The Binge Eating Dietitian Podcast

For 4 years I was trying to stop binge eating.

I was a disciplined person.

Dean’s list 4/4 years at Penn State on track to become a dietitian.

Worked out 6 days a week and hit my 10-15k steps daily.

Was complimented for my abs, my commitment to “eating healthy”.

But behind the scenes:

I’d wake up in the morning at least once a week and the despair would sink in as I remembered eating a whole box of cereal, all of my roommates peanut butter pretzels, and going to the store for more food.

Throughout those 4 years I tried EVERYTHING POSSIBLE to control the urge to binge.

Every piece of content from the fitness professionals I followed that said:

 “Discipline equals freedom”!! 

“Just put your head down and do the work”!

“No one said it was easy - RESIST the hunger if you want to get to your goals”

Would temporarily motivate me and give me a dopamine hit, as I wrote out a plan for how I would eat to lose fat and commit my will power to resisting the urge to binge.

…I’d feel so good for those 5 days that I was able to stick to my goals.

…and utterly hopeless by the end of the week when I binged YET AGAIN.

If you can relate to this - you may have been tempted by the “Winter Arc” trend on Tiktok. 

It may have given you this sense of hope that if you can use discipline and follow a list of rules for the next 3 months - you can resist the urge to binge.

One of my client’s recently brought this trend to my attention - so I decided to do a podcast episode about it.

I would have totally jumped on this trend back in my binge eating days.

But it wasn’t until I LET GO of rigid control around food, took a break from fat loss and physique goals and started listening to my body's hunger and cravings that I finally stopped binge eating.

I’ve been binge-free for 6 years, and I’m still a very disciplined person who loves to push herself hard in the gym.

I still am mindful of my physique - I recently made some changes to my diet and lifestyle to lose  a bit of fat - but it’s not the most important thing to me any more and I WILL NOT sacrifice my mental or physical health, or enjoyment of life in the process.

I accept my body at its natural set weight range and understand that certain levels of leanness are just not healthy for my genetic make up.

And if you too are tempted by this “Winter Arc” trend as yet another approach to ignore your hunger and cravings and try to “just have more will power”...

…may I suggest a different approach?

I unpack more in this episode! Give it a listen and let me know any questions/feedback

Contact me:

DM me on Instagram @elenakunickird     

Email me at [email protected]

✨ Click here to learn more + apply for my membership - NORMAL EATER: bit.ly/normaleaterdetails

After my 4 year struggle with binge eating, trying desperately to regain the control around food I had at the beginning of my fitness journey, I was fucking done.

I finally realized that RESTRICTION was the root cause - my missing periods, uncontrollable urges to eat anything in sight, and chronic constipation and boat were clear evidence of that.

But I didn’t know HOW to eat anymore without rules, calorie targets, or a specific diet plan to follow.

So I read the book Intuitive Eating and tried to start implementing the principles:

Reject the diet mentality!

Give yourself unconditional permission to eat!

Honor your hunger!

Feel your fullness!

This all made sense. But when I tried to do these things I felt lost and confused.

“Am I really hungry or just bored?”

“I just ate an hour ago but I’m thinking about food a lot…I can’t be hungry again?”

“Okay…” *puts down fork mid-meal to assess fullness level* “I guess I’m full…but I still want to keep eating. Fuck it. Let’s just open the floodgates and eat everything.”

The binges improved a bit, but still continued.

Can you relate to this??

It’s something I see frequently in my clients.

I tend to work with women who are very fitness-focused, Type-A, perfectionistic and goal-oriented. They tend towards anxiety and overthinking. 

I attract you because I AM YOU 😅 - and I’ve found that we need a slightly different approach to the Intuitive Eating framework.

When I made these shifts (that I’m sharing with you in this episode), and when my clients make them:

Binges IMMEDIATELY stop, food thoughts between meals disappear, periods return on average within 3 months, digestion improves, hunger/cravings hit a peak before settling to their “normal” levels AND…drumroll please 🥁…you develop a normal + healthy relationship with food where you can prioritize fitness and physique goals in a way that is actually achievable and does not cause food to consume your life.

