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

In this episode of The Body Grievers® Club, Bri joins therapist/social worker Monica Freudenreich to discuss eating disorders versus disordered eating, emphasizing that most people with eating disorders often go unrecognized or dismissed by providers who lack specialized training and may be influenced by diet culture trends. They describe how diagnostic labels can shift, how insurance and treatment systems affect care, and why focusing on functioning and quality of life matters more than whether someone meets a specific DSM threshold. They critique applying abstinence-based addiction models to food, highlight how "health" is often reduced to weight, and explore the roles of rest, connection, joy, and reducing shame in healing. They also preview an upcoming master class for providers and individuals on assessment, blind spots, body image, and practical strategies.

04:18 Recognizing Disordered Eating

06:58 Monica's ED Work Journey

09:55 Bri's ED Center Reality

12:41 Provider Dissonance Dieting

18:57 Labels Don't Matter

25:42 Healing Inside Diet Culture

35:36 Rest as Radical Health

37:25 Rethinking Addiction and Connection

38:54 Comfort Coping Without Shame

47:55 Rejecting Diet Culture

50:18 About the Masterclass

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Join our upcoming masterclass: Eating Disorder vs. Disordered Eating

Johann Hari: Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9DcIMGxMs

Episode 37: Rest Feels Unsafe

Get on the waitlist for Body Image Bootcamp for providers at https://bodyimagewithbri.mykajabi.com/bootcamp-waitlist-2025

WANT MORE OF MONICA FREUDENREICH?

https://www.monicafreudenreich.com/

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 licensed clinical social worker and parent Keri Baker about body image, food, and raising kids—especially when both parent and child live in larger bodies. Keri shares her history of early dieting, years of chronic dieting, likely undiagnosed eating disorder symptoms, and finding intuitive eating and anti-diet care through supportive providers. They discuss parenting a child with ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder), how it's often mistaken for picky eating, and the added difficulty of seeking medical care when professionals dismiss concerns or focus on weight.

04:02 From Diet Culture to Intuitive Eating

09:43 Parenting With ARFID

13:04 Weight Stigma in Healthcare

22:30 Talking Body Image With Teens

28:33 Intuitive Eating Starts With You

29:51 Division of Responsibility Basics

31:04 When Kids Eat Differently

37:45 Good Enough Nourishment

39:30 Habituated Foods and Interoception

44:25 Advocating at Doctor Visits

WANT MORE OF KERI BAKER?

https://www.keribaker.com/

https://www.dietrecoveryclub.com/

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 shares her five-year movement journey from having no exercise practice to building an intuitive, consistent, feel-good relationship with movement. She traces how the pandemic disrupted her gym routine, triggered body image distress when back pain arose on a short walk, and revealed deeper body grief tied to internalized ableism rather than weight loss. Bri outlines five needs for healing and answers questions about "enough" movement, limited mobility with others, pushing vs listening to the body, and much more.

TIMESTAMPS:

03:12 Pandemic Routine Collapse

10:21 Curiosity Over Criticism

12:50 Sexy Permission to Rest

22:58 Joy as Real Rest

36:42 Intentional Movement Prep

41:09 Pain Without Punishment

42:40 Listener Questions

43:24 Finding Your Why

50:25 Mobility With Friends

01:05:38 Where To Begin

EPISODE RESOURCES:

80. How ADHD Can Impact Your Body Image with Dani Bryant

37. Rest Feels Unsafe

Dr. Saundra Dalton's Seven Types of Rest

Seven Types of Rest Quiz

Examining 12 "Good Fatty" Archetypes We Depend On

66. Core Belief Exploration: Why did I refuse a wheelchair in the airport?

70. Reclaiming Movement + Enoughness with Hannah Husband Get a special discount for the Body Liberation Playground HERE: https://www.hannahhusband.com/bodyliberationplayground-bri

19: Body Pain Is Not Punishment

OrthoFeet Hands-Free Shoes

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

In this episode of The Body GrieversⓇ Club, Bri interviews dietitian and certified diabetes educator Kristie Messerli (The Type 2 Diabetes Nutritionist) about type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, medication, and the shame and fear that often follow diagnosis. Kristie explains diabetes in lay terms, emphasizing insulin resistance as the underlying issue, genetics as a major driver, and the nuance beyond "cut carbs, lose weight, exercise more," especially for women already dieting and exercising. They discuss complications as largely tied to unmanaged diabetes, the reality that medication may still be needed as the pancreas becomes less efficient, and myths about reversal, prediabetes, and weight loss. Kristie also breaks down GLP-1s, cautions against CGMs for people without diabetes/prediabetes, and shares resources, including her Balanced Blood Sugar Method and provider training group.

03:19 Diabetes Explained Simply

06:14 Is Type 2 Your Fault?

12:54 Common Fears and Complications

17:56 Myth or Fact?

21:55 Hormones, Thyroid, and PCOS

29:36 Genetics Loads the Gun

31:45 Healing Trust With Food

43:03 GLP1s Explained

49:20 Medication Fear and Risks

55:58 Diabetes Shame and Culture

59:08 Resources and Next Steps

WANT MORE OF KRISTIE?

Connect with Kristie on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/type2diabetes.nutritionist/

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 shares how receiving five perfectly fitting gowns from Sydney's Closet sparked a corrective experience that contrasted with her 2007 prom season, when a dream dress wouldn't zip and intensified shame, restriction, and a fixation on weight loss that later contributed to pursuing bariatric surgery. She reflects on being pre-diabetic at 16, the discouragement of dieting and being blamed for "not doing it right," and how clothes not fitting became a lasting scar tied to dating, food anxiety, and self-worth. As an eating-disorder-trained clinician with lived experience, Bri names anti-fat bias as stronger than capitalism, grieves exclusion and lack of choice in fashion, critiques the weight-loss-as-health narrative, and describes her current life at 35 as fat, healthier, and free from food obsession, while still navigating structural inaccessibility.

01:58 Flashback to 2007

02:53 Diet Plan and Pressure

05:16 The Prom Dress Dream

06:57 Prom Night Breakdown

09:37 Aftermath and Lasting Scar

11:09 Privilege of Choice

12:22 Sad Truths About Fashion

15:06 When Weight Loss Fails

17:09 Bigger Than Clothes

21:18 Healing Beyond the Scale

23:08 Letter to My 16 Year Old Self

26:11 You Are Worthy

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Stunning gowns designed exclusively for plus sizes at https://sydneyscloset.com/

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