Eating Disorders in Discussion, Wednesday's Child

Are you in the process of recovering and still drawn toward particular behaviours?

Do you find yourself witnessing a loved one slip back into specific unhealthy eating disorder behaviours?

In this episode, Sarah and Debbie reflect on how they dealt with particular behaviours in their eating disorder recovery journey.

They cover tactics around removing yourself from the situation momentarily, asking for help, and layering positive steps of change.

We’d love to know how this episode resonates with you, and what your experiences might be.

Email hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

What’s it like to develop an eating disorder when you’re away from home for the first time, embarking on life as a university student?

Perhaps you’ve had eating behaviours in the past, been concerned about your body image, or had an addiction to movement and exercise – do these factors make it more challenging to even consider a move to university?

Here, as we prepare for the period in which many thousands of young people will head to university, we chat to Rachel, as she shares her own personal experiences with an eating disorder.

Rachel talks candidly and courageously about what she encountered as a student, what she had to do to get help, and what she’s learned along the way.

If you’d like to comment on this episode, or share your thoughts and applause for Rachel, please email debbie@wednesdayschild.co.uk

After a rather long pause in recording, Sarah and Debbie are back in the seat, talking all things eating disorders on the Wednesday’s Child podcast.

In this episode, our hosts discuss the importance of checking in with yourself and asking what your recovery path needs most in life right now.

They share their own experiences of choosing university, of learning to be less ‘externally validated’, and of managing the unexpected.

You’ll also hear Sarah and Debbie talk about the need for those attending or involved in education, to consider the route to support, and how teaching and pastoral professionals can gain greater insight about eating disorders.

If you’d like to message us, please email hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

In this episode, we follow up on a mailbox request, which sought answers about how best to look after yourself in eating disorder recovery, while at the same time being a parent.

How do you prioritise yourself, but equally take care of your children and the demands of family life?

How do you navigate a child’s desire for family foodie outings, or tackle a youngster’s issues around body image, when you yourself are in the thick of recovery?

Sarah and Debbie take a deep look at these questions, while bringing in Sarah’s own personal insight, as someone who was recovering from an eating disorder while a mum to a school-aged daughter.

In this episode, we welcome back our wonderful Perinatal Lead here at Wednesday’s Child, Abi Reynolds

She’s joined in her conversation with Debbie, by Chantelle Ecob, who is a trainee clinical psychologist and is keen to gain more insights into the experiences of women who relapse into, or first suffer from, an eating disorder in pregnancy or soon afterwards.

We’ll be keeping in regular contact with Chantelle throughout this research, but if you’re minded to take part in investigations (all of which will be fully confidential), you can email Chantelle on chantelle.ecob@postgrad.manchester.ac.u

This episode sees the return of our duo Debbie and Sarah. Here, they chat at the close of Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and use the opportunity to reinforce the need to always ‘turn talk into action’. Throughout this episode, you’ll hear a number of lived experience reflections about what it takes to keep pivoting from hinge behaviours, and to continually challenge the eating disorder’s unhelpful voice.

If you have a perspective on this chat, or would like to contribute to a future episode, please email debbie@wednesdayschild.co.uk

In this episode, Debbie references her ‘Sofa Guest’ conversation. Should you wish to listen, you’ll find it on BBC Sounds from Friday 3rd March at 330pm.

In this episode, we catch up with our lovely therapist Sarah Smetham (Sarah Parker, until her recent nuptials!), where she and Debbie discuss how relationships change as we transition through our eating disorder recovery.

Sarah reveals how her own relational needs changed in her progress beyond an eating disorder, and, as a practitioner, she gives guidance on being aware of our own needs and recognition as we learn to build the tribe which is right for the life we have.

You can find out more about Sarah’s work here: https://wellofbeing.co.uk/about-sarah/

If you’re interested in hearing more about topics like this, and attending a webinar with Sarah and Debbie, please email us. Send a message to debbie@wednesdayschild.co.uk marked ‘relationship insights’.

