Binge Dieting Learn how to change your relationship with Eating

In this podcast episode Betsy talks with Laurel Mellin, PhD, who is the founder of EBT, or emotional brain training.  Laurel explains in great detail how this specific brain training system works, specifically giving examples related to (among other things) binge eating and childhood situations that were at the root of unwanted behaviors. She talks about the difference between low level stressful emotions and the higher level emotions which get trapped in the subconsious mind on a feedback loop.  In this intricate system, the user learns to recognize that the unwanted behaviors we face are not about the behavior but about the brain circuits, which can be totally transformed.   This healing modality often paralells the model of internal family systems, or IFS, of which Betsy is a practioner.  Emotional Brain Training, or EBT uses a specific phone app and peer support, and breaks behaviors down into 5 specific brain states.    For more information about working with Betsy you can go to her website, www.betsythurstonrd.com  

During this conversation with weight loss coach Deb Butler, you will hear about her personal journey with weight issues and her process when working with women with similar issues. We talk about thoughts, intuitive eating, emotional eating, how menopause is in some ways like adolesence, and about how finding peace in life is the backbone for change. The conversation went into all sorts of topics that can be helpful to anyone struggling with food and the body. 

Betsy talks about the techniques offered in the book The Practice of Embodying Emotions by Raja Selvam, PhD. in order to help listeners learn a tool to help completely change their unwanted behaviors. She gives specific examples and case studies that are presented in the book. 

In this podcast Betsy talks about the artform of integrating the experience of fear in all its forms, using ideas from psychology and spirituality. Included in the discussion is a look at the problem of judgment towards the body and she teaches a specific exercise you can do to work towards body acceptance.  Finally, the podcast talks about the importance of refocusing attention away from problems and towards solutions, with specific action steps to take to help the nervous system get out of dysregulation. 

On this podcast Betsy interviews Dr. Paul Kolodzik, who specializes in the prudent use of weight loss drugs, low carbohydrate diets and blood glucose monitoring for people who have trouble losing weight. Insulin resistance is a very common condition in people with weight issues, and Dr. Kolodzik talks about his approach to working with this population .  Listen to this practical and in depth interview here! 

Betsy talks about the brain's "habit" of addiction, eating disorders, pain, anxiety, and even OCD, and one approach to help recover.  She reviews concepts from a book called The Pain Habit by Drew Coverdale.  Topics include the subconscious and conscious mind, buidling resilence, and learning how to become your own healer.  

On this episode Betsy looks at some of the key components of intuitive eating and how to apply them more fully in order to obtain a new relationship with eating.  She also sprinkles in some of the ideas from manifesting, or the Law of Attraction. Topics include having the right mental approach, tuning into hunger and fullness,  looking at the satisfaction factor, considering emotional eating and remembering body respect.

In this episode Betsy talks about the specific skills involved with DBT therapy. She details what to do and how to use some of the best DBT practices, using examples from a client.  As always, she sprinkles in some spiritual concepts along the way. 

In this episode Betsy gives a mini book report on Jill Bolte Taylor's "Whole Brain Living" which  talks about integrating the brain's left and right hemispheres so that unwanted behaviors and habits can shift. She talks about the brain's connection with health, spirituality, and habits as it shows up in the micromoments of day to day life. This episode explains practical tools to help you change such as the 90 second rule and the brain huddle. It can be useful for people with eating issues and for people with ruminating thoughts, compulsive habits, and over active perfectionist tendencies. 

In this episode Betsy talks with Registered Dietitian and diabetes expert Ben Tzeel about how to successfully navigate mental struggles and food confusion that might come up for people with either Type I or Type 2 diabetes. We talk about some common struggles that might also happen with disordered eating. Even for listeners who don't have diabetes, this episode will have relatable topics for people trying to have a better relationship with food. 

Betsy shares one client's extensive list of future self ideals and talks about some of the ideas that came up during the session in which she shared them.  We talked about the body, about eating sugar, and about questioning thoughts for their truth. This podcast can give the listener more ideas about how to make effective intentions for createing a future self.

