Life After Diets

How do you feel eating in front of other pepole? Do you tend to become self-conscious about your food choices, or find yourself overly influenced by what other people are eating? This episode looks at these questions and...

• Stef & Sarah's food experiences in Dublin and how self-consciousness played (and didn't play) a role
• Ways it can be helpful to be influenced by other people's choices
• How safe do you feel being able to do what YOU need to do in the presence of others?
• When people prepare food for you
• Stef's client who felt self-conscious eating in front of others in smaller bodies
• Public vs private eating persona
• Other people's judgment is usually about THEM, not you

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

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

Email – [email protected]

Website – www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com

Connect with Stefanie Michele

Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com

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

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

This week, we're talking to Elena Kunicki RD who recovered from binge eating and an obsession with exercise that led to hypothalamic amenorrhea (when your period stops due to excessive exercise, stress, and disordered eating). In this episode, Elena shares her story of how she recovered, including how she was able to return to exercise without feeling addicted, obsessed, or out of control. We discuss:

• Being the "chubby friend"
• Discovering "discipline" and weight loss through exercise
• The slide into disordered eating, rigid thinking, and isolation
• Elena's all-in approach and how fitness played a role (and how it didn't) in her acute recovery process
• Three ways Elena handled the distress of the "messy middle"
• The difference between permission and compulsively eating
• Elena's current values versus her disordered values
• The difference between fitness goals and physique goals
• The things Elena still struggles with
• How Elena helps clients navigate fitness in the beginner stages of BED recovery
• What if your ED brain gets triggered when you go back to exercise?
• Connect with Elena by visiting her on Instagram at @elenakunickird and listen to her podcast, The Binge Eating Dietician Podcast. You can also visit her website HERE.

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

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

Email – [email protected]

Website – www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com

Connect with Stefanie Michele

Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com

Binge Eating Recovery Course: www.iamstefaniemichele.com/iamstefaniemichelecourse

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

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

This episode discusses several aspects of mental hunger including its relationship to physical hunger. It emphasizes how mental hunger can feel like an insatiable desire for food, often arising from emotional and psychological factors rather than physical need. We also touch upon the significance of nervous system regulation and the complexities of achieving satisfaction while eating. The conversation highlights the role of satisfaction and self-compassion in dealing with the challenges of mental hunger.

Highlights include:

• What is mental hunger and why does it happen
• Is it real and valid or should we calm ourselves down so it goes away
• Physical hunger confused with mental hunger
• Stef's concept of "collective hunger"
• What is your relationship with fullness?
• The role of guilt
• Pleasure and satisfaction
• The inner child
• Sarah's concept of gentle negotiation
• Dealing with transitions
• Conscious and unconscious eating
• Self Trust

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

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

Email – [email protected]

Website – www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com

Connect with Stefanie Michele

Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com

Binge Eating Recovery Course: www.iamstefaniemichele.com/iamstefaniemichelecourse

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

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

In this episode, we dive into the concept of self-abandonment and the journey towards self-compassion. We explore the role of shame and the profound loneliness that often accompanies self-abandonment. By learning to separate feelings from shame and embracing self-care, we can navigate life's challenges without losing ourselves. Topics include:

• Exploring the journey of self-discovery and self-care.
• Overcoming the tendency to self-abandon during challenging moments.
• Reflecting on how survival once meant self-abandonment.
• Discovering the power of maintaining balance without losing oneself.
• Understanding the importance of taking breaks without self-abandonment.
• Embracing permission to "check out" when needed.
• Navigating life's challenges without losing oneself.
• Distinguishing between self-abandonment and self-care.
• Learning to separate feelings from shame and judgment.
• Stef and Sarah's personal experiences of reclaiming control during challenging times.
• Making conscious choices for self-nurture.
• Unpacking the connection between self-abandonment and shame.
• Breaking free from the cycle of self-rejection and self-abandonment.
• The heart-wrenching loneliness of self-abandonment.
• Reflecting on the journey from self-abandonment to self-compassion.
• Introverts and extroverts

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

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

Email – [email protected]

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

Embracing your inner child is a concept that you might see coming up when you work on ditching diet culture and embracing a nondiet or intuitive eating approach to disordered eating recovery.

What is this all about? Do we need to do this in order to heal?

This conversation explores:

• What is the inner child?
• Being "too much"
• What is the point of inner child work?
• Where did you first learn your body was "wrong"?
• Stef's adolescent period of restrictions
• Stef's three moments of "splitting" at ages 8, 10, and 13
• Sarah's padded bra
• Overriding original neural pathways
• How do we address our inner child and the stories we carry?
• Sarah's experience at the Adele candlelit string quartet
• Throwing yourself a temper tantrum
• The body as an inner child

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

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

Email – [email protected]

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

Binge Eating Recovery Course: www.iamstefaniemichele.com/iamstefaniemichelecourse

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

Do you want to eat intuitively but find yourself only wanting "junk food"?

This is a common thing to hear from people trying healing their relationship with food.