We always welcome your own personal stories too, so don’t hesitate to share with us if you feel so inclined.

What are the new options being considered for treating those who are seemingly ‘resistant’ to more freely available therapy?

In this episode, we take a deep dive into the world of Awakn Life Sciences, and hear from clinical psychologist Laurie Higbed, as she explains how Awakn’s clinics are working with those who’ve been battling long term eating issues, as well as addictions – like gambling and alcohol.

We’re also joined by our therapist Isabel Leming, who shares her perspective on this approach, and helps us explore why some people find it that much more challenging to recover without additional or different interventions.

Your thoughts on this episode would be greatly appreciated, as we’d very much like to get our experts back and create a panel event, to which we can invite you to ask more questions.

Feel free to email us on hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

We continue an exploration of how to gain and maintain recovery momentum in the early part of 2023.

Debbie and Sarah chat about what we can do to be more proactive in our desire for full health and happiness, and in order to prevent the small but significant slide into behaviours and thoughts.

Listen as our hosts talk about the tactical steps which improve how we feel in this moment, one day from now, one week from now, and one month from now.

Hear them reflect on what worked for their recovery, as they made certain positive and proactive decisions to step away from their ‘poorly thinking’ and into safer and more recovery-focused territory.

Consider as you listen, what it is that you could do to aid your progress, such that you take responsibility for where you are today and where you want to be in the future.

Who might you surround yourself? What conversations are needed? What scenarios are keeping you stuck or ‘dependent’?

Feel free to share your insights and experiences by emailing hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

Sarah and Debbie kickstart 2023 with an episode exploring how to maintain recovery momentum in the face of ‘new year, new you’ dialogue and a world obsessed with January self-improvement.

Our hosts share insights into how they managed to downplay the cultural narrative in new year periods throughout their recovery, and offer timely advice for parents and carers seeking to help loved ones move forward over the coming 12 months.

If you’d like to share updates about your own personal progress and triumphs throughout 2022, and perhaps your intentions for 2023, please contact us.

Email to hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

In this episode, Debbie checks in with Pippa, who we’ve previously featured on the podcast in a candid chat about her own journey with an eating disorder.

Here, she chats about how she’s been reshaping her life, rediscovering passions, remaining vigilant, and even managing to safely and successfully return to a level of exercise which brings her joy without compulsion.

We also talk about the valuable ‘life learnings’ which come from eating disorder recovery (like how to manage everyday anxieties and self doubt), and dip into the issues surrounding Christmas, family time, and the fears of others.

To share your comments or stories, email hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

In this insightful episode of the Wednesday’s Child podcast, we chat to Isabel Leming, one of the most recent arrivals to our Wednesday’s Child practitioner team.

Isabel talks about her therapeutic approaches and about the various kinds of modalities you may come across when seeking recovery support for an eating disorder.

We explore the timing of therapy intervention, the important factors to bear in mind when identifying a therapist, and we ask whether there really is still a stigma about seeking therapy in the first place.

You’ll also note Debbie and Isabel have an interesting chat about ‘tapping’, one particular modality used by Isabel and found to be very effective as a calming intervention tool for those of all ages, but especially the young.

If you find you’re interested in a workshop involving such practices, or you’d like to know more about referrals for Isabel’s support in eating disorder recovery, email debbie@wednesdayschild.co.uk

For all the discussion and debate on the media right now about the cost of living, the price of food, and the fear about heating our homes, there may be many of you who’ve silently thought ‘what about me and how it affects my eating disorder’.

Perhaps you’re a parent or carer of someone whose binge behaviours put huge strain on the household bills. Perhaps you’re someone recently out of treatment for a restrictive eating disorder, and now petrified about spending money on food – which is exactly the medicine your body needs. Or maybe your poorly state of health is already compromised enough, and now you’re worrying you’ll be even colder and less able to manage the winter period, if you struggle to afford your energy costs?

