Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS | Stitcher
I really enjoyed this chat with today’s guest Melissa Toler. Melissa also used to work in the fitness industry and I’d been enjoying her posts on Instagram about challenging the way we think about bodies. That was actually her big truth, how our culture values and devalues bodies.
If you have any history with body image issues or disordered eating, please know before listening we explore a lot of topics in this interview that could be triggering.
We discussed all the things we need to unlearn and relearn, how hard it is to part with our conditioning, “body positivity”, the moral imperative of health, the misconstrued relationship between body size and health and diet culture. We also opened up about why we both stopped selling “fitness” and “weight loss”.
Enjoy the episode and share if it resonates!
xo,
E
About Melissa Toler:
Melissa Toler is a speaker, writer, and educator. Her work encourages people to make the connection between our culture’s oppressive beauty standards and our personal struggle with self-acceptance. She has written extensively on diet culture and the toll it takes on our lives and humanity.
Melissa also has a background as a pharmacist and certified wellness coach. Her goal is to help people unlearn harmful messages and behaviors from years of chronic dieting through writing and truth-telling.
What You’ll Hear:
6:44 How cultures values and devalues bodies + Melissa’s journey from fitness to where she is today
17:48 The intersection of fat phobia and health
24:31 The languaging of “good” and “bad” + dehumanization
35:18 Pillars of diet culture + the problematic parts of body positivity
46:28 Melissa’s current relationship to food and fitness
Click here to watch/listen or scroll upward to listen only:
Resources:
Why I stopped selling weight loss
Can we create a world where ALL bodies are worthy?
Can we put an end to fatphobia in woke spaces?
The Body Is Not an Apology
Deeper Dating
Emergent Strategy
Body of Truth
Susana Frioni and Ken Page podcast episode
Be Nourished
You May Also Like:
Self-Bullying And Big Fat Lies Women Tell Themselves With Amy Ahlers
The Body Is Not An Apology With Sonya Renee Taylor
An Exploration Of Real, Deep Body Love And Acceptance: Sunday Sermon #26
Get your copy of the Untame Yourself book on Amazon!
How was this episode for you?
Was this episode helpful for you today? I’d love to know what quote or lesson touched your soul.