EP_26: Finding Your Reasons to Recover – A Male Role Model in ED Recovery, Alex Rodriguez (Expert)

Curious About Recovery - Diving Into Eating Disorders

In honour of Eating Disorder Awareness Week this year, and in alignment with BEAT’s desire to spread awareness around men in the recovery world, I spoke to Alex Rodriguez, an accredited practicing dietitian and recovery mentor at River Oak Health in Brisbane, Australia.

It is not often that we see men in the recovery space and so it was really great to get his perspective and hear about the journey of finding his reasons to recover from anorexia. So often men are overlooked when it comes to disordered eating. There is societal pressure for a man to look a certain way, and we need to create more awareness around the fact that many men struggle in silence because of this.

In this episode we talk about how important it is to find your identity outside of your physical appearance, relearning how to have a healthy relationship to food and your body, and finding balance in exercise. We also touch on the RAVES model developed by Shane Jeffreys, and what Alex’s role as a Peer Mentor, Ambassador, and Dietician is within his workplace at River Oak and within the Butterfly Foundation.

Alex aims to use his lived experience, passion and empathy to help others pursue their recovery, and is a great inspiration to men out there who need healthy male role models to look up to in their recovery journey.

You can find him on Instagram at @arod_dietician where he shares his passion about breaking down eating disorder stigma and stereotypes, and spreading awareness about nutrition misinformation online.