Having Anorexia in a Larger Body: Navigating Medical Anti-Fat Bias & Lack of Care With Sharon Maxwell @heysharonmaxwell

What happens when you live with a severe eating disorder in a larger body yet the medical system refuses to see it? In this powerful conversation, Sharon Maxwell (she/they) shares her story of surviving anorexia in a fat body, advocating for herself inside medical systems that consistently denied her care, and reclaiming joy, autonomy, and embodiment after years of harm.

Sharon is an educator, speaker, and fat activist who dedicates her work to dismantling anti fat bias and eradicating weight stigma in healthcare and society. Their story and activism have been featured in the New York Times Magazine, The Tamron Hall Show, The Wall Street Journal, NPR, 60 Minutes, and more.

Together, we explore the realities of receiving medical care while fat, why compassionate providers save lives, how weight stigma shaped Sharon’s early life and nearly cost her her life, and why reclaiming joy becomes an act of resistance.

This episode holds so much wisdom, solidarity, and truth telling for anyone in eating disorder recovery, anyone harmed by medical weight stigma, and anyone committed to building a safer world for people in larger bodies.

What We Cover in This Episode Sharon’s Early Story and Reclaiming Joy

Sharon shares a surprising fun fact about being a lifelong pianist and how taking jazz lessons helped them reclaim creativity after growing up in a restrictive religious cult that controlled every aspect of music, expression, and embodied joy. They describe how jazz has become part of their healing and identity reconstruction.

Growing Up Fat, Undiagnosed, and Unseen

Sharon lived in a fat body their entire life and struggled with anorexia for nineteen years. They went undiagnosed because medical providers only saw their body size. When Sharon arrived with obvious symptoms of an eating disorder, providers dismissed the symptoms and blamed their body. They describe how weight stigma prevented treatment and reinforced eating disorder patterns.

The Doctor Who Changed Everything

Sharon describes the first doctor who recognized the eating disorder and offered real compassion. That moment shifted the trajectory of their life. We discuss how rare this experience is and why truly compassionate medical care can be lifesaving for people living in larger bodies.

Medical Trauma and the Cost of Weight Stigma

Sharon shares painful stories about:

• Being denied necessary medical procedures because of body size.

• Experiencing trauma at gynecological appointments.

• Nearly dying from untreated tonsillitis because providers assumed weight was the cause rather than treating the actual condition.

• The emotional and financial toll of weight stigma across childhood and adulthood.

We discuss how the healthcare system misattributes the financial cost of weight stigma to the O-word and how this distorts public health narratives and patient care.

Eating Disorders in Larger Bodies

Sharon explains how anti fat bias prevents providers from seeing eating disorders in fat patients. They highlight how common anorexia is in larger bodies and how life threatening it becomes when medical systems refuse to diagnose or treat it.

How Anti Fat Bias Harms Everyone

Sharon and I talk about how dismantling anti fat bias supports every person in eating disorder recovery. Recovery requires divesting from anti fat bias, reconnecting with the body, and understanding how these biases shape thoughts and behaviors across all sizes.

Intersectionality and Medical Harm

We explore how harms escalate for people with multiple marginalized identities, including Black patients, Indigenous patients, trans patients, and fat patients who also face racism, transphobia, or medical gatekeeping.

Advocacy, Boundaries, and Medical Self Protection

Sharon shares concrete strategies for preparing for medical appointments, including:

--Bringing notes to stay grounded when hyperarousal hits.

--Recording appointments for recall and safety.

--Bringing a support person.

--Taking intentional rest time afterward.

--Establishing boundaries and walking out when providers violate consent.

We discuss how exhausting it is to prepare for appointments that should be safe and how necessary these strategies become for survival.

Why Sharon Became a Fat Activist

After nearly dying because of weight stigma, Sharon left the classroom to educate clinicians, providers, and communities about anti fat bias. They now work with medical systems and general audiences to deconstruct bias, build safer care practices, and illuminate the threads of anti fat culture that harm everyone.

Imagining an Ideal World

Sharon answers the signature Dr. Marianne Land question. Their ideal world includes accessible spaces for play, joy, rest, and creativity for all bodies. It includes medical care rooted in compassio