Eat the F*cking Food

019: Who Are You When You Stop Letting the World Define Your Body? Body Image, Yoga, and Living Your Truth in Midlife | Alia Khan

What happens when the system meant to protect your health is the one that plants the seed of shame in your body? In this episode of Eat the F*cking Food, Kristin sits down with body-inclusive yoga instructor and studio owner Alia Khan. Alia was told she was obese at seven years old by doctors using BMI as gospel. That early message shaped decades of shame and comparison. As a curvy South Asian woman who entered yoga spaces not built for her body, she turned that frustration into a mission: making yoga accessible for every body, not just the slim, flexible ideal modern Vinyasa was built around. This conversation is for every woman who has ever told herself yoga is not for her. Because the practice was never about the pose. It was always about coming home to yourself. In this episode, you’ll discover: * Why being called obese at seven set off decades of body shame and what Alia found when she looked back at photos of that little girl * The truth about BMI and why it was never meant to be used as an individual medical standard * How modern Vinyasa yoga was designed for a preteen boy's body and why that explains so much about why curvy women feel excluded * Why yoga props are not cheating and how Alia teaches so every student feels like they belong * The moment she joined Yoga with Adriene's teacher community and was brought to tears by people who finally felt seen on a mat * What the Yoga Sutras actually say yoga is and why touching your toes has almost nothing to do with it * How ego and comparison rob us of joy and the Sanskrit principle that connects body image to living your truth * The questions to ask before walking into a yoga studio for the first time * What ahimsa (non-harming) has to do with the way you talk to yourself in the mirror We talk about: * 00:00 Introduction to Alia Khan and what brought her to body-inclusive yoga * 02:00 Being called obese at age seven and the body shame that followed * 05:00 The truth about BMI and why it's the "bullshit mass index" * 08:30 From lawyer to yogi: leaving the path she was supposed to follow * 11:00 Living your truth and what it actually means beyond the wellness cliche * 14:00 How modern yoga was designed for a preteen boy's body and what that costs curvy women * 17:30 Using props in yoga: why it's not cheating, it's intelligent practice * 22:00 The Yoga with Adriene moment that made Alia cry and why belonging on the mat matters * 25:00 How to find a yoga studio that's actually right for you * 28:00 What yoga is actually for: calming the mind, not perfecting the pose * 33:00 Ego, comparison, and how much joy we lose paying attention to other people's standards * 38:00 Ahimsa: the yoga principle that applies to the way you talk to yourself * 41:00 Alia's full offering: studio, on-demand library, Zoom classes, and where to find her Connect with Alia * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aliajkhan [https://www.instagram.com/aliajkhan] * Substack: https://aliajkhan.substack.com/ [https://aliajkhan.substack.com/] * Website: https://yogawithalia.vhx.tv/ [https://yogawithalia.vhx.tv/] * Personal website: https://www.aliajkhan.com/ [https://www.aliajkhan.com/] Connect with me * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/ [https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/] * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins [https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins] * Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/ [https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/] #BodyInclusiveYoga #CurvyYoga #BodyImageHealing #YogaForEveryBody #MidlifeWomen #BodyConfidence #IntuitiveMovement #BMIMyth #LivingYourTruth #YogaBeginners #BodyDysmorphia #SelfTalkMatters #AhimsaInAction #YogaWithAlia #EatTheFuckingFood #KristinCollins #AliKhan #InclusiveWellness #BodyNeutrality #YogaSutras

018: She Started Drinking at 12 and Had an Eating Disorder at 8. Here's How Julie Seidl Built a Life She Actually Loves

