation covers a lot of ground, but constantly circles this question:
What happens when you understand all of this diet culture stuff intellectually…but it still doesn’t quite feel true for you and your body?
We get into:
* The difference between eating something because you genuinely enjoy it and eating it because diet culture told you to
* Why satisfaction and pleasure matter in having a calm, compassionate relationship with food
* How gender, body size, and other identities affect who is “allowed” pleasure with food
* Why Intuitive Eating can feel like it “isn’t sticking”
* The connection between food, body control, self-worth, and belonging
* How patriarchy and cultural conditioning shape our beliefs about our bodies
* Why understanding diet culture intellectually is different from embodying new beliefs
* Why body image work can feel less straightforward than healing our relationship with food
* What embodiment can actually look like in everyday life
* Stephanie’s experience learning to wear short sleeves after years of hiding her arms
* How community helps us grow stronger roots outside of diet culture
* A practical exercise for separating facts from the thoughts and beliefs we’ve attached to them
Stephanie's work is focused on behavioral science, human psychology and body image. Her podcast is called It's Beyond the Food, and you can find her on Instagram at @stephdodier.
Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership for live sessions every other week and a community of support from healing from diet culture:
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Beyond GLP-1 Weight Loss: Weight Regain, Long-Term Use, and Pharma Influence with Ragen Chastain (Part Two)
This is part two of my conversation with Ragen Chastain. We pick up with the question of what happens when people stop taking GLP-1 medications, and whether “taking them for life” is actually supported by the research.
From there, Ragen takes us deeper into the research on weight regain, body composition changes, and the increasingly broad claims that GLP-1 medications can treat everything from cardiovascular disease to mental health concerns. We also talk about pharmaceutical influence on healthcare providers, what happens when doctors are working from incomplete or biased information, and how patients can advocate for themselves when / if their doctor presents a GLP-1 as the answer.
And if you’re already a paid subscriber: thank you for making this possible. I genuinely mean that.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
* What the research actually tells us about weight regain after stopping GLP-1 medications
* The idea that GLP-1 medications need to be taken for life
* Weight regain, muscle loss, and changes in body composition
* How researchers define “maintaining” weight loss and why those definitions matter
* The way GLP-1 research is presented in headlines, abstracts, and public conversations
* Claims that GLP-1 medications may benefit conditions beyond type 2 diabetes and weight loss
GLP-1 Medications: What We Know About Safety, Food Noise, and Weight Loss with Ragen Chastain
mardi 15 septembre 2026 • Durée 39:32
GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound have gone from relatively niche diabetes medications to one of the biggest (and most controversial) stories in health and wellness.
As you may have noticed, I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus from the podcast the past couple of months while I’ve been recovering from a SCAD heart attack.
Today, I'm back with a brand new conversation about weight loss drugs with Ragen Chastain, a researcher, writer, speaker, and board-certified patient advocate who has spent more than 20 years examining the intersections of weight science, weight stigma, and healthcare. She brings a research- and statistics-informed perspective to a conversation that is often dominated by pharmaceutical marketing, influencer anecdotes, and very simplified claims about what these medications do.
We do a deep dive into GLP-1 medications, weight loss, food noise, hunger, weight stigma, and what we actually know about the safety and long-term effects of these drugs.
In this episode, we get into:
* Ragen’s journey from dieting and doing her own literature review to becoming a researcher and advocate in the weight-inclusive healthcare space
* What we know about the failure of long-term weight-loss interventions
* Weight-inclusive healthcare and why it shouldn’t depend on whether we believe people can or cannot lose weight
* How GLP-1 medications work, including their effects on blood sugar, gut motility, digestion, and hunger
* The difference between diabetes dosing and the higher doses used for weight loss
* What “food noise” actually means (and what it doesn’t mean)
* How diet culture and restriction can affect hunger and thoughts about food
* The medicalization of hunger
* Why the same symptoms can be interpreted and treated differently depending on the size of the person experiencing them
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
How to live in a body that hurts: chronic illness, disability, and body image with Dr. Jennifer Caspari
mardi 25 août 2026 • Durée 01:14:06
What does it mean to live in a body that doesn’t always do what you wish it would? A body that’s unpredictable, maybe in pain, maybe exhausted — a body shaped by chronic illness, disability, or medical trauma?
