Body Trauma: A Storytelling Podcast Nia Patterson

This week is the last episode of Season 1 of Body Trauma. And for this episode, it is a solo episode with just Nia speaking for the podcast. In this week's episode, I tell you the story of my own body's trauma throughout the years. I start from birth and move up to the present day. We get into a lot of raw feelings and places. Please listen along this week to my story and also please support the podcast and my work by joining my Patreon at patreon.com/thefriendineverwanted.
Nia is an eating disorder recovery and mental health advocate. She has spent much of the past 3 years documenting her recovery from Bulimia, OCD, PTSD, and Bipolar Disorder on Instagram and her blog. It is her personal goal to become a therapist and work with people with eating disorders and co-occurring disorders. She posts on Instagram @thefriendineverwanted and blogs at thefriendineverwanted.com She has also started a brand new podcast called Body Trauma which you can find online at bodytraumapod.com You can also find Nia’s body positive and self care artwork in her amazing indie shop, Self Love Tool Chest at www.selflovetoolchest.com
Check out Nia on Instagram over @thefriendineverwanted and @bodytraumapod You can also find her blogging at thefriendineverwanted.com and you can support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/thefriendineverwanted. Remember, if you have a question about this podcast or want to share your thoughts please email us at bodytraumapod@gmail.com

Caleb Luna (@chairbreaker), a fat queer (of color) critical theorist, artist, and performance scholar joins Nia Patterson for the fifteenth episode of the podcast. In this week's episode the two of us talk about Caleb's upbringing living with various forms of abuse and trauma. From familial trauma to bullying and more. Caleb also tells us about what it has been like to live in a disabled body. We discuss queerness as a concept and its political roots. We also discuss fatness as an aspect of white supremacy and we talk about Fearing the Black Body by Sabrina Strings. We discuss what the definition of "nonbinary" means to Caleb now and also what it meant to them in the past. We cover the history of weight loss in his family and how it affected him and his siblings. experiences growing up in a biracial body and also a "chunky" body as she puts it. We cover much more and we delve into very difficult and avoided topics. Please listen along this week to Caleb's story and also please support their work.
Caleb Luna is a fat queer (of color) critical theorist, artist, and performance scholar. As a Ph.D. candidate in Performance Studies at UC Berkeley, their research focuses on performances of eating, and historicizing cultural representations of fat embodiment within the ongoing settler colonization of North America. As an activist political thinker, they are interested in engaging embodied difference as a generative resource toward fatter understandings of collective freedom.
You can of find Caleb Luna at @chairbreaker on Instagram and @chairbreaker_ on Twitter. You can also support them through their Patreon at Patreon.com/CalebLuna.
Check out Nia on Instagram over @thefriendineverwanted and @bodytraumapod You can also find her blogging at thefriendineverwanted.com and you can support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/thefriendineverwanted. Remember, if you have a question about this podcast or want to share your thoughts please email us at bodytraumapod@gmail.com

Megan Crabbe (@bodyposipanda), an author, influencer, performer and so much more joins Nia Patterson for the fourteenth episode of the podcast. This week the two of us talk about everything Megan and we cover a lot of topics! We talk about Megan's experiences growing up in a biracial body and also a "chunky" body as she puts it. We talk about her experiences with her body from a young age, through puberty, and into adulthood. We cover how her eating disorder started and how she managed to pull herself out of it and fight for her life literally.
We also talk about how she came to the body positivity movement. And what it means to be an Instagram name. What it means to be "bodyposipanda," sometimes at the risk of not being Megan to so many people. We also talk about what her journey has been coming out as queer. And what her current relationship means to her and what it's like being in a queer relationship.
We also go on many a side tangent including the Jonas Brothers, Taylor Swift, and so much more.


Megan Jayne Crabbe is an author, influencer, performer and loudly opinionated woman from Essex, UK. She's known online as Bodyposipanda, and has been creating content for the last 5 years around the topics of body positivity, mental health, feminism and beyond. Her bestselling book Body Positive Power is a manifesto of why we've been taught to hate our bodies, and the ways we can learn to accept them instead. When she isn't writing you might find her covered in pink glitter and destroying the diet industry on stages across the UK with her best friend @thevagaggle and their live show: the Never Say Diet Club, which is part Ted Talk, part comedy show, and a whole lot of outfit changes. On days that she's pretending the internet doesn't exist, Megan is most likely reading, playing The Sims, walking her dogs or hanging out with her sister Gemma, who is much cooler than she is.


