Rethinking Wellness

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Health & Fitness
**Rethinking Wellness**

Rethinking Wellness offers critical thinking and compassionate skepticism about wellness and diet culture, and reflections on how to find true well-being. We explore the science (or lack thereof) behind popular wellness diets, the role of influencers and social-media algorithms in spreading wellness misinformation, problematic practices in the alternative- and integrative-medicine space, how wellness culture often drives disordered eating, the truth about trending topics like gut health, how to avoid getting taken advantage of when you’re desperate for help and healing, and how to care for yourself in a deeply flawed healthcare system without falling into wellness traps.

rethinkingwellness.substack.com

Latest Episodes:

Bonus: Can a Diet Really Help Solve Your Period Problems? Oct 20, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com

Q&A: A critical look at diet advice for period pain and endometriosis.

Check out the transcript for links to all referenced studies.

The full version of this episode is for paid subscribers. Listen to the first question here, and sign up for a paid subscription to hear the rest!

Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold. Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.

If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Bonus: Chronic Conditions and Acceptance, Plus: Is Alternative Medicine Safe for Recovery? Oct 13, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com

In this bonus episode, registered dietitian Jonah Soolman returns to discuss the role of acceptance in navigating chronic health conditions, whether eating-disorder recovery can ever be compatible with alternative medicine, what to look for in a healthcare provider given the problems with the alternative- and integrative-medicine fields, and more.

Jonah Soolman is a registered dietitian specializing in the treatment of eating disorders and disordered eating using a HAES perspective. He and his wife, Joanne, co-own Soolman Nutrition LLC, a private practice where they offer individualized nutrition counseling, in Needham, Massachusetts.

Most commonly, Jonah works with people who have tried numerous diets and are sick of seeing their weight temporarily drop only to inevitably rebound. Fed up with failing diets and being at war with food and their bodies, they come to Jonah because he offers the antithesis. By taking the focus off of weight and rules, he helps them to form a new and more peaceful relationship with food based on satisfaction, flexibility, and health.

When Jonah is not working, he enjoys getting outside and moving his body. In addition to time spent playing NCAA tennis, his proudest athletic achievements include riding his bicycle from Seattle to Boston for charity, running up Mount Washington on four separate occasions, and rebounding from multiple back surgeries to finish the Newport Marathon four times. Find him online at SoolmanNutrition.com.

This episode is for paid subscribers. Listen to a free preview here, and sign up for a paid subscription to hear the full episode!

Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.

If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

I Worked at an Alternative Medicine Clinic. Here's What I Want You to Know. Oct 09, 2023

Show notes

Registered dietitian Jonah Soolman joins us to discuss his time working in an alternative medicine clinic run by integrative doctors. He shares some of the shady practices he saw his bosses engaging in, why food-sensitivity testing and other alt-med tests are often misleading, the dangers of trying alternative or integrative medicine if you’re in recovery from an eating disorder, the devastating situation that finally made him leave the clinic and start speaking out about the harms of alternative medicine, and more.

Jonah Soolman is a registered dietitian specializing in the treatment of eating disorders and disordered eating using a Health At Every Size perspective. He and his wife, Joanne, co-own Soolman Nutrition LLC, a private practice where they offer individualized nutrition counseling, in Needham, Massachusetts.

If you like this conversation, subscribe to hear lots more like it!

Support the podcast by becoming a paid subscriber, and unlock great perks like bonus episodes, subscriber-only Q&As, early access to regular episodes, community threads, and much more. Learn more and sign up at rethinkingwellness.substack.com.

Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.

If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Does Nutrition Response Testing Work? Plus: Can a Diet Treat Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com

Q&A: how to know whether a particular test is legit. Plus, in a bonus answer for paid subscribers, Christy discusses what to say to a doctor who’s recommending a diet for ME/CFS or other poorly understood illnesses.

Listen to the first question here, and sign up for a paid subscription to hear the full episode!

Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold. Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.

If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Bonus: Other People's Opinions, Rethinking Beauty Culture, and More with Helen Phelan-Guillemot Sep 29, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com

In this bonus episode, anti-diet Pilates instructor Helen Phelan-Guillemot returns to discuss workout selfies, the way people respond on social media to images of her body, Christy’s own experience navigating other people's opinions on social media, the lack of regulation in the fitness industry and why it’s a problem, how Helen is reexamining her relationship with beauty culture, and more.

