The Body Love Binge - Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast

You Recovered From Your Eating Disorder, So Why Are You Still Anxious?This is a solo episode that hits different.I'm addressing something I'm hearing from clients constantly: "I've stopped restricting. I'm eating freely. I haven't binged or purged in months. I'm doing all the work, Victoria, but I'm still having panic attacks. I'm still depressed. Sometimes I'm more anxious now than when I had the eating disorder. Have I done something wrong?"The answer is no. You've actually uncovered what was there all along.This episode is for you if:• You're recovered (or nearly recovered) but still struggling with anxiety, depression, panic, or shutdown• You feel like recovery was supposed to fix everything, but you're still a mess• You're wondering if you failed at recovery or if something's wrong with you• The eating disorder was actually numbing what's underneath• You're grieving the loss of your coping mechanism• You want to know what the fuck to do about itIn this episode, we cover:✨ Why recovery can actually make anxiety and depression feel worse✨ The eating disorder as a coping mechanism — what it was really managing✨ The window of tolerance and nervous system dysregulation explained✨ Why your nervous system is swinging between panic and shutdown✨ Hyper arousal vs hypo arousal — and which bank you're hitting✨ How trauma and childhood overwhelm shaped your window of tolerance✨ Why the eating disorder communicated what you couldn't say✨ You are NOT a victim to your nervous system — you can manage it✨ Up-regulation tools for when you're flat, numb, and depressed✨ Down-regulation tools for when you're panicking, anxious, and overwhelmed✨ The STOP skill from DBT — interrupt the automatic response✨ Natural reframes to stop the shame spiral✨ How to widen your window of tolerance intentionally and slowly✨ It's not about avoiding the banks — it's about your relationship to them✨ Practicing at your edge consistently until it expands✨ Using fear foods as nervous system expansion work✨ Why this is the real recovery work nobody talks aboutPowerful quotes from the episode:💬 "You didn't do anything wrong. You've just uncovered what was there all along."💬 "Your eating disorder was never the problem. It was your solution to a problem. Now the solution is gone."💬 "Recovery makes this worse because now you're feeling the full force of your nervous system dysregulation without the coping mechanism."💬 "You are not a victim to your nervous system. You can actually manage it."💬 "It's not about making the river wider so you never touch the banks. It's about your relationship to the banks when you do hit them."If you're recovered but still struggling, if you're wondering what's wrong with you, if you're grieving the loss of your eating disorder because at least it managed something — this episode will reframe everything.You're not broken. You're not failing at recovery. You're just finally feeling what was always there, and now you get to learn how to actually manage it.The song I recommended:QUIET (Acoustic) Hillside Recording & Diana Trout💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/

Fear, Power & Recovery with KarlaIn this conversation with Karla, I sit down and get brutally honest about fear - the real barrier to your eating disorder recovery. We talk about why every single one of my clients, and everyone I've ever worked with, is fighting fear in different ways. And more importantly, we talk about how to actually face it. This episode is essential for anyone stuck in restriction, anyone waiting to feel ready, and anyone who needs reminding that you have far more power than you think.Key Quotes from the Episode:💬 "Fear doesn't control your legs or your arms or your mouth. It feels like it does, but it doesn't. Fear only works when you run from it."💬 "When people say they can't, they're lying. They won't. And that sounds harsh, but I say it with so much love."💬 "You can't recover from an eating disorder while acting like you have an eating disorder."💬 "Only you can recover. You can have the best coach in the world, but only you can take the action and do the recovery for you."💬 "You're not your brain. You're not your nervous system. Show them it's safe to gain weight, even if it doesn't feel like it. Actions speak louder than words, even for yourself."✨ What I Cover in This Episode✨ Why fear is the biggest barrier to recovery - and why recognising this is actually empowering, not defeating✨ The difference between "can't" and "won't" - and why this distinction puts you back in your power✨ How to face fear without waiting to feel ready (spoiler: you never will, so you might as well start now)✨ The real reason actions speak louder than words - and how to show your nervous system it's actually safe to eat, gain weight, and rest✨ Why recovery requires both unrestricted eating AND trauma healing work - doing one without the other won't create lasting change✨ How your personality traits that fuelled your eating disorder can absolutely fuel your recovery instead✨ The power of someone believing in you when you can't believe in yourself - and why this matters more than you think✨ What true self-love actually means and why you're seeking what you already are✨ The difference between acceptance and surrender, and why the latter changes everything✨ How to use responsibility as empowerment, not shame - owning your choices is where your freedom lives✨ The role of support in facing fear - why you can do it alone, but why having someone reflect your power back to you changes the game✨ A guided visualisation to connect with your highest, most powerful self - the version of you who's already grounded, free, and completely at home in her body💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/ 💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/ 💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/ 💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial 💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/

