144: How Diet Culture and Chronic Pain Intersect with DK Ciccone
We talk a fair bit about chronic pain on this podcast, friends, and some things have become abundantly clear. First, that chronic pain is not taken seriously if you live in a bigger body. Second, while movement is important, the fitness industry and diet culture rob movement of joy. In the place where chronic pain and diet culture meet, where do people who live with pain in bigger bodies go if they want actual advice that isn’t simply “lose weight”? I’ve invited Dana Karen, or DK, Ciccone to join me for a conversation about this topic. DK is a certified Pilates instructor and is trained in pain reprocessing therapy through the Pain Psychology Center. She also wrote the book “You’re Meant to Move: A Guide to Conquering Chronic Pain, Increasing Stress Resilience, and Reclaiming an Active Life” so this discussion is right in her wheelhouse.
We talk a fair bit about chronic pain on this podcast, friends, and some things have become abundantly clear. First, that chronic pain is not taken seriously if you live in a bigger body. Second, while movement is important, the fitness industry and diet culture rob movement of joy. In the place where chronic pain and diet culture meet, where do people who live with pain in bigger bodies go if they want actual advice that isn’t simply “lose weight”? I’ve invited Dana Karen, or DK, Ciccone to join me for a conversation about this topic. DK is a certified Pilates instructor and is trained in pain reprocessing therapy through the Pain Psychology Center. She also wrote the book “You’re Meant to Move: A Guide to Conquering Chronic Pain, Increasing Stress Resilience, and Reclaiming an Active Life” so this discussion is right in her wheelhouse.
DK shares her personal journey from childhood struggles with food through yo-yo dieting along with chronic pain in adulthood. She knows from experience that clients need to shed the disappointment and grief in their bodies before they can make progress with chronic pain. We talk about the problem with going to the doctor over pain and being told to lose weight as an answer. It’s devastating and diet culture contributes to the issue of chronic pain in bigger bodies. DK encourages movement with her clients, through Pilates, and operates a strictly weight-neutral environment and size-inclusive space. She’s part of the Body Positive Fitness Alliance to promote that and I agree so much with her beliefs that diet culture, along with medical culture, dismisses chronic pain. It’s a very open and revealing conversation, an important one, and I know you’ll all appreciate it as much as I do.
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About DK Ciccone:
Dana Karen (“DK”) Ciccone is a certified Pilates instructor who helps people in pain improve strength, mobility, and well-being in a weight-neutral environment. She’s also trained in pain reprocessing therapy through the Pain Psychology Center. Having begun her own journey with chronic back pain as a young teen, she has been exploring ways to help herself and others regain joy of movement for decades. After twenty years in the health sector, DK left a corporate career to follow her passion, later launching Movement Remedies, a chronic pain–focused Pilates studio in Boston, Massachusetts. Her first book, You’re Meant to Move: A Guide to Conquering Chronic Pain, Increasing Stress Resilience, and Reclaiming an Active Life, was released December 2023.
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Resources discussed in this episode:
- “You’re Meant to Move: A Guide to Conquering Chronic Pain, Increasing Stress Resilience, and Reclaiming an Active Life” by Dana Karen Ciccone
- Pass to try a free class
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Learn more about Dana Karen (DK) Ciccone:
- Website: MovementRemedies.org
- YouTube
Learn more about Dr. Michelle Tubman and Wayza Health:
- Website: www.wayzahealth.com
- Follow me on Facebook and Instagram
Dana Karen Ciccone
Pilates for Pain Specialist | Author
Dana Karen (“DK”) Ciccone is a certified Pilates instructor who helps people in pain improve strength, mobility, and well-being in a weight-neutral environment. She’s also trained in pain reprocessing therapy through the Pain Psychology Center. Having begun her own journey with chronic back pain as a young teen, she has been exploring ways to help herself and others regain joy of movement for decades. After twenty years in the health sector, DK left a corporate career to follow her passion, later launching Movement Remedies, a chronic pain–focused Pilates studio in Boston, Massachusetts. Her first book, You’re Meant to Move: A Guide to Conquering Chronic Pain, Increasing Stress Resilience, and Reclaiming an Active Life, was released December 2023.
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