These are real issues, and they need talking about.

Sarah and Debbie use this episode to inject both some reality and humour into the complex situation around eating disorders and the cost of living crisis.

We also share one particular contribution from a listener kind enough to email with her thoughts.

If you’d like to tell us about your story or comment on the episode, please email debbie@wednesdayschild.co.uk

There’s little more tragic than witnessing someone push so far toward recovery from an eating disorder, and then knowing they’ve decided to ‘settle’ at Quasi status.

Sure, it might feel possible to go to work, continue studying, or even maintain a half-life in a relationship or as a parent – but what you should REALLY want, is TRUE recovery.

Here, Sarah and Debbie discuss what joy comes from that full recovery and how their own experiences played out to remind them of the toxicity with which the illness tried to keep them stuck.

They discuss why pausing really should never be a consideration in your bid for true freedom, and that even if you go a little slower, you should still keep going toward the summit.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

A hugely respected voice in the world of eating disorders, Bernie Wright (expert practitioner and a clinical director for the National Centre for Eating Disorders), chats to Debbie about how her career evolved, and what led to her finding her niche.

This episode provides plenty of conversation around the issue of neurodiversity and eating disorders, plus Bernie’s specialist insight into training healthcare professionals to ensure their greater knowledge of eating disorders.

For more details about Bernie, go to https://www.healingminds.co/about

You can also email her directly at healingminds.info@gmail.com

Your trusty hosts Sarah and Debbie are back for their double-headed banter about all things eating disorders.

The pair chat about the wobbles and worries which crop up in particular over the summer period, and call on their own memories and motivations for continuing with recovery when issues around clothes, food fears or body angst threatened to derail a happy summer.

As ever, you’re encouraged to share your experiences and your summer victories.

Email us at hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

In this guest episode, Debbie is joined by Suzanne Samaka, who has raised her voice on the topic of photo editing.

On the back of the recent news that the health and social care committee has made recommendations about editing images (and cited the impact on those with eating disorders and likely to suffer them), Suzanne discussed what prompted her concern about this area, and what she hopes to achieve.

You can get behind the campaign by following Suzanne on her various social media accounts, or signing the petition link at https://www.change.org/ChangeSocialMediaLaws 

Find Suzanne at @SuzanneSamaka on twitter, or @protectyouthmentalhealth on Instagram, and search the hashtag #HonestyAboutEditing.

Debbie flies solo today, chatting to you, the Wednesday’s Child community, and reacting to some of the many requests and dilemmas which have popped into our mailbox over the last week.

She discusses finding a new identity in recovery, supporting a loved one through an eating disorder, and how to tackle the issue of fertility with a partner who has previously battled an eating disorder.

As ever, ideas for guests and themes are always welcome. Mail hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

Witnessing the diet culture behaviour of others can be really tricky in eating disorder recovery, but whether you live with those who choose to eat or behave according to the diet culture playbook, it’s vital you run your own race and choose to turn the other cheek to actions and conversations which you know are unhelpful.

In this episode, Debbie and Sarah discuss keeping your motivation on track in recovery, and suggest ways to boost your toolkit when you’re consistently faced with family and friends who seem unable to understand the very habits and lifestyle choices which trigger you.

This episode is also a worthwhile listen for parents and carers, aiding you in understanding what more you can do to make the home environment more comfortable for everyone.

Catching your behaviours and subtle shifts in daily habits, can help prevent a full-blown fall back into an eating disorder.

In this episode, Debbie and Sarah discuss stopping the slip backwards. They compare the tips, tactics and toolkit aids which they’ve used at points in their recovery journey

Hear them discuss the importance of speaking out and seeking support when a historic eating disorder seems to be resurrecting, and tracking which old behaviours might be emerging unexpectedly.

Share your story of ‘the backward slip’ and what’s worked for you by way of prevention. hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

What would your ideal ‘fantasy eating disorder recovery facility’ look like?