What does it actually take to build a life you love when the early chapters nearly broke you? In this episode of Eat the F*cking Food, Kristin Collins sits down with corporate confidence coach Julie Seidl for one of the most honest conversations this show has ever had. Julie opens up about developing an eating disorder at eight years old inside the competitive figure skating world, using alcohol as an escape through her teens and twenties, and the moment at 24 when she made the decision to get help and never looked back. Eighteen years later, she coaches women in boardrooms, in their bodies, and in their lives. This conversation is for the midlife woman who has spent decades pouring into everyone else and is only now starting to ask: what do I actually want? Julie talks about the identity crisis that hits when the kids leave, the confidence struggles women face at work, why sharing your story is the fastest path to feeling less alone, and why joy is not something you earn when everything is perfect. It is something you choose right now, exactly as you are. Because perfection does not exist. And the most powerful thing you can do is stop waiting for it. In this episode, you’ll discover: * How the pressure to perform in a "perfect" body inside competitive figure skating planted the seeds of Julie's eating disorder at just eight years old * What the road to sobriety and eating disorder recovery actually looked like and why facing food every day is harder than giving up alcohol * The small daily tools Julie still uses to manage body dysmorphia and stay grounded in her recovery * Why so many midlife women hit a wall and suddenly don't recognize themselves anymore * The number one confidence struggle Julie sees in corporate women and why it has nothing to do with skill * How to start trusting your voice at work even when everything in you wants to stay quiet * Why the empty nest phase triggers a full identity crisis for so many women and what to do when it does * The reframe that makes putting yourself first feel less like selfishness and more like survival * Why sharing your story out loud is one of the most powerful confidence tools you have * What "find joy in where you're at" actually looks like as a daily practice, not just a motivational quote We talk about: * 00:00 Introduction to Julie Seidl and what brought her to confidence coaching * 02:30 Growing up as a competitive figure skater and the eating disorder that started at age eight * 07:30 The night everything changed and the decision to get help * 10:30 Eighteen years sober and why recovering from an eating disorder never fully ends * 13:00 The midlife identity crisis nobody talks about * 18:00 How to make yourself a priority without the guilt * 23:00 Women in the workplace and why your voice matters more than you think * 27:00 Why sharing your story is the fastest path to confidence * 31:00 Find joy in where you are right now Connect with Julie * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/corporateconfidencecoach/ [https://www.instagram.com/corporateconfidencecoach/] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-seidl/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-seidl/] * Website: https://www.corporateconfidencecoach.com/ [https://www.corporateconfidencecoach.com/] Connect with me * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/ [https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/] * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins [https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins] * Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/ [https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/] #WomensConfidenceCoach #CorporateConfidence #EatingDisorderRecovery #BodyImageHealing #SobrietyStory #MidlifeWomen #MakeYourselfAPriority #WomensVoice #BodyDysmorphia #NormalizeStruggle #ConfidenceForWomen #MidlifeIdentity #EatTheFuckingFood #KristinCollins #JulieSeidl #RecoveryStory #WomenAtWork #FindYourVoice #SelfPriority #JoyInProgress

017: BMI Is Broken. The Truth About Weight, Health, and What Doctors Aren’t Telling You | Dr. Mara Gordon

