Breaking Free from Binge Eating: Kathryn Hansen on Rewiring Your Brain for Food Freedom | ANEW Body Insight Podcast Ep. 50

Welcome to the 50th episode of ANEW Body Insight Podcast—a milestone celebration featuring a powerful conversation with Kathryn Hansen, best-selling author of Brain Over Binge and host of the Brain Over Binge Podcast. If you've struggled with binge eating or are searching for real solutions beyond traditional therapy and emotional deep-diving, this episode is a must-listen.

Kathryn Hansen shares groundbreaking insights on how to overcome binge eating by understanding the brain’s role in creating and maintaining binge urges. Unlike conventional approaches that focus solely on emotional triggers or past trauma, Kathryn introduces a science-backed method to rewire the brain and break free from binge cycles for good.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

✔️ The science behind binge urges: Why binge eating is not a lack of willpower but rather a conditioned brain response.
✔️ How to detach from food cravings: Simple yet effective ways to separate yourself from automatic urges.
✔️ Rewiring your brain for food freedom: A step-by-step approach to overcoming binge eating without restrictive dieting or endless self-analysis.
✔️ The biggest myths about binge eating recovery: Why common advice about emotional eating might be keeping you stuck.
✔️ Practical techniques to regain control: Strategies you can implement today to stop binge eating permanently.

Kathryn’s Brain Over Binge Method has helped thousands of people break free from binge eating by teaching them how to take back control of their eating habits without feeling powerless. By identifying binge urges as neurological misfires rather than deeply rooted emotional wounds, she empowers individuals to separate themselves from compulsive eating behaviors and reclaim their lives.

For more information about Kathryn Hansen  here are their social media channels link:   https://brainoverbinge.com/about/,  https://www.instagram.com/brain_over_binge/?hl=en,   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL0636ip594MIihqFeNHmrw,  https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B004LHPXNM , https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathryn-hansen-48095822. 

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Thank you for joining us on this journey to wellness. Remember, the insights and advice shared on the ANEW Body Insight Podcast are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making any changes to your health routine. To learn more about the podcast and stay updated on new episodes, visit ANEW Body Insight Podcast at anew-insight.com. To watch this episode on YouTube, visit @my.anew.insight. Follow us on social media at @my.anew.insight on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads for more updates and insights. Thank you for tuning in! Stay connected with us for more empowering stories and expert guidance. Until next time, stay well and keep evolving with ANEW Body Insight!

Transcript

0:00 Kathryn Hansen: 0:01

Yeah, that's definitely a big question and something I work with people on all the time. my basic premise is that food can trigger a binge. It can only trigger an urge. And as I talked about in the first half, the urges are the direct cause of binging. So when you eat a food, you have an urge. The urge is what causes the binge if you act on it, not the food. Now, that being said, Some foods are more likely to create a response in our brain that makes us want to keep eating more. It's just those highly stimulating foods, all the modern foods we have available, and is something that doesn't go away even after a recovery. Sure, you're not going to have the desire to eat massive amounts of it, as in binging, but foods are more stimulating and can make you crave more. So the reality is, Some foods are more, quote unquote, triggering than others as far as heightening our cravings and making us want more. Now, the decision of how to eat these triggering foods in someone recovering from binging is a very individual thing. And I think it's important. I teach people to try to eat in the least restrictive way that's possible for them, which means to incorporate as many foods as they can. Now, some people don't feel like they're quite ready for certain foods because they do create such a response. Physiologically in their body and brain and I always tell people it's okay If you want to put foods aside for a while like that's okay As long as you're getting abundant nutrition overall as long as you're eating enough as long as you're having other enjoyable foods in your life like it doesn't mean You're doing anything wrong if you decide to put a triggering food aside for a time. There's a lot of different philosophies in the eating disorder world. I mean, there's two main ones. One is that you have to learn to eat all foods in moderation. You can't restrict anything ever order to recover. Another philosophy is you have to avoid all trigger foods in order to recover. So it becomes very confusing In recovery. And I remember trying both methods and being very confused. But my basic premise is that. It is an individual thing, but that I do think it's very valuable to learn to eat as many foods as possible in moderation to break the connection between those foods and binging because it does become a habitual connection that those foods lead to binging.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:04

