The Body Myth

Recovering from Anorexia Nervosa and Setting Boundaries featuring Kimmie Gilbert

Kimmie Gilbert joins The Body Myth for a conversation about the effect growing up with a malignant narcissist had on her sense of self, her Anorexia Nervosa journey and recovery, and the difference between body neutrality, body acceptance, and body love/positivity.
 
Also in this episode:
-The power we all have to help those who are struggling
-Setting self-protective boundaries 
-Goat yoga!
Bio
Kimmie considers herself a mental health warrior. She survived a decade-long battle with Anorexia Nervosa and a cult disguised as a substance abuse facility in 2013. She is currently pursuing a degree in Clinical Psychology at CSU LA and is a guest on podcasts to share her story of hope, healing, and recovery. In her spare time, she works at a goat yoga facility that services mental health facilities, seniors, and private parties. She is a staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights and educates others about the red flags of malignant narcissism. 
 
Connect with Kimmie:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimmie_gilbert/
 
Ronit is a writer, teacher, and mom who has taught elementary school through high school and whose writing has been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, Salon, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, Scary Mommy, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about her body image struggles and the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is also host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and Let’s Talk Memoir.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Have a body image story you’d like Ronit to read on air or want to take the Your Body and the World survey? Follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZiXP1FklUkWaYg4T6IAqFKDRp6OIvef4be8SRHVaaWt044w/viewform
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://twitter.com/RonitPlank
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
Photo credit: Baran Lotfollahi on Unsplash
Theme music: The Lighthouse by Sounds Like Sander

Body Liberation for All featuring Dalia Kinsey

Dalia Kinsey joins The Body Myth for a conversation about looking at the body in a holistic way, how health intersects with racial identity in the US, systemic LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC  oppression and how allies in a lot of spaces tend to take center stage, why we don’t need to demonize any body size, and how as a culture we spend so much time trying to control our bodies instead of using our bodies to do the things we want.
Also in this episode:
-ideas for reconnecting to your body
-a closer look at the health at every size and fat liberation movements
-the effect of generational trauma on health 
Dalia Kinsey is a queer Black Registered Dietitian, keynote speaker, the creator of the Body Liberation for All podcast, and author of Decolonizing Wellness: A QTBIPOC-Centered Guide to Escape the Diet Trap, Heal Your Self-Image, and Achieve Body Liberation. On a mission to spread joy, reduce suffering, and eliminate health disparities in the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC community, Dalia rejects diet culture and teaches people to use nutrition as a self-care and personal empowerment tool to counter the damage of systemic oppression.  
Dalia’s work can be found at https://www.daliakinsey.com/
Listeners can register for a chance to win a free copy of the book here https://sendfox.com/lp/199d4p
They can follow her on Substack to read articles she has written and listen to new episodes of her podcast https://daliakinsey.substack.com
 
Ronit is a writer, teacher, and mom who has taught elementary school through high school and whose writing has been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, Salon, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, Scary Mommy, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about her body image struggles and the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is also host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and Let’s Talk Memoir.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Have a body image story you’d like Ronit to read on air or want to take the Your Body and the World survey? Follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZiXP1FklUkWaYg4T6IAqFKDRp6OIvef4be8SRHVaaWt044w/viewform
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates:
 
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://twitter.com/RonitPlank
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
Photo credit: Baran Lotfollahi on Unsplash
Theme music: The Lighthouse by Sounds Like Sander 

Mixed Messages: When Food is Love in Your Family but Your Body is a Problem featuring Michelle Yang

Michelle Yang joins The Body Myth for a conversation about immigrating to the US as a child and feeling she didn’t conform to Western expectations about how she was supposed to look, growing up in a home where food was love but her father monitored her body size, and her advocacy work on the intersection of Asian American identity, feminism, and mental health.
 
Also in this episode:
-How Michelle embraced her bipolar diagnosis
-Her thoughts on medication and the fear of weight gain 
-Breaking patterns and raising her son to be healthy about body image
 
Michelle Yang (@michelleyangwriter) is an advocate whose writings on the intersection of Asian American identity, feminism, and mental health have been featured in NBC News, CNN, InStyle, and more. Born ethnic Chinese in South Korea, Michelle is a proud immigrant "takeout kid" who grew up working in her family's Chinese takeout restaurant. Her memoir, PHOENIX GIRL: HOW A FAT ASIAN WITH BIPOLAR FOUND LOVE is forthcoming.
 
Connect with Michelle:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelleyangwriter/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/michellehyang
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michelleyangwriter
Website:
 
Ronit is a writer, teacher, and mom who has taught elementary school through high school and whose writing has been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, Salon, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, Scary Mommy, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about her body image struggles and the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is also host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and Let’s Talk Memoir.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Have a body image story you’d like Ronit to read on air or want to take the Your Body and the World survey? Follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZiXP1FklUkWaYg4T6IAqFKDRp6OIvef4be8SRHVaaWt044w/viewform
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates:
 
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://twitter.com/RonitPlank
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
Photo credit: Baran Lotfollahi on Unsplash
Theme music: The Lighthouse by Sounds Like Sander

Healing From Family Body Shame featuring Meg Weber

Meg Weber joins The Body Myth for a conversation about growing up in the shadow of her mother’s fixation on size, negative messages about food, and childhood visits to dieticians. Also in this episode, how body dissatisfaction strongly influenced her sister’s death by suicide and the joy Meg has finally been able to find in her body because of, not in spite of, its shape.
 
