In a culture obsessed with transformation, women are facing new pressures to constantly “optimize” their bodies. From the resurgence of fuller-bodied celebrities to the sudden wave of Ozempic-fueled weight loss, the body image landscape is shifting, and not always for the better. We're witnessing a new wave of beauty standards that is confusing, exhausting, and often harmful.
Gabby Sanderson is joined by body image therapist Lucie Vallée to unpack the complex forces shaping how we see ourselves. Lucie works primarily with women, to help dismantle toxic patterns around food, appearance, and self-worth; drawing from her own experience of recovering from a decade-long eating disorder marked by obsessive control over her body.
Lucie's healing journey transformed her life, and today she is passionate about guiding others on the same path of acceptance and self-discovery. She shares this message not only through her therapy practice, but also through Instagram, where her thoughtful posts and reflections reach women navigating similar struggles every day.
In this episode of the Happier Life Project Gabby and Lucie explore:
- The concept of body surveillance and why it’s so damaging
- How triggers operate, and how to protect ourselves from them
- The cultural hierarchy of body types and its impact on self-connection
- The long-term effects of body image trauma
- The rise of weight-loss drugs and cosmetic "tweakments", and what they reveal about celebrity and beauty culture
- Why self-objectification still flies under the radar
- And how even well-meaning comments about someone’s appearance can do more harm than good
This is a raw, honest, and deeply relevant conversation for anyone navigating their own body image journey, supporting someone else, or simply trying to make sense of the world we live in. Listen now, because understanding the pressure is the first step to breaking free from it.
To download the free My Possible Self App: https://mypossibleself.app.link/podcast
To follow My Possible Self on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mypossibleself/
To follow Lucie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lucievalleebodyimage/
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