Abbie answers a listener question about one of the most complicated intersections: dating (relationships) and diet culture — especially when you're carrying a history of body shame, disordered eating, and the ongoing, nonlinear work of recovery.
Elizabeth, a listener in her early 30s, writes in about the men she keeps encountering on the apps — the gym-obsessed ones, the salad-only ones — and asks a question that cuts to the heart of it: is this my gut, or is this fear?
What you'll hear:
*Why "too sensitive" isn't a useful frame — and what to ask instead
*Safety and self-worth as the foundation of dating in recovery
*Learning to trust your intuition when diet culture has distorted it
*When to share your mental health history (and when you don't have to)
*The difference between a trigger and something to work through
*Revisiting your dating app parameters — and the biases built into them
*Abbie's own experience navigating ED recovery while dating
Then Jeb, Abbie's husband, joins for an unplanned conversation about what it was actually like when they met — both carrying things they weren't sure how to share.
*What happened when Jeb disclosed his sobriety on a rooftop, early on
*Why vulnerability can work as a filter, not just a risk
*What Jeb was looking for in a partner when he was newly out of treatment
*The moment Abbie knew he was someone she could be with through hard things
This episode is ultimately about openness — what it costs, what it protects, and what becomes possible when you find someone willing to meet you there.
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