Here are the shifts:

1️⃣Fully break the diet mindset - don’t try to satisfy hunger with the “lower calorie” option. This process is not about minimizing calories at all. Trust that your body will decrease your hunger and desire for food overtime when it’s got what it needs.

2️⃣Focus on eating what you want, when you want, until you don't want it anymore. Don’t overanalyze - if there’s even a question if you want to eat or not, err on the side of EATING. 

3️⃣Erase the word “overeating” from your vocabulary - there is only eating what you want and eating until you feel genuinely satisfied, and yes that might mean your stomach is pretty damn full in the early stages.

4️⃣Honor all forms of hunger - those that show up in your mind (desires for food) as well as body.

Hope this helps!

If you want to hear more about my personal story with this (as someone who is now 6 years binge-free and able to prioritize fitness and fat loss goals in a way that does not trigger food anxiety, binge urges or missing periods)

+ more details on all things discussed in these shownotes - listen to the full episode!

Contact me:

DM me on Instagram @elenakunickird     

Email me at [email protected]

✨ Click here to learn more + apply for 1:1 coaching: bit.ly/elenakwebsite

Resources for this episode:

• Past episodes where I share my story:

• https://elenakunicki.libsyn.com/how-i-stopped-bingeing-and-got-my-period-back-without-the-pill-after-5-years-of-struggle

• https://elenakunicki.libsyn.com/my-fitness-binge-eating-journey

• Intuitive Eating Principles: https://www.intuitiveeating.org/about-us/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/

• Past episode on emotional eating: https://elenakunicki.libsyn.com/how-to-stop-an-emotional-binge-qa-with-elena

• Past episode on “mental hunger”: https://elenakunicki.libsyn.com/why-you-cant-stop-thinking-about-food-how-to-stop

If you’re reading this, it’s likely because you’re struggling with some combo (or all) of these 4 symptoms:

➡️Binge eating

➡️Missing periods

➡️Constant food thoughts

➡️Anxiety/guilt around food

You went through a fitness/weight loss journey, felt SUPER in control and “finally” confident in your body, but then these issues crept in and it’s been a struggle to regain control ever since.

The reason you’re struggling with these things?

You are engaging in RESTRICTION around food vs RESTRAINT or Intuitive Eating.

☝️Restriction = rigid and extreme dietary control to reach or maintain a certain weight or aesthetic goal, or pursue “health”. 

It’s governed by pre-planned rules around what, how much and when one can eat.

🤗Restraint = moderate and flexible dietary control to reach or maintain a certain weight or aesthetic goal or pursue “health”. 

It’s focused on general intentions around health/aesthetics that influences food choices and ebbs and flows day to day, moment to moment.

🌈Intuitive Eating = both a 10-step program of healing from chronic dieting/diet culture and eventually a long-term way of life. 

It focuses on letting go of control over weight and instead listening to hunger and fullness cues, honoring food preferences/cravings, engaging in physical movement for health/feeling good…

…and integrating how different foods make you feel + providing your body the nutrients it needs to thrive as part of decision-making around what/how much to eat.

RESTRICTION is associated in the research with feeling out of control around food vs restraint.

Intuitive Eating is the MOST associated with a peaceful relationship to eating.

So how do you shift from restriction to restraint, you ask?

1️⃣Focus on becoming an Intuitive Eating FIRST

2️⃣If you’re struggling with disordered eating or an eating disorder, work with a dietitian to create a plan to eat adequately + consistently throughout the day BEFORE transitioning to intuitive eating

3️⃣Heal/manage the root causes of low self worth and anxiety that caused you to become restrictive in the first place

Want to learn more about all this?

I go into lots more detail in this episode.

Give it a listen and let me know what you think/any further questions you have!

Contact me:

DM me on Instagram @elenakunickird     

Email me at [email protected]

✨ Click here to learn more + apply for 1:1 coaching: bit.ly/elenakwebsite

Resources for this episode:

1. Research on restraint shown to be less associated with LOC than restriction: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36688566/#:~:text=Public%20significance%3A%20Some%20research%20suggests,both%20within%20and%20between%20individuals.

