Part 3 of a 3 part series: "Creating Social Change in the Sport World"  Episode 3:  Power of Sharing Your Recovery Journey-- Most people who struggle with disordered eating or an eating disorder grapple with how much and to whom they share their struggle with. Amelia Boone, a world class obstacle racer and ultrarunner, is no exception. Amelia talks about her “why” of sharing vulnerably and openly about her recovery journey with an eating disorder to her social media community.  Listen as Kara Bazzi, co-founder and Clinical Director of Opal, and Amelia talk about the risks and rewards of sharing your story, both in the public and private domains. They explore how to discern when to speak up and when to set personal boundaries in service of your recovery. To get to know Amelia more:   http://www.ameliabooneracing.com/ @arboone11 Connect with Opal:  www.opalfoodandbody.com Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/  

Part 2 of a 3 part series: "Creating Social Change in the Sport World"  Episode 2:  Power of Writing-- Diet culture messages pervade all media- from advertisements, to magazines, to Instagram and TikTok. It’s no exception in the sport world- harmful, antiquated messages pop up everywhere that perpetuate disordered eating and body image distress. These harmful messages promote a particular athlete body ideal, overemphasizing the connection between weight and performance. Elizabeth Carey, author, writer and running coach, is determined to change the narrative in media and is taking meaningful action. As a journalist and author, she uses her experience in the sport of distance running, along with her talent and opportunities, to boldly combat the destructive myths that public forums of media serve us. Listen in as Kara Bazzi, Opal co-founder and Clinical Director, talks with Elizabeth about the power of writing to create necessary change. You will leave feeling inspired by hope in the “turning of the needle” that is happening in media, along with considering a personal invitation to use writing as a tool for individual change and healing. To learn more about Elizabeth Carey's work:  www.elizabethwcarey.com   Connect with Opal:  www.opalfoodandbody.com Facebook Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Youtube   Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

Part 1 of a 3 part series: "Creating Social Change in the Sport World" Episode 1: Power of Coaches-- The "win at all costs" sport culture needs to retire and be replaced by the "whole person athlete" culture. In this episode of The Appetite, Opal co-founder and Clinical Director Kara Bazzi, talks with two coaches who are doing just that-- actively working towards the "whole person athlete" sport culture. Listen as Marie Davis Markham and Robyn McGillis share their story as coaches who developed a community of learning called Wildwood Running to make an impact beyond their respective sport teams in the Portland, Oregon area. Wildwood Running's mission is to guide, empower, connect and educate young female runners and coaches that impact young female runners. Coaches and athletes, tune in to be inspired and learn that a healthy sports culture is possible! To learn more about Wildwood: www.wildwoodrunning.com Connect with Opal:  www.opalfoodandbody.com Facebook Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Youtube   Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/ Administrative support by Camille Dodson

We're excited to bring you our conversation with Christy Harrison MPH, RD, CEDRD author of Anti-Diet and host of the Food Psych podcast. Many of you might know of Christy's work, but might not know what led her to shift her career from working as a journalist reporting on food sustainability to becoming an anti-diet dietitian, author, and host. She breaks down her personal journey with food and eating disorder recovery and how it ultimately led her to write Anti-Diet, a culmination of her research on the history of diet culture, its roots in systems of oppression, Health at Every Size, intuitive eating, and so much more.   Connect with Christy: Website URL: https://christyharrison.com/ Instagram Handle: https://www.instagram.com/chr1styharrison/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/christyharrisonnutrition Twitter Handle: https://twitter.com/chr1styharrison iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/food-psych/id700512884 Book: Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating  Podcast: Food Psych   Connect with Opal:  www.opalfoodandbody.com     Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/ Administrative support by Camille Dodson

"Food is fuel". " You are a machine". "You look fit". "You are what you eat". These are all messages about food and our bodies that are commonplace, yet born out of diet culture. Opal Co-Founder and Clinical Director Kara Bazzi talks with dietitian and endurance athlete Maria Dalzot, RD about how these messages are falling short and not supporting our athletes well-being and performance. In this episode, Maria passionately offers important alternatives to the cultural messages, informed by Intuitive Eating and trauma-informed care. She helps us understand the role our autonomic nervous system plays in our relationship to food and why we need to go beyond prescriptive nutrition interventions in talking with our athletes.    Links: Maria Dalzot RD   The Polyvagal Theory in Therapy: Engaging the Rhythm of Regulation (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology): Dana, Deb, Porges, Stephen W.: 9780393712377: Amazon.com: Books   Social Determinants of Health | NCHHSTP | CDC   Connect with Opal:  www.opalfoodandbody.com     Thank you to our team...   Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/ Administrative support by Camille Dodson