Because I think that when we create and it really does come from dieting we create these food rules and we also put morality behind food we have good foods. We have bad foods or this food's, Got a health halo and that one's the devil and when we're dieting What we're really kind of creating when we're restricting our cravings For these, you know more pleasurable or higher calorie foods And so it is a you know a big mind switch When you work with clients and you have them remove all of the labels and you help them to adopt a more neutral food mindset But I have found that with my clients once they have removed the restriction the cravings are diminished and I think that there's something, really psychological behind that also Physiological when we are, you know consuming especially like very highly processed food We don't know, you know how they've been kind of tinkered with in the lab and they are you know They have people that they call crave ability experts food scientists who really work at making foods and more addictive. Because I think that when we create and it really does come from dieting we create these food rules and we also put morality behind food we have good foods. We have bad foods or this food's, Got a health halo and that one's the devil and when we're dieting What we're really kind of creating when we're restricting our cravings For these, you know more pleasurable or higher calorie foods And so it is a you know a big mind switch When you work with clients and you have them remove all of the labels and you help them to adopt a more neutral food mindset But I have found that with my clients once they have removed the restriction the cravings are diminished and I think that there's something, really psychological behind that also Physiological when we are, you know consuming especially like very highly processed food We don't know, you know how they've been kind of tinkered with in the lab and they are you know They have people that they call crave ability experts food scientists who really work at making foods and more addictive. So I am in complete agreement that I think that completely avoiding the trigger foods actually may exacerbate the problem. And that seems like it's worked for you as well. But like everybody, that, These things are subjective and it may help a person more to avoid those foods. So it really is whatever works for you.

Kathryn Hansen: 0:07

Yeah, good question as well. And Brain Over Binge was really my story. And there are insights in there, and there are ways that I break it down that someone can use and apply in their own life. But it really, ultimately, was my story. And then the Brain Over Binge Recovery Guide, I laid out ways that you can apply this in your own life. I mean, that's a huge part. of my approach is learning to nourish your body. It doesn't have to be perfect. I call it, you need to learn to eat adequately. You don't have to eat perfectly, optimally. You just have to eat adequately. You have to nourish your body. So that's something that a lot of people who are stuck in cycles of binging and restricting need personalized help with also give them personalized help in learning to not respond to these urges. I call them, I call it dismissing the urges to have the urge, to see it as something that's not you and to not follow that into the action of binging. So that's personalized help there. And then we have group coaching, which is for people who want that group support, who like to have daily encouragement and accountability. And just work through things with other people and everyone's so different. Like you, you talked about using what works for you. So it's after I wrote Brain Over Binge, I just kept adding things that I thought would help people and all different types of people and all different types of situations. And as far as what someone would expect to gain from those additional resources, it is just more information, more insights. I have within those 130 audios, there's about 80 Q and A's that are just basically any question I've ever been asked. Over the years and I put them into recording. So it's really just more information and insights and strategies that are beyond the books. Yeah, it's definitely one of those examples how everyone is different because there are some people who are so much into the dieting and binging and purging that they don't have any concept of when they're hungry when they're full what they should be eating So for those people, I think It is very much more of a structured approach, having them learn to eat three meals, three snacks, eating at consistent times, developing, just giving their body the message that it's going to get fed consistently and getting it out of that survivor response. I mean, really like to make sure people are getting those macronutrients and micronutrients, and I'm not a nutritionist. I'd always refer people to a nutritionist if that they need that additional support there. Some people really get themselves into medical danger as far as being underweight, not eating enough. Purging is very medically dangerous. Making sure that people are getting the proper medical help they need, and a lot of times those, intense treatments are necessary to stabilize someone medically so that they can start to break the habit on their own. yeah, I mean, I've had people who go get like medically stabilized or go through that and then come out and fall back into the same patterns. So I think if you're not given the tools to understand the habit and understand how automatic it is, and how the brain is going to respond once you get back out and face all your old cues and triggers and the things that make those urges come up, and you don't have a way to deal with that or you're not aware. It's very easy to fall back into the same patterns. So I have seen a lot of people who have gone into residential and then come out and start repeating the same patterns. But I think if there's more awareness there, understanding the cues and being prepared. That it's possible to, have that successful transition.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:14

And I think that's really hard when you're working in a clinic and, insurance is involved and you've got to take people from beginning to end of their recovery process in the most efficient way possible. But I think eating disorder clinics if they, if there was any way to individualize it, I think a lot of people would come out of there.

