#72: The Pressure To Freeze Your Body In Time [Diet Culture & Aging] with Debra Benfield, RDN

The Full Plate Podcast with Abbie Attwood, MS

Today Debra Benfield, RDN, joins the pod to speak with Abbie about the intersection of diet culture, anti-fatness, and anti-aging. This is one you won't want to miss. Because guess what? We're all aging, and it's a privilege. But diet culture continues to sell us a myriad of ways to "prevent" or hide that natural process. Tune in to hear more about how women in mid-life are particularly susceptible to developing disordered eating and what messaging to be wary of.

More topics dicussed:

• Peri-menopause and menopause diet culture messages
• How aging creates vulnerability to damaging diet/wellness culture
• Mid-life marketing and disordered eating advice
• Belly fat, strength training, and other incessent messaging about aging
• Ableism, sexism, and agism coinciding
• How wellness culture capitalizes on our fear of aging and death
• Wrinkles, botox, and the skin-care industry
• Fear-mongering around food and disease
• The impact of stress and restricive eating on longevity
• What we can do to reclaim our time and energy and power

Debra has helped hundreds of women heal their relationship with food and their bodies over her 35-year career as a Registered Dietitian. She specializes in the prevention and treatment of disordered eating, and brings her passion, expertise, and lived experience to the intersection of pro-aging and body liberation work. Deb’s work is rooted in helping clients recognize internalized ageism and end it, dismantle internalized diet culture and fatphobia, see midlife and beyond as a time of Emergence, nourish their bodies to support vitality and aging, and develop a respectful partnership with their bodies.

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Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast

Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness

Find Debra on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agingbodyliberation/