You will be happy to bend your ear (maybe again) for this one!  Julie Church, RDN and Carter Umhau, LMHC talk with Erin Harrop (now doctor Erin Harrop, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Denver) about healthism, the use of the word "fat," fat liberation and intersectionality.  Dr. Harrop shares their personal experience to spotlight problems with the over-focus on weight in eating disorder treatment. The Appetite crew released this interview 3 years ago and it is even more relevant to our cultural conversation today.  If you are interested in learning more about Health at Every Size, you can join Julie Church for her yearly Introduction to Health at Every Size training this month! Julie's training is available as a pre-recorded webinar and will be followed by a live Q&A panel with Julie, Erin Harrop and Opal dietitian Alyssa Davis on March 23rd at 12pm. You can find more information here.  Links: Dr. Harrop's article in Women and Therapy (2018):  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31595100/   For more learning, Dr. Harrop recommends: 1. Fat Girls in Black Bodies by Joy Arlene Renee Cox Ph.D.  2. The Adipositivity Project: https://theadipositivityproject.zenfolio.com/all 3. Children's book: Free to be Me: Self Love for all Sizes  by Dr. Leslie Williams Connect with Opal:  www.opalfoodandbody.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/ Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos      Thank you to our team... Thanks to David Bazzi for editing, Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support.  Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

What does eating disorder recovery have to do with the Biden-Harris inauguration ceremony? Take a listen to Opal Co-Founders Lexi Giblin, PhD, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, and Julie Church, RDN consider this question on the heels of the historic inauguration ceremony. They connect the dots through themes of learning to celebrate, divesting from perfectionism, self-compassion, empathy, authenticity, celebration of diversity, and unity.   Links: @amandascgorman @kamalaharris @michelleobama  President Joe Biden's inaugural address: Watch full speech video from Inauguration Day 2021  READ: Transcript of Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem | TheHill Brené on Words, Actions, Dehumanization, and Accountability   Connect with Opal:  www.opalfoodandbody.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/ Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos      Thank you to our team... Thanks to David Bazzi for editing, Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support.  Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

If you haven't heard about or tuned into the Netflix docuseries, MOVE, now's the time! MOVE takes you through the lived experiences of dancers around the globe, and offers a visceral experience of movement that brings transformation and healing- both individually and collectively. These dancers are not motivated to lose weight or change their bodies- their dancing is about passion, healing, emoting and liberating from oppression. The series does a brilliant job of addressing social identities such as race, gender, class, and sexual expression within the context of dance. Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, Co-Founder, Clinical Director and Head of the Exercise+Sport team at Opal talks with Josh Spell, LICSW, Primary Therapist and Exercise Experiential therapist at Opal, as well as a former professional ballet dancer and consulting therapist for Pacific Northwest Ballet. Kara and Josh offer their reflections on MOVE, tying the themes of the docuseries into the work of healing one's disordered relationship to movement that often comes with the territory of an eating disorder.   If you want to hear more from Josh, talking about body image in dance, yoga and fitness, please consider registering for his upcoming seminar on January 14th at 10am PST. Link here: Body Image in dance, yoga and fitness: Am I contributing to the problem?    Links: MOVE- Netflix   Connect with Opal:  www.opalfoodandbody.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/ Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos      Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/ Administrative support by Camille Dodson

Originally released in 2018, we felt this interview was worth repeating! At a time where sports and athletics are turned upside down due to the pandemic, a silver lining is that it's creating new time and space for both athletes and coaches to learn and become more centered in what is most important and enduring in athletics. In this conversation about the influential position a coach has on an athlete's life and performance, Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi LMFT, CEDS and Carter Umhau, LMHCA interview Sally Revere, head Cross Country and Track & Field coach at Lakeside High School in Seattle. Sally offers practical advice on how she addresses food and body concerns on her team, as well as addressing the power of coaching from a whole athlete perspective. Kara and Carter bring in questions about temperament as it relates to sport performance, and how a coach can facilitate a sense of community and joy on their team. If you are a coach or an athlete, you don't want to miss this episode! Sally offers incredible wisdom and inspiration from her 30 years of coaching experience. Resources: Letter to Coaches From a Mental Health Therapist, by Kara Bazzi: http://www.opalfoodandbody.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Letter-To-Coaches.pdf  Compulsive Exercise and Eating Disorders, by Caroline Meyer et al: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/erv.1122/abstract  Perfectionism versus excellence: https://wp.me/a5Br2M-7To    Connect with Opal:  www.opalfoodandbody.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/ Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos    Thank you to our team… David Bazzi for editing. Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support. Aaron Davidson for the original music  https://soundcloud.com/diet75/

How does being marginalized impact a person’s health and physiology? Dr. Lindo Bacon, who has spent their career advocating for social justice at the intersection of weight and health, joins this episode to share about their newest book, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming it for the Better). In conversation with Opal Co-Founder Julie Church and host and therapist Carter Umhau, Lindo shares how their experience of  being other-ed for their gender identity led them into their research on interpersonal neurobiology, and why self-help won’t save us.    Links: Learn more about Dr. Lindo Bacon and their work at https://lindobacon.com/ Dr. Lindo Bacon on Instagram: @lindobacon Twitter and Facebook: @LindoBaconX   Connect with Opal:  www.opalfoodandbody.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Opalfoodandbodywisdom/ Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter: https://twitter.com/opalfoodandbody?lang=en Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/OpalFoodandBody/videos      Thank you to our team... Editing by Hans Anderson: http://www.hfanderson.com/ Music by Aaron Davidson: https://soundcloud.com/diet75/ Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center: http://www.jackstraw.org/ Host and Producer Carter Umhau: www.carterumhau.com