Rigid rules can make eating disorder recovery feel impossible when you're living with the overwhelming fear that worst will happen.

In this solo episode Dr Rachel Evans explores a fairly simple practice designed to gently loosen all-or-nothing thinking without involving food, weight, or body image.

You’ll hear:

• Why breaking a rule can feel threatening (even the times when you “know” it isn’t)
• A small daily experiment that builds flexibility and tolerance for discomfort
• Why practising “safe discomfort” can reduce the power of eating disorder rules over time
• How to choose changes that stretch you without overwhelming you

This episode is for you if:

• You feel controlled by food rules or routines
• Breaking a rule triggers loud, critical thoughts
• You fear that one change will lead to stricter rules, out of control bingeing or dangerous compensatory behaviours
• You want recovery to feel more spacious, not more punishing

Resources mentioned:

Free to download Google Doc or Pdf to support you in practising flexibility with the yes/no activity

If you are unable to access it via the link then please visit the show notes on my website or email me [email protected]

In this solo episode, Dr. Rachel Evans – chartered psychologist and hypnotherapist specialising in eating disorder recovery – shares two key themes from recent client conversations that offer valuable insights for anyone navigating recovery.

Rethinking Control in Eating Disorders
Rachel explores the often-cited belief that restrictive eating provides a sense of control. She encourages listeners to reflect on what control really means to them, suggesting that genuine control might actually lie in having choices around food, not in following rigid rules.

Challenging Absolute Beliefs or “Truths”
From the famous Kate Moss quote to the idea that “nothing hits like a binge,” Rachel discusses how certain ingrained beliefs may feel true but might be worth questioning – especially when they come with negative consequences. She invites listeners to explore the origins of these beliefs and whether they truly serve them.

🎧 Listen if you're looking for:

• Gentle, thought-provoking ways to shift your mindset in recovery

• Validation and real talk about common challenges

• Encouragement to explore your own version of a nourished life

  
  

Please remember that this podcast shares opinions and information, it isn’t for the diagnosis or treatment of an eating disorder, mental or physical health issues.

Connect with Rachel

https://eatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/

Book a free 30 minute clarity call: https://bit.ly/ClarityCallRachelEvans

In this episode of Just Eat Normally, host Dr. Rachel Evans speaks with Becky Grace Irwin,  a BABCP-accredited CBT & EMDR therapist, mental health nurse, and specialist in neurodiversity, complex trauma, eating disorders, and ARFID. Becky brings a mix of clinical expertise and lived experience as she shares how childhood environment, sensory processing, autonomy, and developmental factors shape someone’s relationship with food.

Together we explore:

• What ARFID actually is (and what it isn’t)

• Sensory sensitivities, fear of adverse consequences, and low-interest presentations

• Misconceptions about “picky eating”

• Why some people rely heavily on “safe foods” and predictable food brands

• Links between ARFID, neurodiversity (especially ADHD & autism), and interception

• How shame, pressure, and family dynamics impact eating behaviours

• The importance of understanding individual differences rather than pigeonholing people

• Ways adults with ARFID can navigate relationships, social eating, and recovery

Connect with Rachel

Dr. Rachel Evans is a psychologist, hypnotherapist and eating disorder survivor. She brings together academic knowledge and theories, therapeutic skills and personal experience for a unique perspective on eating disorder recovery.

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://eatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/rachel.evans.phd

Connect with Becky

https://www.beckygracetherapy.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/beckygracetherapy

https://www.facebook.com/beckygracetherapy

Important bits:

I am running a GIVEAWAY on instagram (10th-12thDecember)  and have another Giveaway planned before Christmas .                

https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/

 25 day Eating Disorder Recovery Advent Calendar on Instagram.