In this episode Betsy talks about the idea of creating your future self so you can learn to be that future self now.  She reviews key idea's from Benjamin Hardy's book, Be Your Future Self Now to help listeners apply the concepts to their struggles with eating, relationships, and other predicments. 

Betsy starts the podcast with a quick review of ideal foods and food goals and intuitive eating basics before shifting to a conversation about several clients who want to stop patterns of over reaction and anger.  She talks about working with brain habits, control, and learning how to live from the heart.  

Betsy talks about specific tools to use when confronted with the urges to overeat or binge eat, especially at night. At the very end Betsy talks briefly about a post from facebook from someone who is currently in the weeks after weight loss surgery. There is a lot in this episode that can help anyone improve their relationship with eating!

Betsy talks about the surprising and calming effect of learning the art of having no preferences. This is a counter intuitive concept that can have tremendous impact on the intensity of food cravings.  

Betsy talks about the system in play in the mind that often keeps people stuck in a cycle of chronic dieting or overthinking food and eating.  She also announces her new live class over zoom which will begin the last week in March, 2023

This podcast talks about the critically important skill of understanding and listening to sensations in your body. It talks about the experiences of sensation as they relate to food, emotions, trauma, and behaviors. Uncomfortable sensations often precede episodes of overeating. Other times people get lost in thought and ignore their body. Learning from our sensations, and learning how to be with them in a new way can be transformative. 

In this podcast Betsy talks about the idea of refocusing attention onto love. It was inspired by NFL football players, who now wear helmets with love slogans! We can help our relationship with eating and our bodies by considering how to prioritize our thinking. 

In this podcast Betsy weaves together ideas from key spiritual teachings, the practice of intuitive eating, and anxiety. 

This episode reviews highlights from part of Yung Pueblo's book, "Lighter" and relates them to eating concerns. Betsy talks about some key spiritual concepts, meditation, risk, and radical honesty.  At the end she talks about how to apply exposure therapy to help challenge yourself.  

In this episode Betsy talks about key concepts helpful for success. She incorporates stories from clients including issues with food, anxiety, relationships, the body and self criticism. The theme touches on the work of internal family systems therapy (IFS), spirituality, and manifesting.  There is a lot to consider and learn! 

Betsy shares a conversation she had with Heather Russo, who is a clinician with Alsana center for the treatment of eating disorders.  We talk about common problems that come up with eating and body image during the holidays. In this conversation we include tools and tips and insights as well as a couple of client stories.  This episode will be relatable if you struggle with overeating, binge eating, anorexia,  fears around eating, or fears around the emotions that might come up with family.  It's a good one! 

Betsy talks about approaching anxiety in a way which might not be too passive or too active. Anxiety can be managed! She looks at anxiety as a broad concept and also how it might play out with eating and food cravings. 

Betsy has a conversation with the chief medical officer of Alsana, which has a small group of treatment recovery centers in the United States.  We talk about what happens inside of this treatment facility, who might want to go, what the prognosis would be if you did go, and what the characteristics of some of the frequent clients might be. 

This episode talks about Claire's attempt at weight loss and the pitfalls that she experienced along the way. During the last 10 minutes Betsy talks about the 9 enneagram personality types and questions that can help various personality types learn how to minimize problems. 

Diet programs and diets don't work in the long run. Learning intutive eating is helpful but not enough to manage extreme swings in eating behaviors or times when procrastination and excuses take over.  Many people have days or weeks or months or success followed by periods of not caring or not focusing on health or eating goals.  In order to create sustainable changes, Betsy talks about how to approach the problem from all angles.  Internal Family Systems Therapy is one tool that makes a big difference

This episode has lots of practical information about setting healthy habits and working with body image problems. We also talk about some life events that connected with what might have been spiritual guidance.  

In this podcast Betsy reviews Judson Brewer's book "Unwinding Anxiety", using his model of habit loops.  Betsy talks about her clients who struggle with certain habits such as anxiety, eating, or procrastination and talks about his premise that all habits exist because they provide value to the brain.  The solution to changing habits is easier than you would think!

