In this episode of The Body GrieversⓇ Club, Bri interviews body image coach and "Body Neutral" author Jessi Kneeland about why body positivity and self-love often feel inaccessible and ignore social context, and how body neutrality focuses on moral neutrality by stripping false, inflated meaning from appearance. Using examples like having a zit, they discuss how body shame spirals come from learned beliefs about worth and failure, and how "health" is frequently used as a socially acceptable cover for body hatred, disordered eating, and orthorexic behaviors. They explore the head-to-heart disconnect, the survival brain's role, the impact of oppression and weight stigma, and how "diet hope" offers false security while body neutrality supports living life despite discomfort.

02:13 Zit Example and Identity

04:38 Orthorexia and Fitness Culture

08:31 Thought Experiments on Health

12:34 Food Shame and Healing

15:57 Moral vs Emotional Neutrality

24:08 Politics Systems and Dissonance

27:47 Head to Heart Disconnect

30:32 False Safety of Thinness

31:34 Patriarchy and Slenderness Trap

33:23 Signs of Body Neutrality

44:41 Beauty Standards and Power

45:41 Complicity and Conscious Choices

WANT MORE OF JESSI?

*Buy her book! Body Neutral

*Website: https://www.jessikneeland.com/

*Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessikneeland/

*Check out our episode on her podcast! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-is-not-about-your-body-the-power-of-body-grief/id1581433799?i=1000602037792

WANT MORE OF BRI?

*Instagram: @bodyimagewithbri


*Website: https://bodyimagewithbri.com/

*Bri's Free Resource: 7-Step Guide to Shift Body Grief to Radical Body Acceptance

https://www.bodyimagewithbri.com/seven-steps

In this episode of The Body Grievers® Club, Bri challenges the idea that confidence comes simply from "doing the thing," arguing that without thought awareness and body connection, change won't stick. She reframes confidence as self-assurance: not the absence of discomfort. Brie shares her history with dieting, bariatric surgery at 19, and the ongoing body image pain that persisted even at a smaller size, leading to a 2015 breaking point to start living her life. She discusses dating fears, fetishization, and values alignment.

03:59 Health And Weight Loss Trap

05:18 Bariatric Surgery Reality

09:07 Breaking Point In 2015

12:11 Dating Fear And Fat Bias

14:40 Self Assurance Framework

15:04 Step One Self Talk Audit

15:41 Step Two Values Reality Test

17:16 Step Three Cement Chair Confidence

21:24 Step Four Trauma Informed Exposure

25:41 Living With Ongoing Body Grief

EPISODE RESOURCES

Episode 21: Bri's Body Image Breaking Point

WANT MORE OF BRI?

*Instagram: @bodyimagewithbri


*Website: https://bodyimagewithbri.com/

*Bri's Free Resource: 7-Step Guide to Shift Body Grief to Radical Body Acceptance

https://www.bodyimagewithbri.com/seven-steps

In this episode of The Body GrieversⓇ Club, Bri interviews Ashantis Jones, a counselor and ASM-certified personal trainer, about healing body image and movement through an intersectional, weight-inclusive lens. Ashantis shares how her eating disorder recovery, later neurodivergence diagnoses (ADHD/autism traits and ARFID), and experience with fibromyalgia shaped her approach to care, emphasizing that diagnoses can be useful but aren't always required to provide support. They discuss body positivity as a social justice movement, how privilege and systemic oppression—including racism, fatphobia, ableism, and capitalism—shape access to care and eating disorder treatment, and why decolonizing mental health matters. Ashantis explains that weight-inclusive fitness can look the same as weight-centric training, but focuses on functional goals, accommodations, rest, and building body trust rather than weight loss.

06:38 Recovery Origin Story

11:47 Eating Disorder Realizations

13:19 ARFID ADHD Nuance

15:58 Diagnoses And Shame

19:34 Intersectionality Basics 24:10 Decolonizing Mental Health

31:02 Defensiveness And Learning

32:26 Learning Beyond Your Bubble

33:12 Pandemic Backlash and Diet Culture

40:12 Movement as Body Trust

42:45 Chronic Illness and Ableism Realities

56:13 Read Books Not Hot Takes

WANT MORE OF ASHANTIS?

https://www.ashantisjones.com/

https://www.patreon.com/bodykindnutrition/about

WANT MORE OF BRI?

*Instagram: @bodyimagewithbri


*Website: https://bodyimagewithbri.com/

*Bri's Free Resource: 7-Step Guide to Shift Body Grief to Radical Body Acceptance