The Body Love Binge - Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast

Healing Through Movement: Embodied Dance, Trauma & Reclaiming Your Body with Allison PaganoThis conversation goes somewhere unexpected and beautiful.Allison Pagano is the creator of Embodied Dance, a body of work she accidentally built over 25 years that uses dance and movement as a healing art. She leads teacher trainings, works with clients one-to-one, and has spent decades helping people reconnect to their body's truth and reclaim their power from the inside out. She also has her own deeply personal story of recovery, which is where all of this began.We talk about how the body stores what the mind cannot name, why being witnessed in raw vulnerability is one of the most profound forms of healing, and what it looks like to turn your emotions over to the body and let it lead.This episode is for you if:You feel disconnected from your body and live mostly in your headYou have emotions that feel too big, too scary or completely inaccessibleYou've done mindset work but sense there is something deeper that hasn't shifted yetYou struggle with rage, grief or fear and have no idea how to express them safelyYou want to understand how trauma is stored in the body and how movement can release itYou have never danced in your life and wonder if any of this could possibly be for youIn this episode, we cover:✨ How Allison accidentally created Embodied Dance while in the middle of her own eating disorder recovery✨ The moment of being witnessed in raw vulnerability that changed everything for her✨ How lineage pain, trauma passed down through generations, shows up in our own bodies✨ The process of following emotion as a thread through the body, from activation to full expression✨ Why you do not need to know where something came from to begin healing it✨ Pre-verbal trauma and how the body holds memories the mind cannot access✨ How to begin if you are completely disconnected and cannot feel anything at all✨ Rage as a power reclamation: why owning your anger gives you access to more of everything✨ What to do when you cannot physically express an emotion in the moment✨ Why the cup that holds your grief also holds your joy: feeling more of one opens you to more of everything✨ Victoria's mirror work story: what started as rage led to a memory that had nothing to do with her body at all✨ How creating new movement qualities rewires the brain through neuroplasticity✨ Why you need absolutely no dance experience to benefit from this workPowerful quotes from the episode:💬 "The body never lies. No matter what a person is saying, their body is always telling the truth."💬 "On the other side of doing this work is everything you ever wanted: safety, peace, and feeling at home in yourself."💬 "When you deepen into the rage or the grief, you get back ten times your aliveness, ten times your joy, ten times your pleasure."💬 "Your body holds all your tender secrets. It is your greatest guide. We just have to learn how to access it."💬 "There is a way out. It is not a life sentence. On the other side is a really wonderful way of being in the world, being in your body."If you have ever felt at war with your body, cut off from your emotions, or like there is something stuck that words and thinking cannot reach, this episode is for you. The body has been holding it all, waiting for you to come back to it. And it is never too late to start.Much love. 💛💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/💙 Free trial Freedom Collective: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/

This one is a big one, my love. Stay with me.I start this episode by answering a question from the wonderful Heather, who asks what to do when thinness feels like the only thing that makes her feel powerful, and why she still isn't surrendering yet. It's such an honest, courageous question, and I wanted to give it the real answer it deserves before diving into today's main topic: the control paradox.Because here's the thing your eating disorder brain is not going to want to hear. The goal of recovery is not to be in control around food. The goal is to let go of control entirely. Control and freedom are not the same thing. They are opposites. And you cannot control your way to the freedom you are desperately seeking.This episode is for you if:You feel like control is the only thing keeping you safeYou know the eating disorder is making you miserable but cannot imagine letting goYou believe that if you let go, you will never stop eating or will gain weight foreverYou have tried to find a middle ground, a way to control just a little bit lessYou feel powerful when you're thin and terrified of what you'll lose if you recoverYou are stuck in quasi recovery and deep down you know itYou want to understand what true food freedom actually looks and feels like from the insideIn this episode, we cover:✨ Heather's question: what to do when thinness feels like your only source of power, and why the answer is always the deeper work✨ The difference between real power and external validation dressed up as power✨ Why you developed the eating disorder in the first place, and why it was never your fault✨ The crucial difference between control and choice, and why you cannot have genuine choice while you are still controlling✨ Why every form of disordered eating is an attempt at control, and why no amount of it will ever be enough✨ What actually happens in your nervous system when you are controlling food versus when you let go✨ Foods on a pedestal: why forbidden foods have power over you, and how unconditional permission removes that power✨ The four phases of letting go: the fear and extreme hunger, habituation, body trust, and freedom✨ Why your body has a natural set point and what happens when you finally get out of its way✨ Soul self versus suppressed self: which one is running the show around food right now✨ Practical steps to start letting go of control, even when it feels absolutely terrifying✨ What life genuinely looks like when you are living in food freedomPowerful quotes from the episode:💬 "The control that felt empowering became exhausting. The rules that felt safe became suffocating. You were trying to control your way to freedom, but control and freedom are literally opposites."💬 "You cannot control your way backwards. You can only heal your way forwards."💬 "When you are controlling, the question is: am I allowed to have this? When you are free, the question is: do I want this? One comes from fear. The other comes from trust."💬 "The opposite of control is not out of control. The opposite of control is freedom."💬 "You have spent long enough trying to control your way to freedom. It is time to take the actual path. Surrender. Trust. Let go."Freedom is waiting for you on the other side of control. Much love. 💛💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/

