Episode 81. "My metabolism is damaged." This is a common concern I hear. And I get it. Chronic weight loss dieting does often have a very negative impact on our bodies and our metabolism. Ignoring hunger, going long periods of time without eating, eating foods because some "expert" told us it was good for us, often leads to stress, inflammation, mistrust of our bodies signals and ultimately mistrust of ourselves. And yet, today's guest is Amy Braden, would generously shares her story and reminds us that our body still loves us, and there still is hope. There is also more than one way to be an intuitive eater and develop self-trust. Amy Braden is a podcast listener who accepted my invitation to share her story. She said something early in the interview that I cannot get enough of. She was talking about how our bodies hold a lot of wisdom, especially when we learn to listen and appreciate them, versus try to control and shape them. And then Amy said: “And when you actually take care of them and nourish them, they will forgive an awful lot, and love you.” - Amy Braden Highlights of the Conversation: * A great example of what self-advocacy looks like in medical and mental health settings * How hard it is to get appropriate treatment for binge eating disorder * What Amy wishes she'd have known about intuitive eating * Why Amy is grateful that she waited to get bariatric surgery * How discussions about weight and weight loss can coincide with discussions about intuitive eating and self-trust * The role of meditation in her journey Ready to Break the Binge Eating Cycle for Good? Ready to stop avoiding and break the binge eating cycle for good? The first step is to disrupt the cycle. My free practical guide has 23 positive ideas for things to do instead of eating. Don't worry, you wont find the standard diet culture BS advice (take a walk, have some water!) Take the first step to finally stop binge eating and grab my free practical guide today! Grab my free guide to disrupt the cycle of emotional and binge eating today! Support Local Bookstores Near You! Did you know that that if nothing slows their momentum, Amazon will have almost 80% of the book market by the end of 2025? Look, I love the convenience of Amazon, but I’ve got a super cool way that you can support local bookstores and my blog and podcast simply by buying books like you already do! You can choose any bookstore on the list in the US (they plan to expand to other counties in the future) OR you can just let the donation get split between all stores. They have raised over 15 million dollars for local bookstores. On my bookshop, you will see my absolute favorite books related to health and wellness, courage and vulnerability, and even my favorite fiction and kids books! My recent favorite related to achieving a deeper level of healing is a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/no-bad-parts-healing-trauma-and-restoring-wholeness-with-the-internal-family-systems-model-richard-schwartz/16396062?