Listen Now

"My story is a running journey, but at its heart, it's a story for anyone who has experienced the harm and powerlessness that comes from not fitting into society's expectations, anyone who has ever existed in the margins. It is a story of finding and creating your place and space." Listen into this episode of The Appetite where Alison Désir- runner, activist, disruptor- reflects and expands on parts of her powerful, newly released book, Running While Black. Kara Bazzi, LMFT, Director of Opal's Exercise+Sport Program, talks with Alison about belonging, creating and developing a culture of inclusion in sport, and the historical context that is often missing from the origin stories of the American distance running boom. If this is the first time you are introduced to Alison or you are already connected with her work, this episode will not disappoint!  Connect with Alison:   Connect with Opal:    Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson:  Sound engineering by Ayesha Ubayatilaka at 

Connie Sobczak of The Body Positive gives us this wise nugget: "Aging is something we get to do, if we are lucky." Julie Church, Opal's Co-Founder and Nutrition Director, discusses with Connie the many considerations that arise as we age, covering the topics of appearance, body image, health, and self-care.  Listen here for invitations to gratitude, non-judgement, and consciousness that can start at any stage of life and help ease one into the gift of aging.  Connie shares openly about how she personally navigates aging with her eating disorder recovery and personal commitment to embodiment.   Links from show:   Maya Angelou interviews   and Connect with Connie:   Connie's book:    Connie's artistic booklet,   Medium.com essay, .  TEDx talk link:   Connect with Opal:  Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson: 

Are you a "perfectionist" who is exhausted and tired of hustling for your worth? Or perhaps you have entered perfectionism recovery but remain in a long term battle with compulsive perfectionistic striving? Either way, this podcast is just the ticket for you! Take a listen to Lexi Giblin, PhD, Maggie Ritnour, LMHC, LCAT, ATR-BC, RYT, CEDS and Noni Vaughn-Pollard, NDTR, MHC-LP chat about the difference between perfectionism and excellence, the importance of celebrating achievements, and shame as the birthplace of perfectionism. Lexi, Maddie and Noni look through a radically open dialectical behavior therapy (RO DBT) lens to shed light on the topic. Along the way, you will get the inside scoop on the origin story of the Opal mascot: The Owl. To find Noni and Maggie, go to: Roots Art Therapy at Connect with Opal:  Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson: 

Part 3 of a 3 part series: "Creating Social Change in the Sport World"  Episode 3:  Power of Sharing Your Recovery Journey-- Most people who struggle with disordered eating or an eating disorder grapple with how much and to whom they share their struggle with. Amelia Boone, a world class obstacle racer and ultrarunner, is no exception. Amelia talks about her “why” of sharing vulnerably and openly about her recovery journey with an eating disorder to her social media community.  Listen as Kara Bazzi, co-founder and Clinical Director of Opal, and Amelia talk about the risks and rewards of sharing your story, both in the public and private domains. They explore how to discern when to speak up and when to set personal boundaries in service of your recovery. To get to know Amelia more:   @arboone11 Connect with Opal:  Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson:  

Part 2 of a 3 part series: "Creating Social Change in the Sport World"  Episode 2:  Power of Writing-- Diet culture messages pervade all media- from advertisements, to magazines, to Instagram and TikTok. It’s no exception in the sport world- harmful, antiquated messages pop up everywhere that perpetuate disordered eating and body image distress. These harmful messages promote a particular athlete body ideal, overemphasizing the connection between weight and performance. Elizabeth Carey, author, writer and running coach, is determined to change the narrative in media and is taking meaningful action. As a journalist and author, she uses her experience in the sport of distance running, along with her talent and opportunities, to boldly combat the destructive myths that public forums of media serve us. Listen in as Kara Bazzi, Opal co-founder and Clinical Director, talks with Elizabeth about the power of writing to create necessary change. You will leave feeling inspired by hope in the “turning of the needle” that is happening in media, along with considering a personal invitation to use writing as a tool for individual change and healing. To learn more about Elizabeth Carey's work:    Connect with Opal:  Instagram:    Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson: 