This conversation is one I've been wanting to have for a long time.I invited Robyn Kievit onto the podcast because she is doing something genuinely rare. She is the first dietician to become a nurse practitioner, she specialises in eating disorders, disordered eating and body image, and over the past several years she has become deeply educated in hormone therapy and perimenopause. She is one of very few clinicians in the world looking at all of this together, as one whole picture. And that matters enormously for the women I work with.We talk about what perimenopause actually feels like, why the hormonal shifts of this life phase can cause eating disorder symptoms to surge, what hormone therapy is and who it might help, and why so many women are being dismissed by their doctors when they deserve so much better. We also talk about body image, aging, grief, and what it means to enter this next season of life with compassion rather than resistance.This episode is for you if:You're in perimenopause or approaching it and want to understand what's actually happening in your bodyYour anxiety, depression or eating disorder symptoms have surged and you don't know whyYou've been dismissed by a doctor and told it's too early to seek supportYou have a history of an eating disorder and want to understand how that intersects with hormonal changesYou're struggling with body image as your body changes with ageYou want to know your options, natural, hormonal, and otherwise, for supporting yourself through this transitionYou believe, like I do, that you don't have to just white-knuckle your way through thisIn this episode, we cover:✨ The signs of perimenopause that often get missed or dismissed, and why they matter✨ How hormonal changes affect mood, sleep, cognition and anxiety in ways that are genuinely physiological, not just in your head✨ Why anxiety and depression can surge during perimenopause, especially if you have a history of either✨ The HPA and HPO axes explained in plain English, and why they're so central to how you feel during this transition✨ What hormone therapy actually is, who it can help, and what the current guidance really says✨ Why birth control pills and IUDs are considered hormone therapy, and what that means for you✨ The enormous gap in clinical education around eating disorders and menopause, and why Robyn created her course to address it✨ How to advocate for yourself if you're being dismissed by a doctor✨ Why bone health and cardiovascular health make hormonal support even more important for women with eating disorder histories✨ The body image and grief piece of aging, and why our bodies changing is not something to be corrected✨ What it means to enter the archetype of the crone, the wise woman, with self-compassion rather than fear✨ Why you are allowed to ask not to be weighed at a medical appointment✨ Robyn's course for clinicians and why it existsPowerful quotes from the episode:💬 "I just wasn't feeling like myself. That is the number one thing women say when perimenopause begins, and it deserves to be taken seriously, not dismissed."💬 "We are at the mercy of our hormones in some ways, and that is not a weakness. It's physiology. The question is what tools do we have to support ourselves through it."💬 "Growing old is a gift. Every line on your face is a line of a life lived, smiled in, cried in. A body well lived in."💬 "Our bodies change purposefully. The goal isn't to fight that. It's to find solutions that help us feel well within it."💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/

