Nourish & Empower
Have you ever felt like you could use a little extra support when working on your relationship with food and your body? Join Jessica, a Licensed Professional Counselor, and Maggie, a Registered Dietitian & Certified Eating Disorders Specialist, along with special guests, as we chat about mental health, nutrition, eating disorders, diet culture, body image, and so much more. Together, we have close to 20 years of experience working in eating disorders and mental health treatment. Let’s redefine, reclaim, & restore the true meaning of health on The Nourish & Empower Podcast.
Episodes
83 episodes
What If They’re Judging Me? Food Guilt, Body Image & Learning to Let Go
Nobody at the beach is thinking about your body as much as you are and that truth can be weirdly freeing. We sit down for a candid, story-driven chat about food guilt, body image, and the spike in body scrutiny that hits when the weather warms ...
From Doomscrolling to Disconnection: The Impact of Screen Time
Your phone can be a tool, a comfort, a classroom, and a trigger all at once and your body often pays the price before you even realize it. We sit down with registered dietitian Kelsey McNulty, founder of True North Nutrition, to unpack how soci...
Consistent, Not Constant: Rethinking Support
Want to help someone with an eating disorder without turning into the food police? We sit down with eating disorder dietitian Kelly May to get painfully practical about what to say, what to avoid, and how to build support that actually reduces ...
You Deserve To Be Present On Your Wedding Day
Wedding season can make even the most grounded person start negotiating with their body. Suddenly it’s not just a dress, it’s photos, comments, fittings, “just until the wedding” rules, and the fear that you’ll spend a once-in-a-lifetime day th...
Noah Kahan's Silent Struggle: Masculinity, Body Image, and Finding a Voice
He sells out Madison Square Garden, walks off stage, opens Instagram, and the first thought that hits is disgust about his body. That single moment in Noah Kahan’s Netflix documentary “Out Of Body” captures something we see constantly in our wo...
Beyond The Disorder: Finding Yourself Again
A diagnosis can explain what you’re going through, but it should never get to decide who you are. We’re joined by Brianna Mainprize, a registered psychotherapist from Ontario, Canada, whose work in eating disorder recovery is grounded in both c...
Rewiring Recovery: ADHD, Neurodivergence, and Healing Your Relationship with Food
Article written by our guest, Nikki DeRosa https://www.todaysdietitian.com/flexible-meal-planning-for-autism-and-adhd/ Most “heal...
The Wellness Trap: How Orthorexia Takes Hold
A “healthy” diet can turn into a cage so slowly you don’t notice until your world gets smaller. After seeing orthorexia pop up in Scrubs, we pull the camera back and talk about what orthorexia actually looks like in real life, why it’s so easy ...
The Real Baggage: The Food Rules We Bring On Vacation
Spring break is supposed to feel like a break, yet for so many of us it turns into a countdown of food rules, body checking, and “vacation ready” pressure. We’re talking about travel nutrition and body image in a way that’s realistic, compassio...
Rally for Recovery with the National Alliance for Eating Disorders
A bathroom scale can become a judge, a ritual, and a cage and most people suffering from disordered eating learn to hide it well. We sit down with McCall Dempsey, founder of Southern Smash and a National Alliance for Eating Disorders advocate, ...
Yoga For Every Body: Making Yoga Virtually Accessible
What if yoga stopped asking you to earn your place and started meeting you where you already are? We sit down with Emily Anderson, a Pittsburgh-based yoga therapist and founder of All Bodies Welcome Yoga, to rethink movement through nervous sys...
ANTM: How A “Reality Check” Missed The Reality Of Harm
A glossy show sold us aspiration; the documentary showed us the bill. We revisit America’s Next Top Model with clear eyes and full context, unpacking how a franchise turned vulnerability into spectacle and then tried to hide behind “it was the ...
For Those on the Long Journey: A Recovery Story for ED Awareness Week
What if recovery didn’t have to be perfect to be real? We’re joined by author Johanna Scoglio, whose new memoir, When the Water Still Holds Me: Letters Through the Tides of a Long-Term Eating Disorder, opens a candid window into life w...
When Worth Isn’t A Size: Choosing Function Over Aesthetic
If body talk leaves you tired, you’re not alone. We dig into the honest, nuanced space between loving your body and hating it—and why body neutrality can be the most freeing path forward. With one of us practicing as a therapist and the other a...
ARFID Andrew Redefines Food Exposures
Fear, texture, and shame don’t stand a chance when the stakes are low and the support is real. We’re joined by creator Andrew Luber also known as, ARFID Andrew, whose wildly honest food exposures have helped thousands put words to what ARFID ac...
Breaking Stereotypes & Embracing Yourself: Eating Disorder Recovery for Males
You can’t heal what you can’t name. We sit down with recovery coach and advocate Eric Pothen to name what often goes unseen: how eating disorders affect men, why stereotypes keep them silent, and what real support looks like when shame an...
Finding Your Therapist (and Why They Have Support Too)
Ever wonder what makes good therapy consistently good? We open the door to the real work that happens off-mic and off-session: supervision, collaboration, and the ethical guardrails that keep clients safe and supported. With licensed profession...
Grounded Goals, Not Grand Transformations
A new calendar doesn’t require a new you. We kick off the year by taking apart the pressure cooker of resolutions, asking why a “firm decision” often casts you as a problem to be solved—and how that framing supercharges diet culture’s loudest s...
Reviewing the New Food Pyramid: Pros, Cons, and Our Take!
A new “pyramid” lands, the internet erupts, and we’re left asking the only question that matters: what should actually change on our plates? We take you past the viral graphic and into the real guidance, translating policy-speak into practical ...
Diet Culture vs. Anti Diet: How Inclusive Nutrition Actually Works
Ever feel trapped between diet rules and anti-diet slogans, like you have to pick a side to “eat right”? We invited ADHD dietitian Chelsea Pitrelli to break the stalemate. Chelsea has lived on both ends of the spectrum—teaching adult weight man...
EMDR Demystified: From Stigma To Skillful Healing
Show notes:Trigger warning: this show is not medical, nutrition, or mental health treatment and is not a replacement for meeting with a Registered Dietitian, Licensed Mental Health Provider, or any other medical provider. You c...
From Pain to Ease: How Pelvic Floor PT Changes Everyday Life
Leaking when you laugh, hip pain that keeps returning, or sex that hurts are not things you just have to live with. We invited Dr. Courtney Smiach, founder of Rebel PT and a licensed pelvic health physical therapist, to unpack the real reasons ...
What If Holiday Traditions Served Your Values, Not Your Fears
Ever wish holiday traditions felt lighter and more like you? We invited our colleague Tamar, an FBT therapist, to help us unpack the meaning of Hanukkah’s light and the realities of eight days filled with latkes, donuts, gatherings, and comment...
Why Striving For Your Best Beats Chasing Perfect
Perfection looks like safety on the surface: if nothing is wrong, nothing can hurt me. But under the polish sits a heavy cost—anxious checking, shrinking choices, and a relentless inner critic. We open up a candid, compassionate conversation ab...
How To Support Our Loved Ones With Communication and Connection This Holiday Season
Holidays can be loud—full of love, expectations, and a whole lot of food talk. We pulled the curtain back on what real support looks like when someone you care about is navigating an eating disorder, body image struggles, or heightened anxiety ...