Bite Back with Abbey Sharp - Social Media Fame and Recovering from an Eating Disorder in the Public Eye with Kris Collins of Kall me Kris

Episode Date: October 22, 2024

Welcome to the debut episode of Bite Back with Abbey Sharp! In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Kris Collins, also known as Kall Me Kris on social media. We dive deep into her personal food and body journey, discussing her history with diet culture, her history with anorexia and bulimia, and her unique experience trying to recover from her eating disorder as a massive content creator in the public eye. Tune in and enjoy!Check in with today’s amazing guest Kris Collins!Tiktok @KallmeKrisInstagram: @kriscollinsYoutube: https://youtube.com/@kallmekrisTrigger Warning: This episode includes discussion about eating disorders and a brief mention of self-harm.If you have heard yourself in our discussion today, and are looking for support, contact the free NEDIC helpline at 1-866-NEDIC-20 or go to eatingdisorderhope.com.Studies cited:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29590045/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35760017/ 🥤 Check out my 2-in-1 Plant Based Probiotic Protein Powder, neue theory at www.neuetheory.com or @neuetheoryDon’t forget to Please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review! It really helps us out. ✉️ SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTERS ⤵️Neue Theory newsletterAbbey's Kitchen newsletter 🥞 FREE HUNGER CRUSHING COMBO™ E-BOOK! 💪🏼 FREE PROTEIN 101 E-BOOK! Disclaimer: The content in this episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is never a substitute for medical advice. If you’re struggling with with your mental or physical health, please work one on one with a health care provider. 📱 Follow me! Instagram: @abbeyskitchenTikTok: @abbeyskitchenYouTube: @AbbeysKitchen My blog, Abbey’s Kitchen www.abbeyskitchen.com My book, The Mindful Glow Cookbook affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3NoHtvf If you liked this podcast, please like, follow, and leave a review with your thoughts and let me know who you want me to discuss next!

It's hard to believe everything you're seeing on social media, so I just choose to kind of believe that there's just a whole fake world out there that's just not, you can't compare yourself to it. You just can't, because you don't know what's going on behind closed doors. I'm Maddie Sharp, and you're listening to my new podcast, Bite Back. For more than a decade, I've made it my mission to help people achieve food freedom, to help folks foster a pleasurable relationship with food and liberate themselves from the constraints, restraints, and downright dangers of wellness culture.

Whether it's commenting on the latest extreme fad diet, some bullshit pill or potion, or just the never-ending constant cascade of misinformation that is coming at us from all angles at all times. It is a full-time gig. And wading through this content to try to fit it all into your life so that you can look like the influencers we see online is overwhelming and all-consuming. I know because I myself once fell prey to what has become a multi-billion dollar industry designed to keep us stuck in a cycle of misery and shame. So that's where I come in. Using my signature science and sass, I am here to help you cut through the crap, call out the charlatans, and help you rekindle your long lost love of food.

On this new podcast, I will be going even deeper with in-depth, candid conversations with amazing guests. We are going to unpack all the toxic and messy feelings that diet culture tries to instill in us. And what better way to start things off than with Chris Collins, whose voice you heard at the beginning of the show. A quick trigger warning, folks, we will be talking about eating disorders today with a slight mention of self-harm. So please feel free to skip this if it's not supportive to your journey.

When we first started talking about creating this podcast, Chris was the first person that I knew I had to talk to. You might know her on social media as CallMeChris. She's a fellow Canadian content creator with massive international reach. Over 48 million followers on TikTok alone and over 10 million on YouTube. More importantly though, she's been very open about her struggles with disordered eating. She's smart. She's hilarious.

She's real. And having seen so many fascinating parallels in our personal stories, I knew that you all could relate too. So thank you so much for joining us, Chris. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be on because I've been watching you for, I don't know, a few years now. So it's awesome to be here.

