Trigger Warning: In our conversation, we discuss injury, eating disorders, disordered eating, food intake, and exercise. Please take care of yourselves as you listen and avoid if these topics might be triggering for you.

Everyone, please welcome Halle Hunt to Continued Conversations! Halle and I met through mutual friends a few years ago, and I was so excited to bring her in for a conversation. She is the first pro athlete I’ve spoken with on this show, and she brings an extremely important lens to the conversation – being at the intersection of both athlete and model, and all that comes along with these two identities in terms of our bodies.

In our conversation, we discuss…

* Halle’s (very important) work in clinical research of medical devices and the impact of working on devices that are in people’s bodies and changing people’s lives in real time

* How Halle’s overall experience as a college athlete impacted her relationship to her body

* Her struggle with a stomach ulcer leading her to modify her diet, which led to being told she had an eating disorder, which then led to binge-eating

* The nuance of a trainer/teacher-athlete/student dynamic when the person in the position of power is concerned their student is struggling

* Halle’s struggle with depression, disordered eating, and body image issues during the pandemic

* Learning to take care of our bodies – learning what makes our bodies feel good and what doesn’t

* Eat the dang pizza

* Eating patterns on the road while traveling to different countries to play volleyball, and the nuance of spending the entirety of the trip alongside her partner (who may have different eating patterns) – and advocating for herself through it all

* Eating with other people and understanding we are each our own individual with our own food/eating preferences

* And ultimately doing what is best for you and your body.

Halle opened up about her story of struggle and redemption in such beautiful ways, and I am endlessly grateful for her vulnerability in sharing as much as she did in our conversation. We touched on an array of themes in the realm of body image, and I got chills multiple times listening back through to edit this one. I’m also excited to say Halle will be coming back on the show to continue our conversation and dive a bit deeper, but for now, and I cannot wait for you to hear Part 1 of our conversation!

Halle was a part of one of my very first sign days in Hermosa Beach for “What’s Your Favorite Thing About Your Body.” So in our conversation, she expanded on that saying that her favorite thing about her body is that it fuels her to do her sport.

“ Being able to trust my body, that I have prepared it enough to be able to go play the tournaments that I’m playing and win at the tournaments that I’m playing, and just being thankful that I can still do this after injury, sickness, all of those things. I’m just happy to be here, and I’m glad that my body lets me be here.” – Halle Hunt

“Especially with the whole, I don’t know what else — the skinny epidemic that’s going on in Hollywood right now, I feel like that’s so important to find like the — especially modeling, it’s like I’m applying for jobs and then looking at other people that are also applying for these jobs are, yes, fit models. They’re this-big, fit models, and I’m just looking at them like, ‘Okay, I play my sport. Like, I can’t lose that much weight and play my sport.’ And it’s just nothing wrong with them at all. It’s just I don’t have the same structure as them.”

– Halle Hunt

Halle Hunt is a professional beach volleyball player and former Division I indoor and beach volleyball athlete. Outside of competition, she works in clinical research and models, balancing high-performance athletics with a career in healthcare. She is passionate about sharing her experiences as an athlete and encouraging others to pursue excellence both on and off the court.

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If you want to be a part of the conversation… either reach out to me via email at [email protected] to schedule a conversation or fill out this form to share your body image story anonymously.

A couple of notes to ensure this is a safe space for my guests to share their intimate and vulnerable body image stories in:

* These conversations are quite nuanced, complex, and oftentimes very vulnerable. Remember that everyone has their own body image story, and while someone else’s might look differently than yours, I encourage you to keep an open mind and stay empathetic.

* That being said, I welcome your support of my guests in the comments. Please be kind and considerate with your words.

* Thank you for being here. By sharing this type of content, my hope is to inspire collective reflection and cultural questioning. Thank you for supporting me in exploring the effects of our society’s beauty norms and body standards on human beings existing in today’s world.

Do you have a friend, family member, or peer who might be interested in being a part of the conversation? I’d be honored if you could help me spread the word about Continued Conversations!

While I’m not a licensed therapist, registered dietician, or medical health professional and cannot speak to body image topics from a clinical, trauma-informed place, I am an expert of lived experience. I’m an academic of my own body, and I’m passionate about facilitating conversations with other humans about their relationships with their bodies. I believe it’s important to continue conversations about healthy body image in creative spaces as a means to heal individuals as well as the collective whole. But just know the information presented in this medium is not professional mental health advice or medical advice, and any questions or concerns you have should always be directed to your health providers.

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