hi! i'm McCall!

I'm a proud and imperfect mom of two tiny humans and founder of Southern Smash. I smash scales for a living and help others smash the mental health stigma by sharing my eating disorder story. I believe resiliency is cultivated through the practice of gratitude and that there is always light, even in the darkest of times.

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Southern Smash

Speaking

On the blog...

Eleven Years Later and Still Recovering

Finding ME Again.

I am HERE.

The House Don’t Fall When My Bones are Good

The Weight of Recovery

Finding Strength in My One Boob Reflection

mccalldempsey

👫proud & imperfect mom
🔨scale smasher @southernsmash founder
🧠eating disorder recovery advocate
✏️writer
⚜️louisiana born ➡️🏖 florida living

Seven years ago, Marjorie and I boarded a plane to

Seven years ago, Marjorie and I boarded a plane to visit our beloved bayou. Life was magical. After her three month stay in the NICU, Marjorie was growing and healthy. Or so we thought. These memories gut me every year. I look at them with sadness and anger. Cancer was growing in my baby’s belly and I had no idea. One week later our world as we knew it would completely shatter. Cancer. Our baby. Cancer ripped through our lives in an instant. Never to be the same again. It’s like living in a before and after world. A time before cancer and then the time after. Before our girl underwent scans, surgeries and chemo. And after. It’s an emotional line to straddle. Each year her diagnosis date (May 27) brings a flood of memories and feelings. But they don’t just come once a year. They are every day. Every doctor’s appointment. Every headache. Every bump or fever. We have our yearly oncology appointment this Friday and welcome all the jazz hands and prayers. Between the worry of test results to Marjorie’s massive fear/anxiety of the blood draw. It’s a hard day for my girl (and me). Seven years ago today she was my bubbly baby. And I’m beyond damn thankful that seven years later…she is still my bubbly (and very sassy) baby thanks to the many prayer warriors and our @wolfsonchildren angels. 💛🎗💛🎗 #miraculousmarjorie #forevermybabygirl #smallbutmighty #neuroblastoma #pediatriccancer #morethanfour #gogold #beyondthankful #angelswatchingoverus #wolfsonwarrior

Tired Mom: A Portrait. Thank you Jesus for medic

Tired Mom: A Portrait. Thank you Jesus for medicine, a girl on the mend, a fabulous babysitter and dry shampoo. Excited to spend a night off inhaler duty and with one of our fave golf families. 💗💗💗

Marjorie might be rocking a gnarly case of pneumon

Marjorie might be rocking a gnarly case of pneumonia, but nothing stops my tiny dancer. We took our @atlanticcoastdance photos Monday before the pneumonia got the best of her. I am beyond thankful to report we had a jazz hands recovery in the past 24-hours. I stayed up all night, pulse oximeter in hand monitoring her breathing. After seeing her xray and talking with the doctor, I fully prepared myself for another hospital admission. But leave it to my spunky girl to prove everyone wrong. Her oxygen was stable overnight and her cough has improved ten fold today. I’m still keeping a close eye on her, but I’m so thankful for our army of prayers and jazz hands that give us all the good energy. As for this momma, I’m exhausted mentally and physically, but so grateful to see my sassy girl on the mend. She’s doing all the hard things with fire, jazz hands and attitude. 💗💗💗

Yesterday Marjorie was taking dance pictures and t

Yesterday Marjorie was taking dance pictures and today she’s taking a chest x-ray 🤦‍♀️ It’s pneumonia. Again. My poor baby girl can’t catch a break. We thought she was on the mend, but the cough got worse last night and into today. We started antibiotics in addition to all the steroids available this side of the Mississippi. Praying her O2 remains stable and we avoid another hospital slumber party. Marjorie was VERY nervous about the chest x-ray, but in true Marjorie fashion just kept saying “We can do hard things, Mom.” Then she told me if she were a super hero her super power would be bravery 🥺🥺🥺 I would give anything for her not to keep having to do the hard things, but she is certainly a superhero in my book. Marjorie’s energy remains sassy and spunky. She once again is stumping doctors on how she is so energetic given her X-ray!Accepting all prayers, jazz hands and thoughts as we enter the night and need her oxygen to stay high and mighty! 💗💗💗 #miraculousmarjorie #pneumonia #again #wecandohardthings #nohospitalslumberparties