Body Love Binge Solo Episode - But What About People in Very Large Bodies?In this powerful solo episode, I tackle the question that stops so many people from embracing unrestricted eating: "But what about people in very large bodies?" I address the fear, the stigma, the medical bias, and the truth about health at every size. This episode is essential for anyone who's terrified of weight gain, anyone living in a larger body, and anyone who's been told they're "too fat" to eat freely.Key Quotes from the Episode:💬 "Your body knows what it's doing. It's not fucking you over on purpose. It's not making you gain weight just to piss you off."💬 "Health is not a number on the scale. Health is having energy to do things you love, managing stress, moving joyfully, and living without constant food obsession."💬 "Your body is not the problem. The system that taught you to hate it is the problem."💬 "You cannot heal from restriction whilst restricting. There's no gentle way to starve yourself back to health."💬 "Recovery is available to you not despite your body size, but regardless of it. Your hunger deserves to be honoured now, not when you're smaller."What I Cover in This Episode:✨ Why "morbidly obese" is fear-based language - How medical terminology pathologises fat bodies and why health exists at every size✨ Set point weight explained - Why your body has a natural weight range where it functions optimally, and why that might be larger than you prefer✨ What restriction actually does to any size body - The metabolic, hormonal, and psychological damage that happens when you restrict✨ Why your body might overshoot in recovery - How metabolic damage, hormone balance, and trust-building can temporarily increase your weight✨ Fat as emotional protection - How your nervous system can use weight as a protective layer against past trauma, and why restriction won't override that✨ The extremely rare genetic exception - Congenital leptin deficiency and other genetic conditions that affect hunger regulation (and why you're almost certainly not the exception)✨ Living in a larger body right now - Practical adaptations, tools, and self-care that isn't about "fixing" your body but honouring it✨ The grief that needs to be witnessed - Mourning the body you wish you had whilst accepting and caring for the body you have✨ What health actually means - Why behaviours predict health outcomes far better than weight, and how restriction destroys health at any size✨ What recovery looks like in a larger body - Honouring hunger, stopping compensation, doing trauma work, practising neutrality, and giving it time✨ Weight as armour - Understanding how your body might be protecting you, and why healing the wounds underneath allows safe release✨ The truth about being "too far gone" - Why you're not the exception, why your metabolism isn't permanently damaged, and why recovery is available to youThis episode will challenge everything you've been taught about weight, health, and what your body "should" look like. It's time to stop punishing yourself and start trusting your body.💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/ 💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/ 💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/ 💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial 💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/

