Don't Salt My Game | With Laura Thomas, PhD

Latest Episodes:

EP84 - {Summer Shorts} Carbs don't make you fat! & other myth busting w/ Pixie Turner Aug 03, 2018

Show notes

In this week's episode of our summer shorts series, Pixie and Laura tackle some myths about carbs, including debunking the one that says that "carbs make you fat" and discussing why this is problematic.

In this episode Laura and Pixie discussed:

✨What whole grains are and why we shouldn't sweat eating 'white' grain varieties if we want to ✨Tips for boosting your fibre intake ✨Why carbs don't cause diabetes ✨That eating a potato is not the same as eating a bowl of sugar

Show Notes

{Pixie Turner Nutrition} {Pixie on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook} {The Wellness Rebel} {Ep.71 - But Is It Healthy to Be Fat} {Ep.62 - Overcoming Fat Phobia} {Ep.36 - Challenging the Assumptions of the Weight Normative Paradigm}

EP83 - {Summer Shorts} Why crash diets will NOT reset your relationship with food w/ Pixie Turner Jul 27, 2018

Show notes

In this episode of our summer shorts series, Associate Registered Nutritionist Pixie Turner and Laura sink their teeth into the BBC programme 'The Big Crash Diet Experiment'. The programme put participants with health conditions on an extremely restrictive very low energy shakes and soup diet.

In this episode Laura and Pixie discuss:

✨The double standard where behaviours that are considered 'eating disorder behaviours' in a smaller body are considered healthy and encouraged in someone of a higher weight ✨How programmes like this fail to discuss the importance of mental health ✨The detrimental effects that dieting and fat bias have on people's health ✨How we can improve our health without going on a restrictive diet

Show Notes

{Pixie Turner Nutrition} {Pixie on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook} {Podcast Episode on Food Addiction} {Weight Stigma 101 - The Body is Not an Apology} {The DiRECT Trial}

EP82 – {SUMMER SHORTS} BoPo Bridal Tips w/ Harri Rose Jul 20, 2018

Show notes

With wedding season well underway, Laura speaks to Harri Rose about how to stay true to yourself and not get swept up in wedding fever. Harri is a certified health coach who helps people get unf*cked up from diet culture around food and their bodies so that they can live their best life and create their own version of wellness. She has done talks for organisations such as Sony Music and will be at many of the UK's biggest festivals this summer with the Anti Riot Diet Club.

In this episode Laura and Harri discuss:

✨Finding a dressmaker or shop which supports and inspires you to find the right dress/outfit without body-shaming you

✨Choosing your wedding support team wisely

✨Investing in a photographer who makes you feel great

✨How to protect yourself from the diet culture/wedding industry crossover

SHOW NOTES

{Harri on Instagram | Website}

{The Ugly Truth About Wedding Diets}

{Wedding Workout for Stress Relief}

{8 Ways To Be A Body Positive Bride}

{My Wedding Was Perfect - Lindy West}

{Rock n' Roll Bride}

{The Skincare Bible}

{Anti Diet Riot Club}

EP 81 - {Summer Shorts} Top Tips for Summer Body Confidence w/ Becky Young of Anti-Diet Riot Club Jul 13, 2018

Show notes

For the second episode of the Summer Shorts series Laura speaks to Becky, founder of Anti-Diet Riot Club, about Becky's 5 top tips for cultivating body confidence and self-compassion this summer.

In this episode Laura and Becky discuss:

✨ How mindfulness helps you to be more present and conscious of your emotions

✨ How social media can encourage us to unconsciously view ourselves as commodities

✨ The power of curating our social media feeds

✨ Ditching social media first thing in the day could be part of self-care

✨ Tips for buying & wearing clothes that make you feel great and comfortable in your own skin

Show Notes

{Anti-Diet Riot Club}

{Anti-Diet Riot Club on Instagram | Twitter}

{Beauty Redefined}

{Grace F Victory on Instagram}

{Tess Holliday on Instagram}

{Michelle Elman on Instagram}

{Jessamyn on Instagram}

{Callie Thorpe on Instagram}

EP80 - {Summer Shorts} Why is Cosmo Promoting Orthorexia? w/ Pixie Turner of Plant Based Pixie Jul 06, 2018

Show notes

In the first episode of our summer shorts series, Associate Registered Nutritionist Pixie Turner and I dissect a worrying Cosmo article from the July 2018 issue that feels more like a flashback to the clean eating articles of 2014. The article called 'Choose it or Lose it' promotes unnecessarily restrictive food swaps, demonising perfectly good foods and reads like a 'how to guide to orthorexia'.

In this episode we:

✨Discuss why it's unhelpful to focus on the minutiae of detail about nutrition ✨How food rules can lead to and overly restrictive diet and potentially even orthorexia ✨Blow the lid off some nutrition myths ✨How articles like this contribute to food fear

Show Notes

{Pixie Turner Nutrition} {Pixie on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook} {Refined Sugar Free is Not a Thing} {Coconut Oil is Over} {Can you Boost Your Immune System} {Resources for Orthorexia} {Podcast Episode on Orthorexia} {Social Media and the Rise of Orthorexia} {The Wellness Rebel}

EP79 - Finding Self-Worth Outside of Your Body w/ Jennifer Rollins of The Eating Disorder Center Jun 29, 2018

Show notes

Today I'm speaking with the fantastic Jennifer Rollin, who is a Clinical Psychotherapist and Eating Disorder Specialist based in the US. We're sharing loads of information about eating disorders, who gets them and why, we're blowing some stereotypes out of the water, and talking about dos and don'ts if you're supporting someone with an ED. Then we go on to talk more specifically about body image; how body bashing is a coping mechanism and ways to develop self-worth and value independent of your body which is a super important conversation regardless of whether or not you've experienced an eating disorder, so listen up!

