Nourish & Empower
Have you ever felt like you could use a little extra support when working on your relationship with food and your body? Join Jessica, a Licensed Professional Counselor, and Maggie, a Registered Dietitian & Certified Eating Disorders Specialist, along with special guests, as we chat about mental health, nutrition, eating disorders, diet culture, body image, and so much more. Together, we have close to 20 years of experience working in eating disorders and mental health treatment. Let’s redefine, reclaim, & restore the true meaning of health on The Nourish & Empower Podcast.
Episodes
104 episodes
The Seasons of Friendship
Friendships can be the best part of life and also the most confusing to navigate once you’re an adult. We’re talking about the stuff people whisper to a therapist or text to a best friend at midnight: feeling lonely even when you have people, w...
Sick Days, Guilt Free
The moment you realize you’re getting sick, it’s not just your throat or stomach that drops. For a lot of us, guilt shows up too. We start bargaining with our bodies, pushing through work, skipping real rest, and then feeling anxious when appet...
Beyond Body Positivity: What Does It Mean to Accept Yourself?
Food rules can feel like the only thing keeping you together until you realize they’re also keeping you trapped. We sit down with TEDx speaker, best-selling author, and spiritual guide Marla Mervis-Hartmann to get honest about the real engine b...
Is Your Routine Healthy or Disordered?
Your routine can look “healthy” on the outside and still feel like a full-time job on the inside. We’re talking about that uneasy moment when structure turns into rigidity, when a missed workout or a different breakfast doesn’t feel like a norm...
The Eating Disorder Support System You Didn't Know Existed
The scariest part of an eating disorder is often the beginning, when you finally admit something is wrong and have no idea where to turn next. We’re joined by Simone Seitz, Executive Director of the Carolina Resource Center for Eating Disorders...
Men, Eating Disorders, & the Pressure to be Perfect
Looksmaxxing. Protein obsession. Teen guys in the gym before sunrise. And, in the most extreme corners, men literally trying to “fix” their faces and bodies to match an online ideal. We’re joined again by Eric Pothen to talk frankly about what ...
The Oreogate Food Fight
A “no Oreos” message in a kindergarten parent group chat shouldn’t be headline-worthy, but the blow-up says everything about diet culture, control, and what kids learn when adults moralize food. We walk through the Oreo Gate timeline from the o...
Chronic Illness, Body Image & Nourishment
Chronic illness can quietly take over everything: your schedule, your energy, your relationships, and eventually your identity. We sit down with Jennifer Zator, LCSW, a therapist who specializes in chronic illness, eating disorders, and body im...
Your Body Is Not a Postpartum Before & After
The postpartum period can feel like you’re recovering from something huge while the world keeps asking you to “snap back” and smile through it. We wanted a more honest conversation, so we brought on Emily Henning Kuzmanoski, a licensed therapis...
Recovery on Campus: Friends, Roommates & Sorority Life
College is supposed to be a fresh start, but if you are living with an eating disorder, trauma, anxiety, or depression, that “new chapter” can turn into the perfect storm fast. We sit down with Lindsay James, LCSW, an eating disorder and trauma...
Is It Ever Okay To Comment On Someone's Body?
A single comment about someone’s body can feel harmless, even caring, until you zoom out and see what it reinforces: diet culture, comparison, and the idea that our bodies are public property. We sit with the discomfort of recent online discour...
The Audacity of Imposter Syndrome
Your brain can call you a fraud in seconds, even when you’ve done the work, earned the credential, or lived the experience. We get honest about what imposter syndrome actually feels like, starting with a surprisingly relatable moment: going bac...
Contemplating Treatment? Let's Talk Admissions
The hardest part of getting help is often the moment before help begins: that first phone call. We sit down with Alycia Aldieri, a behavioral health professional, who leads admissions for eating disorder treatment programs, to explain what “hig...
Choosing Confidence in a Thin-Obsessed World
Your jeans fit yesterday, the “same size” won’t go past your shoulders today, and suddenly you are questioning everything. We are talking about the messy intersection of body image, clothing, and summertime pressure, and why it can feel so hard...
What If Meeting With A Dietitian Felt Safe?
People hear “dietitian” and picture rules, judgment, and a perfect plate. We want to replace that stereotype with something more honest: nutrition counseling that feels human, collaborative, and actually useful. We’re joined by Mia Bailey, RD, ...
The Summer I Tuned Out Diet Culture
Summer can feel like a spotlight you never asked for. The beach, the pool, family photos, patio dinners, and travel routines can crank up body image anxiety, diet culture thoughts, and old eating disorder patterns even when you truly want to ha...
GLP-1s, Boundaries, and Protecting Your Recovery
GLP-1 medications are no longer just a headline, they’re showing up at family parties, in group chats, and at work. When bodies change fast and the story is “I’m just eating cleaner,” it can stir up a messy mix of grief, anger, jealousy, confus...
Are We Self Diagnosing Typical Human Experiences?
The internet can hand you a mental health label in 30 seconds and that speed is exactly the problem. We sit down with Kyra McFadden, LPC and founder of the Emotional Processing Project, to talk about what gets lost when TikTok therapy turns com...
Does Harm Reduction Have a Place in Eating Disorder Recovery?
Black-and-white recovery rules can sound “safe” on paper, but they often create the exact thing we’re trying to prevent: secrecy. We sit down with returning guest Johanna Scoglio, educator, writer, peer supporter, and author of *When the Water ...
Recovery Isn’t Linear: If Recovery Feels Hard Right Now, Listen to This
Healing can feel like you’re doing everything “right” and then one trigger knocks you sideways. We’re naming that experience for what it is: normal, common, and not proof you’re failing. Recovery isn’t linear, especially when you’re trying to r...
A Compassionate Conversation on Eating Disorders & Substance Use
Treating an eating disorder while ignoring substance use is like trying to put out a fire while a second one burns behind you. We sit down with Leslie Plaia, Executive Director of Magnolia Creek and a licensed counselor with deep experie...
What If They’re Judging Me? Food Guilt, Body Image & Learning to Let Go
Nobody at the beach is thinking about your body as much as you are and that truth can be weirdly freeing. We sit down for a candid, story-driven chat about food guilt, body image, and the spike in body scrutiny that hits when the weather warms ...
From Doomscrolling to Disconnection: The Impact of Screen Time
Your phone can be a tool, a comfort, a classroom, and a trigger all at once and your body often pays the price before you even realize it. We sit down with registered dietitian Kelsey McNulty, founder of True North Nutrition, to unpack how soci...
Consistent, Not Constant: Rethinking Support
Want to help someone with an eating disorder without turning into the food police? We sit down with eating disorder dietitian Kelly May to get painfully practical about what to say, what to avoid, and how to build support that actually reduces ...
You Deserve To Be Present On Your Wedding Day
Wedding season can make even the most grounded person start negotiating with their body. Suddenly it’s not just a dress, it’s photos, comments, fittings, “just until the wedding” rules, and the fear that you’ll spend a once-in-a-lifetime day th...