Building Emotional Resilience: Embracing Food Freedom & Self-Acceptance with Abby Mallard cover art

Building Emotional Resilience: Embracing Food Freedom & Self-Acceptance with Abby Mallard

Building Emotional Resilience: Embracing Food Freedom & Self-Acceptance with Abby Mallard

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 Join host Nyomi Banks for this deeply transformative Wisdom Wednesday episode featuring nutritionist, food relationship coach, and yoga teacher Abby Mallard. After her own recovery from disordered eating, Abby now empowers others to embrace food freedom, self-acceptance, and emotional well-being as pathways to building authentic resilience from the inside out.🎯 What You'll Discover: • How disordered eating becomes a coping mechanism for deeper emotional wounds• The connection between food relationships and authentic self-discovery• Why emotional resilience starts with feeling and naming your emotions• Practical daily tools for building emotional strength and body acceptance• How to navigate social media criticism while maintaining authenticity • The powerful link between nutrition and mental/emotional health💫 Abby's Transformation Story: Starting around age 11, Abby felt alone and like she didn't fit in the world. When major family changes occurred, she turned to controlling food as a coping mechanism - developing bulimia, binging, purging, and anorexia that lasted from ages 13-17. What began as seeking control became a cry for help that her family never noticed, until she finally asked her mother for support at 17.⚡ The Healing Journey: With the help of a nutritionist/dietitian who served as both food expert and therapist, Abby began her recovery. Her dietitian's tough love - threatening not to let her move away for college unless she gained weight and "got her shit together" - provided the necessary wake-up call to commit to healing.🌟 The Food-Emotion Connection: Abby reveals how disordered eating consumed 100% of her mental space, leaving no room for processing emotions or discovering her authentic self. When food becomes an obsession, it's not about control - it controls you. Healing her relationship with food created space to:Acknowledge and feel emotions instead of suppressing themBuild a relationship with her authentic selfCreate a peaceful, joyful life beyond food obsession🔥 Defining Emotional Resilience: "Being okay with feeling emotions instead of stuffing everything inside. We're taught not to verbalize or feel 'negative' emotions, but it's important to speak emotion out of your body, identify what you're feeling, and accept yourself through that feeling." 🛠️ Abby's 3-Step Emotion Practice:Name Your Top 3 Emotions using an emotion wheel (Google it!) - go beyond happy/sad/angryAsk Key Questions: What's causing this feeling? What is this emotion telling me I need?Take the Next Small Right Action to move through the feeling with compassion, not to fix or eliminate it💎 The Addiction Reality: Both Nyomi and Abby acknowledge that food addiction is real but often unrecognized. Like any addiction, it provides temporary relief while ultimately controlling your life. Recovery means discovering who you are without external validation or comfort mechanisms. 🎭 Social Media & Authenticity: Abby shares how showing up authentically online "ruffles feathers" and attracts criticism. Her approach:Name the emotion triggered by mean commentsTalk it out with trusted friends/spouse instead of stuffing feelingsStand up for yourself without engaging in back-and-forth argumentsSet boundaries - you don't have to tolerate internet bullies🧘‍♀️ Daily Resilience Tools:Emotional Check-ins - especially on harder daysDeep breathing and stepping away from screensGetting outside for fresh air and perspectiveTalking to friends or journaling to get emotions out of your bodyNourishing your body - 40% of nutrients go directly to your brain!Somatic movement - yoga, shaking, spiraling hips to release stuck emotionsDownward dog heel bounces - like "twerking" but for emotional release🍎 The Nutrition-Emotion Connection: "Forty percent of the nutrients you eat go directly to your brain - that's almost half! This impacts how you think clearly, your mood, and emotions." Focus on:Getting adequate protein and vegetablesStaying hydratedNot aiming for perfection, but consistent nourishment🌈 Powerful Quotes & Wisdom:"When something has that much control over you, you don't have space for emotions or figuring out who you are""We don't have to tolerate bullies - internet bullies are a real thing""I can love everyone and hold compassion, but I don't have to let them have access to my heart""It's exhausting when you have to put a mask on all the time""Resilience lives inside of you - it's not something you earn, it's something you already have"🎯 Mini Challenge for Listeners: Start each morning with this affirmation: "I am worthy of nourishment. I trust myself and my body is not my enemy - it is my home." Before your next meal, take 30 seconds to thank your body, tune into hunger cues, and eat with presence.🌟 The Comparison Trap: Unlike previous generations who compared themselves to immediate peers, today's social media creates endless comparison opportunities. Abby's experience ...
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