16. But I Can't Stop Thinking About Food

An obsession with healthy eating has become part of the Eating Disorder and disordered eating spectrum. But how do we differentiate between taking responsibility for our health and disorder? Where's the line? This episode looks at:

• What's wrong with valuing health and nutrition?
• What is orthorexia?
• How did Stef develop orthorexia in her 30's?
• Healthy eating as a vehicle for black and white thinking
• Basic nutritional wisdom (aka Gentle Nutrition)as an Intuitive Eating principle
• Is identifying with Clean Eating a bad thing? And if it's not, who would benefit from it?
• But what if you're addicted to processed foods?
• Flag: Do you bring your own food coolers to social events?
• Those moderate, peaceful, non-obsessed people. How do they do it??!
• Is it possible to be neutral about nutrition if you have an ED background?
• Carrots and cupcakes
• Permitters and restrictors
• But the doctors and experts say XYZ!!!
• Stef's Gentle Nutrition Course starts in April!

The most common time of day for people to overeat and/or binge is in the evening. After work, after dinner, after the kids are in bed, after the quiet sets in. Those hours between dinner and bedtime can be the hardest to navigate and there are many reasons why this happens so much -- we're here to take a comprehensive look at many of these reasons. We'll discuss:

• The #1 reason people eat more at night
• Reward and Dopamine (see episode 120)
• Can it just be boredom?
• Joylessness
• Ghrelin, the hunger hormone
• The stories we tell ourselves (and the judgments we make)
• Our evening environments and the people who are (or are not) around us
• Stillness, loneliness, and procrastination (see episode 89)
• But how do we fix it?

Join the LAD Membership

Life After Diets on Instagram

The LAD Website

Email us @ lifeafterdietspodcast@gmail.com

Stefanie's Website

Stefanie on Instagram

Stef's Body Image Webinar + Workbook

Sarah's website

Sarah's YouTube Channel

Sarah’s book, I Can’t Stop Eating, is available on Amazon

This episode is different from our usual ones in that it was created not just for you, dear listener, but for your loved ones. If you've ever felt like you want your friend or family member to understand eating disorders better, but just don't know how to describe it or feel like it's hard for them to understand what you're going through in recovery, this episode if for you AND them.

• The rational experience versus the felt experience
• This is not a willful choice
• Frustration exists on both sides!
• A note on offering health advice
• Binge eaters don't "just need to eat less"
• The DONT's! 
• and the DO's! 

Join the LAD Membership

Life After Diets on Instagram

The LAD Website

Email us @ lifeafterdietspodcast@gmail.com

Stefanie's Website

Stefanie on Instagram

Stef's Body Image Webinar + Workbook

Sarah's website

Sarah's YouTube Channel

Sarah’s book, I Can’t Stop Eating, is available on Amazon

 

 

Self-esteem has implications in eating disorder recovery, and this episode explores some of those -- including self-compassion, connection, competence, comparison, social expectations, shame, and even anger! Tune in for this nuanced conversation about self-esteem (and self-worth, by extension) with topics including:

• What comes first -- low self-esteem or disordered eating behaviors?
• The relationship between safety, shame, and self esteem (especially in restrictive behaviors)
• The role of creativity (for Stef) and self-compassion (for Sarah)
• Addressing the expectations we have of ourselves
• The momentum of self-esteem when it interacts with other concepts (like consistency)
• "Pinterest Moms" as a gateway to Stef's self esteem rehabilitation
• Social covert pressure vs overt pressure 
• Competence for self-esteem for self worth
• The Five C's of self-esteem in research
• The role of Joy (and rethinking "joy")
• Are glimmers the opposite of triggers? 
• Six Pillars of Self Esteem by Nathaniel Brandon (book)
• Self esteem vs self worth
• Tickets to Brighton Event on May 20
• Tickets to Bournemouth Nervous System Retreat on May 23

Join the LAD Membership Community HERE

Life After Diets on Instagram

The LAD Website

Email us @ lifeafterdietspodcast@gmail.com

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Stefanie's Website

Stefanie on Instagram

Stef's Body Image Webinar + Workbook

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Sarah's website

Sarah's YouTube Channel

Sarah’s book, I Can’t Stop Eating, is available on Amazon

What if you're recovering from an eating disorder and it's not all it's cracked up to be? What if the "better life" everyone talks about doesn't feel true for you, and you wonder if it was actually better before? In this episode, we look at this very nuanced, delicate, and lesser-talked-about aspect of some people's experience.

• Does it matter if you have other "things" in your life to fall back on?
• Needing something else to fill the gap of a sense of "purpose"
• What does it mean to "create" a relationship with yourself
• Book recommendations for cultivating a relationship with the self: Martha Beck's Following Your Own North Star and the Bewildered Podcast; Untamed book by Glennon Doyle
• The caveat of safety
• What if trauma comes up in the recovery process?
• Hope
• The irony of needing to escape recovery
• Sarah's dating comparison
• Tweaking the recovery approach and getting another set of eyes on it
• The case of the messy middle
• Weight loss surgery -- is it a part of recovery or a departure from recovery?
• TICKETS TO AN EVENING IN BRIGHTON with Stef, Sarah, and Marcus Kain
• TICKETS TO NERVOUS SYSTEM RESET DAY RETREAT IN BOURNEMOUTH

Connect with the show!