2. 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating - https://www.intuitiveeating.org/about-us/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/

3. Past podcast episode on Mental Restriction (what, when and how much food rules): https://elenakunicki.libsyn.com/mental-restriction-the-hidden-cause-of-your-binge-eating

You may have heard before that in order to get your period back with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (aka a missing period due to under eating, overexercise and/or STRESS)...you need to exercise less.

With my clients, I actually recommend taking a FULL exercise break.

I believe this to be proven by the data we have on women who lose their periods due to HA, and the BEST path to regaining optimal hormonal health + become truly healthy and fit.

I took a 3 month exercise break back in 2018, and have walked hundreds of clients through this process. 

I break down the what, how and why behind exercise breaks in this episode.

An exercise break = Temporarily stopping all structured exercise and only doing low-intensity exercise IF truly desired in the moment.

Taking an exercise break helps you get your period back by:

• Reducing cortisol (not suppressing the hypothalamus)

• Creating the proper calorie surplus to increase estrogen, leptin and insulin (sends signals to the hypothalamus: “we are fed”)

🤓 Evidence to back this up:

According to the research conducted by Dr. Nicola Rinaldi (author of the book No Period Now What), women who…

• Decreased intensity of exercise from a score of 7 to 3.5

• Reduced their time spent exercising to 3 hours per week at a lower intensity

• Immediately reduced exercise vs gradually reduced exercise

…were most likely to regain their cycles.

Other reasons an exercise break is helpful (especially for those who are also struggling with binge eating and constant food thoughts):

• Removes the hunger suppression effect that exercise can have, preventing extreme hunger and binge eating episodes later on

• Decreases the feeling of never satisfied, and feeling uncomfortably full by the time you’re done eating

• Improves digestion by getting out of “fight or flight” and into “rest and digest”

• Disconnects exercise as a crutch to allow yourself to eat, or be okay with your body image - so you can have a TRULY joyful, empowering, non-stressful relationship with it

What reincorporating exercise after a break looks like:

• Waiting till 3, consecutive cycles (“recovery periods”)

• Reintegrating slow and steady

• Increasing to the amount/intensity you desire over time

I go into loooots more detail and nuance in this episode - so give it a listen if you want to learn more!

Click here to learn more about my coaching programs + free resources: bit.ly/elenakwebsite

Contact me:

DM me on Instagram @elenakunickird     

Email me at [email protected]

Resources for this episode:

1. https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/target-heart-rates (low intensity heart rate zones)

2. No Period Now What Book (Page 158)

3. https://elenakunicki.libsyn.com/the-cause-of-your-missingirregular-period-how-to-get-it-back-qa-with-elena (What is HA)

https://elenakunicki.libsyn.com/returning-to-the-gym-after-an-exercise-break (Returning to exercise after a break)

So you’ve seen a “bad” photo or video of yourself.

You were kind of shocked at what you saw, it doesn’t match with how you think you look. Or it’s “worse” than what you thought.

You’re picking apart certain parts of your body - your face, your belly, your arms - and maybe judging them as “fat” or “ugly”. 

A COMMON response is to say: “Omg. Something needs to change. It’s time to start working out more, eating less, or doing a new diet so I can lose weight and change these parts of my body.”

This is where many people’s disordered eating begins.

They reactively restrict food and move more to lose weight.

They lose sight of their overall values, hobbies and interests in life.

They lose sight of their mental and physical needs to be holistically healthy.

They ignore their hunger cues and follow rigid, unsustainable food rules.

Periods go missing, they think constantly about food, they isolate themselves from social situations, friends and family to stick to their eating and exercise schedule and avoid temptation to eat.

And eventually, in most cases, they start losing control around food and/or experiencing full blown episodes of binge eating.

Then have to continue restricting/dieting to “make up” for the binge. And the cycle repeats.