Helen Phelan-Guillemot is a comprehensively certified pilates instructor, prenatal and postpartum corrective exercise specialist, Institute for Integrative Nutrition health coach, intuitive eating student, and founder of on demand pilates platform, Helen Phelan Studio with 10 years of experience. The HPS method was born because Helen was feeling frustrated about how social media portrayed wellness: one could either wholly reject exercise and athleticism, or reject their actual health and body image. Helen's intuitive pilates classes are known to be equal parts rigor and restoration to help you build strength, body awareness, while being kind to yourself. She won a Women's Health Magazine Fit Tech Award for "Best Body Neutral Workout" in 2021 and has been featured in InStyle, Bustle, Well and Good, Huffington Post and more. You can find her on IG/Tiktok @helenvphelan, on Substack writing Well Hell, or on helenphelanstudio.com to check out her anti-diet pilates classes.

This episode is for paid subscribers. Listen to a free preview here, and sign up for a paid subscription to hear the full episode!

Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.

If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Loving Fitness While Hating Toxic Fitness Culture with Helen Phelan-Guillemot Sep 25, 2023

Show notes

Anti-diet Pilates instructor Helen Phelan-Guillemot joins us to discuss her history as a dancer and how that affected her relationship with food and her body, how she moved from disordered eating into wellness obsession, how she’s come to hate toxic fitness culture while still loving physical activity, how to know when you need to take a break from fitness, why we don’t need to constantly self-optimize, and more.

If you like this conversation, subscribe to hear lots more like it!

Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.

If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com/subscribe

How to Handle Bizarre Wellness Claims, Plus the Real Scoop on Seed Oils Sep 20, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com

Q&A: The next time you come across a wellness influencer saying sensational things, try this. Plus, in a bonus answer for paid subscribers, Christy discusses whether seed oils are as bad for you as some sources claim.

Listen to the first question here, and sign up for a paid subscription to hear the full episode!

Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold. Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.

If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Bonus: How Social Media and Wellness Culture Can Harm Your Well-Being with Ling Ling Huang Sep 15, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com

In this bonus episode, Ling Ling Huang returns to discuss how wellness culture affected her creativity and work as a professional violinist, how she’s changing her relationship with social media, how algorithms led her to questionable wellness products out of a desire to help a loved one, her upcoming TV series, and more.

Ling Ling Huang is a writer and violinist. She plays with several ensembles including the Music Kitchen, Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra, Shattered Glass, and Experiential Orchestra, with whom she won a Grammy award in 2021. Natural Beauty is her first novel. Learn more about her work at linglinghuang.com.

This episode is for paid subscribers. Listen to a preview here, and sign up for a paid subscription to hear the full episode!

Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.

If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

Wellness Culture and the Myth of "Natural" Beauty with Ling Ling Huang Sep 11, 2023

Show notes

Author and violinist Ling Ling Huang joins us to discuss her new novel, Natural Beauty, and the fraught nature of that term; how working in the clean-beauty and wellness space affected her eating-disorder recovery and her mental health; why she invested so much in wellness culture at a time in her life when she could barely afford food; the fetishization and appropriation of Asian cultures in wellness; and lots more.

If you like this conversation, subscribe to hear lots more like it!

Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.

If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com/subscribe

Bonus: How to Support a Loved One with Chronic Illness with Eliza Wheeler Sep 01, 2023

Show notes

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit rethinkingwellness.substack.com

In this bonus episode, illustrator and author Eliza Wheeler returns to discuss how to support a loved one with chronic illness, navigating her own symptoms alongside a partner who also has chronic conditions, and more. Hear more from Eliza in episode 15 at rethinkingwellness.substack.com.

Eliza Wheeler is an illustrator and author of books for children, and was a recipient of the Sendak Fellowship Award. Her first picture book, Miss Maple’s Seeds, was a New York Times best seller, and her newest book Home In The Woods is based on the true story of her grandmother’s childhood experience of living in a tar-paper shack in the woods with seven siblings and their single mom. Eliza grew up in the northwoods of Wisconsin, lived in Los Angeles, CA for a time, and now calls Minneapolis, Minnesota home. Learn more about her work at wheelerstudio.com, and subscribe to her Creativitea Time Substack.

This episode is for paid subscribers. Listen to a preview here, and sign up for a paid subscription to hear the full episode!

Christy's new book, The Wellness Trap, is now available wherever books are sold! Order it online or ask for it in your favorite local bookstore.

If you're looking to make peace with food and break free from diet and wellness culture, come check out Christy's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals online course, which is enrolling a new cohort now!

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