Join the LAD Membership

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lifeafterdietspodcast/

Email – lifeafterdietspodcast@gmail.com

Website – www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com

Connect with Sarah Dosanjh

Website – www.thebingeeatingtherapist.com

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBingeEatingTherapist 

Sarah’s book I Can’t Stop Eating is available on Amazon

Connect with Stefanie Michele

Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com

Wednesday Weekly Emails: www.iamstefaniemichele.com/wednesdays

Body Image Webinar + Workbook: https://www.iamstefaniemichele.com/get-started/p/bodyimage

 

This episode, livestreamed to our Facebook community, is a response to a listener question that asks: How do we know when we're making progress in recovery? If we aren't celebrating pounds or dress sizes lost, how do we mark the "successes" of recovery? And how do we deal with the fact that no one else can "see" it?

• Stef's moment in the kitchen, yesterday
• Sarah's mincemeat pies (and a tangent discussion on mincemeat)
• Stef offers examples of the small wins from her first year in recovery
• Self-compassion instead of shame
• Vulnerability and sharing with other people (power of witness)
• The perspective of our progress from others
• The value of stability and regulation
• Can other people "feel" your recovery?

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lifeafterdietspodcast/

Email – lifeafterdietspodcast@gmail.com

Website – www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com

Connect with Sarah Dosanjh

Website – www.thebingeeatingtherapist.com

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBingeEatingTherapist 

Sarah’s book I Can’t Stop Eating is available on Amazon

Connect with Stefanie Michele

Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com

Body Image Webinar + Workbook: https://www.iamstefaniemichele.com/get-started/p/bodyimage

The fourth and final in our Back to Basics Series (following a set list of: (1)Do I Have a Problem? (2)How Did I Get Here? and (3)A Recovery Toolbox). This episode looks at what recovery looks like from a process perspective. How does it actually look as you go along?

• How long does it take to recover?
• Stef's Tetris analogy -- what if you've been working on recovery forever and your behaviors don't change?
• Where do the feelings of discomfort (hopelessness, despair, insecurity, anxiety, depression) go when food is not the outlet? What happens to them in recovery?
• The Whack-a-Mole phenomenon
• What if you feel hopeless a lot?
• How do you know if you're ready to recovery? How do you become ready?
• Does it matter what age you are when you recover?
• Can you focus too much on recovery?
• Sarah's theory of "State A and State B"
• The Dahlia; nature's instinct to expand and contract
• Trauma and recovery

RESOURCES:

• Somatic Experiencing and Nervous System Regulation Course (starts January 29 2024):  https://www.iamstefaniemichele.com/sebegin 
• Book: Body Positive Power by Megan Jayne Crabbe
• Book: The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lifeafterdietspodcast/

Email – lifeafterdietspodcast@gmail.com

Website – www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com

Connect with Stefanie Michele

Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com

Somatic Experiencing and Nervous System Regulation Course (starts January 29 2024): https://www.iamstefaniemichele.com/sebegin 

Connect with Sarah Dosanjh

Website – www.thebingeeatingtherapist.com

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBingeEatingTherapist 

Sarah’s book I Can’t Stop Eating is available on Amazon

 

The third in a four-part series of Back to Basics; this episode reviews helpful tools for recovery from disordered eating and eating disorders. Tools include cognitive, somatic, emotional, behavioral/practical resources to support your recovery with a list of helpful accounts, books, podcasts, and links below. 

• Education from social media, books, podcasts, etc
• The case for regular eating
• How ghrelin works
• "All-in" recovery or a gradual approach?
• Does body size matter if you do all-in? Is it easier to do in a smaller body? The part of the conversation that gets glossed over on social media.
• Is it true that you ALWAYS gain weight in recovery?
• Why is self awareness important?
• Tools we used for increased self-awareness
• The various approaches to self-compassion
• Retreats, including Sarah's highly recommended UK retreat (and the US version)
• Inner child work

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lifeafterdietspodcast/

Email – lifeafterdietspodcast@gmail.com

Website – www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com

Connect with Sarah Dosanjh

Website – www.thebingeeatingtherapist.com

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBingeEatingTherapist 

Sarah’s book I Can’t Stop Eating is available on Amazon

Connect with Stefanie Michele

Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com

Somatic Experiencing and Nervous System Regulation Course - starts January 29 2024: https://www.iamstefaniemichele.com/sebegin 

RESOURCES:

Books:

Free audio recording of Sarah’s book: https://youtu.be/Qr5qmQxiutw?si=RdTf9q07wNbmWniE