Meg Weber writes memoir about sex, grief, love, family, therapy, and tangled relationships. She is a queer writer and a mental health therapist who specializes in gender and sexuality. Her debut memoir, A Year of Mr. Lucky, launched in February of 2021, and she is at work on her second memoir. She lives in a suburb of Portland, Oregon with her wife, her teenager, a therapy labradoodle named Portland, and two cats. 
 
Connect with Meg:
https://www.megweberwriter.com/a-year-of-mr-lucky
Purchase A Year of Mr. Lucky from Bookshop
 
Ronit is a writer, teacher, and mom who has taught elementary school through high school and whose writing has been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, Salon, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, Scary Mommy, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about her body image struggles and the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is also host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and Let’s Talk Memoir.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Have a body image story you’d like Ronit to read on air or want to take the Your Body and the World survey? Follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZiXP1FklUkWaYg4T6IAqFKDRp6OIvef4be8SRHVaaWt044w/viewform
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://twitter.com/RonitPlank
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
Photo credit: Baran Lotfollahi on Unsplash
Theme music: The Lighthouse by Sounds Like Sander

From Childhood Gymnastics to Puberty to Motherhood: a Body Judgment Story featuring Alyson Shelton

Alyson Shelton joins The Body Myth for a conversation about growing up in a household hyper-focused on body size with a father who objectified women, how gymnastics shaped her childhood until puberty disrupted it, and what she has done in recent years to quiet the self-judgment that has been part of her life for as long as she can remember.
 
Alyson Shelton wrote and directed the award-winning feature, Eve of Understanding. She wrote and created the comic, Reburn, which successfully funded Issues #1 and #2 on Kickstarter during 2021. The art for Reburn Issues #3 and #4, is close to completion, prepping for a Kickstarter launch in March 2022. Her original screenplay, The Night We Met, was selected for the 2nd round of the 2021 Sundance Creative Producers Lab. Additionally, her essays have appeared in The New York Times, Ms., Hobart Pulp, Survivor Lit, Little Old Lady (LOL) Comedy Blog and others. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @byalysonshelton where you can watch and participate in a IG Live poetry series inspired by Geore Ella Lyon's poem, 'Where I'm From.'
 
www.alysonshelton.com
https://www.instagram.com/byalysonshelton/
https://twitter.com/byalysonshelton
 
Ronit is a writer, teacher, and mom who has taught elementary school through high school and whose writing has been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, Salon, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, Scary Mommy, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about her body image struggles and the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is also host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and Let’s Talk Memoir.
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
Have a body image story you’d like Ronit to read on air or want to take the Your Body and the World survey? Follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZiXP1FklUkWaYg4T6IAqFKDRp6OIvef4be8SRHVaaWt044w/viewform
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates: https://bit.ly/33nyTKd
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://twitter.com/RonitPlank
https://www.facebook.com/RonitPlank
Photo credit: Baran Lotfollahi on Unsplash
Theme music: The Lighthouse by Sounds Like Sander

Trailer: The Body Myth

My name is Ronit and it’s my pleasure to introduce The Body Myth podcast which features conversations with women about their relationship to their bodies, when they first began judging themselves, how self-surveillance has impacted their lives, and what they’ve come to understand about their bodies and the world. These interviews have opened my eyes even more to how universal body judgment seems to be among Western women and how much time we spend denigrating ourselves. Each episode of The Body Myth explores how we got here, why our size and shape has nothing to do with happiness, and what we can do to find body peace. I am so excited to bring you this show and the first two episodes which launch on March 22, 2022.
Be sure and hit the subscribe button now so you don’t miss episodes one and two when they drop.
 
Ronit is a writer, teacher, and mom who has taught elementary school through high school and whose writing has been featured in The Atlantic, The Rumpus, Salon, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Writer’s Digest, Scary Mommy, American Literary Review, and elsewhere. Her memoir WHEN SHE COMES BACK about her body image struggles and the loss of her mother to the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh was named Finalist in both the 2021 Best Book Awards and the 2021 Book of the Year Award and a 2021 Best True Crime Book by Book Riot. Her short story collection HOME IS A MADE-UP PLACE won Hidden River Arts’ 2020 Eludia Award and will be published in 2022. She is also host and producer of the podcasts And Then Everything Changed and Let’s Talk Memoir.
 
More about Ronit: https://ronitplank.com
 
Have a body image story you’d like Ronit to read on air or want to take the Your Body and the World survey? Follow this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScZiXP1FklUkWaYg4T6IAqFKDRp6OIvef4be8SRHVaaWt044w/viewform
Sign up for monthly podcast and writing updates:
 
Follow Ronit:
https://www.instagram.com/ronitplank/
https://twitter.com/RonitPlank
 
Photo credit: Baran Lotfollahi on Unsplash
Theme music: The Lighthouse by Sounds Like Sander