This week on the podcast, I’m revisiting an episode with the deeply compassionate Dr. Jennifer Caspari, a psychologist who specializes in health psychology and lives with cerebral palsy. Her personal and professional wisdom come together in such a powerful way — this conversation felt like a breath of fresh air in a world that so often asks us to override, fix, or fight our bodies.
We talk about what it means to be in relationship with your body when it doesn’t feel like it’s on your side — and how to cultivate self-compassion, presence, and joy even in the midst of that. (Her new book is a beautiful read, by the way).
Jen shares her own story — how she came into therapy, what it’s like navigating the world in a disabled body, and the mindset shifts that have helped her most during painful or difficult seasons.
We explore:
* How societal body image pressure intersects with disability and illness
* Why we don’t have to wait for symptoms to go away in order to start living
* The role of values-based living and gentle courage in hard moments
* Practical strategies for coping with chronic pain
* What it really means to practice radical acceptance
* Why chronic illness often involves grief — of function, identity, possibility
* Navigating relationships and communicating needs with loved ones
* Finding agency, even when so much feels out of your control
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
Today's episode is a bit different than usual. I'm sharing (solo) a bit about where I've been, what's been going on with my health, and what it all means for this podcast.
To listen, upgrade to paid right here. Paid subscribers get access to all bonus content -- including the full archive of paywalled podcast episodes and newsletters.
In the episode, I get into:
- what happened (the heart attack, the hospital stay, and how my husband and family played a role)
- trusting your body even in the middle of a crisis
- the ways a medical condition overlaps with diet culture
- holding space for how unique everyone's experience with a health condition is, even when it's the same diagnosis
- the emotional impact of a life-threatening experience
- leaning into rest as a radical act of self-care, and how hard that can be in our culture
- where I'm finding the capacity for understanding and patience with my body, and where I'm not
- what this means for the podcast and my business
Thank you so muxh for supporting me -- both as a person, and as an independent writer / producer. It means the world.
The Wisdom in Dissociation: When Leaving Your Body Is a Form of Protection with Monika Ostroff, LICSW, CEDS-S
lundi 29 juin 2026 • Durée 01:10:06
Abbie is joined by the incredible Monika Ostroff, executive director of MEDA, clinician, author, and person with lived experience of both anorexia and DID — for one of the most illuminating conversations the show has ever had. This one will change the way you think about survival, the body, and what healing actually asks of us.
In this episode:
- What dissociative identity disorder (DID) actually is — and how it's almost nothing like what you've seen in media
- Why DID is far more common than most people realize, and why diagnosis takes so long
- The striking overlap between DID and eating disorders, and what that tells us about both
- How eating disorders function as a trauma response — and why that framing matters for recovery
- What it means to approach an eating disorder with compassion rather than shame
- The clinical and personal complexity of treating multiple eating disorder presentations within one system
- Why the "control freak" narrative around eating disorders misses the point entirely
- Monica's own lived experience with anorexia, DID, and what recovery has looked like
- The single piece of wisdom that reoriented Monica's entire relationship with herself
About Monika: Monika Ostroff, LICSW, CEDS-S is the Executive Director of the Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association, Inc (MEDA). She has over 25 years of experience in the field of eating disorders. Prior to leading MEDA, she directed several residential, partial hospital and intensive outpatient eating disorder programs in addition to having owned a thriving private practice.
Practicing from a trauma informed, social justice and staunchly HAES® aligned lens, Monika is a dedicated ally and strong advocate working to ensure access to equitable, compassionate, and affirming care for all. Find Monika: Healing My Parts on Substack, Instagram, and podcast
Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit
right here
to get access to part two.