For the next 25 days, I’ll be sharing bite-sized recoverysupport every morning at 7:30am GMT to help you navigate potential triggers and feel more confident to make a meaningful change or stay steady with maintenanceduring December.
You can expect:-

• practical tools for navigating food, body image, urges and more
• education on why things feel harder at Christmas(and what can help)
• lived experience, evidence-based strategies, anda bit of ‘woo’
• festive-themed ‘tapping’ follow-along video and mindful eating practice
• two GIVEAWAYS
• special guests joining for collabs and InstagramLives

It’s here to help you take things day by day - I’d recommend not bingeing the whole calendar at once, and not overwhelming yourself, but digesting each small piece of support before moving on to the next.
Because sustainable recovery and more freedom isn’t about doing everything as-quickly-as-possible or perfectly… it’s about showing up for yourself in small ways.

PODCAST SERISE – Coping at Christmas – see the playlist or scroll down until end of 2021 to listen to the episodes!

Also, I have some availability for new 1:1 clients in 2026, so please email me to learn more [email protected]

In this deeply honest and inspiring episode, I speak with Kait Moresi – an eating disorder survivor, behaviour analyst, and host of the Bite by Bite podcast. Kait shares her journey through a decade-long struggle with anorexia, her pathto recovery, and how talking openly about her experience helped her heal and support others.

We discussed:              

• How Kait's eating disorder went unnoticed for years due to high academic and career performance.
• A Google search that changed everything  and Kait’s shift from a moment of realisation that something was wrong to seeking treatment.
• Kait’s 3 biggest recovery mistakes (or things she wished she did differently)
• Creative recovery tools that worked and why – from writing a personal behaviour contract toself-dialogue exercises
• Starting a Podcast in recovery and advice for others who want to speak out.

P.S. If you enjoyed this conversation then find me speaking to Kait in episode 19 of the Bite by Bite podcast.

Connect with Rachel

Dr. Rachel Evans is a psychologist, hypnotherapist and eating disorder survivor. She brings together academic knowledge and theories, therapeutic skills and personal experience for a unique perspective on eating disorder recovery.

⁠⁠⁠https://eatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/rachel.evans.phd

Connect with Kait

Bite by Bite podcast

https://www.instagram.com/bitebybiterecovery/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583935784317

Hold on because this episode covers A LOT!

We're talking about 90s diet culture, GLP-1s, secret eating in your car, semi-starvation responses, nervous system regulation and normal eating.

Nic shares her journey through binge eating in her car, to baratric surgery and more bingeing, to training as a therapist, being her own guinea pig and founding Binge Free Bestie.

Want to know more about what triggers binge eating and how you can handle them, then this episode is for you!

Connect with Rachel

Dr. Rachel Evans is a psychologist, hypnotherapist and eating disorder survivor. She brings together academic knowledge and theories, therapeutic skills and personal experience for a unique perspective on eating disorder recovery.

⁠⁠https://eatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/rachel.evans.phd

Connect with NicNic Gaviria is a registered therapist, food freedom coach, and the founder of Binge Free Bestie — a global community helping women break free from binge and emotional eating. She hosts the Binge Free Bestie Podcast, speaks regularly on body image and food freedom, and is on a mission to help women reclaim their power, confidence, and joy beyond the number on the scale.

https://www.instagram.com/bingefreebestie/

https://bingefreebestie.com

In this episode, I reconnect with Gemma Bisphop, who I knew at university, when neither of us realised what was happening behind the scenes in terms of our relationship with food!

As a qualified teacher with an MSc in teaching and learning, Gemma Bishop has proved that you can function with anorexia. This all changed, though, after fifteen years of suffering and her finally requiring an inpatient admission. Following almost four months in the hospital, Gemma Bishop reconnected with writing. She has a passion for inspiring others and hopes the collection of poems within her book “Wonky Thoughts: An Insight into an Anorexic Journey” can encourage everyone to look deep within themselves and find just one thing that makes them smile, as you only get one chance at life, and it is better if you accept who you are.

Buy the poetry book: https://olympiapublishers.com/book/wonky-thoughts-an-insight-into-an-anorexic-journey

Connect with Rachel

Dr. Rachel Evans is a psychologist, hypnotherapist and eating disorder survivor. She brings together academic knowledge and theories, therapeutic skills and personal experience for a unique perspective on eating disorder recovery.

