The Pepetoe Podcast

Ellie Overfield

A podcast about all things that matter. Join me as I navigate my own life as I begin my recovery journey from an eating disorder, whilst also sharing tips on self-care and self-discovery. Short episodes of 20-30 mins long, I'll cover all topics from self-love and health, to fashion and pet peeves! Formerly known as 'This is just the beginning', from the blog Pepetoe.

  1. Sep 19

    From SkinnyTok to Sydney Sweeney: Are We Going Backwards? | Elena Overfield on Pepetoe

    Her body, her choice… but does that mean we can't criticise the choice? This week, I'm talking about the Sydney Sweeney x Novig campaign — an advert that uses Sweeney's nearly naked body alongside sporting equipment to promote a sports prediction platform, and one that has sparked a huge backlash from women in sport. But this episode isn't really about Sydney Sweeney. It's about something much bigger. We're talking about the sexualisation of women's bodies, the resurgence of thinness culture and SkinnyTok, girls dropping out of sport, the male gaze, gambling advertising, female empowerment and an uncomfortable question I've been thinking about for a while: are beauty standards still being imposed on women primarily by men, or are women increasingly creating and reinforcing them ourselves? I also wrestle with the contradiction at the heart of my reaction to this campaign. I believe wholeheartedly in "her body, her choice." I believe women should be able to feel sexy, show their bodies and profit from them if they choose. So why does this particular advert make me so angry? Because perhaps the problem isn't that Sydney Sweeney took her clothes off. Perhaps it's that, yet again, when a woman's body entered the world of sport, we were encouraged to look at what it looks like rather than what it can do. And when teenage girls are already leaving sport because they feel watched, judged and uncomfortable in their bodies, I think that's a conversation worth having. 🎧 Listen to the full episode and join the conversation. Read more from me: www.elenaoverfield.comTikTok: www.tiktok.com/@elenaoverfield

  2. Sep 9

    I Over-Love, Overthink & Over-Give | And I Don't Want to Change That | Elena Overfield Podcast

    It's been a shit 12 months. There. I said it. But somehow, amongst the heartbreak, mistakes, relapses, anxiety, overthinking and moments where I've felt completely underwater, I've also made some of the best memories of my life. I've met people I hope I'll know forever. I've laughed until I've cried. I've loved, a lot. And I've started to realise that maybe the grass isn't always greener on the other side... but there is another side. Sometimes you just have to learn how to come out from underneath the waves and float on top of them for a while. In this episode, I'm reflecting on the last year, the people who've stayed beside me through it, and why I've finally stopped trying so desperately to become the version of myself I thought everyone wanted to see. Because for a long time, that's exactly what Pepetoe was. She was polished. Filtered. Strong. She had answers. She posted the pretty bits and quietly dealt with the ugly ones behind closed doors. But life isn't like that. Life is messy. People f**k up. We hurt people and get hurt ourselves. We cry. We catastrophise. We make terrible decisions. We have incredible weekends immediately after horrific weeks. We can be incredibly grateful for our lives and still struggle to live them sometimes. And since I stopped pretending otherwise, I feel like I can finally breathe. I'm also talking about something I've been learning to accept about myself: I feel everything at full volume. I over-love. I overthink. I over-give. I over-trust. I notice tiny changes in people's voices. I remember how people make me feel. I'll probably know something's wrong before you've even admitted it to yourself. My gut instinct and my overthinking brain are unfortunately very close colleagues. Sometimes, those qualities hurt me. Maybe pouring my entire heart into everything is my fatal flaw. But you know what? I'd hate to be the opposite. I'd rather love too deeply than make somebody question whether I care. I'd rather give too much than spend my life emotionally unavailable. I'd rather risk getting hurt than become so frightened of life that I stop allowing myself to experience it properly. So maybe this episode is really about authenticity. About letting go of the imaginary version of yourself you're constantly chasing. About accepting that you can be sensitive, complicated, emotional, chaotic, loving, anxious, ambitious, flawed and still be worthy of taking up space exactly as you are. You can spend your entire life chasing the dream body, dream relationship, dream career, dream personality and dream version of yourself. Or you can simply f*****g get on with living. Embrace the shit days. Embrace the incredible ones. Embrace the people who stay. Embrace the people you haven't even met yet. Embrace the mistakes. Embrace the memories that somehow emerge from weeks you thought would break you. And above everything else, never stop being unapologetically, imperfectly you. Because perhaps the goal was never to become somebody better. Maybe it was finally allowing yourself to become somebody real. There's more to see! Find my blog: www.elenaoverfield.com (formerly Pepetoe) My TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@elenaoverfield

About

A podcast about all things that matter. Join me as I navigate my own life as I begin my recovery journey from an eating disorder, whilst also sharing tips on self-care and self-discovery. Short episodes of 20-30 mins long, I'll cover all topics from self-love and health, to fashion and pet peeves! Formerly known as 'This is just the beginning', from the blog Pepetoe.