This episode is for you if:You're doing all the recovery things but still feel flat, joyless or like you're just survivingYou feel guilty resting, playing or doing anything that isn't productiveYou've never really thought about pleasure beyond food — or you're scared of itYour inner critic tells you pleasure is indulgent, earned or something you don't deserveYou're a high achiever who has tied your worth to productivity for as long as you can rememberYou feel disconnected from your body and can't imagine actually enjoying being in itYou want to understand why recovery without pleasure keeps you stuck in quasi-recoveryIn this episode, we cover:✨ Why pleasure is not a luxury in eating disorder recovery — it's the recovery✨ The nervous system piece: why your body literally cannot heal without experiencing pleasure✨ How trauma damages your relationship with pleasure — and teaches you that enjoying yourself isn't safe✨ The soul self versus the suppressed self and how they each relate to pleasure completely differently✨ Why reclaiming food pleasure is essential — and what savouring food actually looks like after restriction✨ Why food obsession comes from deprivation of pleasure, not just deprivation of food✨ What to do when food is your only source of pleasure and why that's completely valid for a season✨ Pleasure beyond food — sensory, creative, relational, rest and movement pleasure explained✨ Why high achieving women struggle most with pleasure — and how the eating disorder is an achievement disorder in disguise✨ The body image piece: why you cannot wait until you love your body before letting it feel good✨ How to know what genuine pleasure actually feels like — especially if you've been in survival mode for years✨ The pain and discomfort inventory: what you're tolerating that's blocking pleasure from landing✨ Fun, playfulness and your inner children — why this is legitimate trauma healing work, not just a nice idea✨ What actually happens in your nervous system when you play, laugh and do things just because they're fun✨ Practical steps to start microdosing pleasure into your life right now✨ Why a life without pleasure keeps the eating disorder relevant — and what to build insteadPowerful quotes from the episode:💬 "You cannot heal from trauma and from an eating disorder through discipline and willpower alone. Your nervous system actually requires pleasure in order to heal."💬 "The eating disorder convinces you that denying yourself pleasure is virtuous — that suffering is noble and deprivation is discipline. That is a lie."💬 "Pleasure is not something you earn. It's not a reward for recovering enough. Pleasure is the recovery."💬 "You can't wait until you love your body before you let it feel good. You have to let pleasure in first. That's how the body image shifts — through embodied experience, not willpower."💬 "The eating disorder is deadly serious. It doesn't play, it doesn't laugh, it doesn't do things just for fun. Playfulness is one of the most powerful ways to choose your soul self over it."💬 "You didn't survive your eating disorder just to live a beige, pleasureless, serious existence. You survived so you could live fully — with joy, aliveness, silliness and pleasure."💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/

Georgia's back — and this time, things are even deeper.When Georgia first came on the podcast, she was in what she thought was full recovery. And in many ways she was. But what followed taught her something nobody really talks about: recovering from an eating disorder doesn't automatically fill the void it leaves behind. In this episode, we get into what happens after recovery, why so many women find themselves slipping back into old patterns not out of relapse but out of boredom and emptiness, and what it actually looks like to build a life so full there's simply no room for the eating disorder anymore.In this episode, we cover:✨ Why Georgia doesn't call what happened a relapse — and the crucial distinction that matters✨ What "complacency in recovery" actually looks like and how quickly it can creep in✨ Why the identity of being "in recovery" can keep you stuck — and what to shift to instead✨ The void that recovery leaves behind and why filling it is non-negotiable✨ How boredom, not desire, can pull you back into eating disorder behaviours✨ Why recovering from an eating disorder doesn't fix life — and why that's actually good news✨ The honeymoon phase of recovery and what comes after it✨ Fear of taking up space in the world as the next evolution of the fear of physical growth✨ How diet culture and self-suppression are the same oppression — just in different forms✨ Why your recovered mind is one of the most powerful tools you'll ever have✨ Feeling and moving through emotions — what actually works and what doesn't✨ Why emotions, when suppressed, will always find a way to come out✨ Hypothalamic amenorrhea — what it is, why it matters even if you don't want children, and Georgia's personal journey with it✨ Why you can be mentally free and still dealing with the physical long-term effects of restriction✨ Georgia's coaching practice — who she works with and how to reach herPowerful quotes from the episode:💬 "Recovery from an eating disorder doesn't fix life. Life is still a bit shit sometimes — and unless you put energy into filling it up, the eating disorder will fill the space instead."💬 "I was so bored. All I knew was eating disorder behaviours. I didn't know what else to do — and that was the honest truth."💬 "The fear of taking up space in the world is the same oppression as diet culture keeping women physically small. I refused to stay small in either way."💬 "Recovery is the hardest thing I've ever done. So now I look at life and think — bring it on. I've already overcome my biggest fears."💬 "I am no longer willing to contribute to my own oppression. That quote on my mirror changed everything."💬 "Any feeling that wants to arise within you, you have the capacity to feel it. Otherwise it wouldn't be rising. Trust that."Much love. 💛💙 Join my FREE support group: https://victoriakleinsman.com/free-support-group/💙 Free trial group coaching: https://victoriakleinsman.com/coaching/💙 Work with me 1:1: https://victoriakleinsman.com/1-1-coaching/💙 Follow me on Instagram @victoriakleinsmanofficial💙 Become a coach: https://victoriakleinsman.com/become-a-coach/Connect with Georgia - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/georgiagracerecovers?igsh=MWZ5NHZudmJ6Znk0dA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr- HealingwthG podcast on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/healingwithg/id1880094360- HealingwithG podcast on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/00WnCL5bcbX3wX7hMQNyrCAnd my coaching email address is: [email protected]