⁠https://eatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/rachel.evans.phd

Connect with Gemma

If you'd like to message Gemma then please contact me ([email protected]) and I can pass on her details.

A culturally sensitive approach to eating disorder treatment is sorely need for the often underdiagnosed, forgotten, and marginalized Black woman. Not only do they face barriers to treatment due to unjust healthcare systems, but the unique factors that contribute to the development of eating disorders in Black women, including racism and systemic oppression, are not broadly considered by eating disorder clinicians.

In this episode I speak with eating disorder experts Charlynn Small and Paula Edwards-Gayfield about their new book Black Women with Eating Disorders: Clinical Treatment Considerations .This episode is aimed at clinicians working with Black clients as-well-as individuals who are seeking support navigating an eating disorder and recovery.

Buy the book: wwnorton.com/bwed

Connect with Rachel

Dr. Rachel Evans is a psychologist, hypnotherapist and eating disorder survivor. She brings together academic knowledge and theories, therapeutic skills and personal experience for a unique perspective on eating disorder recovery.

https://eatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/rachel.evans.phd

Connect with Charlynn Small, PhD.

Charlynn is a licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Director of Health Promotion, at the University of Richmond. She received her PhD from Howard University. Dr. Small is based in North Chesterfield, Virginia.https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlynn-small-65951932/

Connect with Paula Edwards-Gayfield, LCMHCS, LPC, CEDS-C.

Paula is regional assistant vice president and diversity an inclusion cochair for The Renfrew Center, with twenty years of experience treating eating disorders. She is based in Edmond, Oklahom⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/pedwards-gayfield/ ⁠

In this powerful episode, I'm joined by Julia Trehane, an Eating Disorder Recovery Coach and host of The Fully Free Podcast. Julia speaks candidly about her 40-year battle with anorexia, orthorexia, and exercise addiction—and the moment that changed everything (trigger warning - suicide plans).

Now fully recovered, she supports others through 1:1 coaching, her online recovery community, and weekly podcast episodes that combine compassion, honesty, and lived experience.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How Julia’s eating disorder began as a survival strategy in childhood and evolved over decades

• The moment in the woods that became her turning point

• Extreme hunger, what it means to go “all in” with recovery and why it doesn’t look the same for everyone

Connect with Rachel

Dr. Rachel Evans is a psychologist, hypnotherapist and eating disorder survivor. She brings together academic knowledge and theories, therapeutic skills and personal experience for a unique perspective on eating disorder recovery.

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://eatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/rachel.evans.phd

Connect with Julia:www.juliatrehane.com

https://www.instagram.com/juliatrehane

https://www.edrecoverycircle.com

In this empowering conversation, I am joined by Kaysha Thomas, a registered nutritional therapist and trauma-informed Pilates teacher, who shares her journey from restriction and body shame to food freedom and self-trust.

If you’ve ever felt disconnected from your body or ashamed of your hunger, and you've tried every plan, cleanse, or “fix” and still felt stuck, then this episode will offer a new lens.

We discuss:

• How to start building a more inclusive, compassionate relationship with food and your body

• How diet culture disconnects us from our bodies and builds shame around food
• Kaysha’s personal story of healing from restriction and reclaiming intuitive eating
• Why information isn’t enough, and how language and safety are key to healing
• The importance of trauma-informed care in nutrition, movement and beyond

• What intuitive eating can really look like (hint: it’s not perfect)

info at @dump_the_scales

Connect with Rachel

Dr. Rachel Evans is a psychologist, hypnotherapist and eating disorder survivor. She brings together academic knowledge and theories, therapeutic skills and personal experience for a unique perspective on eating disorder recovery.

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://eatingdisordertherapist.co.uk/⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/rachel.evans.phd/⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/rachel.evans.phd

Connect with Kaysha

https://www.kayshathomas.com/

https://www.instagram.com/kayshathomas

https://www.youtube.com/@kayshathomas/featured