What if the number your doctor is using to define your health was never designed to measure your health in the first place? In this episode of Eat the F*cking Food, Kristin Collins sits down with anti-diet physician Dr. Mara Gordon to unpack one of the most misunderstood, overused, and emotionally charged metrics in modern healthcare: BMI. From its origins as a 19th-century statistical experiment to its rise as a medical “diagnosis tool,” this conversation reveals how BMI became the default lens for evaluating bodies, and why that lens is deeply flawed. This is a grounded, honest conversation about weight stigma in healthcare, the rise of weight loss drugs, and how women, especially in midlife, can begin to reclaim agency over their bodies, their choices, and their health. Because health is not a formula. It is personal, nuanced, and deeply individual. And the most powerful shift you can make is learning how to advocate for yourself inside systems that were never built with you in mind. In this episode, you’ll discover: * Why BMI was never meant to measure individual health and how it became medical standard * The real history behind BMI and how pharmaceutical influence shaped its use * Why weight is often overemphasized in healthcare and what gets overlooked because of it * The difference between treating disease and shrinking bodies * When GLP-1 weight loss drugs can be helpful and when they can do more harm than good * Why these medications don’t fix body image, shame, or your relationship with food * How to navigate doctor’s appointments without feeling powerless or dismissed * What “anti-diet doctor” actually means in real clinical practice * Why health is deeply personal and cannot be reduced to one universal formula * How to advocate for yourself without confrontation, fear, or overwhelm We talk about: * 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Mara Gordon and anti-diet medicine * 02:00 What an anti-diet physician actually does (and doesn’t do) * 04:00 Why weight is overemphasized in healthcare * 05:00 The real history of BMI and how it was created * 07:00 How BMI became a medical standard (and why that matters) * 08:30 Pharmaceutical influence and the “obesity epidemic” narrative * 09:30 GLP-1 weight loss drugs explained, who they help and why * 12:00 Why these medications don’t fix body image or shame * 13:30 What actually supports health alongside medication * 15:00 Why health looks different for every person and stage of life * 18:00 Why BMI classifications often don’t reflect real health * 20:00 The reality of weight loss, sustainability, and body biology * 22:00 Can you refuse being weighed at the doctor? Here’s how * 25:00 How to advocate for yourself in medical appointments * 27:00 Real story, avoiding unnecessary surgery through self-advocacy * 31:00 “Normal vs optimal” health, and the truth behind the messaging * 33:00 How medical guidelines actually evolve over time * 36:00 The rise of health misinformation and wellness marketing * 37:00 Where to find Dr. Mara Gordon and her work Connect with Dr. Mara * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maragordonmd [https://www.instagram.com/maragordonmd] * Substack: https://maragordonmd.substack.com/ [https://maragordonmd.substack.com/] * Real Talk With a Doc: https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-88953/health-questions-doctors-answers [https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-88953/health-questions-doctors-answers] Connect with me * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/ [https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/] * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins [https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins] * Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/ [https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/] #AntiDiet #BMI #WomensHealth #HealthAtEverySize #WeightStigma #BodyAutonomy #MidlifeHealth #GLP1 #WeightLossTruth #HealthcareAdvocacy #FoodRelationship #BodyImageHealing #EatTheFuckingFood #DoctorPatientRelationship #HealthMyths #WellnessTruth #MedicalMisinformation #SelfAdvocacy

016: It's Not Willpower. It's Biology. The Truth About Food Addiction and Emotional Eating | Michelle Petties

What if the reason you can't stop eating has nothing to do with weakness, and everything to do with a belief system that was never built to protect you? In this episode of Eat the F*cking Food, Kristin Collins sits down with Michelle Petties, author of Leaving Large: The Stories of a Food Addict and founder of the Brand New transformation framework, for one of the most honest, grounded conversations about food addiction, emotional eating, and what it actually takes to change your relationship with food for good. Michelle spent four decades in the cycle, gaining and losing over 700 pounds, trying every plan, every powder, every protocol, before she discovered that the problem was never behavior. It was belief. And until you change what you believe about yourself, about food, and about why you're worth the work, no diet in the world will stick. This conversation goes deep on processed food addiction, food stories, emotional triggers, and why joy must be homegrown and not found at the bottom of a bag of chips. Because you were never broken. You were just running on the wrong operating system. In this episode, you’ll discover: * Why food addiction is a real, biological response and not a failure of willpower or self-control * The difference between food and processed food, and why your body treats one as nourishment and the other as a drug * Why behavior modification alone will always fail and what belief modification actually looks like * What food stories are, how they form, and how to rewrite them * Why food is not a joy delivery system and where joy actually comes from * How to disarm emotional triggers instead of avoiding them * Why cravings are signals, not weaknesses, and what they're really trying to tell you * The BRAND NEW framework for transformation: the step-by-step belief shift that changes everything * Why women of color carry a unique weight in this conversation, and why you are worth the work We talk about: * 00:00 Introduction to Michelle Petties * 02:00 Leaving Large and why the subtitle would be different today * 06:00 Michelle's personal story: 700 pounds gained and lost over four decades * 09:00 Belief vs. behavior and why behavior change alone will always fail * 11:00 What food stories are and how they shape what you eat * 14:00 How your brain has been hijacked to trust what is not food * 17:00 Food neutrality vs. food addiction: where these two frameworks meet * 20:00 The Boston hotel story: grief, cravings, and what you really need * 25:00 Joy must be homegrown: why food can never deliver it * 27:00 Triggers are thoughts, not things. Here is how to disarm them * 30:00 The BRAND NEW framework for transformation * 32:00 Sleep, water, and prescriptive writing as nourishment * 35:00 The one belief shift that makes processed food lose its power * 39:00 What Michelle eats now * 41:00 Where to find Michelle and get a signed copy of Leaving Large Connect with Michelle * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambrandnewnow [https://www.instagram.com/iambrandnewnow] * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Iambrandnewnow [https://www.facebook.com/Iambrandnewnow] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-petties/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelle-petties/] * Website: https://michellepetties.com/ [https://michellepetties.com/] Connect with me * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/ [https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/] * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins [https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins] * Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/ [https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/]

