If you’ve ever gone to a family or social event and been utterly confused over the conflicting comments over what your body looks like, what you should eat, or how you should look, or simply just wanted everyone else to SHUT UP about your body… this episode is for you. As usual, we start out this episode just catching up with each other- Olivia had a birthday and got a really cool present, we chat about what songs would be our walk out songs if we were MMA fighters, and we introduce our very first guest EVER… Steph Ng! Who is Steph? (From the Body Banter website) Steph is a masters student in the clinical psychology program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She founded Body Banter in 2016 after realizing the powerful role that discussion and advocacy played in her own eating disorder recovery journey. Through providing opportunities for community-building, advocacy and open discussion, she hopes that Body Banter can amplify the voices of young people and empower them to be the driving forces behind creating a more accepting and accommodating world. Around 9:40, we hop into our conversation with Steph. She shares with us her experience battling an eating disorder in her teens, and some of the cultural situations that contributed to how she felt at that time. Steph explains a bit about her choice of thesis- exploring the cultural experience of Chinese young adult women. Through her work, she uncovered some interesting connections between culture and body image and how young women interact with their bodies. This conversation dives into disordered eating patterns, dieting, and how to understand the intersection between one’s own beliefs about food and body and how they connect with culture and upbringing. We talk about the opposing pressures of culture- on one side, you may have been raised to eat everything on your plate, but on the other, you are expected to be a disciplined dieter, controlling your body through the amount that you eat. This is an exploratory, informative and thought provoking discussion that will help you consider your own body image in the context of culture and family. As with all of our episodes, send us a DM or email and let us know- what did this episode bring up for you? What would you like to hear on future episodes? Don’t forget to follow the Be Well Cartel podcast on Instagram (@bewellcartel), and if you’re loving these episodes, leave us a 5 star rating and review and SHARE your favourite episode with your community!

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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