If you can relate, here are 9 ways to cope with seeing a “bad photo” of yourself in a HEALTHY WAY (that allows you to maintain a good relationship with food):

1. PAUSE. Check in with thoughts and feelings.

2. Responding with restriction and disrespecting your body’s needs for food *literally* doesn’t work

3. Mantra: “This is my body. It’s okay. I don’t have to change it. There is no right way for a body to look.”

4. Mantra: “There is nothing inherently wrong with this body”

5. Picture yourself as another woman you’ve seen (maybe online) who doesn’t fit the beauty standard and rocks it. If you don’t have an example - use your imagination. Picture yourself in your current body, completely accepting and loving it. Even feeling confident in it and embracing it. Feel how that energy is magnetic and enticing.

6. Picture yourself as a fluid, flowing, fertile, feminine goddess. See old paintings of aphrodite or the renaissance women.

7. Remember that our society conditions us to pick apart our bodies - you get to decide if you want to buy into this or create your OWN life and reality by design, based on what really matters and how you want to feel at the end of your life. You can live an amazing life in THIS body. Go out and do the things that bring you joy, that give you a sense of purpose, find things you’re passionate about. See and feel that there is so much more to life than how your body looks

8. Ask - how can I continue to meet my body’s needs for enough food and rest despite how I’m feeling about how it looks right now?

9. Trust that your body will look exactly how it’s meant to when you are *holistically* healthy and well (which includes a peaceful, flexible relationship with food)

*All of this is not to say that you can’t want to change how your body looks in a healthy way.

But it only *really* works when led with self-love and respect for your bodies above all else, not desperation.

For more on this?

Listen to the full episode!

Other episodes disscussed in this one:

How to Pursue Fat Loss and Physique Goals in a Healthy Way

Contact me:

DM me on Instagram @elenakunickird

Email me [email protected]

Learn more + apply for 1:1 coaching: bit.ly/ekprivatecoaching

If you’re struggling with disordered eating as well as period problems - I’ve got some information to help you.

My clients are women who have a history of dieting, losing weight and undergoing a “fitness journey”, after which they start struggling with missing or irregular periods as well as binge eating or constant food thoughts.

Many of them spend months-years trying to figure out WHY their period is irregular, getting little-to-no answers from their doctors other than:

“You probably have PCOS”

“You’re just super fit! It’s normal for fit women to lose their periods”

“We’ll just get you on the pill to regulate your cycle”

If you can relate - you’re probably like me and the women I work with; you want to know WTF is going on in your body and get to the ROOT CAUSE so you can be optimally healthy!

Well in this episode of the podcast, I’m sharing how you can do that.

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE TO FIND THE SUGGESTED LAB WORK IN DETAIL.

Above all though, I want you to know that you don’t need ANY of this testing to start the process of healing your relationship with food.

Regardless of what’s going on with your hormones, you need to stop restricting food, stop dieting and learn how to listen to your body's hunger and satisfaction cues so you can become truly healthy with a good relationship with food.

Hope you enjoy the episode! Sending love!

Contact me:

Email at [email protected]

DM me on Instagram at elenakunickird

Learn more about my 1:1 coaching, group program and free resources here: bit.ly/elenakwebsite

Resources from this episode:

• Stress and high prolactin levels - https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/hyperprolactinemia#:~:text=In%20women%2C%20physical%20or%20psychological,lead%20to%20elevated%20prolactin%20levels.

• Women diagnosed with an eating disorder were at higher subsequent risk of developing autoimmune diseases - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/finding-a-new-home/201909/the-relationship-between-autoimmune-and-eating-disorders

• Diagnosis of HA https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7418467/

• Diagnosis of PCOS https://advancedfertility.com/infertility-testing/pcos-fertility-testing/#:~:text=Diagnosing%20PCOS%20with%20FSH%20and%20LH%20Hormone%20Levels&text=Normally%20this%20ratio%20is%20about,%2C%20or%20even%203%3A1.

