If you struggle with binge eating and feel like you're holding it together on the outside while something quietly unravels on the inside, this episode is for you.

A contestant on the survival show Alone had everything he needed to win and tapped out on day eight anyway. Not because of anything going wrong on the outside. Because of everything he had never learned to be with on the inside. His story reveals something important about why binge eating happens and why willpower will never be the answer.

What You'll Discover:

• Why high-achieving people who struggle with binge eating often don't recognize their own coping mechanisms
• What binge eating and emotional avoidance have in common — and what the body is actually reaching for
• The difference between a willpower problem and a capacity problem — and why it changes everything about binge eating recovery
• Why building capacity to be with difficult emotions is hard to do alone — and what support actually looks like

If you've ever wondered why you binge eat even when life looks fine from the outside, or why staying busy feels easier than slowing down, this episode will help you understand what's actually going on underneath.

If you're ready for support with your relationship with food, schedule a Breakthrough Call today.

Want to know why you struggle with food and what to do next? Start watching The Binge Breakthrough Mini Series today.

This week's episode is a little different. I recently crossed the finish line at the 130th Boston Marathon, and I invited my friend and fellow coach Shelby Tutty to sit down with me for a conversation about the race, the journey, and what it actually feels like to reach a goal you've been chasing for years.

But this isn't just a race recap. If you have a dream you've been putting off, a goal that feels just out of reach, or something you've tried before and haven't quite gotten to yet, there's something in this conversation for you.

What You'll Discover:

• What makes the Boston Marathon unlike any other race and why qualifying is only half the battle
• How your brain can quietly shift the goalposts the moment you get close to something you've worked hard for
• A simple framework for taking the first step toward any goal, even one that feels impossible right now
• Why support matters more than willpower when you're going after something big

If you've ever had a dream sitting quietly in the back of your mind that you haven't let yourself fully go after yet, this episode is for you.

Shelby Tutty is a perimenopause educator and coach. Find previous episodes with Shelby here:

• Perimenopause & Disordered Eating
• Perimenopause & Peaceful Eating
• What happened in New Zealand?

If you'd like to read more about the journey to Boston and see photos from the weekend, check out my Substack posts here:

The Road to Qualifying for the Boston Marathon
Race Weekend in Boston
The Boston Marathon Dream Fulfilled

Want to know why you struggle with food and what to do next? Start watching The Binge Breakthrough Mini Series today.

There is a thought that lives alongside binge eating for almost everyone who struggles with it: "nobody can know".

In this episode I share my own story of hiding. The years of secrecy, what it actually cost me, and what changed when I finally let someone in.

If you've never told a single person about your struggle with food, or if you've told someone and still felt completely alone in it, this episode is for you.

What You'll Discover:

• Why shame forces us to hide and how that secrecy keeps the cycle going longer than almost anything else
• Why loving support isn't always enough and what actually makes the difference
• The vitamin metaphor for understanding why you can't see yourself clearly from the inside
• What co-regulation is and why the right support changes things at a nervous system level, not just emotionally

If you've been struggling alone and wondering whether it's time to reach out, or whether reaching out would even help, this episode will give you a real answer.

Related episodes:

• How to Talk to Your Loved Ones About Your Secret Eating
• The Power of Co-Regulation

Book a Breakthrough Call today. Join the email list: janepilger.com

Want to know why you struggle with food and what to do next? Start watching The Binge Breakthrough Mini Series today.

Most people have a picture in their mind of what it looks like to finally break free from binge eating — a switch that flips or a moment that changes everything. The reality is different. And in a lot of ways, it's more hopeful.

In this episode, I walk through the phases people often move through on the journey to food freedom, not as a prescribed timeline, but as a map of recognizable places you might find yourself.

Wherever you are, you'll be able to identify yourself in one or more of these phases.

What You'll Discover:

• Why breaking free is not linear, and what to expect instead
• The phases most people move through on the way to real food freedom
• The recalibration phase, the most misunderstood and most common exit point in the journey
• Why the journey takes longer than we want it to, and why that's not a sign it isn't working

If you've ever wondered whether what you're experiencing is normal, or whether the progress you're making is real even when you can't see it, this episode is for you.