Oh, my gosh. Well, you know, I'm just so thrilled to have you here as our first guest. Like my 2024 vision board was just like pictures of your beautiful face. I was like, it's got to be Chris. It's got to be Chris. I'm honored. I'm honored, truly. Well, you know, jokes aside, I think, you know, we are going to be getting into I'm honored. I'm honored, truly. Well, jokes aside, I think we are going to be

getting into some heavy shit here today. And if you're okay with it, I thought we would just kind of jump right in here. Absolutely. Maybe you can tell us a little bit about the origin story of your eating disorder. How did this all start for you? Yeah. For me, it started, I'm trying to remember the year, probably around 2018. And for me, it just blossomed through a fitness journey. I used to be a varsity athlete. And before that, I was playing five different sports at a time all the time. And then there was an abrupt stop after I got out of university. And that was fine, but it just felt weird. So there was like a six month period where I wasn't really doing anything. So there was like a six month period where I wasn't

really doing anything. So I was like, okay, I need to get back to the grind. And it was just all me. There was no coaches. I just started working out at the gym and just being extra diligent about what I was eating. I learned what calories are. Don't recommend. Don't recommend learning what those are. Don't recommend. And there was always something in the back of my mind, like, and I'd say like from middle school to high school that I would do the crash diets. I would do, you know, only eating cucumber sandwiches for two weeks or water fasting and that kind of thing. And I always wanted to, you know, be thin or skinnier or whatever, but it wasn't out of control. And I think it's because my sports wouldn't let it be out of control because I needed fuel to move and I wanted to do well.

So once that was out, then I just had that to focus on. And then with OCD and that coming into play, it became more so even a control thing. So once I started working out again and being really diligent about eating only clean and a certain calorie intake. And then it became a challenge to myself. I was like, okay, well, I ate this amount of calories. Can I eat this amount of calories? And it just goes lower and lower. And then you start working out more and more and then people start complimenting you when they shouldn't be. And they don't know. So it was just fuel to my fire. And then it got to the point a year and a half later where my family was concerned for me. And then I was somewhat

forced to seek care. I didn't really want to, but I did. And I'm very, very grateful for that. And now it's just been a kind of like a, this journey and recovery and yeah, that's the short form story. Yeah. I mean, and that is the truth about eating disorder recovery, right? It's not like A to B, you don't just go from active eating disorder to recovered for life. It's not like there's a switch that we just turn on and off. But I feel like that's a story that a lot of people can relate to, myself included, and that there's often this mental health piece at the core. And the eating disorder often becomes just like a really maladaptive coping mechanism where, you know, you had this sports, this was a big part of your identity. And then suddenly that's

taken away and you've got this like gaping hole. It's like, hmm, what am I going to fill this hole with, this time with, this mental energy with? Let's count calories. Yeah, the challenge. Yeah, it's the challenge. And, you know, obviously there are, you know, certain personality types, perfectionists, type A that are more at risk of this kind of problematic thought process, but very common.

And how long did it really take your family to kind of notice that maybe things were not okay? Yeah, I mean, I was pretty okay with eating through my childhood and teens. Like if I did the fad diets, I'd kind of be at school. So it'd be secret under wraps. They wouldn't really know, right. I would always eat dinner with them. So that wasn't a concern. So it was really when in 2018 started to do that fitness thing. And then I started to not eat with them. So it wasn't even at the point where I started to look like I was having issues. They could see it very, very quickly. And they were just like, what's wrong with you? It was more of like a, what are you doing? And then it became a, you need help. Then they were just getting mad at me in a concerned way.

Of course. But they're just confused, right? Because for them, nobody understood it really. So it was really hard to come across. But they were really good at researching on my behalf and going to different people and getting opinions. So I was very grateful for that. But yeah, at first they were just confused. And I feel like a lot of people are like that with people that know people struggling with an ED, for sure. And I think also, you know, the eating disorder brain and the voice is so manipulative.

Like it manipulates us, but it also kind of manipulates everyone around us to convince everyone, oh, no, it's okay. Like I'm just doing this for health. I'm just doing this to feel better, you know, feel healthier, whatever, feel stronger, whatever the story that the ED voice will tell you. And it's often really not until it's really too late that people start to intervene. But it sounds like your family like kind of saw the early signs, which is really amazing. Well, they did. And then everything that you're saying is what I did. So I like was making it seem like it wasn't a big deal in every way that I could, whether it was I'm doing a challenge with my friends. It's not a big deal. It's like a three month thing. So and then it was just me. And then, yeah, just saying it's for my health. I'm trying to do this

and blah, blah, blah. And then I genuinely, I was mean. I was not a nice person when I was in the depths of it, especially when it got to its worst. Like I would just, I don't even know who I was in the depths of it, especially when it got to its worst. Like I would just, I don't even know who I was back then. I feel so bad for my family and friends that had to deal with me because I was incredibly antisocial. I wouldn't go out to eat. I wouldn't eat with anybody. And that takes up, you know, major parts of your day, days where you usually share those parts of your day with people.

