Eating While Crying

Content note: This podcast discusses eating disorders, treatment, and recovery. We don't share numbers or get graphic about behaviors, but some topics may be sensitive for listeners in early recovery.This week Ashley and Shea dig into their experiences with eating disorder treatment: the first time, the subsequent times, and everything in between. They talk about what it actually feels like to walk into residential care, why motivation matters more than people think, and how the people you meet in treatment can change the way you see yourself.Terms & Resources MentionedIOP (Intensive Outpatient Program) – A structured treatment program typically 3 days/week, a few hours per day. A step down from PHP. NEDA overview →PHP (Partial Hospitalization Program) – More intensive than IOP; typically full days, 5 days/week, but you go home at night.Residential treatment – 24/7 supervised care in a treatment facility. The most intensive level short of inpatient hospitalization.Inpatient – Hospital-based care, typically for medical stabilization.Meal plan – A structured eating plan created with a dietitian to support nutritional rehabilitation. Not the same as a diet.Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs – The psychological framework Ashley and Shea reference when talking about why nourishment has to come before deeper therapeutic work. Wikipedia →ED dialogue / eating disorder dialogues – A therapeutic journaling technique where you write a conversation between your healthy self and your eating disorder voice.Set point theory – The idea that your body has a natural weight range it defends. More info →Get Help- NEDA Helpline: 1-800-931-2237 | nationaleatingdisorders.orgCrisis Text Line: Text "NEDA" to 741741Find treatment: psychologytoday.com/us/treatment-centersA Note from Ashley & Shea: We are not medical or mental health professionals, just two people navigating recovery and sharing what that looks like in real life. Nothing in this podcast should be taken as clinical advice. Please reach out to a qualified professional if you're struggling.

In our very first episode, we answer the question: why are we doing this? What started as a joke (“let’s talk about recovery and record it”) turned into something more real in a world shaped by skinnytok, the shrinking of Hollywood, and the ever-tightening grip of diet culture. We talk about what brought us to eating disorder treatment, what life in recovery actually looks like, and introduce our “Diabolical Diet Comment of the Week.”