Faced with a stay in a treatment unit, is it the manner of the people which matters most, the ability to open a window (for goodness sake!), the music that’s played during mealtimes, or the devotion and dedication with which issues around careers and future ambitions are discussed with you as you recover?

In this episode, Sarah and Debbie explore some of the factors that a ‘good’ recovery unit needs to incorporate, and they share their experiences of being ‘inpatient’.

This episode is also a call to arms for you to get in touch with what you feel is the necessary component of a great centre or service, and to ask you to tell us about the centres you’ve been admitted to, or indeed, those that you work for.

Email hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

After a slightly longer break than normal, Sarah and Debbie are back.

In a relatively free-form episode, our hosts discuss the maddening nonsense of summertime ‘diet dialogue’, the curse of getting drawn into body and lifestyle comparisons, and how to really start focusing on how great life could and will be, when your eating disorder is no longer in tow.

Sarah and Debbie throw in their usual examples and experiences of how they’ve battled the infuriating E/D soundtrack, in order to find their rightful freedom from the illness.

Hear Sarah share about her ‘bucket list’ Paris ‘all the carbs’ weekend, and reflections on why food shared with friends and family is often a two-way form of love and affection (much like getting a dishcloth for Christmas and pretending to be grateful!*).

*Listen to the full episode and you’ll get the reference 😉

This is the first episode Debbie and Sarah have captured in different timezones, while being thousands of miles apart – but it’s a goodie, and with lots of personal insight from Sarah.

Debbie and Sarah chat about how Sarah’s full recovery has now made it possible for her to be away with work in Dubai, leading in a really demanding professional role, and never once being sidelined by food angst or relentless ED fatigue.

If you need a little motivation to keep reminding yourself what’s possible when you truly push through and embrace recovery, then this is one of those helpful episodes which puts you into the right mindset for success.

You’ll also hear Debbie and Sarah chat a little about the new regulations to ensure healthcare professionals are better informed about eating disorders.

Please do get in touch with your thoughts on the conversation, and with anything else you’re keen to have us chat about.

hello@wednesdaychild.co.uk

When you hear the expression ‘all in’ thrown around in the eating disorders recovery community, what does it mean to you?

Do you think of it as a form of refeeding which solely pivots on multiple takeaways and consuming every kind of ‘challenge’ or ‘fear’ food which had previously kept you stuck?

Perhaps you think about it more as a way of ‘leaping in’ and embracing recovery more fully, determining to move away from any plan or regime which you no longer feel serves you.

In this episode, Debbie chats to Pippa – a previous podcast guest – as she tells us her experience of going ‘all in’.

She talks about recognising when restriction was still in her mindset, and when she learned that her body was respecting her nutritional decisions and trusting her more completely.

Do share your comments if you’ve also tried all in and have a different interpretation.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child - https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Are you at a point in recovery where you’re thinking about returning to your professional role?

Perhaps you realise you’re better suited to a new career path?

Maybe you’re going back into education, or just recognising that your new lifestyle should be a whole lot less structured and demand-heavy?

In this episode, Debbie and Sarah pick up on an email to Wednesday’s Child about how to revisit a CV and get back into a professional role – even with a hiatus on your career record while you were in treatment or getting well.

We look at how things worked out through the personal experiences of Debbie and Sarah, and we discuss the importance of doing whatever allows you to be your authentic self – not what your family, friends, or E/D tell you is right for you after treatment or in recovery.

As ever, we’d love your personal stories on this topic, so do check us out on social or email hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

This latest podcast episode sees Debbie and Sarah chat with Sarah B, who first experienced an eating disorder in her teens, and then spiralled into a relapse in adult life.

She used lockdown and the love and support of her parents to get herself into true committed recovery during 2020, and has now managed not only to find her dream role in the career of teaching, but has bought her own house, and is in a healthy, happy and loving relationship as she continues her path toward a life without any trace of an eating disorder.