In this episode Betsy talks with functional medicine practitioner Magic Barclay about how she changed her life from one with serious medical problems to a life of healing and joy. We talk about getting rid of toxicity, healthy eating, learning how to speak up, and about working with the psycho neuro endocine immune pathways (PNEI) in the body.  You can work with Betsy privately or take her online class. Get more informaiton at her website, www.betsythurstonrd.com

Betsy talks with author and researcher Michelle Segar about 4 common traps that hook people into behaviors that might sabotage their efforts to achieve health or weight goals. 

Betsy talks with Dr. Sharon Grossman about the topic of priming the brain in order to maximize success. 

In this conversation with the podcast host of "The no BS Mama", Betsy and Meghan Eddinger talk about her journey away from feeling stuck and alone and overweight towards action steps such as exercise, body acceptance, and more.

Ten life lessons, from a source unknown, are the topic of this podcast. The lessons relate to wise truths about life and relationships.  The first lesson is this "You will receive a body and it will be yours for your entire life. You may or may not like it, but it will be yours to take care of".  Most people already know that taking care of the body involves in part eating an abundance of nutritious healthy foods and avoiding too many of the comfort foods.  Yet despite knowing this, many paople can't follow through with healthy eating goals. The lessons connect with broader concepts that might have something to do with staying the course with healthy eating ideals. 

Body checking, obsessive thoughts about eating and the body, or inner criticisms and judgments can be overwhelming.  In this podcast Betsy provides three concrete exercises that can help you manage the intensity of obsessive thoughts or inner criticisms about the body or eating.  

In this podcast Betsy talks about the experience of comparing ourselves and how it can be a trigger for a lot of behaviors and negative emotions. She talks about specific clients and their stories of comparison as well as ideas from various spiritual teachers, Brene Brown, and the science community. 

In this podcast Betsy interviews Christie Bettwy, who now runs Rock Recovery in DC. Christie talks about her long journey to freedom after years of obsessive dieting and overeating to the point of bingeing.  We talk about many related topics on this podcast that will be relatable to people who live on diets or those with a full blown eating disorder. 

This podcast has two parts. In the first 35 minutes Betsy has an interview with Lynne Bowman, who talks about her journey to a sugar free, flour free way of life. Lynne is the author of the cookbook Brownies for Breakfast, and she gifts us with some of her recipes.  In the second part of the podcast Betsy talks about tackling sugar addiction, the book Brain over Binge, setting boundaries, and a few other things. As usual, she discloses a story from one of her old clients.  

In this podcast episode Betsy talks with Rebekah Buege about body image, over attachment to beauty, giving away our power, social currency, and how changing our perspective can change our relationship with food. Rebekah is a coach and the author of the book Social Currency. 

In this podcast Betsy and Leslie talk about the many things Leslie had to overcome and understand in order to succeed on her journey of losing 100 pounds. Leslie is the author of the best selling book, "You Can't Eat Love". This conversation is both inspiring and informative and will help anyone who has struggled to change eating behaviors.  

Debilitating and frustrating symptoms of pain, bloating, heartburn, and IBS can be improved by two methods. I talk about each method and how you can start a process of change today.  Mind body syndrome is a very real and difficult condition, and I talk about this during the last 10 minutes of the podcast.  For those who suffer, good luck! Betsy

In this episode I share a conversation with chef Tina McDermott who shares her best tips for quick and easy recipes and grab and go food ideas. We also talk about supplements, digestive issues, GMOs and organic items, and weight loss.  The specifics about food and recipes starts at about ten minutes into the podcast. 

In this podcast I share a conversation with Dr. Carolyn Ross, who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders and emotional eating. We talk about many things, including the brain, supplements, trauma, therapy, the inner critic and judgment and forgiveness. 

In this podcast Dr. Amy Johnson talks about her approach to helping people who struggle with anxiety or with all extreme or unwanted habits.  Amy looks at life from the big picture, and her model is very different from most models of change available today.  Betsy uses the model of Internal Family Systems Therapy, and the conversation explored the differences in these two ways of working with people.  This conversation brings up people who have had many different experiences that were difficult, such as feeling invalidated, experiencing stress from the physical effects of sugar, and feeling worry or shame over the body.  In this interesting conversation Amy's approach was unusual and refreshing; she constantly zoomed her lens way out to the bigger picture. 