015: How to Eat Your Way Through Menopause Without Dieting, Tracking or Losing Your Mind | Dr. Jenn Salib Huber

What if the reason you feel exhausted, inflamed, and out of control during menopause has nothing to do with eating too much, and everything to do with decades of being taught to eat too little? In this episode of Eat the F*cking Food, Kristin Collins sits down with Dr. Jenn Salib Huber, registered dietitian, naturopathic doctor, intuitive eating coach, and author of Eat to Thrive During Menopause. Together they dismantle the food rules, diet myths, and cultural conditioning that have kept women hungry, confused, and stuck in cycles of restriction for most of their lives. From the truth about soy and phytoestrogens to why your brain needs carbohydrates to function, why satisfaction is the secret sauce of any sustainable way of eating, and why the scale is one of the worst metrics you can use to measure your health in midlife, this conversation will change how you think about food. Because your hunger was never the problem. The rules were. In this episode, you’ll discover: * What intuitive eating actually means and why most people have it completely wrong * The difference between not dieting and truly eating intuitively * Why satisfaction is the missing piece of every nutrition plan that has ever failed you * The truth about soy, phytoestrogens, and why the breast cancer fear was based on bad science * Why your brain needs at least 125 grams of carbohydrates a day and what happens when it does not get them * How eating patterns matter more than individual foods during perimenopause and menopause * Why outcome-based goals almost always fail and what to set instead * The real reason bodies change in midlife and how much of it is actually within your control * Why cheese is not the enemy and what the research actually says about dairy fat * How to unlearn decades of diet culture rules and start trusting your body again We talk about: * 00:00 Introduction to Dr. Jenn Salib Huber and why this conversation changes everything * 01:30 What intuitive eating actually means versus what most people think it means * 05:30 Why permission is the foundation of trust with food * 09:00 What undieting your thinking means and why it has to come before intuitive eating * 12:00 Why satisfaction is the secret sauce and what sensory specific satiety actually means * 16:00 How eating patterns during menopause affect symptoms more than individual foods * 17:00 Why carbohydrates are essential for sleep mood and brain function in midlife * 19:00 The truth about soy phytoestrogens and the breast cancer myth debunked * 21:00 Why the question is not how do I lose weight but how do I want to feel * 25:00 Why outcome based goals fail and what behavior based goals do instead * 28:00 Why your results will never look like someone else's and why that is completely okay * 31:00 Cheese coffee and why no food should ever be off limits Connect with Dr. Jenn * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menopause.nutritionist [https://www.instagram.com/menopause.nutritionist] * Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DrJennND [https://www.facebook.com/DrJennND] * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@menopause.nutritionist [https://www.youtube.com/@menopause.nutritionist] * Book: https://www.menopausenutritionist.ca/Book [https://www.menopausenutritionist.ca/Book] * Website: https://www.menopausenutritionist.ca/ [https://www.menopausenutritionist.ca/] / https://www.jennsalibhuber.ca/ [https://www.jennsalibhuber.ca/] Connect with me * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/ [https://www.instagram.com/kristinrcollins/] * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins [https://www.youtube.com/@kristin.collins] * Website: https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/ [https://kristincollinshealthcoaching.com/] #MenopauseNutrition #IntuitiveEating #MidlifeHealth #EatTheFuckingFood #PerimenopauseSupport #HormoneHealth #FoodFreedom #UndietYourMind #MenopauseDiet #AntiDietCulture #WomensHealthOver40 #CarbohydratesAndHormones #SoyAndMenopause #MidlifeFeast #DrJennSalibHuber