JCIP #361 - Jenny Tomei

In episode 361 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Jenny Tomei. Jenny is the Founder and CEO of JenUp C.I.C. JenUp is a social enterprise specialising in training teachers on how to spot the early signs of an eating disorder. It also provides workshops for students on eating disorder awareness and body image.Jenny has lived experience of eating disorders herself, when she developed anorexia when she was 19 years old. She struggled with the anorexia for over 10 years, and in her words, should have been admitted to hospital as an in-patient in 2009 when her BMI dropped to just 14. At 23 she was forced into treatment but wasn’t ready to recover. She then moved to Australia, ended a toxic relationship she was in at the time, and went travelling. However, she came back and relapsed. It was only when she was around 27/28 years old that her first steps of recovery began. She then relapsed again aged 29 years old, before finally overcoming it in 2020. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, she had to close her personal training business and in the ashes of that, she founded JenUp in 2022. Since then, she has spoken in secondary schools about her journey of recovery, has qualified as a nutritionist and is in the last year of her qualification to become a specialist eating disorder recovery therapist.We discuss this journey from crisis to recovery and now advocacy, the impact she has had on young girls and boys she’s spoken with and her goals and ambitions for JenUp going forward. As always, #itsokaytoventYou can find out more about JenUp here: https://jenup.co.uk/.You can follow Jenny on social media below: InstagramTikTokTRIGGER WARNING: this podcast contains discussions about eating disorders, which some listeners may find distressing or upsetting, so please listen with caution.Support Us:PatreonPayPalMerchandise