Part 1 of a 3 part series: "Creating Social Change in the Sport World" Episode 1: Power of Coaches-- The "win at all costs" sport culture needs to retire and be replaced by the "whole person athlete" culture. In this episode of The Appetite, Opal co-founder and Clinical Director Kara Bazzi, talks with two coaches who are doing just that-- actively working towards the "whole person athlete" sport culture. Listen as Marie Davis Markham and Robyn McGillis share their story as coaches who developed a community of learning called Wildwood Running to make an impact beyond their respective sport teams in the Portland, Oregon area. Wildwood Running's mission is to guide, empower, connect and educate young female runners and coaches that impact young female runners. Coaches and athletes, tune in to be inspired and learn that a healthy sports culture is possible! To learn more about Wildwood: Connect with Opal:  Instagram:   Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson:  Administrative support by Camille Dodson

We're excited to bring you our conversation with Christy Harrison MPH, RD, CEDRD author of Anti-Diet and host of the Food Psych podcast. Many of you might know of Christy's work, but might not know what led her to shift her career from working as a journalist reporting on food sustainability to becoming an anti-diet dietitian, author, and host. She breaks down her personal journey with food and eating disorder recovery and how it ultimately led her to write Anti-Diet, a culmination of her research on the history of diet culture, its roots in systems of oppression, Health at Every Size, intuitive eating, and so much more.   Connect with Christy: Website URL:  Instagram Handle:  Facebook Page:  Twitter Handle:  iTunes:  Book: Podcast:   Connect with Opal:      Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson:  Administrative support by Camille Dodson

"Food is fuel". " You are a machine". "You look fit". "You are what you eat". These are all messages about food and our bodies that are commonplace, yet born out of diet culture. Opal Co-Founder and Clinical Director Kara Bazzi talks with dietitian and endurance athlete Maria Dalzot, RD about how these messages are falling short and not supporting our athletes well-being and performance. In this episode, Maria passionately offers important alternatives to the cultural messages, informed by Intuitive Eating and trauma-informed care. She helps us understand the role our autonomic nervous system plays in our relationship to food and why we need to go beyond prescriptive nutrition interventions in talking with our athletes.    Links:       Connect with Opal:      Thank you to our team...   Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson:  Administrative support by Camille Dodson

You will be happy to bend your ear (maybe again) for this one!  Julie Church, RDN and Carter Umhau, LMHC talk with Erin Harrop (now doctor Erin Harrop, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Denver) about healthism, the use of the word "fat," fat liberation and intersectionality.  Dr. Harrop shares their personal experience to spotlight problems with the over-focus on weight in eating disorder treatment. The Appetite crew released this interview 3 years ago and it is even more relevant to our cultural conversation today.  If you are interested in learning more about Health at Every Size, you can join Julie Church for her yearly Introduction to Health at Every Size training this month! Julie's training is available as a pre-recorded webinar and will be followed by a live Q&A panel with Julie, Erin Harrop and Opal dietitian Alyssa Davis on March 23rd at 12pm. You can find more information .  Links: Dr. Harrop's article in Women and Therapy (2018):     For more learning, Dr. Harrop recommends: 1. Fat Girls in Black Bodies by   2. The Adipositivity Project:  3. Children's book: Free to be Me: Self Love for all Sizes  by Dr. Leslie Williams Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter:  Youtube:      Thank you to our team... Thanks to David Bazzi for editing, Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support.  Music by Aaron Davidson: 

What does eating disorder recovery have to do with the Biden-Harris inauguration ceremony? Take a listen to Opal Co-Founders Lexi Giblin, PhD, Kara Bazzi, LMFT, and Julie Church, RDN consider this question on the heels of the historic inauguration ceremony. They connect the dots through themes of learning to celebrate, divesting from perfectionism, self-compassion, empathy, authenticity, celebration of diversity, and unity.   Links:     Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter:  Youtube:      Thank you to our team... Thanks to David Bazzi for editing, Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support.  Music by Aaron Davidson: 

If you haven't heard about or tuned into the Netflix docuseries, MOVE, now's the time! MOVE takes you through the lived experiences of dancers around the globe, and offers a visceral experience of movement that brings transformation and healing- both individually and collectively. These dancers are not motivated to lose weight or change their bodies- their dancing is about passion, healing, emoting and liberating from oppression. The series does a brilliant job of addressing social identities such as race, gender, class, and sexual expression within the context of dance. Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, Co-Founder, Clinical Director and Head of the Exercise+Sport team at Opal talks with Josh Spell, LICSW, Primary Therapist and Exercise Experiential therapist at Opal, as well as a former professional ballet dancer and consulting therapist for Pacific Northwest Ballet. Kara and Josh offer their reflections on MOVE, tying the themes of the docuseries into the work of healing one's disordered relationship to movement that often comes with the territory of an eating disorder.   If you want to hear more from Josh, talking about body image in dance, yoga and fitness, please consider registering for his upcoming seminar on January 14th at 10am PST. Link here:    Links:   Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter:  Youtube:      Thank you to our team... Editing by David Bazzi Music by Aaron Davidson:  Administrative support by Camille Dodson

