The Silk Stocking Sisters

Welcome to another episode of The Silk Stocking Sisters Podcast. In this episode, we are joined by special guest Michelle Petties, TEDx speaker and bestselling author of Leaving Large: The Stories of a Food Addict. Using both research and personal experience, Ms. Petties explores the connections between food addiction, trauma, emotional eating, and education.

In this conversation, we discuss how patterns around food begin early in life, often shaped by childhood experiences and emotional environments. Ms. Petties challenges us to rethink the way we view food, urging students and educators to consider what it truly means to nourish both the  body and mind. She states, “We think we’re fighting food, but we’re fighting emotions.” 

We focus on how eating behaviors are often influenced by emotional experiences and past trauma, with food frequently becoming a way of managing stress and unresolved feelings. She addresses how obesity can be understood as a manifestation of things people did not know how to deal with. This episode highlights the disproportionate impact these experiences have within the Black community, especially among Black women, while emphasizing the importance of understanding both your mental and emotional states, and recognizing how they directly influence and are reflected in the body. 

We also examine how food environments and the consumption of highly processed foods can influence cognitive function, affecting attention, memory, and students’ ability to learn and perform academically.