Body Love Binge Interview with Jessi Kneeland - Body Neutrality, Self-Objectification & The AvatarsIn this fascinating conversation, I sit down with Jessi Kneeland, body image coach and author of "Body Neutral." We dive deep into body neutrality vs body positivity, why we assign false significance to our bodies, the four body image avatars, and how self-objectification keeps us stuck seeing ourselves from the outside in. This episode is essential for anyone who's tired of trying to love how they look and wants actual freedom.Key Quotes from the Episode:💬 "Body neutrality is stripping the body of false or inflated significance, as opposed to trying to love how you look."💬 "We experience body image suffering when we've assigned our body a task, role, or purpose it can't fulfill."💬 "Women learn that their worth and value is based on making other people feel happy and comfortable - providing what others want rather than going after what they want."💬 "The first compliments little girls get are about how they look or how they're nice. Both are about other people experiencing you, not about you at all."💬 "If your body is the only thing that matters to a guy, that saved you so much time. Your dream person would never make you question your worth based on your size."What We Cover in This Episode:✨ Body neutrality vs body positivity - Why trying to love how you look isn't realistic for most people, and what actually works instead✨ The false significance we assign to bodies - How body image distress is different from preferences, and why some things have the power to ruin your day✨ Where we learn body obsession - How patriarchy, diet culture, and beauty ideals teach us that our worth is relative and based on attractiveness✨ The confirmation bias trap - Why your brain gathers massive evidence to prove you're unworthy whilst ignoring anything that contradicts it✨ Self-objectification and the male gaze - Learning to see ourselves from the outside in, and why women ask "will he like me?" instead of "will I like him?"✨ The four body image avatars - Self-objectifier, outsider, high achiever, and runner - and how each represents different root causes✨ Why being "average" feels like an insult - The high achiever's ranking spreadsheet and living in constant fear of being displaced✨ Attraction beyond appearance - How relationships are NOT based on objective ranking systems, and why pheromones matter more than abs✨ The exhausting strategy of trying to prevent rejection with your body - Why outsourcing tasks to your body that it can't accomplish keeps you obsessing forever✨ How Jessi lives in body neutrality - Having preferences without attachment, and why lack of attachment is the safest, kindest choice✨ Clothing as daily practice - Centring how you feel over how you look, and why "flattering" is the wrong goal✨ Age, ageing, and body image - How ageing out of beauty ideals creates unique identity and existential challengesThis episode will completely shift how you think about body image work - from trying to feel beautiful to simply stripping your body of the power to ruin your life.✨ Jessi's website: https://www.jessikneeland.com/ 💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/ 💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/ 💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/ 💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial 💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/

Body Love Binge Q&A with Julia - Fear, Fullness & Fat PhobiaIn this Q&A episode, Julia and I answer real questions from the Body Love Binge community. We dive into acting in alignment with your values, overcoming the "clean vs dirty" fullness association, panic zones in recovery, seeking external validation, and why guilt hits harder after eating.Key Quotes from the Episode:💬 "The word 'can't' is instantly slamming the door in your own face. You can. But what's the fear?"💬 "You can't notice when somebody else is empty or full from the outside. It's an internal game always."💬 "If you're in recovery from a restrictive eating disorder, the things your body needs is not fruit and vegetables - that's the hardest thing for your body to digest."💬 "Hurt people hurt people. But healed people heal people. Your healing can be the catalyst for your mum's healing."💬 "It's impossible to feel guilt and remorse whilst you're focused on gratitude and presence. You can't have both at the same time."What I Cover in This Episode:✨ Acting in alignment with your values when fear keeps stopping you - How to move from "I can't" to "I won't" and face the fear anyway✨ The "clean vs dirty" fullness trap - Reframing the story that empty equals clean and overcoming laxative abuse patterns✨ When everything puts you in panic zone - Practical tools for nervous system regulation when even small steps feel overwhelming✨ Calorie targets vs constant fullness - Why you might not actually be full, and how to get maximum calories in minimum volume✨ The fruit and veg trap in recovery - Why your body needs fat and dense foods, not "healthy" options right now✨ Seeking external validation from a fat-phobic mother - How to build self-acceptance when your worth was tied to body size✨ The inner child work with parental approval - Understanding your mum is trapped in her own cage of conditioning✨ Why guilt is worse after eating than during - The overthinking trap and how to eat and forget✨ Outsmarting the eating disorder voice - Julia's clever technique of predicting and crossing off ED thoughts✨ The ripple effect of your healing - How your recovery spreads and affects everyone around youThis episode is full of practical, no-BS advice for navigating the messy middle of recovery when fear, fullness, and family dynamics are getting in your way.💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/ 💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/ 💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/ 💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial 💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/