Originally released in 2018, we felt this interview was worth repeating! At a time where sports and athletics are turned upside down due to the pandemic, a silver lining is that it's creating new time and space for both athletes and coaches to learn and become more centered in what is most important and enduring in athletics. In this conversation about the influential position a coach has on an athlete's life and performance, Opal Co-Founder Kara Bazzi LMFT, CEDS and Carter Umhau, LMHCA interview Sally Revere, head Cross Country and Track & Field coach at Lakeside High School in Seattle. Sally offers practical advice on how she addresses food and body concerns on her team, as well as addressing the power of coaching from a whole athlete perspective. Kara and Carter bring in questions about temperament as it relates to sport performance, and how a coach can facilitate a sense of community and joy on their team. If you are a coach or an athlete, you don't want to miss this episode! Sally offers incredible wisdom and inspiration from her 30 years of coaching experience. Resources: Letter to Coaches From a Mental Health Therapist, by Kara Bazzi:   Compulsive Exercise and Eating Disorders, by Caroline Meyer et al:   Perfectionism versus excellence:     Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter:  Youtube:    Thank you to our team… David Bazzi for editing. Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support. Aaron Davidson for the original music 

Let us re-introduce you to Shilo George--- our guest from episode 57 (which is a worthwhile listen too!!) where she shared honestly about mental health and food concerns as a "super-fat, indigenous, queer woman".  Shilo is a Southern Cheyenne-Arapaho and Scottish international speaker, trainer, and owner of Łush Kumtux Tumtum Consulting. Today Julie Church, Opal Co-Founder and Nutrition Director reconnected with Shilo for a little update and some great nuggets of wisdom arose.  Asking for help. Eating in the pandemic. Reframing the things that challenge us. And honoring Native American culture and history, especially during this Thanksgiving/Thanks-taking week.    Links:   where you can find more about Łush Kumtux Tumtum Consulting   Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram:  Twitter:  Youtube:    Thank you to our team… Thanks to David Bazzi for editing, Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support, and Aaron Davidson for the original music       

How does being marginalized impact a person’s health and physiology? Dr. Lindo Bacon, who has spent their career advocating for social justice at the intersection of weight and health, joins this episode to share about their newest book, Radical Belonging: How to Survive and Thrive in an Unjust World (While Transforming it for the Better). In conversation with Opal Co-Founder Julie Church and host and therapist Carter Umhau, Lindo shares how their experience of  being other-ed for their gender identity led them into their research on interpersonal neurobiology, and why self-help won’t save us.    Links: Learn more about Dr. Lindo Bacon and their work at  Dr. Lindo Bacon on Instagram: @lindobacon Twitter and Facebook: @LindoBaconX   Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter:  Youtube:      Thank you to our team... Editing by Hans Anderson:  Music by Aaron Davidson:  Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center:  Host and Producer Carter Umhau: 

What does it look like to center narrative in racial identity work? Aiko Bethea is the principal and founder of Rare Coaching and Consulting, which offers executive coaching to leaders on their diversity, equity, and inclusion journey. She joins host Carter Umhau and Opal Co-Founders Lexi Giblin and Julie Church today in a tender and empowering conversation around what diversity and inclusion work can look like when narrative and shame resilience are part of the process. Aiko has been working with Opal Co-Founders Lexi Giblin, Kara Bazzi, and Julie Church over the last year to reflect on and analyze Opal’s systems to make them more actively anti-racist.   Links: Follow Aiko on Instagram: @rare_coach And check out her website at  and follow her on .    Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter:  Youtube:      Thank you to our team... Thanks to David Bazzi for editing, Camille Dodson for podcast administrative and social media support.  Music by Aaron Davidson:  Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center:  Host and Producer Carter Umhau: 

How do you know when it’s time to let go? On this more reflective and personal episode of The Appetite, Opal Co-Founder’s Lexi Giblin, Kara Bazzi, and Julie Church join host  Carter Umhau to explore themes around loss, grief, accepting change, and letting go. Inspired by an announcement from Carter about her departure from the podcast, the crew reflects on where The Appetite has been and where we’re headed next!    Links: Stay in touch with Carter Umhau, LMHC via  and   Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter:  Youtube:      Thank you to our team... Host and Producer Carter Umhau:  and  Music by Aaron Davidson:  Editing by David Bazzi And support from Camille Dodson

