Episode 6: Body Image, Eating Behaviors, and Rewiring Our Relationship to Food
This episode focuses on body image and its effects on self-esteem, particularly for women during different life stages, such as pre- and post-pregnancy. The speaker shares personal experiences and insights from their counseling practice, emphasizing how body image can lead to disordered eating behaviors and eating disorders.
Key points include:
Distinction Between Disordered Eating and Eating Disorders: Disordered eating involves unhealthy eating patterns that may cause emotional distress, while eating disorders are clinically significant and often require medical intervention.
Impact of Life Changes: Women's bodies change significantly during pregnancy and postpartum, and societal pressure to "bounce back" can exacerbate negative body image.
Emotional Connection to Eating: Individuals may make emotional decisions regarding food, leading to a cycle of stress and disordered behaviors.
Self-Reflection and Awareness: The speaker advocates for practices that enhance body awareness and emotional health, encouraging individuals to focus on feelings rather than solely on food and body image.
Acceptance of Change: Emphasizing the importance of accepting body changes over time, the speaker suggests that surrendering to these transitions can lead to healthier self-perception.
Community Support: The message encourages seeking help and building a supportive community to navigate body image challenges together.
The overarching theme is the importance of self-acceptance and emotional well-being in the journey of body image and eating behaviors.
Stephanie Konter-O'Hara is deeply passionate about the work she does as a clinician, supervisor, business owner, podcaster, wife and mother as they all inspire her to be the best version of herself and challenge her everyday. A guiding mantra that Stephanie follows in life is the Gandhi quote of "be the change you want to see in the world", and this inspires her to keep doing things in a way that don't necessarily follow the mold but is ideally changing the world one interaction at a time. She believes her purpose is to inspire others to be the best version of themselves and empower every person to deeply know they are good enough just the way they are.