Body Love Binge Interview - 30 Years of Eating Disorders to Complete FreedomIn this powerful interview, I sit down with Karen, one of my Body Love Binge group coaching Queens, who recovered from 30 years of eating disorders - moving through anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. She shares her raw, honest journey from restriction and purging multiple times daily to complete food freedom.Key Quotes from the Episode:💬 "I spent 30 years with an eating disorder. I thought, you know what? It's time to try something different. Even if I gain weight, I want to be free."💬 "Why did none of the professionals tell me that my body was just trying to make up for all the time I'd been starving it?"💬 "The binges stopped really quickly once I realised I wasn't giving my body enough food and I just let myself eat what I wanted."💬 "It's my own thoughts making me unhappy. There are so many things in life that make you sad that you can't help - why let your own thoughts do it to you?"💬 "Recovery gets easier. It's not anything big and major - it's all the little things in life that are better because of changing this."What I Cover in This Episode:✨ Karen's 30-year journey through anorexia, bulimia, and BED - How restriction led to bingeing, and why traditional treatment didn't address the root cause✨ The pivotal moment of "enough is enough" - Why Karen decided to try recovery differently after three decades of struggling✨ Why professionals don't talk about intuitive eating - The anger and sadness of realising what she needed to know all along✨ Understanding you're not eating enough - How Karen discovered she was still restricting even when she thought she was eating normally✨ Facing the fear of weight gain in your 50s - What motivated her to choose freedom over staying small✨ The automatic purging response - Karen's practical breathing technique to retrain her body and stop involuntary purging✨ How walking helped with physical discomfort - Using movement (not as compensation) to manage fullness whilst digestion improved✨ The power of self-talk in recovery - Reassuring yourself through the 20% physical/80% emotional panic of feeling full✨ Body dysmorphia and weight gain navigation - How Karen dealt with gaining weight, not fitting clothes, and fear of others' judgements✨ Reframing thoughts about your body - The transformative realisation that your own thoughts are making you unhappy, not your body✨ Foods coming back into the house - How recovery shows up in the small things, like having "trigger foods" around without bingeing✨ The "P plates" phase of recovery - Why confidence continues to grow even after you're technically recovered✨ Group coaching vs solo recovery - How the Body Love Binge group supported Karen's transformation without constant 1:1 coachingThis interview is perfect for anyone who's been struggling for years or decades, feels like they've tried everything, or wonders if recovery is possible in a bigger body or later in life.💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/ 💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/ 💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/ 💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial 💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/

Body Love Binge Group Coaching Call - Living with Someone Who RestrictsIn this powerful coaching session, I work with Kitty, a woman who recovered from 40 years of bulimia and is now training to be a coach herself. She's navigating the challenge of living with a partner who naturally restricts and controls his eating during cycling season - and how it's bringing up her own insecurities about her recovered body.Key Quotes from the Session:"You can only take someone as far as you've gone yourself.""Where are you on the acceptance spectrum? From 'this is my body' 🤷🏼‍♀️ to 'I'm fucking having to accept it because it is what it is' 😡?""If you were thinner, would your partners' restrictive behaviours still affect you? If not, then it's about your relationship to your body, not him.""Everyone's a mirror. They're reflecting back what's ready to be healed within you.""Coaching others is deeper healing for yourself. You realise where you're really at when you start coaching."What I Cover in This Session:💬 Working through triggers when your partner restricts and controls their eating - Why it's so hard to witness and what it's really showing you about your own healing💬 The difference between acceptance and preference - Understanding where you are on the acceptance spectrum and why that matters💬 Getting underneath guilt to the core emotion - Using the Russian dolls analogy to find what's really driving the discomfort💬 The part of you that's not caught up yet - Working with the part that's confused and questioning your recovery choices💬 Why your partner's behaviours trigger you - Uncovering what you think you're missing by being in a bigger body💬 Fashion, family judgment, and fear - Addressing the real concerns underneath body image struggles in recovery💬 The grieving process for your old body - Why writing a letter to your past body can support deeper healing💬 Somatic practices for body acceptance - How to use touch, breath, and presence to create safety with your body💬 The power of coaching others in your own recovery - How teaching what you've learnt deepens your healing💬 Letting them do their thing - Why other people's choices about their bodies don't need to affect your recoveryThis session demonstrates the nuanced work of later-stage recovery - moving beyond physical rehabilitation into the deeper emotional and relational aspects of true food and body freedom.💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/ 💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/ 💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/ 💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial 💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/