What does it look like to leave diet culture behind — to truly walk away from it?

Lotta Dann did it with alcohol. Then, a few years into sobriety, she found herself deep in a diet hole — losing weight, receiving praise, feeling like she was "floating on a cloud of thin." Inevitably, it all fell apart.

In this conversation, Lotta and I talk about what happened next: how she found anti-diet content, what helped her see the lies diet culture has her believe, and what it actually took — emotionally, practically, and culturally — to leave.

This is a conversation I have wanted to have for a long time.

In this episode we cover

• How Lotta went from sobriety to a strict diet — and why the language of addiction made it seem like the answer
• What "floating on a cloud of thin" was so compelling, and what it cost
• The moment she stumbled across anti-diet content and why it clicked so fast
• The biggest lies diet culture tells us — and the one Lotta found most heartbreaking
• How leaving dieting compares to leaving alcohol — and where it is much harder
• Why weight gain is almost always part of the process, and how to navigate it
• The behaviours to stop immediately, and the practical steps that actually help

"Thinness is highly valued in our culture — you're deemed a success regardless of your mental health or how you're actually functioning day to day."

"I refuse to feel bad about my body size. I've built a fierce defence against it — and it took time, mantras, and a lot of practice to get there."

— Lotta Dann

Mentioned in this episode

• Mrs D is Not on a Diet — Lotta Dann's book on leaving diet culture
• Living Sober — Lotta's free online community for people quitting drinking
• @mrs_d_alcoholfree — Lotta on Instagram
• Midlife Body Image Guide — Emma's free guide for women ready to stop fighting their bodies

Emma's website · Follow on LinkedIn

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a woman you love. The more we talk about leaving diet culture, the more women get to stop fighting themselves and start living the way they want to.

You have done everything right. You have been eating well, making good choices, feeling in control. And then something happens — a birthday dinner, a celebration, a moment of genuine pleasure around food — and suddenly the noise is back. Loud, familiar, exhausting.

Register for the End Food Noise Without Weight Loss Jabs Here.

In this episode, I talk about the emotion that almost nobody names in the wellness space — and why it is one of the most powerful drivers of food noise there is.

What you will learn in this episode:

Why the fear of gaining weight is a completely rational response to the culture we live in, and why knowing that intellectually is not enough to make it go away

What fatphobia actually means — and why it is less about individual cruelty and more about a belief system so deeply internalised it feels like reality

How the fear of a bigger body keeps the restriction cycle going even when you know restriction is not working

A two-step compassion practice you can use the next time fear shows up after eating — one that works at the nervous system level, not just the thinking level

Mentioned in the episode:

Free masterclass, End Food Noise Without Weight Loss Jabs (or giving up on health). I walk you through an exercise that shows you exactly which type of hunger is driving your food thoughts.

The masterclass will give you a completely different way of understanding what has been happening.

Register here.

Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking private clients. Book a consultation to discuss what you want to achieve, and you’ll leave with a clear, step-by-step, individualised plan to achieve it. Whether I can help you achieve your goal or not, you’ll leave knowing what the next steps are.

🌐 Emma's Website
📱 Follow on LinkedIn

If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Let’s help more women stop fixing their bodies and start trusting them.

Keywords: food noise, fear of weight gain, fatphobia, emotional eating, intuitive eating, body image, why can't I stop thinking about food, diet culture, women's relationship with food, how to stop food noise, feminist health coaching, Emma Wright, Talking with Emma

If you have ever had the experience of eating well all day and then finding yourself in the kitchen cupboards, wondering what just happened — this episode is for you.

Most of us have been taught that food noise, cravings, and loss of control around food are willpower problems. They are not. They are hunger problems. And specifically, they are a type of hunger that almost nobody in the wellness space talks about.

In this episode, I introduce the three types of hunger — physical, emotional, and diet backlash — and break down the one that is almost certainly behind your loudest food thoughts.

What you'll learn in this episode:

Why humans are biologically wired to think about food, and why that is not a character flaw

The difference between physical hunger, emotional hunger, and diet backlash hunger — and why they need completely different responses

What diet backlash hunger actually looks and feels like in real life — including the "I've already blown it" spiral, and why the foods on your forbidden list are the exact ones you can't stop thinking about

What restriction has to do with the loudness of your food noise

What weight loss jabs actually do to hunger signals, and why the backlash returns when they stop

Why you are not broken, bad at weight loss, or lacking willpower — and what is actually going on instead

Mentioned in the episode:

Free masterclass, End Food Noise Without Weight Loss Jabs (or giving up on health). I walk you through an exercise that shows you exactly which type of hunger is driving your food thoughts.

The masterclass will give you a completely different way of understanding what has been happening.

Register here.

Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking private clients. Book a consultation to discuss what you want to achieve, and you’ll leave with a clear, step-by-step, individualised plan to achieve it. Whether I can help you achieve your goal or not, you’ll leave knowing what the next steps are.

🌐 Emma's Website
📱 Follow on LinkedIn

If you enjoyed this episode, follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review. Let’s help more women stop fixing their bodies and start trusting them.

Keywords: food noise, diet backlash hunger, emotional eating, intuitive eating, how to stop thinking about food, food cravings, why am I always hungry, weight loss jabs and hunger, how to stop obsessive food thoughts, women's relationship with food, end food noise, Emma Wright