Understanding Disordered Eating: For anyone whose relationship with food feels harder than it should Podcast Por Rachelle Heinemann arte de portada

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

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

De: Rachelle Heinemann
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Your relationship with food is telling you something. This show helps you figure out what. Understanding Disordered Eating is hosted by Rachelle Heinemann, licensed therapist and eating disorder specialist in New Jersey and New York. Each episode explores why we do what we do around food — not to judge it, but to understand it. Because when you understand what your relationship with food is actually doing, everything starts to make sense. For anyone whose relationship with food feels harder than it should. And for the clinicians who sit with them every week. New episodes every Tuesday. Higiene y Vida Saludable Psicología Psicología y Salud Mental
Episodios
  • 210. Why You Can't Think Your Way Out of Body Image

    210. Why You Can't Think Your Way Out of Body Image
    Jul 28 2026
    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 mirror. It's about understanding why body image often becomes the place where deeper emotional experiences show up and what you can begin paying attention to instead. Quotes "It's all about your body, but it's not about your body at all." "The body is where something else sort of has gone to live." "There is a difference between just sitting in the, 'I feel terrible' and organizing the inner experience." "It's not just I feel angry and I'm not allowed to, it's I feel guilty for taking up space, and I'm also not allowed to feel guilty about that because that itself is taking up space." "The body here isn't a separate problem, it's just the most concrete version of the problem that you're already having somewhere else." "Ultimately, the goal here is not necessarily to feel amazing all the time, it's to feel more organized, to understand it a little bit more, to have more context." Frequently Asked Questions Why do I still struggle with body image after doing all the "right" things? Because body image isn't always the actual problem. You can practice affirmations, wear clothes that feel good, and change the way you talk to yourself, and those things absolutely matter. They can make life feel a little easier. Sometimes, though, poor body image is carrying emotions that haven't had anywhere else to go. Until those emotions have a place to be understood, body image can continue to feel like the loudest part of the experience. Can poor body image exist even if nothing triggers it? Yes. For some people, body image spikes after a comment, a photo, or a stressful interaction. For others, it doesn't need a trigger at all. It can feel like it's simply there when you wake up. That constant background feeling often points to something deeper than a single bad body image day. Why don't affirmations fix my body image? Affirmations can be incredibly helpful, and they're worth using if they make things feel more manageable. They just aren't designed to resolve everything. If poor body image is connected to grief, shame, anger, or other emotions that haven't been processed, repeating positive statements won't automatically make those feelings disappear. How are emotions connected to body image? Emotions don't stop existing because we ignore them. When they're difficult to identify or express, they often collect into one overwhelming feeling. For many people, the body becomes the place where all of that distress shows up. It's visible, familiar, and easy to focus on, even when the real struggle started somewhere else. Why do I always feel overwhelmed by my emotions? Feeling emotionally overwhelmed doesn't always mean you're experiencing one giant, all-consuming emotion. More often, it's several emotions happening at the same time that haven't yet been identified. Anger, guilt, sadness, disappointment, and shame can blend together until everything simply feels terrible. Taking the time to name and separate those emotions doesn't make them disappear, but it helps your brain organize what you're experiencing, making it feel more manageable and easier to understand. How can I improve my body image in a lasting way? Instead of asking only, "How do I feel about my body?" it can be helpful to ask, "What am I actually feeling right now?" Becoming more aware of your emotional experience, where those emotions came from, and what they're trying to communicate creates a very different starting point than trying to change your appearance or force yourself to think positively. What's the goal if I never feel good about my body all the time? The goal isn't to feel amazing every day. It's to understand yourself a little better each time difficult feelings show up. As you become more familiar with your emotions, they become less confusing and less consuming. Over time, that can change the way you experience your body because you're no longer carrying everything in one overwhelming feeling. Resources Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter! Brave on Purpose! - Grab my new book here! Grab my Journal Prompts Here! Looking for a speaker for an upcoming event? Let's chat! Now accepting new clients! Find out if we're a good fit! LEAVE A REVIEW + help someone who may need this podcast by sharing this episode. Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter here! You can connect with me on Instagram @rachelleheinemann, through my website www.rachelleheinemann.com, or email me directly at rachelle@rachelleheinemann.com
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    13 m
  • 209. Your Body Noticed Even When You Didn't

