Shoulders Down
When you live in the diet mindset, you spend much of your time living in your head- constantly tallying, dwelling, and stressing over your food and lifestyle choices. When you become an intuitive eater, you learn to drop into your body and start living shoulders down. The territory below your shoulders contains your innate wisdom and power. Shoulders Down is a podcast designed to teach you how to harness your intuition to govern not just how you eat but also how you live. Shoulders Down Podcast is hosted by Anti-Diet Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, Leah Kern, who works with clients to heal their relationships with food in her private practice, Leah Kern Nutrition. Disclaimer: All content in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. The information and education provided is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis.
Episodes
138 episodes
🏃♀️ Extractive vs. Regenerative Movement: Reframing Your Relationship with Running with Karly Borden
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 s...
🔄 Transfer Addiction: When Substance Recovery Shifts Into Orthorexia with Sydney Greene
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...
📺 Unpacking the Viral Jubilee Body Positivity Debate with Marcy Guevara
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....
🤔 We Watched The Jillian Michaels Debate Back... And Had Thoughts [with Edie Stark, LCSW]
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 thou...
🎥 Behind the Scenes of the "Jillian Michaels vs Body Positivity" Debate with Edie Stark
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah sits down with therapist Edie Stark, LCSW, to unpack their experience participating in a debate with fitness personality Jillian Michaels on the popular YouTube channel Jubilee.Leah...
🌾The Ultra Processed Panic: Re-Domesticating Women, Pressure to Cook ‘From Scratch,’ & The Rise of Tradwifedom with Laura Thomas, PhD
Is the backlash against ultra-processed foods really about health… or is it about control? In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah and Laura Thomas, PhD, explore the growing moral panic around ultra-processed foods — and what’s really ...
💍 Choosing Presence Over Weight Loss as a Plus Size Bride— with Jamie
In this episode of Shoulders Down, Leah talks with Jamie (returning guest and close friend) about navigating wedding planning as a plus-size bride — without pursuing weight loss.Rather than changing her body for her wedding day,...
🥗 Orthorexia: When “Healthy" Eating Becomes Dangerous
In this episode of Shoulders Down Podcast, Leah takes a deep dive into Orthorexia Nervosa — a form of disordered eating that often hides behind “clean eating,” wellness, and the pursuit of health.Leah shares her personal ...
🩺 A Pediatrician’s Perspective on GLP-1s, Diet Culture, & Adolescent Health — with Dr. Lauren Hartman
In this episode of Shoulders Down Podcast, Leah talks with Dr. Lauren Hartman, a double board-certified pediatrician and adolescent medicine specialist, about why dieting and weight-focused care can be especially harmful for children a...
🕵️♀️ Inside Overeaters Anonymous: Abstinence, Fat Serenity, & Co-Dependency with Libby Supan, LMFT
In this episode of Shoulders Down Podcast, Leah talks with therapist and certified intuitive eating counselor, Libby Supan, about her 15 years in Overeaters Anonymous (OA) — and why she ultimately believes the program worsened her eating disord...
🥛 Proteinification, Pilates, Glucose Monitors & The Wellness Trends That Shaped 2025
In this episode, Leah's reflection on 6 wellness trends that shaped 2025.She covers:The proteinification of everything & whether or not its worth the hypeGLP-1s and the normalization of thinness at all costs...
💔 The Ethics of GLP-1s, Prescribed Starvation, & The Liberatory Heartbreak of Fatness with Virgie Tovar
In this episode, I sit down with fat activist, author, podcaster, and feminist, Virgie Tovar. We cover:Virgie's experience growing up in a fat family and how that shaped her early relationship with her bodyFat activism vs b...
📷 What To Do If You Hate How You Look In Pictures [with Bri Campos]
In this episode, Leah is joined by licensed therapist and body image expert, Bri Campos, to talk about picture grief.Learn more from Bri on her website.More from Leah:<...
🍂 How to Survive Diet Talk, Body Comments & The Urge To Overeat Around The Holidays [REPOST]
In this episode, we cover:My story with navigating the holiday season before and after becoming an intuitive eater and healing my body imageCommon hurdles to navigating the holidays as an intuitive eaterSpecific ti...
🕊️ Obesity Medicine, GLP-1’s, Body Autonomy, & Informed Consent with Dr. Alexis Conason
In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Alexis Conason, Licensed Therapist and Certified Eating Disorder Consultant. We discuss:How Alexis went from studying Obesity Medicine to weight inclusive medicineWhat the Obes...
🤨 Did Diet Culture Hijack Your Values?
In this episode, we discuss:How diet culture can steal our valuesValues-aligned living, resilience, & confidenceHow to tell if you're acting out of alignment with your valuesAn exercise for figuring ou...
👰 You Don’t Have to Change Your Body for Your Wedding
In this episode, Leah shares how diet culture sneaks into the wedding industry—from “bridal bootcamps” to being asked about “weight goals” at dress fittings—and how these pressures can rob us of joy on one of life’s most meaningful days. Throug...
🤖 Is Chat GPT Making Intuitive Eating Harder?
In this episode we’re talking about why I’m worried that Chat GPT might be making intuitive eating harder for people.👉Get on the waitlist for our new 10 steps to food freedom audio cours...
📚 5 Studies That Will Change Everything You Believe About Food
This episode will walk you through five powerful studies that challenge diet culture and reshape the way we think about food.These studies highlight how health is influenced by connection, compassion, satisfaction, and beliefs — not just...
📺 The Biggest Loser Documentary— What They Got Right (and What They Got Wrong)
When The Biggest Loser hit TV in the early 2000s, it was a cultural force that shaped how we think about weight, health, and discipline. Now, the new documentary Fit for TV revisits the show’s legacy.In this episo...
👉 I Don’t Want to Be Weighed… But They’re Requiring It. Now What?
What happens when your anti-diet values collide with the realities of a weight-obsessed medical system?In today’s solo episode, I respond to a deeply vulnerable listener story about being required to undergo weight monitoring during preg...
🥾 6 Lessons The Appalachian Trail Taught Me About Intuitive Eating
In this episode, we're covering 6 lessons I learned on the Appalachian Trail that can be applied to Intuitive Eating.Mentioned in the episode:
🫠 How To Cope When The Whole World's On Ozempic
In this episode, we revisit the topic of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic. You’ll hear from 7 guests: therapists, dietitians, former clients, and people who’ve personally used GLP-1sEach person shares how they’re navigating int...