You’ll also hear Debbie remind the listening community of our continued need for befrienders, so do please get in touch if you can help. Our email, as ever, is hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

To mark this year’s Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week, this episode sees Debbie and Abi discussing the Wednesday’s Child perinatal offering, and looks at what we’ve learned about the state of the nation in respect of eating disorders and maternal health.

Abi, our Perinatal Lead, has talked previously about her own battle with an eating disorder during pregnancy, and about the difficulty in getting healthcare professionals to truly understand and empathise with her food and exercise relationship during that challenging time.

Throughout the last year, we’ve worked hard to build up all kinds of education resources, training scope, and support provisions, to ensure more women feel understood and well heard, when it comes to dealing with a resurgence of an eating disorder, the unexpected onset of an eating disorder during pregnancy, or issues once a child is born.

We’ve now conducted training for dozens of midwifery and health visitor organisations and we continue to explore new and innovative ways to make sure we’re supporting not only the mothers affected, but partners, siblings and others in the care community.

If you’re interested in sharing your story, or you’d like to know about being a perinatal befriender or contributing to our work, do contact us on perinatal@wednesdayschild.co.uk

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

This episode sees Debbie chatting to eating disorder therapist Caroline Drummond Smith, who herself recovered from anorexia – after a battle lasting many many decades.

Caroline experienced an eating disorder all the way through her adult life – despite being a happy wife, mother and social butterfly – but finally sought true recovery for herself after a series of incidents made her recognise she was sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Today she helps many people recover, and among those, a large proportion are over the age of 45.

Debbie and Caroline discuss the issues of older sufferers of eating disorders often being ignored or invisible, and what helps in the battle to live a truly free and healthy life after so many years of a severe and enduring mental illness.

Caroline’s business, for those interested, is www.zesthealthcoaching.co.uk

If you’re keen to hear more about the elder experience of eating disorders, to take part in a webinar involving Caroline, or anything else, email hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

It’s one of the topics you ask us about most: ‘can I still exercise in eating disorder recovery’?

Many of us will have been through that emotional rollercoaster of trying to do deals with the devil about our use of exercise in recovery.

It’s inevitable that, particularly as you start to feel you’re letting go of some other behaviours and perhaps at a stage of achieving more nutritional rehabilitation, you might feel it’s the right time to get back to regular exercise.

Woooooo there Hasty Tracy. Go Steady, Eddie.
Exercise isn’t always as ready for you as you think you are for it.

Listen hard to some of the things which Debbie’s guest, personal training Trinity Handley, has to say in this episode.

She’s recovered from an eating disorder herself, so there’s a whole lot of wisdom to be understood from a woman who is now working with lots of people ‘in recovery’, or have previously had an eating disorder.

She reminds us all that the mere action of exercise is tearing down muscle. It is doing damage, which, whether you want to hear it or not, has to be repaired.

That means, as we say so often – balance applies. Rational cognitive consideration is necessary. Nothing but a recovery focus will do by way of motivation.

Just for those who are tempted to read the book Trinity mentions, here’s a quick list of her faves: 

'The F*ck It Diet' - Caroline Dooner

'Just Eat It' - Laura Thomas

'The Joy of Movement' - Kelly McGonigal

'Daring Greatly' - Brene Brown

'Dare to Lead' - Brene Brown

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

What’s it like to be in the world of medicine, supporting those who may have been through the very illness which affected you?

What does a medic think of how the healthcare profession responds to, and subsequently manages, patient self-referral and ongoing eating disorder distress?

In this episode, Debbie and Sarah chat with guest Caroline Baumber.

Caroline, who many of you may have seen chatting with us on a recent insta live, is a 26-year-old doctor living in South Yorkshire, and she herself went through an eating disorder.

Sharing her own experiences and the upheavals she encountered in embracing recovering, Caroline talks openly and poignantly about why more training for doctors is needed, and why we all need to get our voice heard in a bid to have the best support possible.