    209. Your Body Noticed Even When You Didn't
    Jul 21 2026
    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 of the day. I also break down what hunger actually feels like, because most of us were never taught to recognize the early signals. We learned to wait until hunger was screaming, then wondered why everything felt so out of control. Quotes "You are not failing at the solution. The solution is the problem." "A lot of people think that hunger has one volume. It's like a switch. It's either on or it's off, and it doesn't. It has a whole quiet conversation happening first, and we've only been trained to answer or listen when it is shouting." "Hunger, whether it's physical, metaphorical, in women has been treated as something to manage, to suppress, to overcome." "The whole thing repeats, but it doesn't necessarily feel like a pattern per se from inside. It just kind of feels like evidence, like proof that you can't be trusted around food." "The discomfort feels like you're doing something wrong, but you're not. It's just the rule loosening its grip." "We're starting earlier, feeding yourself earlier, not because you deserve it or it's a reward, but because your body needs it, and you're hungry, and you've been hungry for a really long time." Frequently Asked Questions Why do I keep eating even when I'm full? A lot of people assume this comes down to self-control. It usually doesn't. If you've been ignoring hunger all day, following food rules, or waiting until you're starving to eat, your body is trying to catch up. Eating past fullness isn't proof that you're broken. It's often a predictable response to spending too much time in a deficit. Why can't I tell when I'm hungry? Your hunger cues probably didn't disappear. You just stopped treating them as information. Most people don't lose hunger overnight. They spend years pushing it aside until they only recognize the loudest signals. Hunger has a whole conversation before it's shouting, and learning to hear those quieter cues takes practice. Why do I always overeat at night? For a lot of people, nighttime isn't the problem. It's where the problem finally shows up. If you've spent the entire day eating as little as possible, ignoring hunger, or trying to "be good," your body has been waiting for food all day. What are the first signs of hunger? Most people expect hunger to feel dramatic. It usually starts much quieter than that. You might find yourself thinking about food more often, feeling a little less focused, noticing a slight drop in energy, or feeling a gentle emptiness in your stomach. Those are often your body's first attempts to get your attention. Can dieting make it harder to recognize hunger? Yes. Dieting teaches you to trust rules more than your body. Instead of asking yourself if you're hungry, you start asking whether you're "allowed" to eat. After enough time, the rules become louder than your own hunger cues. Should I wait until I'm hungry to eat? Not necessarily. If you're recovering from restrictive eating or years of dieting, your hunger cues may not be reliable yet. Eating consistently helps rebuild trust with your body. As that trust grows, your hunger cues usually become easier to recognize. How do I stop overeating without creating more food rules? The answer usually isn't another rule. It's feeding yourself consistently enough that your body no longer feels like it has to make up for what it missed earlier in the day. As that sense of scarcity starts to fade, eating often becomes much less chaotic. Resources Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter! Brave on Purpose! - Grab my new book here! Grab my Journal Prompts Here! Looking for a speaker for an upcoming event? Let's chat! Now accepting new clients! Find out if we're a good fit! LEAVE A REVIEW + help someone who may need this podcast by sharing this episode. Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter here! You can connect with me on Instagram @rachelleheinemann, through my website www.rachelleheinemann.com, or email me directly at rachelle@rachelleheinemann.com
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    22 m
  • 208. Why High-Achieving Women Are More Vulnerable, Not Less

    208. Why High-Achieving Women Are More Vulnerable, Not Less
    Jul 14 2026
    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 how perfectionism, discipline, ambition, and the constant drive for "more" can fuel success in one area of life while quietly creating problems in another. Quotes "The same voice that says, 'It's not enough. Not yet. Keep going' at work and at home is the same voice that's running your relationship with food." "The same discipline that gets you promoted, that grows your business, that makes you the mom that you are, is the same discipline that you apply to eating." "The ability to push through discomfort, the ability to ignore what your body needs to keep moving—it's the same exact skill, it's just a different arena." "One of the worst things to say in this situation is, 'Try harder. Add more discipline.' That is actually gonna be terrible advice because you have the most discipline. You are trying the hardest." "The discomfort is something that we don't necessarily have to solve. It's something that we have to increase our tolerance for." "The woman who has it all together doesn't think she qualifies. So that thought, 'This isn't quite me,' is exactly what we've been describing." Frequently Asked Questions Why do successful women struggle with food? Many high-achieving women rely on discipline, perfectionism, and pushing through discomfort to succeed in their careers, relationships, and daily lives. Those same traits can also show up in their relationship with food, leading to rigid rules, constant self-monitoring, and feelings of never doing enough. Can perfectionism cause disordered eating? Perfectionism doesn't directly cause disordered eating, but it is a common contributing factor. When self-worth becomes tied to performance, achievement, or getting things "right," food and body image can become another area where perfectionistic standards take hold. Why can't I stop thinking about food, even though everything else in my life seems fine? Constant food thoughts are usually your body doing exactly what it's designed to do when it's not getting enough. Restriction, whether that's skipping meals, cutting carbs, or just eating less than your body needs, puts food preoccupation on autopilot. It's a survival response, not a personality problem. For some people there's also a psychological layer on top of that: perfectionism or self-criticism that shows up around food because it's an easy, measurable target. But the first question worth asking isn't "what's wrong with me," it's "am I actually eating enough." What are the signs of disordered eating in high-functioning women? Common signs include obsessive thoughts about food, chronic dieting, guilt around eating, rigid food rules, body dissatisfaction, difficulty trusting hunger and fullness cues, and feeling like food takes up more mental space than it should—even while appearing successful and put-together on the outside. Why doesn't more discipline fix my relationship with food? For many high-achieving women, discipline isn't the problem—it's often part of what keeps the struggle going. Adding more rules, restrictions, or self-control can reinforce the cycle rather than resolve it. Healing often requires greater flexibility, self-awareness, and emotional tolerance. How are perfectionism and body image connected? Perfectionism creates an internal standard that is often impossible to meet. As a result, many women focus on perceived flaws instead of recognizing their strengths, leading to ongoing body dissatisfaction regardless of their actual appearance or accomplishments. How do I stop feeling like I'm never enough? The honest answer is that you probably won't stop it by trying to fix the feeling directly. "Not enough" thinking usually isn't the problem itself, it's a symptom of something underneath it, often a story that got built early on about what you had to be or do in order to be loved or safe. Chasing the feeling away with more achievement or more self improvement just feeds the same system that created it. What actually shifts things is slowing down enough to ask where that voice came from and what it's protecting you from, instead of immediately trying to silence it or prove it wrong. Resources Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter! Brave on Purpose! - Grab my new book here! Grab my Journal Prompts Here! Looking for a speaker for an upcoming event? Let's chat! Now accepting new clients! Find out if we're a good fit! LEAVE A REVIEW + help someone who may need this podcast by sharing this episode. Be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter here! You can connect with me on Instagram @rachelleheinemann, through my website ...
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    21 m
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