• Low Vitamin D and eating disorders in adolescents - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25130505/

• Sam Abbot - @pcos.nutritionist (see her podcast episode here)

SEE RECOMMENDED LAB WORK BELOW 👇

1. Bloodwork:

Standard Blood Work (this is what you typically get at your yearly check up)

Complete Blood Count (CBC)

Basic Metabolic Panel

Comprehensive Metabolic Panel

Lipid Panel - cholesterol can be elevated due to restriction

Blood glucose and Hba1c

Full sex hormone panel

Estradiol - low/normal in HA, normal to high in PCOS

Testosterone (total) - low/normal in HA, high in PCOS (all the androgens)

Testosterone (free)

Adrostenedione 

Progesterone

Prolactin - can be elevated due to stress, pituitary tumor

DHEAS - can be elevated due to stress in HA

LH - typically less than or the same as FSH in HA, greater than FSH in PCOS

FSH

SHBG - low can be a sign of PCOS

Full thyroid panel

TSH - can be high in both HA and PCOS

Total T4 - can be low in HA and PCOS

Total T3 - can be low in HA and PCOS

Free T4

Free T3

Reverse T3

anti-TPO

Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies

Nutrients

B12 - all of these levels can be low in PCOS and HA and worsen symptoms, or can be depleted by the pill

Folate

Iron

Ferritin

Vitamin D - protect bone health

Zinc - digestive health

Lab work/assessment

2. Transvaginal ultrasound (rule out structural abnormalities, look at cysts on the ovaries)

*Cysts on the ovaries can be present with both HA and PCOS

3. Detailed review of your history and current reality with food, exercise and weight loss (with red flags being currently trying to lose weight, history of any weight loss, exercising a lot) - MOST IMPORTANT

**This podcast does not diagnose or treat any medical conditions. Speak with your doctor about this information and before taking any action around your medical care.

My clients often struggle with listening to and TRUSTING their hunger cues.

After years of dieting and controlling their weight, they’re more used to following external food rules than their bodies.

This not only leads to things like missing periods, digestive issues, food obsession and binge eating…

…it also leads them to ask the question “am I REALLY hungry? Or am I just bored?”

😵‍💫When they’re sitting at their desk working and can’t stop thinking about the pre-prepped asian chicken and rice they made for lunch (despite not feeling physical hunger pangs yet)

😴 When they have a relaxing day and have to constantly resist the temptation to eat, whereas on their busy days that voice feels more quiet.

If this is you, read on. 👇

You see, “boredom eating” is FAR more likely to happen when you have a history of restricting food.

Under eating and rigid food rules make us hungrier, with more cravings 😬.

It increases the pleasure and comfort we get from eating which makes us more likely to reach for the ice cream carton when emotional 🍨.

The solution?

Is not to “try not to eat” 🙄.

(As if that ever worked long term anyways)

Instead, I have 3 tips for you: 

1️⃣ ALLOW yourself to eat when bored

Listening to your desires for food will allow your body to get the calories it needs + eliminate the scarcity mindset. This will eventually lead your hunger and cravings to decrease and your urge to eat emotionally to go away.

2️⃣ Follow the “regular eating” principle

3 meals, 3 snacks, with all 3 macronutrients in them (starchy carbs 🥖, fats 🥑 and protein 🍳) evenly spaced throughout the day.

OR - eating with your hunger cues throughout the day, INCLUDING mental hunger (the desire to eat) and stopping eating when you are truly satisfied (not just physically full)

3️⃣ Address other common causes of boredom eating such as ADHD and lack of pleasure/fulfillment in life

…but address these in ADDITION to stopping food restriction, not in replacement because you are afraid of weight gain. 

That’s even more of a sign that restriction is likely the main root cause of your “boredom eating” and the true work you need to do to find freedom and peace with food  ❤️.

I explain all of this in more detail on this episode 🎤!

Hope you love it.

If you want to contact me with any questions:

Email at [email protected]

DM me on Instagram at elenakunickird

Learn more about my 1:1 coaching, group program and free resources here: bit.ly/elenakwebsite

Get the Binge Eating & Period Recovery Meal Plan: bit.ly/bprmealplan

Resources for this episode:

• Untamed by Glennon Doyle

• Troubleshooting Unconditional Permission to Eat

• Becca King’s episode (@adhd.nutritionist on Instagram)  

Past client Emily is back on the podcast this week sharing her 1 year update.

She went from being so obsessed with “healthy” eating that she was deathly afraid of sugar and dairy 😁…

…to casually saying yes to ice cream on a date for the experience, and naturally not finishing it 🤷🏼‍♀️.