You can follow Caroline on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/caz.ually/

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Want to be the one who eats in a restaurant without obsessing over the menu; who can truly notice the people and the events happening around you; and whose routine isn’t driven entirely by a food and movement schedule?

Sarah and Debbie use this episode to remind you of the importance of maintaining recovery momentum, in order to get a life which features the spontaneity, joy and freedom you crave.

Sure, you can stay in quasi and keep ‘functioning’ your way through life’s various activities and encounters, but is this really what you want?

We explore what’s really required of true commitment, and share some of our experiences of facing up to that anguish as you embrace true recovery.

Get in touch with your thoughts on this episode – email hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

Overcoming an eating disorder is more than just learning to eat more, and learning to maintain a new health routine in your everyday existence.

Our identity in recovery is key, and for many of us, clothes, hair and beauty are at the very centre of this.

Sarah and Debbie explore this topic in our latest episode.

Listen out for a forthcoming event opportunity, and be sure to make contact with us if what we discuss resonates with you hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Released to coincide with the start of Eating Disorder Awareness Week 2022, this podcast episode sees Debbie chatting to therapist Sarah Parker.

Sarah experienced an eating disorder for 15 years, and now works as a therapist, guiding many people to their full and deserved recovery.

Debbie and Sarah explore issues around brain starvation, ‘freezing time’, family bonds, curiosity about the future self, and what we can all learn from the Minnesota Starvation study.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

This ‘in conversation with’ episode features Debbie and Sarah chatting to Pippa, who endured a tough journey with an eating disorder, incorporating several in-patient stays and some desperately dark times of despair.

Thanks to the love of a great family, some superb treatment and care, and a relentless commitment to recovery, she’s now living a joyful life which sees her on the path to achieving her heart’s greatest desires.

Take the time to listen and to remind yourself that, as Pippa reiterates, ‘recovery is possible’, and plenty of people want to help you win that fight for your life.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Are you micro-managing your eating disorder recovery so stringently you’re still stuck in a fruitless middle ground where the life you want remains out of reach?

Hmm. Ask yourself again – ‘how well is this rule slavery really working out for me’?

Sarah and Debbie tackle the topic of how we fall into creating rules for our intended recovery journey, and how sustainable freedom from our eating disorder can only be achieved by letting go of regimes and accepting that, particularly in a state of brain starvation, we’re ill equipped to even know what’s right for us and our future self.

As Sarah and Debbie reflect, rules of some nature can be helpful when seen with flexibility and agility, but can equally become so counterintuitive and prevent the desired outcome.

Recovery is so unique, but all recovery needs one rule alone – I will remain committed and an active participant in achieving full health.

Stay in touch by sending us a message and checking us out on the usual social channels.

 Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

How many invitations have you turned down in the last week, month, year or lifetime of living with an eating disorder?

Are you prone to ‘life restriction’ in an effort to maintain the illness and its unhealthy grasp on your mind?

Eating disorders are all too successful at sabotaging our social and personal world.

Sarah and Debbie discuss how isolation occurs, how to challenge your discomfort with being among others, and how to support those you love in returning to socialisation.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Eating disorders can cause even the kindest, sweetest, placid person, to be transformed into an unrecognisable being – someone who is suffering such nutritional famine and brain starvation, that their emotions manifest in the very behaviours and persona which they’d despise in others and certainly dread to acknowledge as their own true self.

Sarah and Debbie use this episode to talk about those competing personalities during an eating disorder battle, and offer tips for facing up to those less pleasant traits in a bid to remain wholly recovery-focused.

We’ll also discuss one of the key questions vital to ask oneself when seeking to move forward from recovery procrastination and ambivalence… “is that really true?”.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Don’t you just love a bit of alliteration for the title of a podcast episode? This time, Sarah and Debbie travel through a variety of topics, capturing some of the challenges and the joys involved in eating disorder recovery.

Ambivalence remains such a huge issue for so many who desire to get well from their illness, but there is a way out of that paralysis – with plenty of repetition and determination.

