206. What If Food Freedom Looks Different for Different Brains? Guest Marcus Kain is back!

"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

An announcement from Stef & Sarah about the return of Life After Diets. You can resubscribe! Support the Show! https://ko-fi.com/lifeafterdietspodcast

In this (for real for real) final episode of Life After Diets, host Stefanie Michele explains how recovery taught her how to understand the call for change. She shares why letting go of the familiar—even when it's scary—is essential for growth, and how that insight is leading her to close this chapter and launch her new show, Full But Not Finished. The Life After Diets archive will remain here as a resource and you can now find Stefanie Michele on her new show: Full But Not Finished. Subscribe now to listen to the pilot episode! Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@iamstefaniemichele

Travel isn't just about the logistics of getting from one place to another — it's the nervous system spikes, the old body image stories that flare when you're around people from your past, and the challenge of feeding yourself in a group. In this episode, I talk about a recent trip with college friends and the layers that came with it: Flight anxiety and how I work with my body in real time when panic hits mid-air