"If we are not clear on what our values are, they will be prescribed for us."

Is living by someone else’s “shoulds” quietly running your life? In this conversation with psychotherapist and Momwell founder, Erica Djossa, we unpack how inherited expectations around productivity, motherhood, and diet culture can pull you away from your true values and impact your relationship with food and your body. You’ll leave with practical steps and reflective questions to identify what actually matters to you, build self-trust, and choose peace over burnout.

What You’ll Learn:

1. How our definition of health is shaped, and sometimes distorted, by family, society, and diet culture
2. Why living a values-aligned life can anchor your food and body healing journey
3. Simple ways to start untangling the “shoulds” from your true priorities
4. How to use your values as a compass when food rules and comparison creep in
5. Strategies to sort out which values are genuinely yours, and which are inherited or anxiety-driven
6. How self-compassion and curiosity can guide you through value discovery, even when it feels messy or emotional

Connect with Erica:

1. Instagram: @momwell
2. Momwell website
3. Erica's website
4. Free Values Sort

Struggling to know when to eat or when to stop isn’t a failure… it could be a byproduct of following diet rules instead of your body’s cues. The free Hunger & Fullness Scale Guide helps you ditch the noise and tune back into the cues your body is sending to build trust with your body and food. Get it at DietCultureRebel.com/hungerfullnessscale.

Come back next week for another episode and connect with me over on Instagram at @diet.culture.rebel.

Struggling with food, but not sure where to start?

You don’t have to feel 100% ready to get support. If you're tired of obsessing over food or feeling stuck in the diet cycle, my team of Registered Dietitians is here to help. We offer one-on-one nutrition counseling—and we accept insurance! Spots are limited, so head to https://dietculturerebel.com/insurance to see if we’re covered in your state and learn how to get started.

“When overeating is not treated like a moral failure, it loses its power.”

Do you feel the pressure to finish every bite on your plate, even after you’re full, and wonder why it’s so hard to stop? You’re definitely not alone. In this episode, we unpack the roots of clean plate club struggles, from childhood dinner table rules and food scarcity to family beliefs and diet culture, and explore why it’s not simply a matter of discipline. I share my own story and help you reframe these habits with compassion instead of shame, recognizing how they may have once served you. You’ll walk away with practical tools to build mindful pauses into your meals, reconnect with your hunger and fullness cues, and eat in a way that truly feels good - without guilt or outdated rules attached.

What You’ll Learn:

1. Why stopping when you’re full isn’t about willpower or discipline, and what’s actually driving the struggle
2. How childhood experiences, praise, and family dynamics might have shaped your “clean plate club” habits
3. Why compassion (not self-blame) is the key to loosening the grip of these patterns
4. Powerful mindset shifts to start eating what and how much feels good to you
5. How to reconnect with your body’s hunger and fullness signals
6. Practical action steps to gently break free from automatic plate-cleaning

Resources:

1. Grab the Hunger & Fullness Scale Guide at DietCultureRebel.com/hungerfullnessscale and take your next step toward building trust with your body and food.
2. Episode 230, The Hunger and Fullness Scale: What It Is and How to Use It
3. Connect with me over on Instagram at @diet.culture.rebel.

Struggling with food, but not sure where to start?

You don’t have to feel 100% ready to get support. If you're tired of obsessing over food or feeling stuck in the diet cycle, my team of Registered Dietitians is here to help. We offer one-on-one nutrition counseling—and we accept insurance! Spots are limited, so head to https://dietculturerebel.com/insurance to see if we’re covered in your state and learn how to get started.

"What we call healthy on the outside does not always reflect what is happening on the inside."

A missing menstrual cycle is often one of the body’s earliest warning signs that something is off beneath the surface. In this episode, I’m joined by Dr. Nicola Sykes, a leading expert on hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA), to talk about what it really means when your period goes missing, why HA can affect bodies of any size, and how normalized “healthy” behaviors and weight stigma often delay real support. This conversation goes beyond fertility to explore how to listen to your body, understand the signals it’s sending, and support your health in a sustainable way.

✅ What You’ll Learn:

1. Why habits like carb-cutting, intermittent fasting, and intense exercise can disrupt your menstrual cycle
2. How under-fueling, stress, and exercise multiply to trigger hypothalamic amenorrhea
3. Why anyone, regardless of body size, can experience HA, and what makes weight-based assumptions so harmful
4. What a disrupted cycle looks like and why tracking ovulation matters
5. How to start reconnecting with your body, tune into real hunger and fullness cues, and ditch shame in favor of curiosity
6. Actionable first steps for period recovery, including why eating breakfast is a big deal!

🔗 Connect with Dr. Nicola:

1. Instagram: @noperiodnowwhat
2. Website
3. Period recovery support group
4. Blog post mentioned: Diagnosing Hypothalamic Amenorrhea
5. The Missed Menstrual Periods Study at Mayo Clinic Florida

✨ Struggling to know when to eat or when to stop isn’t a failure… it could be a byproduct of following diet rules instead of your body’s cues. The free Hunger & Fullness Scale Guide helps you ditch the noise and tune back into the cues your body is sending to build trust with your body and food. Get it at DietCultureRebel.com/hungerfullnessscale.

Come back next week for another episode and connect with me over on Instagram at @diet.culture.rebel. 💕

Struggling with food, but not sure where to start?

You don’t have to feel 100% ready to get support. If you're tired of obsessing over food or feeling stuck in the diet cycle, my team of Registered Dietitians is here to help. We offer one-on-one nutrition counseling—and we accept insurance! Spots are limited, so head to https://dietculturerebel.com/insurance to see