We also explore the necessary tweaks and tailoring which may need to happen in a household to help truly support the recovery of someone you love…even if that means you giving up the Diet Coke purchase and committing to having a family breakfast on the daily schedule.

Finally, our hosts applaud some great recovery successes happening right now within our community, and, as ever, we urge you to get in touch to share your insights and tales of triumph.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

No matter whether it’s first of the month, the year, a minute beyond Midnight or the start of the working week.

You can turn over a new leaf in recovery anytime of any year, and this episode is all about encouraging you to ignore the ‘New Year New You’ diet and exercise regime rhetoric, and instead truly go firm and fastidious on being your best friend and persistent recovery coach.

Why let another 12 month period end in disappointment?

Why get caught up in the office dialogue around quick-fix diets and food bans? Why drag yourself into the exercise obsessive chat or calorie counting nonsense, when, right now, as things stand, you know that ‘noise’ will serve you no good?

Sarah and Debbie use this episode to talk about putting 2022 to good use for dedicated recovery, and offer tactical advice for sticking to your purposeful journey toward a full well lived life.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Presents unwrapped, tree looking pretty sorry for itself, and guests departed back to their own homes?

It’s that peculiar ‘in between bit’ of the festive season and no time is more important for ensuring you stay on track with recovery momentum.

Eating one Christmas dinner and three Quality Streets does not recovery make.

Sarah and Debbie discuss the importance of repeating healthy recovery behaviours and challenging uncomfortable thoughts.

Parents and carers are at the same time reminded of their vital role in early intervention and not giving up on getting appropriate help.

If you’d like to share a ‘festive triumph’ story, do get in touch.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Time to dig in to some pre Christmas discussion. How do you prepare for the festive season without letting the eating disorder get its masterful grip on everyone?

How do you ensure that house guests, family members and well meaning friends don’t spontaneously send you into a tailspin with their comments about your food or appearance?

How do loved ones play their part in dropping diet dialogue from the festive proceedings and making sure the season is memorable for all the right occasions.

Debbie and Sarah use this episode to give you tips, tricks and tactics for making it through the Christmas period in good spirits.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Hope Virgo joins Abi and Debbie on the podcast episode this time, returning to our show to bring an update about her research work and the #UKCostofEatingDisorders Report.

For several months, Hope has been collaborating with MPs like Kate Parminster, Gillian Keegan, Wera Hobhouse and John McDonnell in an effort to see a greater spotlight placed on the stark reality of eating disorder ‘need’ as it stands in the UK today.

We chat to Hope about how the report was received in Parliament, how she feels about the findings, whether she remains optimistic, and what she envisages for the next stage in her campaigning efforts.

You’ll also hear us discuss the ever more apparent need for greater education around eating disorders in society generally, and the ongoing efforts – among the likes of Wednesday’s Child – to ensure that stigma, bias and false perception continue to be challenged around who suffers and why.

If you’d like to pick up on anything you hear in this episode, please email debbie@wednesdayschild.co.uk

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

This week on the podcast, we ask why it is that so much of society is still convinced that an eating disorder is best personified by the skinny body of a younger female.

To help us navigate that, Debbie is joined by Adam Fare and Abi Reynolds, both of whom are able to give very different perspectives about what it feels like to put your head above the parapet and ask for help – when perhaps the world doesn’t see you as being an ‘obvious’ candidate for such an illness.

We talk gender, race, age, health at every size, eating disorders in pregnancy, and the many different badges of an eating disorder, and whether one ‘label’ has more empathy or attention than another.

We’d love to hear your own experiences of accessing help and support in any size of body, at any age and as a person of any gender.

Do get in touch. Email hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Healthy or harmful?

When you read a biography which you know to reference someone who has recovered from an eating disorder, why are you doing it? Is it helpful and insightful in such a way as to aid your recovery mission?

Or is it merely keeping you over-consuming eating disorder content, stories, material, brain-matter.

