#135: When Drinking Collides with Diet Culture, and Recovery Without Labels with Lael Atkinson

Have you ever wondered how alcohol fits into diet culture, or how it can intersect with and impact restrictive eating? We're diving into the connection between drinking and diet culture in this episode. Lael Atkinson, a recovery coach, joins Abbie to share their experiences with disordered eating, alcohol, and body image, how these issues have intersected with queerness, and other manifestations of these coping tools in their life. The conversation also explores the differences and similarities between drinking and dieting, how shame and body disconnection can show up in both, the overlap of substance abuse and disordered eating, and how this shows up in gender and sexuality.  If you want to hear a full episode all about whether "food addiction" is an evidence-based concept, Abbie went deep on that in this bonus episode. Important note: Lael's group program will now be launching in October, rather than September. You can learn more about it right here! Lael Atkinson (they/them) is a certified professional recovery coach who works at the intersection of drinking and dieting. They support folks who struggle with alcohol and/or with disordered eating & body image issues. Lael also runs the Beyond Shrinking & Drinking course and group coaching program. Grab her free resource on how to avoid feeling "addicted" to food and sugar right here.   Support the show: Enjoying this podcast? Please support the show on Patreon for bonus episodes, community engagement, and access to "Ask Abbie" at Patreon.com/fullplate   Group program: Looking for more support and concrete steps to take to heal your relationship with food and your body? Apply for Abbie's next 10-week group program: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/group-coaching   Group membership: Already been at this anti-diet culture thing for a while, but want community and continued learning? Apply for Abbie's monthly membership: https://www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/circle-monthly-group   Social media: Find the show on Instagram: @fullplate.podcast Find Abbie on Instagram: @abbieattwoodwellness   Transcripts: If you’re looking for transcripts, you can find those on Abbie's website, www.abbieattwoodwellness.com/podcast   Podcast Cover Photography by Anya McInroy Podcast Editing by Brian Walters This podcast is ad-free and support comes from our Patrons on Patreon: Patreon.com/fullplate