Some resources mentioned in this episode:
Jes Baker - @themilitantbaker
The book Elena Vanishing by Elena Dunkle
Jen Bretty's Youtube Channel
Dani Adriana's IG Account
The book The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
You can of course find Megan at @bodyposipanda on Instagram and pretty much all over the internet.
Check out Nia on Instagram over @thefriendineverwanted and @bodytraumapod You can also find her blogging at thefriendineverwanted.com and you can support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/thefriendineverwanted. Remember, if you have a question about this podcast or want to share your thoughts please email us at bodytraumapod@gmail.com

Monique Melton, an anti-racism educator, published author, international speaker, and fellow podcast host joins Nia Patterson for the thirteenth episode of the podcast. This week the two of us talk about Monique's experiences growing up in a Black body and also about Black Liberation and the ways she benefits from privilege even in a multiply-marginalized body. Monique talks to us about her experiences with Mental Health, including suicidal ideation and depression. She talks about being called to do this work bridging the gap between Black and White people in anti-racism work and how this fuels her work as an anti-racism educator. We also come together to discuss the impact of the #AmplifyMelanatedVoices Challenge and our experiences with it and the outcome. We discuss how White people can do better in committing to anti-racism work. Join us as we talk about Black Liberation, privilege, mental health, and living in a Black body.
Monique Melton is an anti-racism educator, published author, international speaker, and host of the Shine Brighter Together podcast. She is also the founder of Shine Brighter Together, which is a community dedicated to healthy relationships & diverse unity.
She travels the world speaking at conferences and events on topics related to anti-racism, personal growth, diversity, and relationships. She’s been published in magazines, featured in blogs and podcasts, and has touched the lives of people all over the world.
She is a natural big-bold dreamer and a deeply rooted woman of faith.
She is a proud Navy wife to her high-school sweetheart, and she is a loving mother to two little ones.
She has a BA in social science with an emphasis in sociology & psychology and two years of graduate school education in Clinical Counseling from Johns Hopkins University.
She believes it's not all about your comfort, but it's about your growth.
You can find Monique on her website at www.MoniqueMelton.com as well as on Instagram @moemotivate. Please check out her linktree for further information.
Check out Nia on Instagram over @thefriendineverwanted and @bodytraumapod You can also find her blogging at thefriendineverwanted.com and you can support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/thefriendineverwanted. Remember, if you have a question about this podcast or want to share your thoughts please email us at bodytraumapod@gmail.com

Anna Sweeney, a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor joins Nia Patterson for a talk about chronic illness and privilege. This week on the twelfth episode of the podcast we talk about Anna's experience growing up with developing Multiple Sclerosis (MS) since the age of 12 and how that has caused physical trauma and mental trauma to her body. She also talks about the privilege she benefits from in her body and how that has lessened the trauma she has endured from her MS. She talks about her drive to complete undergrad in 2.5 years and why she became and eating disorder dietitian. We also talk about how she stops the negative thought spiral in her head. We then move on to talk about the civil rights movement in the world right now, racism, anti-racism, allyship, and White privilege. Join us as we talk about privilege, chronic illness, and stopping negative thoughts. *Please note this episode was recorded in June after the amplify melanated voices challenge.
Anna Sweeney, MS, RD, LDN, CEDRD-S is a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian and Supervisor, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and owner of Whole Life Nutrition Counseling, a weight inclusive nutrition therapy practice dedicated to the thoughtful treatment of eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image concerns. Anna practices nutrition care from a Health at Every Size lens, is dedicated to empowering her clients to notice and refute the influence of diet culture in their lives, and understands that nutrition and interaction with food is both unique and personal. Anna is also a full-time disabled person and uses her lived experience to enhance the work she does. You can find Anna at @dietitiananna on Instagram.
Check out Nia on Instagram over @thefriendineverwanted and @bodytraumapod You can also find her blogging at thefriendineverwanted.com and you can support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/thefriendineverwanted. Remember, if you have a question about this podcast or want to share your thoughts please email us at bodytraumapod@gmail.com

Dalina Soto, MA, RD, LDN, a bilingual registered dietitian at Your Latina Nutritionist joins Nia Patterson this week on the eleventh episode of the podcast. We talk about Dalina's experience with body image after the birth of her first child and developing stretch marks on her body. She talks about her life growing up within the Dominican cultural frame. We talk about different ways that we have encountered racism in the world. Then we move on to discuss how she became a dietitian and how she works with Latinx communities to stop dieting. Join us as we talk about racism, body image, education, and swatting away negative thoughts.
Dalina Soto, MA, RD, LDN, is founder and bilingual registered dietitian at Your Latina Nutritionist. Throughout her career, Dalina has worked in the Latinx community as one of the only Spanish Speaking RDs helping clients ditch diets. Through instagram she has been able to expand and reach Latinas all over the world and has helped them ditch the diets and practice body respect.
Check out Nia on Instagram over @thefriendineverwanted and @bodytraumapod You can also find her blogging at thefriendineverwanted.com and you can support the podcast on Patreon at patreon.com/thefriendineverwanted. Remember, if you have a question about this podcast or want to share your thoughts please email us at bodytraumapod@gmail.com