In the second half, we get into:
*The GLP-1 era and how increased weight-loss pressure is impacting people trying to make peace with food and their bodies
*Why diet culture is so good at selling us belonging and acceptance
*The exhausting pressure to optimize ourselves and how that disrupts our connection with self and others
*How to learn to trust yourself again, and why it doesn’t mean always making the “right” decision
*How we can loosen our dependence on external rules and reassurance
*Why disordered eating isn’t an individual failure, and who gets let off the hook when we treat it like one.
Support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
* What Johanna wishes had been different about eating disorder treatment
* Weight stigma and the issues with using weight as a marker of illness or recovery
* Why an all-or-nothing approach to movement can create its own harm
* Harm reduction as an alternative to shame, compliance, and perfection
* Including exercise without an all-or-nothing approach
*The exhaustion that can come from working on recovery for years
* What Johanna believes is the real thing she's healing from (and it has nothing to do with food)
* Learning to trust yourself, your emotions, and your own inner wisdom
* What it means to create a meaningful life while you’re still “in the water”
🎧 To hear the full conversation, become a paid subscriber right here.
Paid subscriptions directly support Full Plate and make it possible for me to continue having long, nuanced, independent, sponsor-free conversations like this one.
If you’ve ever wondered, Why am I still struggling with this?, I really hope this one meets you where you are and offers a way forward.
Johanna Scoglio is an author, educator, and mental health advocate dedicated to reducing stigma and creating compassionate spaces for those navigating eating disorders. She lives in North Carolina with her husband, four bonus children, and their puppy, Copa. Her memoir is called: When the Water Still Holds Me: Letters Through the Tides of a Long-Term Eating Disorder.
* Why the dose being studied matters when we’re trying to understand health outcomes
* How pharmaceutical companies influence healthcare providers through research, education, and financial relationships
* The difference between a doctor being malicious and a doctor being misinformed
* What happens when GLP-1 medications are presented as a solution to almost every health concern
* How weight stigma can shape which treatments are offered to higher-weight patients
* BMI-based denials of care and the way weight loss can become a prerequisite for receiving healthcare
* Questions patients can ask when a provider recommends a GLP-1
* How to advocate for weight-inclusive care, even when there is a power imbalance between doctors and patients
* Why informed consent requires more than simply being told that a medication “works”
* What Ragen hopes people take away from the larger conversation about weight, health, and healthcare
Ragen Chastain is a researcher, writer, speaker, and board-certified patient advocate who has spent more than 20 years examining the intersections of weight science, weight stigma, and healthcare. She brings a research- and statistics-informed perspective to a conversation that is often dominated by pharmaceutical marketing, influencer anecdotes, and very simplified claims about what these medications do.
* Weight stigma in healthcare and the assumption that weight loss is the answer to an enormous range of health concerns
* What we know and don’t know about the long-term safety of GLP-1 medications
* Why research on a medication at one dose cannot automatically answer questions about that medication at another dose
* Study dropout and what can get lost when we look only at headlines, abstracts, and conclusions
* Conflicts of interest in pharmaceutical research
* Concerns about the quality and transparency of long-term safety data
* What happens when medications designed to suppress hunger are used in people whose bodies are otherwise regulating blood sugar normally
This is part one of the conversation. In part two (releasing next week) we’ll dig further into weight regain, body composition, how GLP-1 research is presented to the public, the explosion of claims that these medications can treat everything from cardiovascular disease to mental health concerns, pharmaceutical influence on healthcare providers, and what you can actually do when a doctor recommends a GLP-1.
Apply for Abbie’s Group Membership:
If you're looking for community and continued learning, apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group. We meet every other Thursday, and have a private online space for ongoing conversations between sessions.
Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
* Living fully with a body that’s chronically ill — and maybe always will be
Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Substack for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe
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