How has whiteness in the running world contributed to the toxicity around sport culture? Runner Alison Désir joins host and therapist Carter Umhau and Opal Co-Founder and Head of the Exercise + Sport Program, Kara Bazzi, to talk about the intersection of race and running, and why representation and mental health support in running—and the athletic world at large—matters. Alison Désir is a runner, mental health advocate, activist, speaker, and mother. She is the founder of the Harlem Run club, Meaning Through Movement, and Womxn Run the Vote. After the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, who was killed while running as a Black man, Alison called out the running community for being divided by race. She leads the running world in building a healthier and more inclusive community and, in this episode, it’s clear why...Alison’s passion, wisdom, and expertise are on full display!      Links:   Find Alison on Instagram @alisonmdesir and learn more about her here:  and here:    Check out Alison’s Meaning Through Movement events on fitness and mental health:    Find out how you can be a part of the virtual relay, Womxn Run the Vote:  and on Instagram @Run4AllWomen Check out the Harlem Run Club:  and on Instagram @HarlemRun   Read Alison’s article called Ahmaud Arbery and Whiteness in the Running World:        Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter:  Youtube:      Thank you to our team... Editing by Hans Anderson:  Music by Aaron Davidson:  Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center:  Host and Producer Carter Umhau: 

How does Opal think about anti-racism work within eating disorder treatment?  After a bit of a hiatus following the murder of George Floyd and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, this episode breaks the silence on what we’ve been learning and implementing within the walls of Opal: Food + Body Wisdom around anti-racism. Co-Founders Julie Church, Lexi Giblin, and Kara Bazzi sit down with host Carter Umhau to discuss what Opal’s been up to the last few months and how treatment at Opal hasn’t been adequately anti-racist in the past and what they plan to do about it. They’ll share a bit about their own process, how they see the need for anti-racism work within the eating disorder field, and touch on what this looks like in the HAES, RO DBT, and sport worlds.    Links:                   Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter:  Youtube:      Thank you to our team... Editing by Hans Anderson:  Music by Aaron Davidson:  Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center:  Host and Producer Carter Umhau: 

Has your relationship to food changed since the pandemic began? Whether you’re snacking more, eating a different variety of food, or finding yourself restricting or bingeing due to high emotions, we imagine a lot could have shifted. While a mainstream perspective might tell you to use this “opportunity” to “take control of your diet,” we have a very different perspective. Opal Co-Founder and Nutrition Director Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD-S, CD and host and therapist Carter Umhau, LMHC are sharing their insights on the difference between emotional eating and binge eating, why you should give yourself grace right now (and always!), and how to reframe the expectations you may have right now for your eating. They’ll be walking through specific scenarios that may have impacted your eating, as well as explaining what is happening in your body right now due to the collective stress of the coronavirus.    Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter:  Youtube:      Thank you to our team... Editing by Hans Anderson:  Music by Aaron Davidson:  Camille Dodson @opalfoodandbody.com Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center:  Host and Producer Carter Umhau: 

 Who are you outside of the identity of your job? Over the last year, Opal: Food + Body Wisdom’s Co-Founders (Kara Bazzi, LMFT, CEDS, Julie Church, RDN, CEDRD-S, CD, and Lexi Giblin, PhD, CEDS) each took a month away from Opal in order to rest and recharge. They’ll be sharing how they spent their free time, the questions of identity that arose, how their perspectives changed around work and life, and how they brought these changes back into their work lives upon returning to Opal. This conversation took place pre-coronavirus and addresses an experience that is certainly not comparable to the widely experienced circumstances around work now—skyrocketing unemployment rates, a whole new world of working from home, and the immense gratitude we feel for all the healthcare and essential workers that are putting themselves and their families on the line to take care of the rest of the world. Instead of never releasing this episode, we wanted to offer it with the hope that it will get your juices flowing on new ways to be thinking about the changes in work that you may be going through. At the very least, we hope it’s entertaining!      Connect with Opal:  Facebook:  Instagram: @opalfoodandbody Twitter:  Youtube:      Thank you to our team... Editing by Hans Anderson:  Music by Aaron Davidson:  Daniel Guenther at Jack Straw Cultural Center:  Host and Producer Carter Umhau: