PODCAST · health
Shoulders Down
by Leah Kern
When you live in the diet mindset, you spend much of your time living in your head- constantly tallying, dwelling, and stressing over your food and lifestyle choices. When you become an intuitive eater, you learn to drop into your body and start living shoulders down. The territory below your shoulders contains your innate wisdom and power. Shoulders Down is a podcast designed to teach you how to harness your intuition to govern not just how you eat but also how you live. Shoulders Down Podcast is hosted by Anti-Diet Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, Leah Kern, who works with clients to heal their relationships with food in her private practice, Leah Kern Nutrition. Disclaimer: All content in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. The information and education provided is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis.
Episodes
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🫶 It's Not About Food: What’s Underneath Emotional Eating with Kathy Most, LCSW
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah chats with psychotherapist, mindset coach, and author Kathy Most to explore what’s really underneath emotional eating and binge eating. Kathy shares her own experience developing disordered eating in college and how that experience ultimately led her to a...
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🍍The Wellness Culture Rabbit Hole: Orthorexia, Anxiety & Conventional Medicine with Sarah Jane Garcia
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with Sarah Jane Garcia, a certified intuitive eating counselor and specialty pharmacist, to talk about her journey from bingeing and restriction into obsessive “clean eating,” and ultimately toward a more peaceful relationship with food. Sarah…
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🌀 GLP-1s, Informed Consent, & the Fight for Size-Inclusive Healthcare with Jackie Liu
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with Jackie Liu, a third-year medical student at Harvard Medical School and co-lead of advocacy for Medical Students for Size Inclusivity (MSSI), to explore weight stigma in medicine and what it takes to create more size-inclusive healthcare…
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📢 You're allowed to care about health.
Less podcast episode, more PSA. More From Leah: 📚Download your free Intuitive Eating Starter Pack Apply to The Embodied Method, my 1:1 coaching program Join my self-paced course, The Return Subscribe to Leah's Youtube Channel Subscribe to my personal Substack Follow me on Instagram for more...
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🏃♀️ What If Movement Wasn't About Changing Your Body? Exploring Attuned Exercise with Martha Munroe
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with Martha Munroe, author of Attuned Exercise, to explore what it means to build a healthier relationship with movement. Drawing from over two decades in the fitness industry and her background in positive psychology and embodiment, Martha shares…
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✊ Rage is the Answer: Body Liberation, Psychedelics, & Unlearning Fatphobia with Paula D. Atkinson
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with licensed psychotherapist Paula D. Atkinson to explore the intersection of body image, eating disorders, social justice, and body liberation. Paula shares her personal journey from growing up as a fat child, developing anorexia as a teenager,...
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🧇 How to Figure Out What You're Craving
Being in touch with your body’s cues is one of the central pieces of intuitive eating. But what if, when asking your body “what are you craving?” you hear crickets… In this episode, Leah helps you think through how to actually figure out what you’re craving. She covers several practical tips you...
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🍎 Fat-Lived Experience as a Dietitian, Body Grief, and Endocrine Conditions with Chelsea Levy
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with Chelsea Levy, MS, RDN, a weight-inclusive dietitian specializing in eating disorders, PCOS, diabetes, and endocrine-related conditions. Chelsea shares her personal journey from chronic dieting and weight cycling to discovering intuitive…
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😐 Why It Feels So Hard to Figure Out What To Eat (& How To Fix It)
In this solo episode, Leah talks about why it can feel so hard to figure out what to eat when you’re coming from a history of dieting. She outlines some of the main obstacles she sees clients running into, and then offers a solution for how to transition into intuitive eating without feeling like...
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📊 The Weight Loss Research Nobody Talks About with Ragen Chastain
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with Ragen Chastain, speaker, researcher, board-certified patient advocate, and leading voice in the fields of weight science, weight stigma, and healthcare. Ragen shares her personal journey from years of chronic dieting and an eating disorder to...
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✌️Responding To Hate Comments From The Jillian Michaels Debate
In this episode, I respond to and unpack some of the most common comments I received after the viral Jillian Michaels vs. Body Positivity debate video was published. I’ll be honest: it took me a long time to record this episode. Reading through hostile and misinformed comments is unpleasant. But…
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🌞 Intuitive Eating 5 Years Later: Parts Work, Group Fitness, & Cycle Syncing with Lizzie
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah reconnects with former client Lizzie Marks for a conversation about what intuitive eating looks like five years later — and how healing your relationship with food can ripple into every area of life. Lizzie shares how her early intuitive eating journey…
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🧠 ADHD, Body Image & Intuitive Eating: Making Sense of the Overlap with Brittany Modell
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with Brittany Modell to explore the nuanced relationship between ADHD, body image, and eating behaviors — and how neurodivergence can shape our experience with food in ways that are often misunderstood. Brittany shares her personal story growing…
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🏃♀️ Extractive vs. Regenerative Movement: Reframing Your Relationship with Running with Karly Borden
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with Karly Borden, founder of The Public Run Club, to explore what it really looks like to rebuild a relationship with running after disordered eating. Karly shares her personal story of navigating eating disorder recovery and the often-overlooked...
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🔄 Transfer Addiction: When Substance Recovery Shifts Into Orthorexia with Sydney Greene
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with certified eating disorder specialist Sydney Greene, to explore the overlap between disordered eating and substance use. Sydney shares her personal story of growing up around addiction, developing orthorexia, and later navigating sobriety —…
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📺 Unpacking the Viral Jubilee Body Positivity Debate with Marcy Guevara
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with plus-size style expert and reality TV producer Marcy Guevara-Prete to reflect on their experience participating in a viral Jubilee debate with fitness personality Jillian Michaels. Leah and Marcy unpack what it was like to engage in a highly...
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🤔 We Watched The Jillian Michaels Debate Back... And Had Thoughts [with Edie Stark, LCSW]
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with therapist Edie Stark, LCSW, to discuss their thoughts on the final edit of the Jillian Michaels x Body Positivity debate. Leah and Edie reflect on what they thought of the edit, how it felt to watch the video back (after experiencing it in…
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🎥 Behind the Scenes of the "Jillian Michaels vs Body Positivity" Debate with Edie Stark
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with therapist Edie Stark, LCSW, to unpack their experience participating in a debate with fitness personality Jillian Michaels on the popular YouTube channel Jubilee. Leah and Edie reflect on what it was like to step into a highly produced debate...
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🌾The Ultra Processed Panic: Re-Domesticating Women, Pressure to Cook ‘From Scratch,’ & The Rise of Tradwifedom with Laura Thomas, PhD
Is the backlash against ultra-processed foods really about health… or is it about control? In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah and Laura Thomas, PhD, explore the growing moral panic around ultra-processed foods — and what’s really driving the conversation. Laura explains why much of the...
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💍 Choosing Presence Over Weight Loss as a Plus Size Bride— with Jamie
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah talks with Jamie (returning guest and close friend) about navigating wedding planning as a plus-size bride — without pursuing weight loss. Rather than changing her body for her wedding day, Jamie shares how she made intentional accommodations to support...
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🥗 Orthorexia: When “Healthy" Eating Becomes Dangerous
In this episode of Shoulders Down Podcast, Leah takes a deep dive into Orthorexia Nervosa — a form of disordered eating that often hides behind “clean eating,” wellness, and the pursuit of health. Leah shares her personal experience with Orthorexia, explains how healthy eating can cross the line...
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🩺 A Pediatrician’s Perspective on GLP-1s, Diet Culture, & Adolescent Health — with Dr. Lauren Hartman
In this episode of Shoulders Down Podcast, Leah talks with Dr. Lauren Hartman, a double board-certified pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist, about why dieting and weight-focused care can be especially harmful for children and teens — and what she’s seeing on the front lines of...
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🕵️♀️ Inside Overeaters Anonymous: Abstinence, Fat Serenity, & Co-Dependency with Libby Supan, LMFT
In this episode of Shoulders Down Podcast, Leah talks with therapist and certified intuitive eating counselor, Libby Supan, about her 15 years in Overeaters Anonymous (OA) — and why she ultimately believes the program worsened her eating disorder rather than healed it. Libby shares how OA’s...
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🥛 Proteinification, Pilates, Glucose Monitors & The Wellness Trends That Shaped 2025
In this episode, Leah's reflection on 6 wellness trends that shaped 2025. She covers: The proteinification of everything & whether or not its worth the hype GLP-1s and the normalization of thinness at all costs Increased body monitoring— Oura Rings, Glucose Monitors, & Apple Watches— & how this...
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💔 The Ethics of GLP-1s, Prescribed Starvation, & The Liberatory Heartbreak of Fatness with Virgie Tovar
In this episode, I sit down with fat activist, author, podcaster, and feminist, Virgie Tovar. We cover: Virgie's experience growing up in a fat family and how that shaped her early relationship with her body Fat activism vs body positivity & the evolution of these frameworks The intersection of...
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📷 What To Do If You Hate How You Look In Pictures [with Bri Campos]
In this episode, Leah is joined by licensed therapist and body image expert, Bri Campos, to talk about picture grief. Learn more from Bri on her website. More from Leah: Download your free Intuitive Eating Starter Kit Apply to The Embodied Method, my 1:1 coaching program Join my self-paced…
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🍂 How to Survive Diet Talk, Body Comments & The Urge To Overeat Around The Holidays [REPOST]
In this episode, we cover: My story with navigating the holiday season before and after becoming an intuitive eater and healing my body image Common hurdles to navigating the holidays as an intuitive eater Specific tips for handling loved-ones still entrenched in diet culture How to avoid eating...
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🕊️ Obesity Medicine, GLP-1’s, Body Autonomy, & Informed Consent with Dr. Alexis Conason
In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Alexis Conason, Licensed Therapist and Certified Eating Disorder Consultant. We discuss: How Alexis went from studying Obesity Medicine to weight inclusive medicine What the Obesity Medicine research actually points to How to navigate the tension between...
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🤨 Did Diet Culture Hijack Your Values?
In this episode, we discuss: How diet culture can steal our values Values-aligned living, resilience, & confidence How to tell if you're acting out of alignment with your values An exercise for figuring out your values Resources Mentioned: Values Exercise:...
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👰 You Don’t Have to Change Your Body for Your Wedding
In this episode, Leah shares how diet culture sneaks into the wedding industry—from “bridal bootcamps” to being asked about “weight goals” at dress fittings—and how these pressures can rob us of joy on one of life’s most meaningful days. Through her own wedding dress shopping story and…
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🤖 Is Chat GPT Making Intuitive Eating Harder?
In this episode we’re talking about why I’m worried that Chat GPT might be making intuitive eating harder for people. 👉Get on the waitlist for our new 10 steps to food freedom audio course More From Leah: 📚Download your free Intuitive Eating Starter Pack Apply to The Embodied Method, my 1:1...
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📚 5 Studies That Will Change Everything You Believe About Food
This episode will walk you through five powerful studies that challenge diet culture and reshape the way we think about food. These studies highlight how health is influenced by connection, compassion, satisfaction, and beliefs — not just calories or nutrients. I cover: The Rabbit Study and how...
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📺 The Biggest Loser Documentary— What They Got Right (and What They Got Wrong)
When The Biggest Loser hit TV in the early 2000s, it was a cultural force that shaped how we think about weight, health, and discipline. Now, the new documentary Fit for TV revisits the show’s legacy. In this episode, I share my reflections on the documentary through the lens of a non-diet...
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👉 I Don’t Want to Be Weighed… But They’re Requiring It. Now What?
What happens when your anti-diet values collide with the realities of a weight-obsessed medical system? In today’s solo episode, I respond to a deeply vulnerable listener story about being required to undergo weight monitoring during pregnancy as a gestational surrogate—after more than a decade…
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🥾 6 Lessons The Appalachian Trail Taught Me About Intuitive Eating
In this episode, we're covering 6 lessons I learned on the Appalachian Trail that can be applied to Intuitive Eating. Mentioned in the episode: Social Determinants of Health & Intuitive Eating blog post 📚Download your free Intuitive Eating Starter Pack More from Leah: 📚Download your free...
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🫠 How To Cope When The Whole World's On Ozempic
In this episode, we revisit the topic of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic. You’ll hear from 7 guests: therapists, dietitians, former clients, and people who’ve personally used GLP-1s Each person shares how they’re navigating intuitive eating and body acceptance in a culture obsessed with weight…
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🔎 How to Use a Nutrition Label as an Intuitive Eater
In this episode, we’re reclaiming nutrition facts from the clutches of food rules and fear. You’ll learn how to approach a nutrition label without spiraling into judgment or rigid thinking—and how these labels can actually support you in honoring your body’s needs. We cover: Why serving sizes are...
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🍒 Being Messy, Self-Compassion, & Values Alignment with Abbie Attwood
In this episode, Abbie Attwood, a non-diet, weight-inclusive provider, joins us to talk about: How struggling with anxiety led her into disordered eating The role of being a competitive runner Social justice as a motivating force for recovery Why self-compassion won't make you "lazy" The…
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🌵7 Unpopular Takes on Intuitive Eating & Body Image
Tune in to hear 7 of my unpopular takes as an intuitive eating dietitian. Resources mentioned: How IE impacts metabolism and digestion You're not wrong for desiring intentional weight loss Rachel Hartley Episode on Gentle Nutrition More From Leah: Apply to The Embodied Method, my 1:1 coaching...
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⚠️ Beware of Mental Restriction
In this episode we’ll explore whether you’re ACTUALLY giving yourself permission, or if you’re still mentally restricting... We’ll cover: mental restriction versus physical restriction How this manifests (client stories, personal stories, Alex o) Sneaky ways mental restriction can show up How to...