And it's really important. At the time I had a boyfriend, he suffered for that as well. I was just sneaky and manipulative. And yeah, it's like a little demon on your shoulder. It's like this little demon whispering in your ear all the time. And it's, yeah, it was terrible, but it really did take them giving me an ultimatum basically, which sucks, but I'm very glad that they did. What was the process for you to get a diagnosis with the doctors? So I ended up going to the doctor from my mom and my sister's request. They were like, please just go, just go get checked out. And I was like, all right. And at this point,

they assumed that I had some sort of ED, and so did I. At this point, you're like doing research on yourself, like what's wrong with me, that kind of thing. So it's interesting because you don't necessarily want a diagnosis, but to get better, you almost want to be validated. And I feel like with EDs, especially with anorexia nervosa, the one specifically that I got diagnosed with, you feel like if you don't get diagnosed, then you failed, which is messed up. And that's exactly what happened. It's exactly what happened the first time I went to the doctor. He said, you know, yeah, you're under your BMI, but I think you're fine. Like, you know, just make sure you're eating three meals a day and some snacks. And I was just like, all right.

Like, that's apparently I'm not doing good enough because it was just a new challenge, which is so messed up. Because at that point, I was just trying to be healthy and fit in that. And then I was like, oh, I could. I could push this harder. I don't know. It was it's really hard to explain. And it sounds messed up in vain.

And it wasn't necessarily about looks, which for a lot of people it is. And there's absolutely a part of me that it was because you're getting those, oh my gosh, what are you doing? You look so whatever, whatever. And then you can't gain weight because then you're going to be ugly or people are going to think less of you. It becomes your identity. Absolutely becomes your identity. And then it just envelops. So, so then I went back and I challenged myself, got to the point where I was incredibly unhealthy, went back to the doctor, did get the diagnosis. Yay. And then it just kept getting worse. It didn't get better. I was like, well, maybe once he diagnoses me, then I'll get better because I don't want to be sick. But then I got addicted to being sick.

And at that time too, I was incredibly depressed even before the anorexia diagnosis. So it was just, it was a form of self-harming for me, which I know it is for a lot of people, maybe unknowingly. I hated myself for a lot of reasons, not justknowingly. I hated myself for a lot of reasons, not just because of how I looked. And I didn't particularly want to be here. So that was just a way of slowly doing it without thinking that there's other ways to do it. And yeah, it's terrible. It's all terrible. And it's hard to talk about. And it feels, I mean, for me, I know there's people that feel the exact same as you and I, so I hope that that helps. But yeah, just looking back at it, I just like, I'm like, Fofa's like, just, yeah, brain rot.

And you know, your experience with trying to get diagnosed is unfortunately all too common, right? And I mean, we love our doctor community, obviously, but unfortunately, a lot of healthcare providers and practitioners, they themselves are victims of diet culture. So it's like, unless you're coming at them extremely emaciated and saying, I'm not eating anything at all, they just might not flag ED. And if you can imagine if it's hard for us to get a diagnosis, how hard it is for larger body folks who have atypical anorexia, who have to literally fight with their physicians to be validated and to say, you know, yes, I'm sick and I'm worthy of treatment. And often by the time that they do get treatment, it's very far gone, as you've just described it in devastating effects.

Yeah. but tell me about your recovery journey you know how did that start were you in the public eye entertaining millions of people during that process yeah so I started recovery I started going to outpatient around fall of 2019 so it was before I joined any social media or like joined TikTok and YouTube and that kind of thing, but like just before. So I started and then I really started my recovery in like December, maybe January of 2020. Like truly, like I was just going to outpatient and then just continuing to do my habits. So really, I'd say January 2020 is when I really started to recover. And then it was only less than four months after that I downloaded TikTok and started the videos. So I was very much in the beginning of my recovery at that time. And then that's when I

