Perfectionism and control are often the primary drivers of eating disorder. In addition to that comes shame. 

In this episode, listen to the unedited and unscripted interview between Kait and Boston College researcher - Courtney Stoltzfus-Zvaro. The original purpose of this interview was for eating disorder research but Kait and Courtney decided it can serve a dual purpose, so it was brought to this platform. Courtney’s thoughtful, challenging questions invite Kait to reflect on how perfectionism, control, and shame didn’t just influence her eating disorder - they ran the show.

Episode Topics 

• Courtney describes her research on shame’s role in eating disorders (3:55)
• Kait shares how control and perfectionism fueled her eating disorder (7:50)
• Kait explores her early anxieties and people-pleasing tendencies (14:44)
• How Kait navigated isolation and intense emotions in eating disorder recovery (22:03)
• Kait describes shame’s cycle in her eating disorder (32:30)
• 
  

Content Warning: This episode contains brief mentions of eating disorder behaviors that Kait has previously engaged in. Please listen in a way that feels safe for you and your recovery. 

Episode guest: Courtney is a sociologist with a philosophical bent. She studied sociology and peace & conflict studies at Gordon (MA), political theory and ethics at the University of Oxford (UK), and completed her postgraduate work in philosophy at University College Dublin (IE). A full-fledged academia-phile, she has conducted research at Oxford, for the European Center for the Study of War and Peace, and for human rights initiatives in Rwanda, Cambodia, and Honduras. She has taught subjects in philosophy and sociology at Trinity College Dublin, Boston University, and Boston College. These days, she is based at Boston College and specializes in the relationship between the body and the social world. Her guiding vocational question is: How does the embodied self experience violence--and what may be done for its flourishing? Currently, she is exploring the role of shame--understood as the internalization of an abstract negative judgement--in the development of eating disorders. 

Interested in 1:1 recovery coaching with Kait?

👉🏼 ⁠Book your FREE Discovery Call for 1:1 recovery coaching⁠

Connect with Kait

👉🏼 ⁠@bitebybiterecovery⁠

👉🏼 ⁠bitebybiterecovery.org ⁠

🍒  ⁠Recovery resources

Connect with Courtney

[email protected]

Affiliate Links

COMFRT 

FIND THE GOOD 

Recovery isn’t linear and it doesn’t always look inspiring. Sometimes it’s a mix of “look how far I’ve come” and “the dumpster is still on fire”. In this honest episode of the Bite by Bite Podcast, Kait shares a raw, unfiltered look at what eating disorder recovery feels like in real time.

From emotional setbacks to small victories, she opens up about symptoms she’s still managing, why recovery can still feel exhausting, daily tools and coping strategies that keep her grounded, and how she stays committed even when motivation is low.

Whether you're in recovery yourself or supporting someone who is, this episode is a reminder that progress can be messy, but still meaningful and so worth it.

Episode Topics

• Kait’s current state of symptoms (2:25)
• Struggles that still exist for Kait  (13:55)
• Habits & tools Kait uses daily (18:39)

Content Warning: This episode contains brief mentions of eating disorder behaviors that Kait has previously engaged in. Please listen in a way that feels safe for you and your recovery. 

Interested in 1:1 recovery coaching with me?

👉🏼 ⁠Book your FREE Discovery Call for 1:1 recovery coaching⁠

Connect with Kait

👉🏼 ⁠@bitebybiterecovery⁠

👉🏼 ⁠bitebybiterecovery.org ⁠

🍒  ⁠Recovery resources

Affiliate Links

COMFRT 

FIND THE GOOD 

Welcome to the Bite by Bite Podcast 👋🏼🍒

For over 10 years, your host Kait, carried a secret so heavy that it consumed her from the inside out. In this deeply personal episode of the Bite by Bite Podcast, Kait opens up for the very first time about her 10 year journey with an eating disorder. 

From high school to college, formal treatment, relapse, and eventually finding her voice in recovery, Kait walks through each chapter of her story. She shares how keeping her eating disorder a secret affected her relationships, health, and sense of self, and what it’s like to finally speak the truth after a decade of silence.

If you’re navigating your own recovery or supporting a loved one, this conversation offers validation, hope, and a powerful reminder that you’re not alone and recovery is possible for everyone.

Episode Topics

• The beginning: 2010 (2:36)
• College years: 2011-2015 (5:04)
• After college (5:46)
• Kait goes to formal treatment: 2016-2017 (9:42)
• Post discharge form formal treatment: 2017-2018 (14:05)
• The eating disorder is back in full swing: 2019-2020 (15:25)
• The eating disorder takes a back seat: 2020-2021 (16:19)
• The eating disorder is back again; even louder: 2022-2024 (17:44)
• Kait asks for help again: 2024-2025 (21:32)
• Kait’s present days: 2025 (24:26)
• Kait shares her current reflections (28:24)
• 
  

Content Warning: This episode contains brief mentions of eating disorder behaviors that Kait has previously engaged in. Please listen in a way that feels safe for you and your recovery. 

Interested in 1:1 recovery coaching with me?

👉🏼 ⁠Book your FREE Discovery Call for 1:1 recovery coaching⁠

Connect with Kait

👉🏼 ⁠@bitebybiterecovery⁠

👉🏼 ⁠bitebybiterecovery.org ⁠

🍒  ⁠Recovery resources

Affiliate Links

COMFRT 

FIND THE GOOD 

Welcome to the Bite by Bite Podcast 👋🏼🍒

In this powerful first episode of the Bite by Bite Podcast, your host, Kait, shares her personal journey through eating disorder recovery, relapse, and finding the courage to heal again. 

Kait does not aim to share a polished, perfect narrative but rather open the doors to an honest conversation about the lived experience of navigating life with an eating disorder and recovery. This episode sets the stage for a podcast dedicated to breaking stigma, building community, and speaking openly about the realities of recovery.

Episode Topics:

• Kait shares her why’s (2:18)
• Relapse and the past 2 years (3:03)
• Kait’s thinking starts to shift (4:13)
• The creation of Bite by Bite (5:15)
• Bite by Bite becomes a podcast (6:33)

Interested in 1:1 recovery coaching with me?

👉🏼 ⁠Book your FREE Discovery Call for 1:1 recovery coaching⁠

Connect with Kait

👉🏼 ⁠@bitebybiterecovery⁠

👉🏼 ⁠bitebybiterecovery.org ⁠

🍒  ⁠Recovery resources

Affiliate Links

COMFRT 

FIND THE GOOD 

COMING SOON.... the Bite by Bite Podcast ✨⚡🍒

This is not your polished recovery success story. This is the beginning of a raw, real, unfiltered conversation about eating disorders, healing, and everything that happens in the messy middle. 

 In this short trailer, Kait, your host, shares that she’s finally ready to talk. About the silence. The shame. The stuff no one wants to say out loud. Bite by Bite isn’t here for quick fixes or glossy before-and-afters. It’s a space for honesty, hope, and breaking the stigma—one episode at a time. 

If you’ve struggled, if someone you love is struggling, or if you’re just tired of pretending everything’s fine when it’s really not, this space is for you. Let’s talk.

Interested in 1:1 recovery coaching with me?

👉🏼 ⁠⁠Book your FREE Discovery Call for 1:1 recovery coaching⁠⁠

Connect with Kait

👉🏼 ⁠⁠@bitebybiterecovery⁠⁠

👉🏼 ⁠⁠bitebybiterecovery.org ⁠⁠

🍒  ⁠⁠Recovery resources