Kathryn Hansen: 0:15

Yeah. I mean, I would say it's you're never too far gone. It's never too late. It's always possible to turn this around and if other people can do it, you can do I think that's super important to see that. There's absolutely nothing special about me as far as like, how I was able to stop this. And I've seen so many people stop this behavior, even after 10, 20, 30, even 40 years, like that they can make that decision and they can, and not, it doesn't even have to be in one day. Like you don't have to stop right away. Like you can make gradual changes. It can be a process. You can be compassionate with yourself along the way. I think that self compassion is super important. Like even if you feel like you've tried everything. There's one more thing to try. There's another insight just around the corner. There's another strategy you could bring in. I try to help people see that recovery is boiled down to two basic goals, which I've talked about here a bit. One is dismissing the urges to binge and one is eating adequately. So it really helps it feel less overwhelming to someone who feels like, Oh my gosh, I've tried everything under the sun. Well, if you break it down to the two simple goals, not always easy. of dismissing the urges to binge and eating adequately, it just makes things feel a little less overwhelming.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:17

Absolutely, I think you're talking about a simple, fundamental mindset shift. In that, when we look at Diet Culture, especially Diet Culture is basically, we're just inundated with these messages that we're not good enough, that there's something wrong with us, that we need this or that, or this diet or this product over here in order to be whole. And the more we can tune in to the body, because the body especially, the mind can be a little funky and not necessarily be our friends sometimes. But the body is always telling us the truth. And I think that is so valuable. We have been conditioned to ignore our body, ignore our hunger, ignore the signals from our bodies and try to fit ourselves into this, little square peg into a round hole. And when we actually tune into our body, when we listen to our hunger, we're actually befriending our body and I think really reconditioning our thoughts in that hunger is actually good. That's why I get a little wary with these weight loss medications that just kind of remove the whole concept of hunger because I think that once people actually tune into their hunger and they allow themselves food then they tell their body that you're safe They tell your body that you are not in this danger zone And when you're not in the danger zone you go into a parasympathetic nervous system state and if you can stay in that state when you're eating and I like to you know You know, encourage people to eat mindfully, not in a distracted way, not in any kind of emotional, like over emotional state, but to really be present with their food and with their body. So give me a picture of some techniques that you might have for your clients that help them get in tune with their body.

Kathryn Hansen: 0:21

specific strategies. So like I said, I boiled down recovery into two basic goals of dismissing the urges and eating adequately. So within those, within that framework, there are so many things. that can help people better dismiss the urges eat adequately. So for dismissing the urges, I have, they're not necessarily strategies, but there are five, what I call components of dismissing the urges. And it's basically a mindset shift It's learning to see the urges in a new way so that you can respond to them differently. Because no matter what strategies you give someone, if you're seeing the urges as something that's part of you, that's, you need, that the binging is a symbolic way you're coping or whatever. It, all the strategies in the world aren't going to matter because when that urge hits, you're going to feel like you need to follow it. You're going to feel like this is me. This is what I need. This is what I want. my components are more of a mindset shift and kind of review what we've been talking about. So the first component is to view the urges to binge as neurological junk, and that's a little term that just signifies that the urges are just that glitch in your brain. They're a automatic primitive response that's coming up is meaningless, that's powerless, and that's harmless. It's just junk. Third component is to stop reacting to the urges. It's impossible to control all our reactions, but it's about being as unemotional as possible about the urges and not letting them get you frustrated, upset, angry, like they're just there. They're not meant to hurt you. They're just that primitive survivor response and just trying to react to them less. So not acting on the urges, really the cure, and that's made possible by viewing the urges in a new way. And then the fifth component is something you also said, and that's to celebrate the success. Celebrate yourself when you don't act because that also creates brain change. That solidifies a new habit that helps you really just repeat the success by strengthening that self control function and celebrating like dismissing an urge and also celebrating the benefits of not binging and all the things that open up in your life.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:25

Absolutely. And I would add on just being present with your food. I really think that we have become conditioned to just not even think about the food we're eating because we're so scared of the calories and we're scared of this fat content and we're worried about this or that and is this healthy for me? you eat it and I think that is so important to honor that and to not be afraid say it's like my body's Give me pasta. Don't be afraid of that. Your body's calling out for carbohydrates Specifically ones that might help energize you quickly. Act on it And see what happens. And I think when people really employ these techniques they find joy in eating.

Kathryn Hansen: 0:27

Well, thank you so much. This has been amazing. I appreciate all your great questions and your insights as well. And I'm very much looking forward to you being on my show.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:28

Yay, a one stop shop. Please everybody go and read Listen to the podcast get the recovery guide everything because Kathryn really knows what she's talking about And we're really grateful that she's out there in the world helping people recover from binge eating which is no small feat, but it is totally possible if you adopt the right mindset.