I was raised by three extraordinarily strong women

I was raised by three extraordinarily strong women. GaGa, left home to do her part in the war - welding ships and sowing wild oats before settling down with a family of her own. My aunt “Susu” the courageous single mom who traveled and was a boss lady in banking before being a “boss lady” was a thing. She never backed down and constantly provided and loved with the same intensity she poured into work. And then there’s my momma, Annie. My ride or die, BFF, momma. She was destined for medical school, but put it aside to be a mom. Rather than pursuing her own dreams, she did something greater…she gave my sister and I wings of our own to fly. I would not be the woman I am today without my Annie. She knew the greatest gift she could ever give us was the ability to fly the nest. Today, I pray I am instilling the same in my kids. The chaos of every day mom life blinds me from what the outcome will be. Let’s be honest…every day is a shit show. But thanks to my army of moms I’m getting by. Mom Life is not easy. I’m in a rough season, but every now and again my head lifts above water and I see a win…maybe it’s a test or the ability to finally tie a shoe. Nothing is too small to celebrate. Most days I feel like I’m doing it all wrong. And then my mom will send me a text reminding me that it’s a journey or just show up on my door to help! I count my lucky stars every day. I hit the mom jackpot! Annie, you’re the best, period. Thank you for pouring everything into Jess and me. Every day, I take a page out of your parenting handbook and pray I’m half the mom you are. Today let’s give honor to all the moms. We are doing the hard things together. You are never alone. I’m here trudging through with you 💗💗

My Marjorie sure knows how to keep me on my toes.

My Marjorie sure knows how to keep me on my toes. My last night in Jamaica, she spiked a 104.5 fever and her daddy brought her to urgent care with the flashers on. Pretty sure my mom (on duty while I was gone) cleaned every corner of my house in a panic while they were at urgent care. I raced home and despite another fever, she seemed to be on the mend. Should have known better. Doctor Monday. Lungs clear. Target trip. Then last night her O2 tanked in the middle of the night and I ran for our emergency stash of Prednisone. Now we are on all the steroids and her O2 is stable. For now, there is no pneumonia rattle in her chest and we are praying it stays that way! Prednisone and albuterol have been our friend in the past and let’s hope it continues. This girl knows way too much about pulse oximeters, meds and appointments. The “What Ifs” sneak in and the trauma of our countless hospital stays creep in my memory. But I am so thankful for our amazing team at @baptisthealthjx, @wolfsonchildren and @nemours that has helped us create a protocol that keeps hospital slumber parties at bay. Here’s for hoping for a good night with stable O2, no fever and our cheerful girl back tomorrow.

Dear Media, For 👏the👏love👏 please stop w

Dear Media, For 👏the👏love👏 please stop writing about celebrity bullshit crash diets. You are perpetuating the unrealistic standard that we must change our bodies to fit the dress. I spent too many years shrinking my body to fit the “perfect” dress. I’ll be damned if my daughter (or son) ever feel that same pressure. But you’re making my job nearly impossible every time you outline “how they fit the dress” or “how they got those abs” headline. You can’t open an app or turn on the tv without seeing the Kim headline. All bodies are good bodies. I no longer change my body for clothes. I buy the clothes that fit my body because I would rather put my energy into changing the world than my body. Keep diet culture out of the headlines for my own sanity and for the next generation of selfie takers. Sincerely, A really fed up momma 🐆🐆🐆 #enoughalready #smashdietculture #metgala #toobusychangingthewordtochangemybody #daretoloveyourself

I once thought loving my body meant getting to the

I once thought loving my body meant getting to the place where I loved it so much I would run down the beach in a thong bikini yelling 'I LOVE MY BODY" Spoiler Alert 🚨 that has never happened & never will! Coming to peace with our bodies is an ever changing spectrum. It is not a black/white, love/hate situation. It changes constantly. We must stop pressuring ourselves to cross some mythical body image finish line that declares us forever & eternally in love with our bodies. I don't have to like my body every day to continue to nourish, rest & move it with love. I must also fully step into my privilege of living in an able body that is accepted by society. I can shop, fly & live without judgement. I’m currently in a hard season with my body. Last year's 7️⃣ surgeries left me looking like Edward Scissorhands attacked my chest. I have lumps & scars across my breasts & sides. My implants don't stay in their 'pockets' without a bra. It's like a game of implant hide & seek in my body 🥴. Looking in the mirror over this past year has been hard. Really hard. Up until 2️⃣ months ago, I had been running from the hard feelings and memories, but they caught up with me. And now I'm doing the work to heal. When @thirdlove offered to send me a bra, I realized I had not bought a new bra since my prophylactic double mastectomy. I decided to take them up on it. (No, I do not get paid to post this. That's not my wheelhouse.) So I can say with full transparency this is the best bra I have ever owned. It might sound silly, but finally having a bra that isn't from my mastectomy surgeries, feels like a small step in the direction of learning to look in the mirror again. I came so close to not needing a bra at all. It is truly a miracle I have breasts. I am thankful for that. On my really hard days, I think about how much my body has endured. My body (and yours) can do ALL the hard things and it keeps showing up. That's pretty extraordinary. If you are struggling with body image, give yourself grace and know that there will never be a finish line. Find peace where you can and learn to sit in the discomfort, never shying away from digging deep and doing the work. 💗

