The Full of Beans Podcast

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Dr Chris Ramsey-Wade, a researcher and counselling psychologist and Interim Deputy Director of the Centre for Appearance Research. Chris has worked in eating disorder services, teaches mindfulness, and completed a PhD on mindful eating. Today they explore what mindful eating and intuitive eating means, why fullness cues can be so hard to feel in recovery, and who these approaches can benefit the most in the recovery journey.In this episode, we explore:What mindfulness is, and how mindful eating worksWhat does a counselling psychologist do?Why sensing fullness can be one of the hardest parts of eating disorder recoveryPractical ways to reconnect with hunger and fullness cuesA short guided practice on hunger and fullness - see note below*Why mindful eating may help most with binge eating, and emotional eatingWhy it may be too soon for those people in recovery from anorexiaMindful and intuitive eating for neurodivergent peopleWhy attention is “the best seasoning” and how to reconnect with the joy of eatingConnect with Us:Subscribe to the Full of Beans PodcastFollow Full of Beans on InstagramCheck out our websiteListen on YouTubeConnect with Chris on LinkedInFind out more about the Centre for Appearance Research hereExplore mindfulness training and events hereLean more about the app Insight Timer here🧘 Please note: the full episode includes a short guided mindful eating practice on hunger and fullness. It may not feel suitable for everyone, particularly those in recovery from an eating disorder or who are neurodivergent. You can skip or step out of it at any point.*⚠️ Content Note: This episode discusses eating disorders, including anorexia and binge eating disorder, and includes a short guided mindfulness exercise on hunger and fullness. Please take care while listening.Thank you to Nightingale Hospital for sponsoring the podcast.

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Emma Fairweather, a postdoctoral research scientist at the University of Liverpool. Alongside her day job, Emma volunteers with Empowered, an NHS programme across the North West of England that supports people with lived experience to help shape and improve eating disorder services.Emma shares her experience of the transition from anorexia to binge eating disorder, a shift that is common but rarely talked about. She also explains how she learned to rebuild trust in her body, and in her hunger and fullness cues, along the way.In this episode, we explore:Emma’s experience of anorexia and being diagnosed with binge eating disorderThe common but rarely discussed transition from anorexia to binge eatingThe unexpected similarities between anorexia and binge eating disorderHow “mental restriction” can continue even when eating looks normal to othersHow shame, more than fear, can keep an eating disorder goingRebuilding trust with your body and relearning hunger and fullness cuesHow diet culture erodes self-trust and can hinder recoveryEmma’s concerns about GLP-1 weight loss medications and eating disorder recoveryWhy an eating disorder might fully ‘disappear’, even once you’re “recovered”Connect with Us:Subscribe to the Full of Beans PodcastFollow Full of Beans on InstagramCheck out our websiteListen on YouTubeFind out more about empowerednw here⚠️ Content Note: This episode discusses eating disorders, including anorexia and binge eating disorder, disordered eating behaviours, and weight loss medication. Please take care while listening.Thank you to Nightingale Hospital for sponsoring the podcast.

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Veronica Kamerling. Veronica, has over 24 years' experience supporting carers, drawing on her own lived experience of caring for two daughters with eating disorders and a brother with schizophrenia. She runs her own organisation, Eating Disorders & Carers, has worked alongside the NHS for over two decades, and has been recognised with the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Carer Contributor of the Year Award and an Eating Disorders National Award from Beat. At the heart of Veronica's work is a simple belief: carers should be heard, valued and recognised for the vital contribution they make.In this episode, we explore:Veronica's experience caring for two daughters , both with different eating disorders aWhat it was like navigating eating disorder services and support three decades agoWhy an eating disorder can be serious even when someone "looks well"The isolation and lack of understanding Veronica faced from friends and wider supportHow co-dependency developed in Veronica's caregiving, and the changes she made toLetting go of blame and guilt as a parent and the power of 'teamwork'The "triangle of care" and why carers need their own role, training and supportUsing a family genogram to understand generational patterns, and how it helped rebuild Veronica's relationship with her daughterConnect with Us:Subscribe to the Full of Beans PodcastFollow Full of Beans on InstagramCheck out our websiteListen on YouTubeConnect with Veronica on LinkedInLearn more about Veronica's work via her website here⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, and other mental health conditions. Please take care while listening.Thank you to @Nightingale Hospital for sponsoring the podcast.

In this week's episode of Full of Beans, Han is joined by Tiffany Luxford. Tiffany is a 24-year-old psychology student at King's College London and an expert by experience, whose own journey with anorexia in her late teens now sits at the centre of both her professional focus and personal work. She contributes to co-production research and shares her story in the training of current and future clinicians, helping ensure the voices of people with lived experience remain central to how eating disorder care is shaped.Tiffany also works with services across the UK to help design more compassionate and accessible treatment pathways, and is soon launching The Recovery Wave, a website of resources for anyone navigating recovery, particularly those without access to care or who haven't yet found support that fits their needs.In this week's episode, we discuss:The bullying and social pressure that triggered Tiffany's eating disorderThe impact of unsuccessful A&E trips and delayed eating disorder interventionsFalling between adult and child eating disorder services during COVIDBeing discharged from eating disorder treatment at 18 due to age, not readinessGaps in eating disorder treatment caused by multiple diagnoses, including OCDWhy connection in eating disorder treatment supports and hinders recoveryWhy university became the turning point in Tiffany's eating disorder recoveryDebunking the myth that eating disorder thoughts "never go away"Tiffany's lived-experience resource for eating disorder recovery, Recovery Wave⚠️ Content note: this episode discusses eating disorders, inpatient treatment, and mental health diagnoses including OCD and personality disorder. Please take care while listening.Connect with us:Subscribe to the Full of Beans PodcastFollow Full of Beans on InstagramCheck out our websiteListen on YouTubeConnect with Tiffany via LinkedIn or check out her Tedx Talk

This week on the Full of Beans podcast, Han is joined by Dr Sam Chawner, a senior research fellow at Cardiff University.Sam's research explores the complex links between eating disorders, genetics, neurodiversity and mental health, with a focus on groups who have historically been overlooked in research and clinical practice. His work looks at ARFID (avoidant restrictive food intake disorder) , and he is involved in the NHS Wales ARFID Steering Group and the EDGI (Eating Disorder Genetics Initiative) study, working alongside Beat, and those with lived experience to shape the future of ARFID research and care.In this episode, we explore:The links between eating disorders, genetics and neurodiversityWhy ARFID is still so misunderstoodThe different types of ARFID, including the four subtypesThe overlap between ARFID and neurodivergenceWhat the first ARFID twin study foundThe gaps in ARFID treatment researchThe EDGI study, and how families can take partConnect with Us:Subscribe to the Full of Beans PodcastFollow Full of Beans on InstagramCheck out our websiteListen on YouTubeConnect with Sam on LinkedInFind out more about ARFID hereFind out more about EDGI study here⚠️ Content Note: This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, ARFID, restrictive eating, and fears around choking and vomiting. Please take care while listening.Thank you to @Nightingale Hospital for sponsoring the podcast.