Welcome

Episode description:

Weight stigma is woven into nearly every part of our society, from healthcare and the media to the design of public spaces and comments made in everyday conversation. Its message to people in larger bodies is that their bodies are wrong, and that the wrongness is theirs to fix. In recognition of Weight Stigma Awareness Week, Jillian follows that stigma into a place it does some of its deepest damage: the development, maintenance, and diagnosis of eating disorders.

Episode description:

Katelyn Olmsted first joined Peace Meal in 2025 to talk about her eating disorder, her time in treatment, and the book she began writing while in care. Now a year further into recovery, she returns to the show as a college student with a second book out in the world. The Recovery Click started with a single text Katelyn sent to a friend from treatment (“what made you want to choose recovery?”) and grew from there: interviews with people in recovery and the therapeutic assistants who watched them pursue it, and reflections from Katelyn herself on the daily practices that keep her choosing recovery too.

You might have started the new school year knowing you were struggling with an eating disorder. Or you might only be beginning to suspect that something isn’t right.

Either way, maybe you hoped the routine would help: that classes, friends, and a full schedule would leave less room for it. Maybe you decided you could manage for now and wait to see whether things got “serious enough.” When getting help could mean missing class or watching everyone else keep going without you, waiting can feel like the safer choice.

Postponing help doesn’t protect your school year from an eating disorder. Left untreated, these illnesses can interfere with everything you’re trying to protect: your focus, your health, your friendships, and your ability to participate in school.

Reviewed by Mindy Elliott, MS, Director of Education at The Emily Program.

The fear of slipping behind in school shouldn’t be a barrier to connecting with lifesaving eating disorder care. While this concern is common and valid, your child or patient’s health must come before any outside commitments or responsibilities—including their education. The good news? Prioritizing health does not have to adversely affect academic progress.

At The Emily Program, we are committed to helping our clients stay on track with school while getting the vital eating disorder support they need. The process of navigating your child’s education and treatment may feel like an impossible balancing act, but we are here to help.

If you’re a parent, keeping up with the latest slang your child uses can sometimes feel like learning another language. And when it comes to social media, that language can change quickly.

Some terms kids and teens use online may seem harmless (and may be completely unfamiliar to parents) but can sometimes signal exposure to content focused on weight, appearance, dieting, or exercise, including content that promotes disordered eating or negative body image. This doesn’t mean that using a particular word automatically means your child has an eating disorder. Rather, understanding the language can help parents know what their child may be encountering online and open the door to supportive conversations.

Episode description:

When a well-known person’s body is suddenly all anyone can talk about, the pull to pile on—or to compare yourself against them—can be strong.

Jillian’s general guidance is simple: we’re typically better off not commenting on other people’s bodies at all. But the real exception is genuine concern for someone in your life, and she models the I-framed language that can help keep a comment from tipping into judgment. She also gets practical for the adults listening, including how to have conversations with kids about what they’re seeing online, why what you say about your own body in front of them matters, and how to talk about comparison itself, which rarely leaves anyone feeling better.

**Content warning: This episode includes discussion of suicidal ideation and a suicide attempt. Please use your discretion when listening and speak with your support system as needed. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by texting or calling 988. LGBTQ+ young people can also reach The Trevor Project 24/7 by calling 1-866-488-7386, texting START to 678-678, or chatting online. 

Episode description:

Danny Wakefield joins Peace Meal to share his story of recovery from an eating disorder—a “full circle moment,” he calls it, as an alum of The Emily Program. Danny didn’t recognize the earliest signs of their eating disorder until they entered care and traced its roots back to body comparisons with their twin sister that started at age three.

Getting into treatment as an adult wasn’t simple. Seeking any kind of medical care as a transgender person comes with its own barriers. For Danny, that included the internalized belief that eating disorder treatment wasn’t for someone like him. Body-size bias among providers also meant their illness wasn’t taken as seriously as it should have been. It took a mental health crisis and a message sent in desperation before Danny found their way to The Emily Program.

Danny and Jillian talk through what came next: an extended stay in residential treatment, the levels of care that followed, and a recovery that became “so much bigger than just food.” Danny closes with a message for anyone who doesn’t believe recovery is possible: it starts with “a tiny moment of willingness,” and hope borrowed from someone else until you can hold it yourself.

Episode description:

An estimated 16% of the world’s population lives with a disability. Yet people with disabilities are woefully underrepresented in eating disorder research. As a result, disability often goes underaddressed in eating disorder treatment, and eating disorders often go unrecognized in people with disabilities. 

In this episode, Dr. Jillian Lampert examines that gap and what it costs the people caught in it—and what it looks like when care starts with curiosity and listening instead of assumptions.