Welcome to Food Psych, a weekly podcast about intuitive eating, health at every size, and body liberation.

I'm your host, Kristi Harrison, and I'm a registered dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor.

Join me as I talk with interesting people from all walks of life about their relationships with food and their bodies.

Hey there. Welcome to episode 115 of Food Psych. I'm your host, Kristi Harrison.

And today I have an amazing repeat guest that I'm so excited to have back on the show. Melissa Febelo is my guest on the podcast today.

Some of you may know her from episode 43, way back in 2015, where she was my guest for the first time.

And also you may know her from life, from the internet, because she is everywhere. She's amazing.

She worked as the managing editor of everyday feminism until very recently. She's also a body acceptance and eating disorder activist, as well as a scholar in the field of sexology.

She lives in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and she is a doctoral candidate in Widener University's Human Sexuality Studies program, where her research focuses on how women with anorexia experience skin hunger.

So I talked with her about her research on sexuality and what skin hunger really means.

We also talked about beauty. She writes really wonderfully about beauty on her website and in her newsletter.

And we talked about media literacy and the problems with Netflix's movie to the bone.

And I actually got a question from a listener in the weekly questions who asked if I could discuss to the bone on the podcast.

So fear not, we are talking about it this week. Before we do, I'm going to answer this week's listener question.

It's from a listener named Lucy who writes, intuitive eating is about following our body's natural cues.

But what about people who have mental disorders that affect the way their brain functions and potentially other body cues?

For example, I have OCD and often have thoughts that I know aren't logical or intuitive. Could such issues affect the way our brain handles satiety and hunger?

I believe my OCD has been the biggest factor in my eating disorder, even more so than diet culture.

So thanks so much Lucy for that question. And before I answer, I'm just going to give my standard disclaimer that these questions or these answers rather are not substitutes for medical advice.

I'm not your individual doctor or your mental health therapist or dietitian. So talk with your treatment team if you have specific questions about your health.

But these are for informational and educational purposes only. So from that perspective, I do have some experience working with people who have a lot of experience.

I'm not just working with people who have mental health conditions around intuitive eating and yes, that can definitely affect things.

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