Hey, hi, hello,
Ever felt guilty about eating a cookie? Heard of a ‘superfood’? Haunted by the infamous Kate Moss quote that “nothing tastes as good as thin feels”?
My condolences. I have, too. Un-learning these things has brought me great peace.
On this topic,
is essential reading. She’s an intuitive eating dietician and author of the bestselling books, Anti-Diet and The Wellness Trap. Her work has helped countless people (me! and me!) realise that cruel thoughts about our bodies don’t naturally come from us; they’re part of a sinister long-term campaign co-created by capitalism, colonialism, religion, misogyny et al.AND
SHE INVITED ME ON HER EXCELLENT PODCAST
TO TALK ABOUT LONG COVID AND THE FALSE PROMISES OF WELLNESS CULTURE!!!
This really means a lot to me. I was very tired but genuinely thrilled.
You can listen to our full, epic chat or read the transcript in her newsletter on Substack. Or a shorter version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, etc.
(If you’re my mum and/or not entirely sure you know what a podcast is, it’s ok, it’s as easy as just clicking the link below or any of the blue writing, love you xxx)
Content warning: we discuss diets, anorexia, disordered eating, and various wellness trends. We were careful not to mention protocols, calories, weight, or other specific triggering details.
Here’s the intro Christy gave me:
Journalist and author Kate Leaver joins us to discuss her experience with long Covid, all the weird wellness-y stuff she tried out of desperation, and why it’s so hard to think critically about interventions that promise healing when you’re so sick you barely have the energy to read an email, let alone do a deep dive into the science. She also shares how working with a naturopath as a kid sparked her eating disorder, how she found her way to recovery, and lots more.
Kate Leaver is an author, journalist, and former professional fairy. She’s worked for a glossy magazine, a leading Australian women’s website, an evening radio show, and the digital offshoot of a major literary franchise. She covers topics like love, science, celebrity, pop culture, and why dogs are so great. She’s currently writing her debut novel and she publishes the newsletter ENTHUSIASM.
Here’s a little something I said in the interview about anger, recovery, and diet culture:
Kate Leaver: I think if I'm to come to terms with any of the kind of various illnesses that I've lived with, it is really worth looking at, I think you called post traumatic growth. It is really worth recognising and celebrating and looking very directly at the things that you have learnt and the parts of yourself that have shown up and so I now can't remember what your original question was, but I'm deep in appreciating my own inner strength.
Christy Harrison: May all my questions lead to that for people. No, I love that. I mean, I was interested in how you found that healing as well. It sounds like it wasn't one thing, but just a process over the years.
Kate Leaver: Do you know what? A lot of it is tied up with anger. The lovely kind of white hot anger that cleanses you, where you look diet culture in the face and you think, look what you've done and look what you continue to do to people and look what you've done to me. And I think especially when you realise that diet culture is internalised by so many women. You can barely talk to a woman, particularly our age, who hasn't been affected by it. I mean, I think everyone has. And that really pisses me off. And there's something about anger that is wonderful for healing, because I think I've repressed it for a very long time and that's done me no favours.
Read or listen to the rest here
And pass it on to anyone who might need to hear it.
Sending huge huge love to anyone and everyone who might recognise some of the things I speak about here… Lemme know what you think.
And thank you to Christy for inviting me on!!! It took days of rest to prepare and days of rest to recover, but it was worth it. To feel like myself again, chit-chatting away on a podcast, hearing from people who were moved by my experience, remembering why I do what I do.
xx
ENTHUSIASM is a newsletter for people who feel strongly about things. Like, for example, potatoes, human rights and former members of the boy band One Direction. Here, we contain multitudes.
Kate Leaver is an editor, author, and former professional fairy. She’s currently writing her first novel, a cautionary tale about fame. She’s represented by Jemima Forrester at David Higham Associates and she really really loves her dog.
Thank you Kate for this brilliant piece, and for all that you shared on the podcast! I’m so grateful that you were up for using some of your now-limited energy to have that epic conversation ❤️❤️❤️