We talk a lot about food guilt in eating disorder recovery, but what exactly are we feeling guilty about? The food we ate? The fact that we ate too much? Or what we believe our eating says about the kind of person we are?

In this episode of Life After Diets, we discover that our experiences of guilt during binge eating were surprisingly different. One of us felt responsible for having an eating disorder in the first place, while the other felt angry about a behavior that seemed impossible to control. We share two stories from our binge eating years that reveal how differently guilt and shame can show up, and how our beliefs about responsibility influence both.

We also explore what happens when you intellectually reject food rules but still feel that certain foods are bad. Is it necessary to stop believing that before you can eat without guilt?

Or can recovery include learning to live with judgments and feelings that haven't caught up with what you know?

A conversation about food morality, guilt versus shame, and the possibility of changing your relationship with food without having to change every thought you have about it.

☕️ Support the show and buy us a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/lifeafterdietspodcast

Connect with Stefanie Michele, Binge Eating Coach & Somatic Therapist

Website

Instagram

YouTube

Connect with Sarah Dosanjh, Author & Psychotherapist

Website

Instagram

YouTube

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

"I think I am an addict, a food junkie."

That's how one listener described their experience of eating a breakfast and lunch, then finding themselves eating biscuits, ice cream, and whatever else was available by 8 PM. They weren't even hungry -- they just couldn't stop.

We had some thoughts.

For starters, there's the question of what we're calling "enough" food these days, especially when we're surrounded by people who seem to get by on a coffee and a handful of almonds. And there's the rather inconvenient fact that our bodies don't necessarily respond to restriction by politely requesting the exact amount of food they've been missing.

But this conversation takes a few turns, because what if you really ARE eating enough? What if you've stopped dieting, you've done the recovery work, and you're still finding yourself pulled toward food in ways you don't understand?

Somehow we ended up discussing the price of spaghetti bolognese in New York, the peculiar comfort of knowing what's for dinner, and how sometimes the urge to eat has surprisingly little to do with food itself.

There's more to investigate here than willpower, and plenty of room for a few a-has along the way.

Connect with Stefanie Michele, Binge Eating Coach & Somatic Therapist

Website

Instagram

YouTube

Connect with Sarah Dosanjh, Author & Psychotherapist

Website

Instagram

YouTube

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

Why is it sometimes so hard to eat without watching something?

In this episode, Stef and Sarah look at the relationship between food and screens from two very different personal experiences. For Stef, screens used to make it possible to eat without having to listen to the running commentary in her head about what or how much she was eating. Over time, even after restriction eased, the pairing itself had become familiar enough that taking one part away could still feel like a loss.

Sarah's experience was different. Food and television became a way to fill empty evenings and make being alone feel easier, until the combination started to feel less like enjoyment and more like something she had to keep doing.

That leads into a bigger question about what we're actually looking for when we pair food with stimulation. Sometimes it really is just pleasurable. Sometimes it helps us stay regulated. And sometimes it gives us distance from thoughts or feelings we don't want to be alone with.

They also talk about distracted eating, why removing the screen can actually make eating harder for some people, and the difference between being distracted and being disconnected from yourself.

Plus: Mike gets recruited as the control subject with a suspiciously uncomplicated relationship with food, Sarah figures out something about loneliness in real time, and Stef makes an unexpectedly convincing case for red onion.

Connect with Stefanie Michele, Binge Eating Coach & Somatic Therapist

Website

Instagram

YouTube

Connect with Sarah Dosanjh, Author & Psychotherapist

Website

Instagram

YouTube

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