In this conversation with Nancy McKay, Betsy and Nancy talk about her recovery from alcohol dependence and self criticism.  A lot of ideas are presented in this podcast, from noticing thought, living in your "truth" versus pretending, anger, feeling your feelings, and finding freedom. Listeners who might use food or alcohol in excess, or who live a life that doesn't feel authentic or fulfilling will benefit from hearing her story.  Nancy is a life coach with a "special twist". She uses equine therapy for clients who come to her ranch in Colorado. Listen to the full episode to hear her full story! 

In this conversation with Julie Allen, she talks about her journey from inpatient treatment to a life without the extreme behaviors that went along with her  eating disorder. Julie talks about OCD and anxiety, about what got her to wake up and find the courage to stop obsessively worrying about her body and her calorie intake, about weighing herself, about  intuitive eating, and about clothing and dressing in a way that feels comfortable and which allows for days when her body feels heavier than normal. At the end Julie also talks about her approach to food and eating as she parents very young children.  This conversation will be helpful to those who struggle with disordered eating or those who have a more extreme pattern of eating issues which are best helped by inpatient care.  Julie now owns a women's clothing boutique which caters to all sizes of bodies, and donates a portion of all sales to help those who need eating disorder treatment but can't afford it. She is the founder of the Mary Rose Foundation, which helps support education and funding for eating disorders. 

Manifesting is a popular term these days, and it is the process of making your dreams a reality.  Manifesting doesn't always work though, and that's why it is best to break the goal into small pieces at first. It's also key that you spend some time feeling the emotional blocks that might be in the way first.              

Betsy Thurston MPH RD talks about the mind and its relentless overthinking, which leads to behaviors that don't serve us well. The brain at any moment is just doing what all brains do, which is trying to help us.   In this podcast she talks about the polyvagal theory and how your nervous system is designed to help you, even as it can trap you into unwanted states of being.  By understanding the brain and the nature of thought you can learn to relax your attachment to unwanted behaviors.  