Ready to explore what it would look like to get support on your journey? Book a Breakthrough Call today.

Learn more about my Cultivate group coaching program.

Want to know why you struggle with food and what to do next? Start watching The Binge Breakthrough Mini Series today.

What if the key to breaking free from binge eating isn't more control, but less fighting?

In this episode, I'm talking about what it actually looks like to stop going to war with the part of you that binges, and what becomes possible when you do.

What You'll Discover:

• The different types of parts that exist within each of us and their unique roles
• Why the part that binges feels so urgent
• Three concrete steps for shifting from fighting to working with this part
• What this approach is not and why it leads to more lasting change than willpower ever could

If you're exhausted from the battle with yourself around food, this episode offers a genuinely different way forward.

Previous episode referenced: The Part of You That Binges Isn't the Enemy

Ready to do this work with support? Learn more about Cultivate or book a Breakthrough Call today.

Want to know why you struggle with food and what to do next? Start watching The Binge Breakthrough Mini Series today.

What if the part of you that binges isn't broken and isn't something to be eliminated?

In this episode, I'm sharing something that changed my own relationship with food, and that I've watched change so much for the people I work with.

If you've ever hated that part of yourself, felt ashamed of it, or wondered why fighting it so hard hasn't made it go away, this episode is for you.

What You'll Discover:

• Why fighting the part that binges tends to make it stronger not weaker
• What that part is actually trying to do for you even when its strategy creates more pain
• The fear that keeps people from trying a different approach and why it makes sense
• What becomes possible when you stop fighting and start listening to what's underneath

If you've ever thought you'd be a better, more lovable person without this part of you, I understand. I thought the same thing. This episode is where that starts to change.

Ready to do this work with support? Book a Breakthrough Call today.

Want to know why you struggle with food and what to do next? Start watching The Binge Breakthrough Mini Series today.

If you've genuinely wanted to change your relationship with food and still found yourself stuck, this episode is for you. We explore why change feels so difficult even when the desire is real, and it has nothing to do with willpower or weakness.

What's actually happening in your brain and nervous system when you try to change a pattern might surprise you.

What You'll Discover:

• Why the brain resists change even when you genuinely want it
• The real reason shame slows progress rather than motivating it
• How new neural pathways actually form and why the path feels hard before it feels clear
• Why change is often happening before you can see it and what it looks like to keep going anyway
• What your nervous system actually needs to make lasting change possible

If you've ever wondered why knowing what to do and doing it are two completely different things, this episode offers a compassionate, science-grounded explanation and a different way forward.

Podcast Episodes Referenced:

• I Know What to Do But I Can't Make Myself Do It
• Progress Over Perfection

If you're ready to explore support to change your patterns with food, book a Breakthrough Call today.

Want to know why you struggle with food and what to do next? Start watching The Binge Breakthrough Mini Series today.

Today I'm joined by Lauren Carlisle Brown, the emotions coach, for a conversation that gets right to the heart of why feeling our feelings is so much harder than it sounds. If you've ever known that emotions were driving your eating but had no idea what to actually do about it, this episode is going to give you a whole new way to think about that.

Lauren shares her Emotions Manifesto: five truths we can choose to believe about our feelings, and we dig into why feeling our emotions is so much harder than it sounds, and what to do instead of going straight to food when something feels too big to handle.

What You'll Discover:

• The five truths about emotions that can change everything. Lauren's Emotions Manifesto and why choosing to believe them matters
• Why we struggle to feel our feelings in the first place and why it has nothing to do with being broken
• The emotional flow map. Four ways we handle emotions and how to move through them with more awareness and less shame
• What your food cravings might actually be telling you and how to use that information as a starting point

If you've ever thought "I know I'm eating to avoid something, but I don't know what else to do", this conversation is for you.

Lauren's free worksheet to go deeper with this work is linked below.

Resources mentioned:

• Lauren's worksheet
• Lauren's podcast: All the Feels with Lauren Carlisle Brown Listen on Apple | Spotify
• Lauren's website: laurencarlislebrown.com
• Lauren's course: The Emotions Crash Course

Want to know why you struggle with food and what to do next? Start watching The Binge Breakthrough Mini Series today.