Understanding Disordered Eating: For anyone whose relationship with food feels harder than it should

There are certain things you assume medical professionals just know. Like how to read labs, how to diagnose things, or how to tell you what's going on with your body. But when it comes to eating, weight, and our relationship with food? There's a lot more nuance than "you should probably lose some weight" and a BMI chart. In this episode, I'm talking about what I wish every medical practitioner und...

This episode is for you if that sounds familiar. If you love someone in recovery or sit with people in recovery every day, stay close, because there's a lot here she might not be telling you. A lot of recovery content swaps diets and clean eating for a new standard to measure yourself against. The comparison stays exactly the same: she's doing it right and I'm not. High achievers get hit hardest,...

In this episode, I'm digging into what might be underneath that "you just don't get it" reaction, from body image and fear of failure to grief, control, and the feeling that someone else is trying to make decisions about your body. Because sometimes, the eating behaviors we're trying so hard to change are serving a purpose we haven't fully understood yet. I'm also talking to clinicians about what...

That feeling of I'm not enough can show up in a lot of ways. In this episode, we're getting curious about what not feeling enough is actually telling you. Sometimes what you're jealous of isn't really the person, their body, their career, or their life. It might be the ease, confidence, connection, pride, or freedom you think they have.   And when we don't stop to figure that out, those feelings c...

When you hear the word bulimia, you probably have a picture in your head. And that picture can make it harder to recognize what's actually happening. We tend to have this very specific idea of what bulimia looks like, who has it, what purging means, and how serious someone has to be before their struggle "counts." Which is a problem, because a lot of people with bulimia don't look anything like th...

In this episode, Heather Ferguson is back, and we're taking that conversation a whole lot deeper. We're talking about what happens when we slow down enough to pay attention to what's happening in the body, how trauma can show up when someone doesn't have the words to explain what they're experiencing, and why recognizing the connection between trauma and an eating disorder doesn't automatically te...

There are some questions that sound simple until you actually sit with them. This is one of those questions: "Can I work with a dietitian who specializes in eating disorders and also helps me lose weight?"   At first glance, it feels like a yes-or-no question. But underneath it is a much bigger conversation about recovery, autonomy, body image, health, medical advice, and the beliefs we've been ta...

This week is the last of our summer throwback series. Next week, we will be back with an all-new episode. Until then, check out this vault episode. Originally aired as Episode 166, this vault episode takes an honest look at our relationship with exercise and movement, and why it can become far more complicated than it appears on the surface. For many people, movement stops being something that sup...

This week, we are continuing with our summer throwback series. Originally aired as Episode 174, this vault episode explores a question many people ask: What's the difference between disordered eating and an eating disorder? The line isn't always obvious, especially in a culture where restrictive habits, food rules, and body dissatisfaction are often normalized. In this episode, I break down the ke...

While we take a little summer break, we'll be rereleasing some of our most powerful and thought-provoking conversations, and this one tops the list. Originally aired as Episode 175, this conversation remains one of our most impactful discussions on what it truly means to recover from an eating disorder. In this vault episode, I sit down with renowned eating disorder therapist and author Carolyn Co...

In this episode, I'm talking about why orthorexia is one of the most misunderstood eating disorders, how wellness culture can quietly reinforce it, and why the biggest warning sign has very little to do with what's actually on your plate. Because when grabbing pizza with friends feels mentally exhausting, that's worth paying attention to. Quotes "The biggest problem isn't what you're eating. It's...

In this episode, we're digging into the tension between wanting to be exceptional and wanting to be ordinary. We talk about why "normal" doesn't always mean what you think it does, how your eating disorder may be protecting you from desires that feel too risky to admit, and why feeling stuck often has nothing to do with food itself. Quotes "When average means stability, you want it. Of course, who...

In this episode, I'm talking about why that happens. We're looking at why body image can be so persistent, why all the things we often recommend are still worth doing, and why they sometimes only take us so far. More importantly, we're exploring what poor body image may actually be pointing toward. This conversation isn't about finding another body image tip or another affirmation to write on your...

Have you ever finished a meal feeling completely full... and then kept eating anyway? I've had this conversation with so many people, and the conclusion is almost always the same: they think they're the problem. In this episode, I'm talking about why eating past fullness isn't a willpower issue. I explain how years of food rules and ignoring hunger can leave your body trying to catch up at the end...

The women who look like they have it all together are often the last ones to realize they're struggling. The woman who can successfully manage everyone else's needs somehow can't crack the code on her own relationship with food. In this episode, I'm talking about why high-achieving women are often more vulnerable, not less, to struggles with food, body image, and disordered eating. We'll unpack ho...

In this episode, I'm talking about why so many attempts to change your relationship with food seem to fizzle out, even when you're motivated and genuinely want things to be different. Because constantly starting over doesn't mean you're lazy, uncommitted, or missing some magical piece of information. We're digging into the deeper reasons certain behaviors stick around, what they may actually be do...

In this episode, I'm talking about a question that sounds simple but can feel surprisingly hard to answer: What are you actually hungry for? Not in the physical sense, but underneath all of the eating, the urges, the restlessness, and the feeling that something is missing. We're exploring why so many of us learned to disconnect from our wants and needs, how food became the safest and most reliable...

When feelings, needs, and wants don't have a place to go, they don't simply disappear. They often find another outlet. For many people, food becomes the place where hurt, anger, disappointment, stress, and resentment get expressed without ever being spoken out loud. In this episode, I'm exploring why disordered eating behaviors can feel so difficult to let go of and why they often provide very rea...

This episode is all about that feeling and why it can become so emotionally powerful. We're digging into the connection between food control and everything happening underneath the surface that often has nothing to do with food at all. Anxiety. Uncertainty. Stress. Feeling emotionally stuck. Feeling like there are things you can't say, can't ask for, or can't fully admit to yourself. Sometimes con...

In this episode, the conversation gets into the sneaky side of restriction. The kind that hides inside wellness culture, clean eating, safe choices, food guilt, and the constant running commentary in your head about what you should or should not eat. And honestly? A lot of it feels so normal that you do not even realize it's happening. There's also a really important conversation about why binge e...

In this episode of Understanding Disordered Eating, I'm digging into one of the most misunderstood parts of binge eating: why dieting and restriction so often lead directly to the exact thing you're trying to avoid. And no, it's not because you "lack willpower." That story has been recycled enough already. We're talking about the restriction cycle; the physical and psychological deprivation that q...

There's a very specific kind of panic that happens when someone says, "Just listen to your hunger." Because in theory? It sounds so simple. Eat when you're hungry. Stop when you're full. Trust your body. Very calming Pinterest quote energy. And then real life happens. In this episode, I'm breaking down why that happens. We're talking about how years of restriction, dieting, food rules, and trying...

Guys. We just hit Episode 200!!  Whether you've been here since the beginning or you just found this podcast five minutes ago, I'm really glad you're here. This space has grown in ways I never expected, and it only works because you keep showing up and actually doing this work alongside me. In this episode, we're shifting the focus away from motivation and onto three capacities that actually deter...

In last week's episode, we talked all about people pleasing. The kind where you say yes before you've even processed what was asked, and then immediately start doing mental gymnastics trying to figure out how you're going to follow through on something you didn't even want to agree to. We're getting into how to stop the automatic yes without swinging to the other extreme, how to say no without tur...

In this episode, we're pulling back the curtain on what's actually happening underneath the surface. The suppressed needs. The tension. The resentment that builds while everything looks completely fine on the outside. And why your eating disorder might be stepping in to regulate what you're not expressing. Tweetable Quotes " So many people struggling with eating disorders also struggle with chroni...