From feeling literally possessed by a demon during her binge episodes…

…to sitting in disbelief that she ever even had the urge to binge 🤯(that’s how at peace she feels around food).

From feeling constant pressure to exercise to burn calories 🏃🏼‍♀️😰and maintain a certain physique…

…to going for runs at 10 PM after work because she GENUINELY WANTS TO and enjoying a post-workout meal with zero fear about eating “too late”.

This is a juicy one - you get fantastic insight into what life looks like when you truly, fully heal your relationship with food, body image and exercise.

• Lots of profound mindset shifts that will nourish your brain 😌🧠 so you can start taking different actions and find this freedom and peace with how you eat, how you move and how you feel in your skin.

Hope it helps!

Email at [email protected]

DM me on Instagram at elenakunickird

Learn more about my 1:1 coaching and group program: bit.ly/elenakwebsite

➡️ You think you’ve stopped restricting food, but you’re still struggling with binge eating…

➡️ You’re baffled as to why your period is missing because you’re at a “healthy weight” and think you eat enough...

➡️ You have a history of a “restrictive period” where you’re like: 

🤔 “Yea. I was definitely under eating and overexercising back then…”

😡 “...but now I’m fine! I eat way more. I allow myself to eat less healthy foods in moderation. I just can’t STOP eating them once I start. Why can’t I just be ‘balanced’?!?!”

If you resonate with any of these…you’re not alone.

💡 There’s a scientific explanation for what you’re experiencing.

It’s called Metabolic Adaptation.

Basically, it’s how your body decreases the calories you burn and tries to drive you to eat more when it senses that it doesn’t have enough long term (body fat) or short term (glycogen aka stored blood glucose) energy stored.

Metabolic Adaptation feels like:

• Slowed digestion (think chronic constipation, bloat and toxic farts)

• Constant food thoughts

• Extreme hunger and cravings

• Low energy for life and decreased performance in your workouts

• Urges to binge eat

• Missing periods

How do you correct Metabolic Adaptation?

❗ THROUGH EATING MORE FOOD

I go over all of this, including how to recover from Metabolic Adaptation so you can feel like a normal person around food again and more easily maintain a healthy, fit body fat percentage for YOUR unique body in this episode!

Give it a listen if this topic interests you and email or DM me with any questions

Email at [email protected]

DM me on Instagram at elenakunickird

Learn more about my 1:1 coaching and group program: bit.ly/elenakwebsite

Resources for this episode:

• Defining metabolism: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546690/ , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metabolism

• Metabolic adaptation: https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2022/10000/metabolic_adaptations_to_weight_loss__a_brief.39.aspx

• Microbiome effect on energy balance: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7285218/

• Minnesota Starvation Experiment: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2013/10/hunger

Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279077/

😢 “I was a fat child who loved food too much”

🍫 “I’m just addicted to sweets”

😪 “I’m always just going to have to try to control myself around them”

⬆️ I couldn’t be around sweets without spiraling into a binge episode, and these were my real thoughts as to why.

🍬I always loved sweet foods as a child, but it wasn’t until I started dieting that I started feeling obsessed and out-of-control around them.

If you can relate - know you’re not alone.

👋 I’m 6 years free from the urge to binge and can naturally eat sweets in moderation using little to no will power.

Sometimes I eat more sweets, sometimes less but overall I don’t even have a big sweet tooth anymore 🤷🏼‍♀️. 

And I don’t stress about them AT ALL 🤯.

I truly never thought I would get here when I was in my 4 year battle with food 💔.

🎤 In this episode I’m sharing how I did this and how I’ve helped hundreds of my clients do the same.

This is not bullshit or something that only worked for me…

…it’s an evidence-based process of healing your relationship with all foods including the ones we’re told are “inherently addictive” 🙄.

Hope it helps!

Learn more about working with me 1:1 or in a group setting: bit.ly/elenakwebsite

Let me know any feedback/questions by contacting me:

Email is [email protected]

DM me on Instagram at @elenakunickird

Resources from this episode:

• Client Interview Episodes

• Brittany

• Liv

• Kristin

• Emily

Free binge eating & period recovery meal plan: bit.ly/bprmealplan