A caveat to this conversation -- depending on where you are in this process, the approach to this conflict will be different. For example, wanting fun foods (and ONLY fun foods) at the beginning of recovery can be a really normal part of the healing process.

This conversation also considers the more chronic, ongoing experience of wanting only fun foods all the time.

We discuss:

• Why are we putting "junk food" in quotation marks/inverted commas?
• How is "junk food" defined?
• Junk food begets junk food?
• Will our bodies naturally crave salads (etc) after a while?
• What if we don't like fruits or vegetables?
• What if there are certain foods that we are simply not able to habituate?
• Is abstinence from certain foods a good idea?
• What are your beliefs about these foods in general, or specific types of these foods?
• How can meal prep help here?
• This topic has different approaches at different stages of recovery

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

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

Email – [email protected]

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

Binge Eating Recovery Course: www.iamstefaniemichele.com/iamstefaniemichelecourse

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

Please read time stamps carefully and skip any segments, which might be triggering or unhelpful for you in your recovery. This video is an honest account of two mental health practitioners who are in recovery from food and body image issues sharing the challenges they faced in this area during yoga teacher training in Rishikesh India.

2:35 – 13:23 : Self-induced vomiting / vamen douhti practices 13:23 – 23:10 : Moralisation of food and purity in yogic tradition 23:10 – 33:09 : Pushing our bodies and minds, plus comparison 33:09 – 36:36 : Feeling unsatisfied, appetite upon return from training 36:36 – 49:15 : Complex feelings about weight loss and stepping on the scales

Come join us in person in Dublin on Saturday 16th September 2023! https://www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com/workshops-and-meetups/

Join our growing support community. This community is for you if you want to improve your relationship with food and become more comfortable in your own skin. Community membership includes invites to live episode recordings (online), support meetings, a private Facebook group and monthly Q&As. For more information go to: https://www.patreon.com/lifeafterdiets

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

Email – [email protected]

Connect with Stefanie Michele binge eating health coach

Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com

Instagram – www.instagram.com/iamstefaniemichele

Work with Stefanie - www.iamstefaniemichele.com/application

Connect with Sarah Dosanjh psychotherapist

Website – www.thebingeeatingtherapist.com

Instagram – www.instagram.com/the_binge_eating_therapist

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

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

This episode was recorded after Sarah's return home from yoga teacher training in India.

Sarah explores some of the human ups and downs (including body image and food difficulties) she experienced while away during training.

• Transitioning to the retreat and the impact of culture shock
• Indian eye flu, anyone?
• Toxic positivity
• "Everyone else can do it, I should be able to, too"
• The discomfort of being misunderstood
• The book that Sarah turned to in moments of extreme discomfort
• Being one of the largest (and oldest) bodies in the room
• Not having enough access to food
• The biscuit stash (and the fear of running out)
• Will I want to binge when I get home?
• The Women's Circle
• MEET US IN DUBLIN!

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

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

Email – [email protected]

Website – www.lifeafterdietspodcast.com

Connect with Stefanie Michele

Website – www.iamstefaniemichele.com

Binge Eating Recovery Course: www.iamstefaniemichele.com/iamstefaniemichelecourse

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

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

If you're not in diet culture, you're probably in anti-diet culture.

Diet culture is the water we swim in. If you're learning about the ways in which dieting and thinness-as-idol has harmed you, chances are you've also been embracing new ways of thinking espoused by the "anti-diet mindset." Weight and body neutrality, fatphobia, health at every size, and intuitive eating are some of the terms and concepts you might be familiar with.

With this new approach comes a lot of good, good stuff.

So good that we can recover in it!

But what happens when we start over-identifying with it? Is that even possible?

This episode looks at:

• The pendulum swing of overcorrecting
• Stef's staunch anti-diet stance
• Maybe it's more important to be pro-Y rather than anti-X.
• Are we allowed to talk about weight loss or fatphobia? Does it make you a bad anti-dieter?
• The community aspect of identifying with a "side"
• Weight loss and feelings of safety
• Do you feel threatened by anyone who IS dieting or losing weight?
• Stef's experience with her daughters
• Does it sometimes feel preachy?
• Last chance to join us in Dublin!

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

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

Email – [email protected]

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

Binge Eating Recovery Course: www.iamstefaniemichele.com/iamstefaniemichelecourse

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

In a world of technology, how many of us find it easy to sit down to eat without the distraction of a screen? Is there a difference between eating in front of a TV versus eating in front of a laptop or cell phone? And more importantly, how is this impacting us? How do we work on Intuitive Eating if we feel like we need this type of distraction, or can't break the habit? We'll also talk about:

• Sarah's experience of separating screens from bingeing
• Stef's transition from dinner in front of the TV to family meals
• When does screen time become a problem
• Regulators vs Escapists
• Sarah searching for catharsis
• Compulsive puzzling
• The purpose of checking out
• Permission to not be productive
• Real time self care demonstration
• MEET US IN DUBLIN!

Join the LAD Membership

Connect with the show!

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

Email – [email protected]

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

Binge Eating Recovery Course: www.iamstefaniemichele.com/iamstefaniemichelecourse

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