also, I developed the other wonderful ED, bulimia, which I haven't talked about really as much. And I should, and you shouldn't be embarrassed of it, but it's just, that's also extremely common now that I've learned coming from specific anorexia to recovery and then becoming bulimic. So I was heavily trying to recover, but then also now dealing with a new ED a new Hikki D on top of my other one. So yeah, that was all through 2020. I'd say it was like, it was hell. It was pretty much hell through 2020. And then at the same time, I'm growing like this on TikTok. And then I started YouTube as well. And then I was also a hairdresser six to seven days a week. So it was just kind of like a recipe for disaster, but it also was good at the same time. I had good come out of it and there was absolutely really good peaks, weeks,

even like a few months where I was doing really, really good. And I think honestly, being on social media and making people laugh. And then I was honest about my recovery in one of my TikToks like a few months in, and it really touched a lot of people. And I was like, oh, wow. Okay. So that actually really helped me, which is kind of weird. But yeah, so that's where that started. So I've been in the public eye through all of my recovery, basically. That's amazing. I mean, it sounds though, like you've got a really good, strong support system, the community there that are generally supportive and that's been helpful for you. And having a support system is so important when it comes to eating disorder recovery. I think, you know, there's still a lot of stigma and shame around eating disorders. platforms tell their story as we're doing here, like it really does create that relationship because there are so many other people who are experiencing something similar or will find a little nugget in one of our stories and say, oh, I thought I was the only one because it is so

isolating, right? Typically you feel like you were the only one in the world who could possibly feel like this. And being in eating disorder recovery, kind of like we were talking about before, in some ways it feels like you failed to your eating disorder brain in some way, even though you're doing like the bravest, hardest work you possibly can. But there's this experience of feeling ashamed and loathing your ED body, but also feeling scared and ashamed of it changing. And so having that support system is just so important. And I'm grateful that you have such a great fan base. But speaking of fan bases, did you ever get kind of comments, whether they're fans or trolls, like anything that you find really triggered your eating disorder behaviors or thoughts? Yeah, yeah, definitely. In a whole, I've never, besides having the ED and getting down to

a weight that was not good for me, I've never really fluctuated that much. I've never been overweight necessarily. But if I lose five pounds, it's quite noticeable. So during my recovery, I would fluctuate five, 10 pounds, often going lower because I would relapse quite a bit. And that's when I would see comments and they would either be concerned comments or, you know, oh my gosh, what are you doing? Drop the workout routine comments. And then I was like, oh no. And even the concern comments, as you know, feed the beast. So it made it more difficult, but then at the same time, it was good and bad. It was like, it would feed that. But then I would see people responding to the videos I've made about having mental health issues or ED, and I would want to be better for

them and for myself, not just for them, but like I would see that it's not that important. So it's been a battle. I think being in the public eye with it is a bit more difficult because you think about, I'm looking at myself on camera right now. Like I'm always looking at myself. It doesn't need to be a mirror and I have to watch videos of myself back. And I have body dysmorphia as well to the max, which is also very common for people with ED. And so I can't even trust my own eyes at this point. So I just choose to believe that. I'm just like, you know what, what I'm seeing probably isn't what I'm seeing. And I'm just going to let the world see me as they want to see me. And that's all I can do. And I have to take myself out of it. And yeah, basically I just need to talk myself out of my

own brain a lot. Yeah. And that is a very common tactic, a coping strategy. Because like I said, that ED brain is just so manipulative, so loud. It's all-encompassing at times, especially during more stressful episodes in your life. And so I know for me, sometimes I have to take breaks from reading troll comments because, and it sounds like your ED kind of started very similar to mine. There's this element of control, element of kind of people pleasing, perfectionism, using it like a bad coping strategy for dealing with other mental health disorders. And so like when I see a troll comment now commenting like, oh, you let yourself go or why should I trust you?

You don't have a goal body. I'm kind of like, whatever. It doesn't bother me. But it's like the comments that criticize me as a person and the things I value about myself, my work, my professionalism, who I am as a person, anything that's going to trigger that kind of anxious spiral, I have to be careful about over-consuming that kind of content, right? And so, you know, I think this just really speaks to the importance of working with a professional, managing that mental health piece as part of the overall eating disorder recovery and just getting that support, whether it's therapy, medication, other positive coping strategies that are not just controlling food. And that's all so important for ongoing recovery. Yeah, no, absolutely. Yeah, for me, yeah, therapy was absolutely an aspect of it. Family was definitely an aspect of it. Yeah,

and YouTube. Yeah, that was a big part. Like when I say I watched you, that was during like, you know, all those peak times and other creators that spoke out about their ED recoveries or struggles, I don't know why, but that probably helped me the most, just watching somebody else go through the exact same thing I was going through. And I guarantee you can find a creator out there that has past videos on it, and it's extremely helpful, at least for me. Oh, no, for sure. Or if they're sitting down and eating, I felt like I could sit down and eat with them.

It's very strange, but it does help. Yeah. There are a lot of downsides to social media and a lot of dangers, but there are a lot of benefits as well. And having that tight knit community where you may otherwise feel like nobody understands you, nobody could possibly have the same unusual quirks that you have around food. Well, there's a community out there who probably can relate. But talking about social media, you know, how much of social media do you encounter today that you find particularly like triggering? What is the most dangerous elements of diet culture that shows up particularly like triggering? Like what is the most dangerous elements of

diet culture that shows up online these days? Yeah, I'd say, I don't know, I'd say like 80%. Yeah. Because there's like, you know, the body checking, there's the quick diets, there's the drink this cleanser to clean out your insides somehow magically. There's all this stuff, which I know mostly is BS, but it's extremely hard not to compare yourself, not even just as a creator, just as a person consuming the content. You could be like, oh my gosh, this person looks so amazing. I wonder what they're doing. And then you obsess about that.

I think the best thing that I have been able to do is just everyone's comparing themselves to everyone and everyone's probably going through something. And even if they're not, there's genetics, there's face tuning. It's hard to believe everything you're seeing on social media. So I just choose to kind of believe that there's just a whole fake world out there that that's just not not you can't compare yourself to it. No, you just can't because you don't know what's going on behind closed doors. I do try to actively remind the public, like on a regular basis, that what you see on social media is not real life. And I know that because I work on the inside and like there's an enormous amount of work behind what you see. And so we really don't

know if that creator that's posting there, what I eat in a day, if that's actually what they ate, or if they eat that every day, or if they're just, you know, presenting it and then throwing it away. Like, we don't really know what's going on. But like, yeah, I mean, this is one of the reasons why I got into this industry kind of critiquing these like what I eat in a day concepts, right? Because I really wanted to help people safely unpack them when they are so, so pervasive. It's just such a big part of like wellness culture right now. But I just feel like they all follow this very strict, you know, formula of the attractive fit woman videotaping herself in the mirror, doing the body check to see how flat her stomach is.

Sometimes you don't even see a head. Like it's just a body, just breasts and abs. You don't even see the head. So it's like, what is this about? This is about sending a message that if you eat the diet I'm about to show you, you can look like this. And that is like dishonest at best, but also really dangerous at worst for a lot of vulnerable folks. Extremely. Yeah, no, absolutely. It's hard. And it's, I feel like younger people are more victim to that as well. I feel like, well, hopefully, like if you're older, you can kind of, you know.

Critical thinking skills. Okay, you don't need that. And you can usually look at the comments and be like, yeah, right. But it's the younger people that I worry about because there's so many of them online. Yeah, their prefrontal cortex is not working 100%. So we have to protect them. And so that's a big part of what I try to do, you know? Yeah, it's great. but let's talk about coping strategies because I would love to hear from you what are some of

the things that you do as part of your recovery that like you have felt are really helpful and I'm saying do I just want to clarify because I'm saying what do you do not what you have done because like we were saying, like eating disorder recovery is not A to B. It's not on or off. It's like we are constantly kind of evaluating the landscape, kind of like trying to figure out what kind of triggers might be on the horizon and then using all the tools in our toolbox to manage those triggers. So yeah, like what are some of your tools in your toolbox? Yeah, I think one of the biggest things for me that I have done since the beginning of my recovery is I haven't weighed myself in four years. Just don't feel the need to do it. Nope.

I still know to this day, if I was to step on a scale, there'd be some reaction. I don't know. Some thought. I don't know how bad it would be. I don't know. But I just, it doesn't do me any favors. So that has been extremely helpful. There's sometimes when I want to, but I just, I can't, I just don't. So that's been a really big thing for me. Also during meal time, if I'm with somebody else, or if I'm out at dinner, I'll usually, I'll just get the person with me to order for me, or I'll get the server to pick what they put they dinner, I'll usually, I'll just get the person with me to order for me, or I'll get the server to pick what they want. I'll give them a few choices or I'll get somebody, if they're nice enough, maybe to cook for me or to cook with me because I will still actively pick the lesser calorie option because I now am an expert at how many calories are in everything,

which is awesome. You can't forget it. You can't forget that. Yeah, you just, you can't. And then I'll go out of my way to order things I'm uncomfortable with or to make something I'm uncomfortable with almost every single day. I love that. Because that's just important. Like, it's not like I mean like a whole row of cookies every day, but it's just like, I know if I'm like, I'm just going to eat clean today. That's just something I know I can't do. Slippery slope. Because I know that I will spiral. And then if I am giving into those thoughts or if I'm feeling like I'm on a downward spiral,

I will do things like I will literally just go outside and just lay down in the grass and just look up at the sky and just realize how small I am. Like just do some grounding work, which sounds so dumb probably to a lot of people. But when you just kind of look, I don't know what it is about looking up. It just makes all your problems, especially those kind of problems feel so small. It's like, yeah, no, the blueberry muffin I just ate doesn't deserve a panic attack. It doesn't define me. It's not going to change my life. 10 years down the road, I'm not going to be thinking about that blueberry muffin. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. And yeah, just thinking about how many years I have left and how

tomorrow's not promised and all of those kinds of thoughts really, really help with that if I'm really struggling. So I try to do that actively at least, you know, a couple times a day if I walk my dog. Nature is very helpful with that. And yeah, I'd say those are like my pillars that have helped me get to where I am today. That's amazing. Those are some fantastic tools that I sure will help a lot of people. And I agree. I do the kind of sky, like think of how small these problems are in the grand scheme of the world. Like I always picture like the whole universe and like how like zoning in on the earth and like zoning in on the blueberry muffin. It's just like that blueberry muffin is a nanospec in my life, in the amazing things I'm going to do and experience in my life. So not worth a second thought. But I think that was so helpful. So amazing. So many people are going to, I'm sure,

see themselves or hear themselves in your story. And that's really what I want this to be about is, you know, helping to reduce the stigma around eating disorder, eating disorder recovery, because there is still so much shame around that. Exactly. So thank you so much, Chris. This was fantastic. Thank you so much for having me on. This was great. Anyone who's ever been touched by the heavy grip of an eating disorder knows how isolating

the area can feel. Eating disorders force you inwards. They shrink you down. They manipulate your brain to make you believe you're alone. That no one could possibly understand the crushing fear that you feel about something as seemingly benign as a muffin or an extra second of spray oil in the pan. In the not-so-distant past, people struggling with eating disorders truly suffered in silence. There were no Facebook recovery groups, no Reddit threads, no blogs giving us a glimpse into the shared experience of the ED mind. There certainly were influencers or celebrities sharing the recovery in real time. But the role of social

media in eating disorders is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, we have mounting evidence of the damage of social media for young people's mental health, including their relationship with food and their body. According to findings from a 2023 systematic review that compiled data from 17 different countries, social media usage significantly increases the risk of body image concerns, eating disorders, and poor mental health, largely thanks to its role in perpetuating the thin ideal and social comparison. From detoxes to dangerous what-I-eat-a-days to extreme 30-day diet challenges, social media opens the door to disordered eating for a lot of vulnerable viewers. And these are young people who have never thought

about the kind of so-called toxins that are lurking in their oat milk. We also know that sensationalized content is just more likely to go viral, so you are just more likely to be swayed by extreme messages than balanced evidence-based ones. In fact, one study found that this kind of misinformation travels six times faster and farther than truthful content. So there is no doubt in my mind that social media can be a very dangerous place for normalizing problematic messages around bodies and food. I have literally made a whole career out of decoding and debunking those harmful messages. That said, for all the seedy grifters and ill-informed influencers slowly poisoning young minds, there are also opportunities to build communities that care.

As evidenced by Chris's experience, there is real power in social media for helping to destigmatize, spread awareness, and seek support in the rollercoaster ride of recovery. Whether that means following the recovery journeys of other people or professionals who are dismantling problematic diet culture online, there are corners of the dark web that offer light. Going through active eating disorder recovery in the public eye, like showing up every day to make others laugh and smile like Chris did, is surely mentally exhausting. But it's often said that it takes a village to recover from an eating disorder. As I said, eating disorders are innately isolating and isolation perpetuates eating disorders. Like it's nearly impossible to recover without breaking that cycle. Finding a supportive community can help us do just that. It can help remind us that we are unconditionally loved, that we are more than just our eating disorder, and it can

give us a safe place to turn to when our thoughts feel hostile and dark. One study looking at the eating disorder recovery community on Instagram found that while moderation was essential for harm reduction, participants generally did yield benefits through its social support and validation. Obviously, it would undoubtedly be safer to find that community in a place that wasn't a minefield of triggering content like social media, but this is ultimately the world that we live in. I'm not saying that we should be giving up on real life interactions and relationships. Like on the contrary, we need to fight for these more than ever. But metamorphosizing into a social butterfly just might not be a realistic

leap for someone whose ED brain is keeping them sequestered and alone. That said, finding content that helps rather than harms takes tact. It takes strategy. So I want to share some important takeaways and tips to help you see with a grain of salt. Social media is not real life. The vast majority of aspirational content out there is nothing more than a carefully curated highlight reel designed to get you to buy into something. A product, a program, a brand. And between the filters and Photoshop and scripting and editing, like even the most authentic presenting content is methodically planned out. Social media is also a dangerous echo chamber. Like you'll watch one cute puppy video and suddenly it's all that you see.

Obviously, it's a little more insidious when it comes to diet culture than dogs, but the mechanism is ultimately the same. So keep in mind that what you see online repeated and replicated until you seemingly cannot deny it as truth is likely just a silo of misinformation on loop. Aside from just like accepting that most of what you see online is BS, it really does speak to my next important takeaway. Curate your feed. Social media algorithms aim to give you what you want. So unfollow influencers or content creators who are perpetuating diet culture or reinforcing

societal body standards and interact instead with folks who support your journey. This is going to be different for everybody, but generally speaking, I recommend seeking out recovery-centered accounts, anti-diet culture dietitians, people in diverse bodies, and most simply folks in genres that have nothing to do with food or fitness. I also recommend sticking to watching content from your follow feed rather than the more risky for you feed, which you ultimately can't control. And if you do venture into the for you space, you can actually go into your settings to block certain keywords that might feed you triggering content. So consider filtering out things like weight loss, low calorie, low carb, detox, and really whatever doesn't feel supportive to you. Which brings me to number three, consider your true passions and interests. Yes, a lot of us use social media

for entertainment or like a good long mindless doom scroll at the end of the day, but it might be helpful to reframe your use around learning about something that you're passionate about. Something that has nothing to do with bodies or food. I know that when your eating disorder has been your life for so long, it's really easy to internalize it as your whole personality. But as I always say, our diet is the least interesting thing about us. So think about the things outside of food and fitness that bring you joy. Who were you before your eating disorder took hold? For me, it's all about music, parenting, and like a strange fascination with crime. Honestly, I feel like I basically trained my

TikTok algorithm to only show me video content about Taylor Swift and true crime. Hopefully though, never together. But whether it's makeup, interior design, fashion, or something truly niche to you, try to use social media for information that has nothing to do with food. Finally, combine your social community with professional support. If you're going to engage with social content while working through ED recovery, it is imperative that you do so with professional support. Whether that's a dietitian or a therapist or both, think of us as the guides to help you through the jungle that is your social feed. Remember, even if you do find content that feels supportive, social media inherently lacks nuance. It is just not designed for nuanced, personalized conversations. And everyone's

eating disorder recovery is going to be nuanced. So working with a professional to help you safely unpack what you've seen or read online and help you work that into your unique recovery plan is really key here. And if you've heard yourself in our discussion today and are looking for some one-on-one support, I encourage you to contact the free NEDIC helpline at 1-866-N-E-D-I-C-20 or go to eatingdisorderhope.com. And there you have it, the very first episode of Bite Back with Abby Sharp. I hope you found this engaging, entertaining, and educational. But thank you again to Chris Collins for joining me today. Definitely check her content out. She's amazing at CallMeChris across all platforms. And we are going to be tackling all kinds of health, wellness, fitness, fads, and food topics on this podcast, some of which might be a little uncomfortable, but I do think

it's important that we keep the conversation going. So thanks for joining me to bite back against diet culture. I'm Abby Sharp. Thank you for listening.