Ep. 26: Eff Your Fitspo - Sarah Vance

Sarah Vance (@sarevance) began focusing on the body when she began walking in her parents' footsteps by competitively body-building. After spiraling with restriction, disordered eating and body dysmorphia, she decided she needed to realign her relationship with her body. She created #effyourfitspo and challenges ideas of "health" and "strength" that are simply diet culture with a new name. Now, as a health care professional, she keeps a vigilant eye out for fat-phobia in the health care industry. We covered a lot of ground, but there's always room to share more and ask more. Take a listen and join the conversation with us on instagram!    "[Body positivity is] becoming more problematic because now fitspo culture and diet companies and diet culture are now co-opting body positivity... then you have a system in a culture that has now utilized something that was in the first place-- body positivity-- that was actually trying to dismantle the system that is now using it." - Sarah Vance   This Week on the Every Body Podcast: Sarah's first exposure to body consciousness with her body-building family.  The internalization of body dysmorphia as our bodies naturally change with age and experience. How ideas of health are tainted with fat-phobia. Sarah's experience with restriction and dieting beginning with her decision to hire a "fitness coach" for competitive  body building.  A look at diet culture in "healthism" and fitspo culture. The ways increased exposure to social media amplifies fitspo culture. How "fitspo" started as a reaction to "thinspo," but still propels diet culture. Sarah's #effyourfitspo passion and realigning our priorities toward respecting our bodies. How Sarah began identifying as a "health nut" and the challenges with letting that go and rediscovering her relationship with her body. The sneaky layers behind diet culture that Sarah had to work through to overcome her disordered eating. How Sarah became and advocate for body positivity.  The steps Sarah took to step away from her superficial body obsession. What it's like being in the health care industry as an advocate for HAES. The merits of asking "why" to challenge peoples' biases and stigmas.  Our westernized relationship with death and how that feeds into the flawed health and wellness industry.   Additional Resources: Sarah's website: www.sarahvance.com Sarah's podcast "Reclaiming You": www.sarahvance.com/category/reclaiming-you-podcast-sarah-vance Sarah's instagram: @SareVance  Facebook Patreon     Rate & Share Thank you for joining me this week on the Every Body podcast. If you enjoyed this week's episode, head over to iTunes , subscribe to the show and leave a review to help us grow the podcast. Don't forget to visit our website , follow us on Facebook , Twitter, and Instagram so you never miss an episode!