Real Health Radio

This week on the show I speak with Dr. Brad Smith, the chief medical officer for Rogers Behavioural Health. We talk about the co-occurence of many conditions with eating disorders: OCD, anxiety, depression, and addiction. We also cover ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) - what it is, how it works and how it can be used for different aspects of recovery.

Virgie Tovar joins the podcast to examine how GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are reshaping diet culture, from the medicalisation of restriction to the marketing of weight stigma as compassion. We discuss the impact on eating disorder recovery, the psychological cost of weight cycling, and what it takes to choose body acceptance in a culture still determined to sell thinness.

One of the most common mistakes I see people making is to go slow in recovery. As part of this episode I look at the common reason why people take this approach and why it doesn't help.

Nutritional rehabilitation receives a huge amount of attention, and rightly so. But considerably less attention is given to what comes next: learning how to build a life in which you no longer need the eating disorder.

Do you know how to cope without using eating disorder behaviours? For many (or most) the eating disorder becomes their only means of coping. This means that part of recovery is about learning other ways of coping, and that's what this episode is about.

This episode explores everything you need to know about extreme hunger in eating disorder recovery, including why it happens, why it can feel so frightening, and how to respond when hunger feels relentless. It also covers mental hunger, hypermetabolism, weight restoration, common mistakes, and the myths that can keep people stuck.

This week I the show I speak with Talia Cecchele. We talk about overcoming compulsive movement, digestive issues in recovery, the RAVES framework and how it can be used when making choices about food changes in recovery as well as some nutrition myth busting.

Summer can make eating disorder recovery feel harder, but it doesn't have to derail your progress. In this episode, I unpack many common summer challenges and share practical ways to navigate them without letting the eating disorder regain ground.

The eating disorder will always try to convince you that now is not the right time to recover. You will never feel completely ready, so rather than waiting any longer, start before you feel ready.

Most people think self-compassion is about being kinder to yourself. In this episode, I challenge that idea and explain why true self-compassion in eating disorder recovery is often a behaviour, not a feeling. We explore what self-compassion looks like in practice with food, movement, body image, and recovery commitments, even when your mind is arguing against you

This week on the podcast I am looking at Adam Grant's book Hidden Potential and the ideas from it that can be applied to recovery.

Today's guest is Livia Sara. In this episode, we chat about the overlap between autism and eating disorders, existential loneliness, metabolism, body image, eating variety and its place in recovery, the fear of weight gain, hunger signals, interoceptive awareness, and how intuitive eating does or doesn’t work with autism.

Are ultra-processed foods really “addictive” or is the fear around them creating more anxiety and obsession around eating? In this episode, I break down a new 2025 study exploring dopamine, ultra-processed foods, and overeating, while unpacking why restriction, deprivation, and psychology matter far more than simplistic “food addiction” narratives.

The eating disorder always makes out how hard recovery is. But the reality is, that living with an eating disorder is harder than recovery.

In this episode, I answer listener questions on navigating social life in recovery, giving yourself unconditional permission to eat, and coping with body image distress, relapse patterns, support groups, and the role of co-occurring medical conditions in long-term recovery.

Today on the show I'm chatting with Victoria Kleinsman. We cover her 20 year battle with an eating disorder, escaping an abusive relationship, reaching a place of full recovery, how she went from body hate to body love and so much more.

Knowing what to do in recovery isn’t the same as actually doing it. In this episode, I break down why change still feels overwhelming, why insight doesn’t lead to action, and how patterns, thoughts, and isolation keep you stuck. If you’ve ever found yourself saying “not yet,” this will help you understand why and what to do differently.

In this episode, I speak to recovery coach Emily Spence. We unpack the reality of living with an eating disorder and what it actually takes to reach full recovery. We cover extreme and mental hunger, neural rewiring, rest, food indecision and the importance of bold action taking in recovery.

This week on the podcast it's a deep dive into rest and recovery. We look at why your body needs it, the different types of rest, and what blocks you from getting enough.

Pregnancy, postpartum, and early motherhood can be uniquely triggering for those with an eating disorder history. This episode explores the physiology, emotional challenges, and practical strategies to support recovery during this demanding time.

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Jennifer Averyt and we discuss how CBT applies across eating disorders, GLP-1s, sleep, chronic pain, and depression, and why behaviour, not thoughts, is the key to meaningful recovery.

Cognitive distortions are patterns of thought that distort our perception of reality, cause us to misinterpret situations, magnify negative emotions, and hold unrealistic expectations of ourselves, others and the world. This can lead to increased misery, anxiety, and self-doubt, ultimately impacting our overall well-being. In this episode, I look at a number of cognitive distortions that you can be on the look out for.

In this Q&A episode, I answer listener questions on identity in recovery, balancing planning with flexibility, fears about eating more, urges for “unhealthy” foods, navigating recovery during menopause, and coping with the numbers on the scale. We explore the practical and psychological realities of eating disorder recovery, including how to handle ambivalence, break the “earn your food” rule, and build a life that expands beyond the disorder.

In this episode, I chat with therapist Dana Colthart about OCD, anxiety and eating disorders. We look at how the rituals that follow intrusive thoughts (including mental ones like rumination and reassurance seeking) reinforce the cycle, and how approaches like Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) help people break it.

In this episode, I’m joined by psychologist Shannon Patterson, co-author of The Weight-Inclusive CBT Workbook for Eating Disorders, to explore how CBT can support full recovery in the context of chronic illness, perfectionism, ADHD, and neurodivergence.

This episode features an interview with past client Jayne Cudia, discussing her journey to recovery from an eating disorder. Over two and a half years, she went from firmly entrenched in an eating disorder to being free from food, exercise and body image concerns.