There’s a fine line, and it’s up to you to take the sensible precautions and avoidant behaviour.

Sarah and Debbie chat in this episode about cookbook obsession, staring goggle eyed at food programmes, and having every eating disorder and food related social media channel on your feed.

Why are you doing it? How do you get beyond it? And what would you change if you were truly and fully committed to being well and happy?

As ever, thoughts welcome. Email hello@wednesdayschild.co.uk

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

Achieving true freedom from your eating disorder, doesn’t come in half measures. It doesn’t come with maintaining a few comfortable little fibs to yourself, or trading a recovery effort for a sabotaging act.

In this episode, Sarah and Debbie talk about the cycle of deceit which keeps so many people from achieving a thorough deserved escape from the grasp of the illness.

They discuss habit breaking, shifting your own narrative, and why waiting for physical hunger cues should never be your goal.

As ever, insights and experiences related to this episode are always welcome. Email debbie@wednesdayschild.co.uk, and if you like our work, please consider a donation via our website https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/pages/donate

To mark Youth Mental Health Day, on Tuesday September 7th, Debbie, Sarah and Abi take to the mic to discuss the many and varied issues around how young people can be better supported and treated in the face of mental health issues.

Calling on teacher and parent perspectives, as well as bringing specific lived experience of eating disorders into the conversation, the trio give some great suggestions on how to broach conversations, access help, and make your voice heard.

This episode is not only pertinent to parents and carers wanting to help a young person navigate mental ill health, but teachers who might want to improve their narrative around mental health, or those who themselves have experienced poor mental health in their younger years.

If this episode raises thoughts and questions for you, please get in touch.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

How do you maintain recovery when your Mum is a slimming club fanatic, your pal is a an Ironman athlete and your work colleagues are always celebrating their virtuous behaviour in avoiding ‘bad’ foods?

Sarah and Debbie look at how important self responsibility is in eating disorder recovery, and set out some helpful strategies and toolbox tactics for staying on track.

They also discuss the journey toward exercise for pure joy, spontaneous living and the abandonment of perfection-seeking.

If you’d like to comment on the episode or have ideas for a future podcast recording, please get in touch.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

What the heck is ‘overshoot’ anyway? Is it a label you’re comfortable with, one you’ve been drawn into using because of your clinician’s approach to ‘target weights’ or are you in happy oblivion about the mere concept that anyone can ‘overshoot’?

Sarah and Debbie finally tackle a topic which gets mentioned so much in the eating disorder community, and often has an unhelpful effect on those attempting to ‘keep going’ into full and thorough recovery.

This episode looks at the absolute essential need to maintain a unique and personal focus on what true recovery – physically and neurologically – looks like for you.

We discuss feast eating and why it becomes an inevitable aspect of continuing to embrace real recovery (after famine, there’s always feast!), and we call for more healthcare professionals to really carefully consider how they articulate goals and targets to patients.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

A timely episode on the pod, to urge you to avoid the potential pitfalls in recovery during the summer.

Sarah and Debbie discuss strategies and toolbox tips for staying on track as you plan for holidays, meals out and more socialising with friends and family.

Meanwhile – a little reminder to please please PLEASE only consume news about sugar tax and government food strategies with caution. Know that you’re on a different path…one which leads to recovery and wholesome health.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk/

And so the countdown toward July 19th is well and truly under way – a date by which we’re told that in England at least, things will be considerably more ‘normal’.

But how does this leave you feeling, and more importantly, what does it do to the angry eating disorder which wants to keep you trapped and tortured?

With many people looking to return to workplaces, and to seeing more of friends and family, Sarah and Debbie explore some of the toolkit tips which will be so key to keeping recovery on track as we progress beyond the pandemic.

Remember, you don’t want to exit a government-imposed lockdown, only to stay stifled and constrained by one imposed by your eating disorder.

Find out more about Wednesday's Child at https://wednesdayschild.co.uk