In this episode we cover:

✨What having an ED is like ✨What EDs are and why people get them ✨Why stereotypes of EDs are so harmful and add to the stigma surrounding EDs ✨Warning signs of EDs and how to get help ✨ How best to support people in recovery ✨ How body bashing is a coping mechanisms for dealing with a deeper issue ✨ How to find self worth independent of your body ✨ Finally, we answer some listener questions, including, how can you lose weight while recovering from binge eating disorder

Show Notes

{Jennifer's Website} {Jennifer on Instagram | Twitter | HuffPo} {Podcast Episode with Not Plant Based on their experience living with an ED} {BEAT warning signs poster} {BEAT GP letter} {Dieting and disordered eating behaviors from adolescence to young adulthood: Findings from a 10-year longitudinal study}{Project Heal Healer's Circle} {The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris} {Landwhale - Jes Baker} {Find a ED counsellor in the UK}

EP78 - How Diet Culture Is Ruining Our Sex Lives w/ Monica Karpinski of The Femedic Jun 22, 2018

Show notes

In this week's episode I'm talking to Monica Karpinski, founder of The Femedic, a platform for discussing taboo topics in women's health. We talk about the parallels between diet culture and the narratives around 'successful sex' and how both are systems of control and oppression. How the mainstream portrayal of sex as being predominantly about men's pleasure takes away from the control and ownership of female bodies - much like dieting does. How narratives around sex teach women to take up less space and not ask for the things we want or need, a lot like, you guessed it... diet culture. Monica and I also talk a bit about our own formative experiences and some of the weird ideas we had about sex as teenagers, and also some really embarrassing shit that happened to me when I was in high school. It's actually mortifying.

Show Notes

{The Femedic website} {The Femedic on Twitter | Facebook | Instagram}

EP77 - How to Heal Body Image w/ Meredith Noble of Made on a Generous Plan May 25, 2018

Show notes

Mega excited to talk to the charming Meredith Noble of Made on a Generous Plan. There's something so calming and joyful about Meredith's presence, even when talking about some really heavy things like healing the relationship you have with your body and with self. Not exactly causal topics, but she makes it easy to talk about. If you're new to Meredith then I think you're going to love her, and if you already know her, you'll know how much of a treat it is to have her on the show.

We talk about: ✨Building community as a healing space ✨Reclaiming the word fat ✨Body image healing and body acceptance ✨Embodiment as a path to healing ✨Rebuilding relationship with self ✨Internalised fat phobia ✨Grieving the thin ideal

Show Notes

{Meredith on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook} {Meredith's Website} {Intuitive Eating Workshop} {Training for Healthcare Professionals} {Grieving the thin ideal} {Jes Baker - Landwhale} {Sonya Renee Taylor - The Body is Not an Apology} {Lindy West Wedding | Book | On This American Life}

EP76 – WHEN PUBLIC HEALTH TOTALLY MISSES THE POINT W/ DR. OLI WILLIAMS FO ACT WITH LOVE – PART 2 May 19, 2018

Show notes

In part two of my conversation with academic and activist Dr. Oli Williams, we discuss the work he does via his art collective, Act With Love. The mission of AWL is to translate Oli's research from complex ideas on weight stigma and inequality into artwork that conveys a simple message. In this 'sode we cover:

✨How health is not defined by weight ✨ The problem with using BMI as a measure of health ✨ How weight stigma worsens health outcomes ✨ The moralisation of bodies ✨ Weight bias in the medical community ✨ The lived experience of 'obesity' ✨ Social movements and resistance

Show Notes {Oli on Twitter | Instagram} {Act With Love} {Resist and Retweet} {Steph Liddle Shop | Instagram}

EP76 - When Public Health Nutrition Totally Misses the Point w/ Dr. Oli Williams fo Act With Love - Part 1 May 18, 2018

Show notes

When we think about what needs to be done to improve population health, we think about things like getting people moving more, and eating plenty of fruit and veg. But what if well intentioned health promoting campaigns (like Change 4 Life, 5-a-day, + the sugar tax) actually didn't improve health, but made the disparities in health WORSE? That's the focus of the conversation between myself and researcher/activist Dr. Oli Williams. This is a really rich conversation and I can't wait for you to hear. We talk about: ✨ the social determinants of health ✨the inequality paradox ✨ the social gradient of health ✨how the best health interventions address underlying inequalities rather than focusing on individual behaviours ✨ how improving standard of living will result in people engaging in healthier lifestyles

Show Notes

{Oli on Twitter | Instagram} {Act With Love} {When Life's a Drag by Hilary Graham} {Spirit Level - Pickett and Wilkinson} {Public Policy Frameworks For Improving Population Health} {Exercise as a poisoned elixir: inactivity, inequality and intervention} {Unequal Health - The Scandal of Our Times}