How to Use the Hunger Scale for Intuitive Eating Wouldn't it be nice if you can give your body permission to eat without feeling guilty? Often, we rely on binge dieting strategies and beat ourselves up for the short-term numbers we see on the scale. But what will happen if we tune into our hunger scale long-term and eat to honor our body? In this episode, I discuss two essential skills to gain control over your weight. I will also introduce strategies for tuning into the body's wisdom and tracking hunger numerically. Make sure to tune in to the full podcast to learn more about how you can teach your mind to change how it sees eating. I am now offering a virtual 7-week CLASS! The class will include pre-recorded videos, audio recordings, handouts, and membership in a Facebook community.  Enrollment is ongoing! Register now so you don’t miss out on all the content! If you would prefer more individualized help, contact me so we can schedule a private virtual session. To sign up for the class or get private help, you can send me an email at betsy@betsythurstonrd.com or visit my website. Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode: Discover the concept behind intuitive eating. What does the hunger scale look like? Learn how you can apply the gold standard of the hunger scale into your eating. Resources Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch The Tortoise and the Hare Weight Watchers MyFitnessPal The Self-Compassion Diet by Jean Fain Episode Highlights The Concept of Intuitive Eating The basis of intuitive eating is to learn to tune into the body and trust your own wisdom. As a result, you will make better food choices naturally and eventually attain a healthy body weight for you, not for others. While diets work short-term, mounting fact-based studies prove that these can be detrimental in the long run. The mentality involved in dieting creates a mental block and self-sabotage in the bigger scheme of things. Meanwhile, intuitive eating takes a little longer to be effective. It’s not a quick fix, and it tends to be unstructured, which can be scary for a lot of people. Intuitive Eating as an Art Form Combining intuitive eating with structure means allowing life and food to work together while being aware that sometimes structure is helpful. Being able to walk this balance is an art form. Many programs like Weight Watchers are educational in terms of food portions, calories, and food value. Calorie apps can also teach you a lot, but they can also be the root of the problem if you hate breaking the rules. However, it often does not hold up in the long term because of the “Today I'm on; tomorrow I'm off” mentality. No one can sustain that for their entire life. You need to see eating as a way of honoring your body. It’s easy to stay focused when eating intuitively because there are no rules to keep track of. Instead, you will develop a continuous mental script that focuses on what your body feels. Introducing the Hunger Scale The best way to stop your exhausting diet cycle is to get to the root of the problem. The hunger scale refers to physical—not emotional—hunger. Emotional hunger happens more suddenly. In contrast, physical hunger usually happens more slowly over time. However, it's important to note that each person experiences physical hunger a little bit differently. Generally, the hunger scale looks like this: the negative numbers signify hunger, zero is neutral, and the positive numbers indicate feeling full or satisfied. The Negative Scale Here’s a better look at the negative scale. −10: You’re so hungry you feel like you’re going to die or pass out. −8: You’re starving. −6: You’re very hungry. −4: You’re hungry. −2: You’re feeling the first pangs of hunger. The Positive Scale Here's a better look at the positive scale. +10: You’re so full that you’re physically sick. +8: You’re extremely full. +6: You're very full. +4: You’re full. +2: You’re satisfied. Your Homework: How Hungry Am I? Start recording the food you eat using a food diary or a phone app. Write down the food, the time, the portions of the food you're eating, and the number on the scale which reflects how hungry you are. It doesn't matter if you're still eating if you already feel stuffed. Here, you're just recording without any judgment. After you finish eating, write a second number which reflects how satisfied or full you feel. Having a mental dialogue would help you fight off the resistance of food recording. The Gold Standard We’re working toward a gold standard that is more or less a narrow range of −2 or +2. It means that you eat before you're hungry and you stop before you're full. Remember: eating when you're overly hungry pushes you to overeat or eat too fast. Stopping before you're full is the best way of honoring your body and managing your eating. The Importance of Patience & Self-Compassion Success in this journey means understanding that it is a journey. It is putting your foot in a gray area of thinking positive and forgiving thoughts. Keep in mind that self-talk is a massive source of sabotage. You must develop self-love and forgiveness, understanding that you are doing the best you can do at any given moment. Remember: eating is not black and white. Hence, you must allow life into eating and its rhythm and flow to work together. 5 Powerful Quotes from this Episode “You have to have a mentality of, ‘This is the way I am going to eat to honor my body because what I'm eating right now feels good in my body.’” “All those ads that you see that tell you you can lose lots of weight fast, that is not going to work in the big picture. It's a waste of time, energy, and money, and it feeds the mental cycle of feeling like a failure with dieting. That is absolutely at the crux of the problem.” “You must have patience. You must have self-love. You must let go of guilt. You must relax. You must be in the flow of, ‘I'm doing the best I can.’” “It's not good for your body or for you to be a binge dieter. Yet, in the moment, we act in the best way we know how. So ease up, please, on yourself.” “It's hard to develop the skill of allowing food intake and food cravings with life because the problem is life is about flow and rhythm and unpredictability.” If you listened to the podcast and enjoyed it, please share and post a review! Have any questions or want to schedule an appointment? You can email me at betsy@betsythurstonrd.com or visit my website. To making peace with eating, Betsy

Betsy Thurston RD talks about the experience of several clients and their struggles in the current pandemic environment. The podcast talks about Betsy's personal experience at a retreat, about a client's plan to show up on the beach showing more skin then she wanted, and about other client's and their sense of meaninglessness.   There are a lot of big concepts on this podcast! 

Betsy Thurston MPH RD talks about some common childhood situations that can set the stage for overeating, body shame, chronic dieting and a stressful relationship with food.  She talks about some specific action steps you can take to help work through and manage these problems.

In this episode Betsy talks about quick and effective ways to manage anxiety and fear in the moment. This is a practical, no nonsense episode which looks at common issues related to food issues as well as life issues that lead to eating problems.