For me, faith is a spectrum. Some seasons it’s s

For me, faith is a spectrum. Some seasons it’s strong. And some seasons there are a lot of questions. My religion was built in the Catholic Church and at my all girls Catholic high school. While I would never change my Catholic upbringing, life has shown me faith isn’t built there. I found faith in the hard things and realizing (for me) faith isn’t tied up in a perfect outfit in a church pew. My faith is messy, imperfect and ebbs and flows. I’ve asked God a lot of “Whys” in recent years. I have yet to receive answers. But I found peace in my beach walks and doing the hard work to heal. It’s a never ending journey. Today, I pulled my family out of bed because I knew in my bones we needed the best church…the kind that is imperfect just like us. Yoga pants, coffee and toes in the sand. I find my church every time my feet hit the sand. I find faith in me. I don’t want to go to church just to check a box and post a picture in our Sunday perfect. That’s not us. It will never be. Faith is in our house every day. It’s messy and imperfect. Like us. And I wouldn’t change a thing. Happy Easter. Happy Sunday. 💗💗💗

I was in third grade when I learned what a diet wa

I was in third grade when I learned what a diet was. I heard about it at school. Teachers talked about these things called “diets” and being “thin”. PE Teachers taught us what food is “good” and what is “bad”. Soon after the diet word entered my life, I turned down a yellow cupcake with chocolate frosting (my favorite) because I thought it was “bad”. Soon after this photo I began to notice my belly rolls. Fast forward to a few years ago, Manning comes home from Kindergarten telling me he has to do 67 jumping jacks to burn off a KitKat candy. Then I get letter sent home about school weigh ins for Manning. So I did what always did…I called @annalutzrd in a panic. She helped me draft an email and soon after I met with our amazing school leadership and we worked together to develop diet free environment for my kids. And I want that for ALL kids. Anna has drafted many letters and our experiences birthed our new letter templates. @alliancefored and @sunnysideupnutritionists came together to write these incredible letters YOU can utilize to combat diet culture in your schools. Schools should be a diet free zone and help children build a strong sense of self and body image. Link in my bio to check out the @alliancefored and @sunnysideupnutritionists letters. They are downloadable PDFs! And as always the Alliance is here to do free educational presentations to students, teachers and parents! Anytime. Anywhere! Diet free schools and early intervention is key to preventing eating disorders and building body positive kids! 💙💙💙

Nearly 1️⃣5️⃣ years ago this human came in

Nearly 1️⃣5️⃣ years ago this human came into my life as a spin teacher. I was instantly drawn to her confidence, humor and magnetic personality. A few months later I disclosed my addiction to diet pills with her. And after her constant shoving persistence, I found myself on a therapist’s couch finally getting help for my eating disorder. We all know how my story went after that… But what you might not know is that this extraordinary human became a best friend, soul sister and Godmother to Manning. COVID, life and miles kept us apart for the last three years. As fate and life would have it, @anneshawhan made a courageous move from CO to FL 🏖 🎉 Saturday we trekked down to Ocala to check out Anne’s incredible new job as Director of Athlete Development at @swimfloridafast 🏊🏻‍♀️ Anne…congrats a million times over. I know how hard the road has been as you’ve juggled the single mom/work/provider balance. Madeleine has one amazing mama who takes leaps of faith with courage, grace and grit. 💪💜 We all need friends like Anne in our life. I feel blessed to have found mine all those years ago on a spin bike 🚴🏻 We love you Tannie!!!! 💜💗

Life has never been easy with this one..born way t

Life has never been easy with this one..born way too early, cancer, pneumonia, hospitals and doctors…we’ve been through the ringer Tonight I had a sweet momma text me. Her twins were born at 25-weeks. I don’t have words of wisdom. All I know is that as mommas we have to take care of ourselves to help our tiny humans. And that goes for all stages of life. There are no guarantees for tomorrow. Every night I lay next to Marjorie until she falls asleep. I watch as she settles in and inhales into a dream. Each night I can’t help but think what a gift it is. I almost lost this chance. Every moment is a gift - some more exhausting and frustrating than others! Lately, Marjorie has shown more and more signs that her medical past is haunting her and that’s okay. We take it day by day and support her. And I am honored to talk to other mommas walking this journey. Sweet dreams my baby girl 💗 and yes she is in sushi 🍣 Jammie’s. Thank you @stephaniemoulder

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