Horses and Healing

Vincenza opens up to Diana and Lisa about how her lifelong body struggles and disordered eating were influenced by her breast cancer diagnosis at age 36. (Note: The terms “obesity” and “overweight” appear in this episode.)

Equestrian Lisa Whalen, author of Stable Weight: A Memoir of Hunger, Horses, and Hope, chats with Diana and Lisa about how her spiritual connection with horses helped her seek balance in life and overcome an eating disorder.  

Michelle was a professional dancer in training with a secret: she suffered from an eating disorder that consumed her life and robbed her of her love of dance. Michelle opens up to Diana and Lisa about the prevalence of eating disorders in the dance world and how shifting from dance to yoga helped her heal and accept her body. 

Despite appearing in numerous theater productions and boasting the voice of an angel, Olivia was once fired from an acting job for gaining eight pounds. In this episode, Diana and Lisa chat with the actor about the intense pressures that performers face to conform to rigid body standards, as well as how she manages to not let these expectations or rejection shake her self worth. 

Listener Ashley reached out to Diana and Lisa to share her her years-long struggle with substance abuse, her recovery journey, and how she is now tackling her eating disorder. 

Eating disorders can go hand-in-hand with other mental disorders, including substance abuse disorder. Lisa and Diana chat with Dr. Tamara Pryor, who has worked in the eating disorder space for 35 years and recently contributed to a book about eating disorders and substance abuse, about the link between these mental disorders and treatment strategies. 

Lisa and Diana get real in a spur-of-the-moment, one-on-one that was inspired by photos of Bridget Fonda, a Melanie Lynskey interview, supermodel Instagrams, and Minnie Mouse’s makeover to ask the burning question: Why aren’t women allowed to age?