The Fuck It Diet by Caroline Dooner

Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch (featured on LAD Episodes 102 & 103)

Body Neutrality by Jessi Kneeland

More Than a Body by Lindsay & Lexie Kite

The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

Recovery accounts:

Sarah’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/thebingeeatingtherapist

https://www.instagram.com/iamstefaniemichele/

https://www.instagram.com/the_binge_eating_therapist/

https://www.instagram.com/intuitive.eating.ireland/

https://www.instagram.com/intuitive.eating.ni/

https://www.instagram.com/mkaincoaching/

https://www.instagram.com/knacoaching/

https://www.instagram.com/bingefreeandbeautiful/

https://www.instagram.com/body_peace_liberation

https://www.instagram.com/theeatingdisordertherapist

https://www.instagram.com/theeatingdisordernutritionist

Nondiet fitness accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/elenakunickird/

https://www.instagram.com/amysnellingpt/

https://www.instagram.com/sizeinclusiveyoga

Body Image accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/jessikneeland/

https://www.instagram.com/mybodypositivehome/

https://www.instagram.com/bodyimagewithbri/

Sarah’s favourite YouTube yoga channels:

https://www.youtube.com/@yogawithkassandra and https://www.youtube.com/@yogawithadriene

Byron Katie’s method: https://thework.com/ and her examples on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=byron+katie

The retreat Sarah’s always banging on about:

https://www.heros-journey.co.uk/

LAD Episode mentions:

Episode 107: Journaling

Episodes 101-103: Intuitive Eating Series

Episode 87: Highly Sensitive Person

Episode 56: Food planning/logging

Episode 57: Trauma and eating

Sarah’s guided meditations: https://youtu.be/uhFEtY4Drs0?si=vrGgIDth0fQTLQgk https://youtu.be/4qRtno0UBjI?si=jGf3TKRI_PxXVIni https://youtu.be/HbiBvGoPnVA?si=2ww0kuYztUxuWEwo

Journal with Sarah: https://youtu.be/MMr5IhwgBL4?si=TsnmizIpmKpNyPBJ

Podcasts:

 

 

Second in a four-part Back to Basics Series, this episode looks at the question of how we develop disordered eating, eating disorders, and body image issues. What causes it to get so...well, disordered... for some people and not for others? 

• The Minnesota Starvation Experiment
• Social and Family influences
• Growing up in the 80s, 90s and 2000s
• Why do some people develop a disorder and not others?
• Perfectionism and black and white thinkers
• The role of Self esteem
• Nature or nurture?
• The role of trauma and the nervous system
• The Primal Brain
• Mental Restriction
• Stef's Somatic Experiencing and Nervous System Regulation Course for beginners - starts January 29 2024:  https://www.iamstefaniemichele.com/sebegin 

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lifeafterdietspodcast/

Email – lifeafterdietspodcast@gmail.com

Website – www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com

Connect with Sarah Dosanjh

Website – www.thebingeeatingtherapist.com

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBingeEatingTherapist 

Sarah’s book I Can’t Stop Eating is available on Amazon

Connect with Stefanie Michele

Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com

Somatic Experiencing and Nervous System Regulation Course (for beginners - starts January 29 2024): https://www.iamstefaniemichele.com/sebegin 

The first in a four-part series called: Back to Basics to explore the foundational concepts of disordered eating and eating disorders from the ground floor. We hear from so many people who weren't aware that their experiences had a name, or that other people are dealing with them, too. In this first session, we're looking at the question: Do I Have a Problem? Is what I'm dealing with considered a disorder? Is it binge eating? Restricting? Orthorexia? What if I'm just an emotional eater?

• Do you need to have a diagnosis to listen to this podcast or get "help"?
• Binge Eating, Restriction, Orthorexia, Bulimia, and Chronic Dieting
• What's the difference between ED and disordered eating?
• Is it helpful to name the problem? Do we need labels? A few ways of looking at it
• If you stop binge eating and you just overeat, is your issue more stigmatized? Now it's not even a "real" eating disorder?
• What is binge eating?
• "Normal amounts of food" is highly subjective
• Does "normal eating" even exist nowadays??
• What constitutes "restriction"?
• Whats the difference between "normal healthy eating" and orthorexia? Stef offers three criteria for consideration
• Are anxious attachment styles more susceptible to EDs?
• When does emotional eating become a disorder
• When does body image distress become disordered?
• What can community do?
• Somatic Experiencing and Nervous System Regulation Course (starts January 29 2024): https://www.iamstefaniemichele.com/sebegin

  Join the LAD Membership

  Connect with us!

  Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/lifeafterdietspodcast/

  Email – lifeafterdietspodcast@gmail.com

  Website – www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com

  Connect with Sarah Dosanjh

  Website – www.thebingeeatingtherapist.com

  YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBingeEatingTherapist 

  Sarah’s book I Can’t Stop Eating is available on Amazon

  Connect with Stefanie Michele

  Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com