In this episode, I explore how appeasement functions as a nervous system survival strategy — and how it can drive eating disorder behaviours. We look at why recovery can feel threatening when your system is wired to stay small, compliant, and safe, and what it takes to shift out of that pattern.

https://seven-health.com/353

Hosted by Chris Sandel, nutritionist, coach and eating disorder expert.

In this episode, I’m joined by psychologist Dr Lauren Muhlheim to discuss her new Weight-Inclusive CBT Workbook for Eating Disorders. We explore what CBT actually is (and isn’t), how weight stigma became embedded in traditional CBT-E, and what needed to change to make CBT genuinely supportive of recovery at any body size. We also unpack core recovery foundations including regular eating, restriction, weight suppression, and building a life that’s bigger than the eating disorder.

This episode features an interview with my past client Kate Ely, discussing her journey to recovery from an eating disorder. It's an incredibly vulnerable and open interview as Kate discusses many of the family struggles that led to the eating disorder and kept it going for over a decade.

This episode features an interview with my past client Kate Ely, discussing her journey to recovery from an eating disorder. It's an incredibly vulnerable and open interview as Kate discusses many of the family struggles that led to the eating disorder and kept it going for over a decade.

In this episode, I break down Constrained Energy Expenditure Theory (CEET) and why the body doesn’t burn more and more energy indefinitely. We’ll explore how restriction and threat lead to conservation, and why symptoms like fatigue, feeling cold, and plateaus are signs of protection — not weakness.

Goal setting is an essential part of the recovery process from eating disorders. In this episode I look at different types of goals, when they are applicable and how to best use goals in support of action taking.

This week is another Q&A episode, where I continue to answer listener questions. We cover how long nutritional rehabilitation really takes, hether full recovery is possible, est, compulsive movement, and stillness, recovery in larger bodies, extreme hunger, body changes, and much more.

This episode was inspired by a recent client conversation (in fact, a conversation I've had many times before). I cover a common fear that comes up connected to making changes and weight gain, something that can stop you in your tracks just as you're getting started.

This week, to celebrate 350 episode of the show, I'm doing a Q&A episode. We cover overcoming avoidance, depression and ED, navigating

doctors/health professionals, recovering into a bigger body, advice for parents of children or loved ones suffering, taking action when it feels so wrong, going all in, coping with losing your ED identity, how much to eat in recovery and much more.

Does 5% Weight Loss Really Improve Health

https://seven-health.com/348Hosted by Chris Sandel, nutritionist, coach and eating disorder expert.This week on the podcast I chat with registered nutritionist, Nutritional Therapist and certified Intuitive Eating counsellor Isa Robinson. We chat about her eating disorder history, clean eating, redefining healthy eating, body image, rebuilding body trust and the talks she's doing in schools.

https://seven-health.com/347Hosted by Chris Sandel, nutritionist, coach and eating disorder expert.

When you stick with recovery, you eventually hit the messy middle stage. Where some things have improved but it still feels confusing and like things should be better than this. In this episode I look at what this stage looks and feels like, why it feels so hard, and tools for navigating your way through it.

Over the last few years GLP-1's for weight loss have exploded and it feels like everyone is on them. I talk to registered dietician nutritionist Melainie Rogers about how these medications work, the dangers with them and the impact they are having on recovery, weight stigma and the body neutrality movement.

Eating disorders seemingly use logic to convince you of why you should or shouldn't do certain behaviours or why something is or isn't important. But in reality, eating disorder are actually illogical and this becomes obvious when we look at them more closely.

Binges while recovering are a common occurrence, despite the fear that they create. As part of this episode, I look at why binges occur in recovery, how to think differently about them and suggestions for what to do after a binge happens.

https://seven-health.com/345Hosted by Chris Sandel, nutritionist, coach and eating disorder expert.

So often when people think of recovery, things like terror, fear and loss come to mind. But joy and pleasure are at the heart of recovery and and rather than being a nice bonus, are actually essential to recovery. In the episode I look at joy and pleasure and how to bring this into your recovery.

Oedema or fluid retention is part of the recovery process. But despite this, it is uncomfortable and can lead to lots of fears. In this episode, I look at what oedema is, why it occurs, what helps and what doesn't and when it is useful to seek medical support.

This week it's a solo episode and I'm talking about what's the healthiest way to recover. I explain why we need to rethink our ideas about health, why understanding context is so important and the reason the fear of "I need to do recovery in the healthiest possible way" arises.

Digestive issues are common with an eating disorder, but can get worse in the beginning when starting to recover. In this episode I Iook at why digestive issues occur, what to expect in recovery and ways to manage this.

Our mind constantly plays tricks on us; sometimes this support us, but often, it's to our detriment. In this episode I look at 10 things that are essential to know about how your mind works.

I'm sharing a solo episode this week and I'm covering six crucial areas in recovery. If you are trying to recover, these are ideas you want to be aware of.

Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs) make up 15-30% of the population but there is a huge overlap between being an HSP and having an eating disorder. In this episode I look at the HSP traits, the reasons for the high overlap with eating disorders, the power of knowing your an HSP, common HSP recovery mistakes and some practical ideas for HSPs in recovery.

This week I'm chatting with body image and eating disorder expert, Deb Schachter. We cover topics from Deb's book Body Image Inside Out, including what is body image, the three elements that are essential to body image work, Bad Body Image Moments (BBIM's), the negative body image rotary, shapeshifting, body image jealousy and much more.

It's easy with an eating disorder to get stuck in futuristic fear (what will happen to my body?) or past loops (memories of things that happened). The antidote to this is coming back into the present moment (as uncomfortable as that may be) and in this episode I share different practices to help with this.