Amanda Lee is an actress, singer and photographer known to TikTok and Instagram as @mandapaints. She is spreading body positivity and standing up for weight inclusive medical care as her own story is proof that weight stigma can kill. A doctor praised her weight loss completely disregarding that the severe pain she was in was the reason she could not eat. Amanda was diagnosed by her next doctor with stage 3 colon cancer. Her fight for fair treatment by the medical system has been picked up by media outlets such as The Insider, People Magazine and The Today Show and the story spreading is sadly not a unique one.
In this episode Amanda shares how weight stigma has impacted her life and professional career, we discuss the impact of weight stigma on performance arts, medical industry and the society in general, compare how medical systems work in the UK and US, speak about her journey of diagnosing and now fighting cancer and finish the conversation with debunking BMI and showing how ridiculous it actually is.
TW: we discuss disordered eating and examples of personal experiences with weight stigma and challenges of fighting cancer.
Find Amanda on:
Instagram: @mandapaints
TikTok: @mandapaints
Her Website: https://www.mandaleephotography.com/
To learn more about me go to:
Instagram: @conversations.with.my.mind
LinkedIn: Ance Vanaga
Website: https://conversationswithmymind.buzzsprout.com
Photo credit: Infolklore
Lovely music created by: Harlowe King