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🫠 When Clothes Don’t Fit & You Feel Like a Failure
In this episode, we unpack why seasonal wardrobe changes can trigger body shame, how to navigate the grief that comes with body changes, and tools to meet yourself with more compassion (and way less spiraling). More specifically, we’ll explore: Why the seasonal wardrobe switch can trigger body...
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🗣️ Finding Your Food Voice & PCOS with Julie Dillon
In this episode, I'm joined by eating disorder dietitian, podcaster, speaker, and writer, Julie Dillon. Julie's food and body story The origin of "finding your food voice" The 3 universal qualities of a food voice "Dear Food" letters and the value of personifying food Why weight loss won't "cure"...
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🎨 12 Reflections From 12 Months Off Instagram
In this episode I’m covering:: 12 reflections from 12 months off Instagram How leaving IG relates to intuitive eating work The many similarities between social media and diet culture Resources Mentioned: Why I’m leaving Instagram Are The Intuitive Eating Dietitians Alright? My Episode on Off The...
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🌼 10 Lessons From 10 Years of Intuitive Eating
In this solo episode, I reflect on 10 lessons I've learned in my 10 years as an intuitive eater. Resources Mentioned: Finding Pleasure in Movement with Hannah Husband: https://leahkernrd.com/finding-pleasure-in-movement-with-hannah-husband/ Trader Joes Meal Ideas:...
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🩺 Can You Manage Your Cholesterol with Intuitive Eating?
In this episode, I cover: What is cholesterol What is HDL, what is LDL, why is one often considered good and one bad How much does dietary cholesterol impct blood cholesterol levels What are the components that contribute to cholesterol levels Weight neutral, non-diet approaches to...
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🤝 5 Ways To Earn Back Your Body's Trust
In this solo episode, I cover . Why body trust matters A story about my cats that related to body trust How diet culture messes with body trust 5 ways to rebuild body trust More From Leah: Download your free Intuitive Eating Starter Pack Apply to The Embodied Method, my 1:1 coaching program Join…
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😬 Are The Intuitive Eating Dietitians Alright?
In this solo episode, Leah asks the question: If intuitive eating is about healing your relationship with food so your whole life doesn't have to be about food, what does it mean if you then go and make your whole life about food... She explores: How she came to ask this question Reflection on…
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👁️ Reclaiming Your Attention: Social Media, Selfies, & Self-Love with Amelia Hruby
In this episode, I'm joined by feminist writer, podcaster & producer, Amelia Hruby. Together we discuss: Amelia’s unconventional way into the anti-diet world the ways in which pursuing a philosophy PhD added to the “soup” of Amelia’s break up with diet culture How taking selfies helped Amelia…
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🥂 How to Kickstart Your Healthy New Year Without Going On Another Diet
In this episode, Leah covers: Why this “all-in” approach is doomed to fail (and why it’s not your fault!) Reminder about what constitutes a diet Some reflections questions as you think about setting food/ body/ health related goals for 2025 the research on the sustainability of diets A powerful...
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💖 You're Not Wrong For Desiring Weight Loss
In the intuitive eating space, we often hear that weight loss isn’t the goal—and in many ways, that’s true. But there’s a nuance here that’s sometimes overlooked. It’s easy for the message to come across as judgment toward those who do desire intentional weight loss, and that’s not what I believe...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
When you live in the diet mindset, you spend much of your time living in your head- constantly tallying, dwelling, and stressing over your food and lifestyle choices. When you become an intuitive eater, you learn to drop into your body and start living shoulders down. The territory below your shoulders contains your innate wisdom and power. Shoulders Down is a podcast designed to teach you how to harness your intuition to govern not just how you eat but also how you live. Shoulders Down Podcast is hosted by Anti-Diet Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, Leah Kern, who works with clients to heal their relationships with food in her private practice, Leah Kern Nutrition. Disclaimer: All content in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. The information and education provided is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis.
HOSTED BY
Leah Kern
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Shoulders Down have?
Shoulders Down currently has 151 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Shoulders Down about?
When you live in the diet mindset, you spend much of your time living in your head- constantly tallying, dwelling, and stressing over your food and lifestyle choices. When you become an intuitive eater, you learn to drop into your body and start living shoulders down. The territory below your...
How often does Shoulders Down release new episodes?
Shoulders Down publishes regularly with 151 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Shoulders Down?
You can listen to Shoulders Down on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Shoulders Down?
Shoulders Down is created and hosted by Leah Kern.
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