Shoulders Down

Less podcast episode, more PSA. 

More From Leah:

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 a compassionate alternative to the shame, guilt, and perfectionism that so often define exercise routines.

Martha shares how her perspective on fitness evolved after recognizing the harm caused by weight-centric messaging and toxic fitness culture. Together, she and Leah unpack the difference between exercising from a place of self-criticism versus...

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, and eventually becoming a therapist, educator, and advocate for body justice. Together, Leah and Paula discuss the history of fatphobia, the limitations of weight-centric definitions of health, and why healing body image requires more than individual self-acceptance.

Their conversation explores the role of systemic oppression in shaping body image...

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 can implement immediately to help guide you towards what you’re body is asking for.

👉 ENROLL IN WHAT TO EAT, a workshop on August 10th, 2026

Mentioned In This Episode:

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 eating while studying to become a dietitian. Together, Leah and Chelsea explore the realities of living in a weight-centric world, the impact of weight stigma on healthcare and body image, and why body respect can sometimes be a more accessible goal than body love.

They also discuss body image grief, the challenges of navigating medical...

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 you’re free falling.

She gets into:

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 becoming a weight-inclusive health advocate. She explains what happened when she conducted an extensive review of the weight loss literature and discovered that the evidence did not support many of the claims she had been taught to believe.

Together, Leah and Ragen explore the intersection of weight science, healthcare, and...

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 I ultimately decided this conversation was worth having, because the comments reveal deep misunderstandings about weight, health, and what ethical nutrition care actually looks like.

In this episode, I cover:

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 began with swinging fully away from rigid food rules and exercise habits, and how she eventually found her way toward a more nuanced middle ground with movement, nutrition, and self-trust.

Together, Leah and Lizzie explore how concepts from Internal Family Systems (IFS) and parts work have helped Lizzie na...

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 up immersed in diet culture, from early Weight Watchers meetings to navigating a lifelong sense of feeling “out of control” around food. Together, she and Leah unpack how ADHD can intensify food thoughts, disrupt hunger and fullness cues, and complicate traditional approaches to intuitive eating.

This conversation brings much-needed compassion and cl...

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 challenge of returning to exercise in a way that feels safe, grounded, and self-trust-driven. Together, they unpack the tension between discipline and intuition, and why so many people feel stuck in the “murky middle” of movement — not fully disordered, but not fully free either.

Leah and Karly also dive i...

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 — only to find her compulsive behaviors shifting toward exercise, clean eating, and wellness. Leah and Sydney unpack how addiction and disordered eating often co-occur, why recovery isn’t always linear, and how socially praised behaviors can mask deeper struggles.

Together, they discuss the concept of transfer addiction, how one compulsive behavior can replace anot...

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 charged, public conversation about body positivity, health, and weight — and how lived experience, media framing, and personal values shaped their perspectives in the moment and afterward.

Marcy shares her journey from lifelong dieting to body acceptance and fat liberation, her nuanced perspective on health and movement, and th...

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 real time a few months ago), and what frustrated them about the final video.

Mentioned in this episode: