Trigger Warning: Toward the end of this episode, Corey discusses GLP-1 medications in the context of medical decision-making and body trust. Please take care while listening.
In this conversation, Corey opens up about growing up in the Midwest in the 90s surrounded by diet culture, Weight Watchers meetings, religious messages about body size, and early shame about food. He shares how bullying, family dynamics, ADHD, masculinity, and early dieting shaped his internal world. As an adult, Corey describes finding intuitive eating, becoming a therapist, navigating divorce, reconnecting to his body through movement, and learning to approach health from a place of compassion rather than shame.
We also discuss the nuanced, emotionally complex decision-making around health concerns, medication, and GLP-1s—and the importance of having support, informed consent, and therapeutic processing along the way. Corey closes the story by reflecting on what he’d tell his younger self, his relationship to fatherhood, and the music, books, and hobbies that connect him back to himself.
Key Takeaways
Early exposure to diet culture, Weight Watchers, and moralizing messages about food and body size shaped Corey’s early relationship with himself.
Shame, bullying, and strict masculinity norms deeply impacted how he saw his worth.
ADHD went undiagnosed until adulthood, influencing eating patterns, coping, and self-judgment.
Music, biking, and physical creativity (like playing tuba) helped him feel connected to his body.
Therapy—particularly around divorce—became a turning point for healing and self-understanding.
Intuitive eating has been meaningful but nonlinear, requiring compassion and patience.
Corey discusses the emotional complexity of considering GLP-1 medication while staying aligned with intuitive eating values.
He emphasizes kindness, long-term health goals, rest, connection, and showing up in a more expansive way as a man.
His message to his younger self: You are loved exactly as you are.
