The Self Led Woman Podcast: emotional eating and nervous system healing for self-leadership

Megan Darnell
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The Self-Led Woman is a podcast about emotional eating, the experiences that shape our relationship with food, and the path back to self-leadership.These conversations explore emotional eating beneath behaviour, through trauma, the nervous system, nourishment, and lived experience, with deep respect for the intelligence of the body and what it learned to do to keep you going.This is a space for understanding, relief, and reconnecting with your inner world.Hosted by Megan Darnell, Internal Family Systems therapy practitioner and psychedelic-assisted therapy facilitator.

  1. 5d ago

    Episode 28: Why Knowing Your Emotional Eating Patterns Still Doesn’t Change Them

    A woman said something to me recently that I hear all the time. “I already know where this comes from. I know it’s my childhood. I know it’s because of trauma.” And then she paused and said something incredibly honest. “But I’m still doing it.” She still finds herself standing in the kitchen late at night, opening the cupboard and eating something even though part of her is thinking: Why am I doing this again? I know better. If you’ve ever understood your patterns but still found yourself repeating them, this episode is for you. In this episode of The Self Led Woman, I talk about why awareness alone doesn’t change emotional eating patterns and why these behaviours often continue even when you have deep self awareness. We explore: • why insight alone doesn’t rewire emotional patterns  • how the nervous system uses food to regulate stress, loneliness and overwhelm  • why warm, sweet, crunchy or heavy foods can soothe different emotional states  • the connection between emotional eating and unmet emotional needs  • why many women struggle to ask for support even when they need it  • how learning to mother yourself and regulate your nervous system can begin to shift the pattern Because emotional eating is rarely about food. Food is often the place your system learned to regulate feelings like exhaustion, loneliness, anger or the pressure of holding everything together. Real change happens when your nervous system experiences something different. Support.  Connection.  Safety. And when those experiences begin to land in the body, the behaviours that once felt impossible to change start to loosen their grip. The Self Led Woman podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical advice, or professional healthcare. If this episode brings up anything difficult for you, please consider reaching out to a trained healthcare professional, therapist, or support service. In Australia you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 33 4673, which provides support for people experiencing eating disorders and body image concerns. Come find me on Instagram → ⁠⁠@megandarnelltherapy⁠⁠ Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle is coming. If you're ready to understand what's actually driving the cycle — not the food, the parts underneath it, join the waitlist to be the first to know when doors open and receive founding member pricing. → ⁠⁠[Join the waitlist here]⁠⁠

    15 min

  2. May 31

    Episode 27: All the Things I Tried to Stop Emotional Eating (And Why None of Them Worked)

    For years I believed my emotional eating was a discipline problem. So I tried everything to fix it. I tried hypnotherapy.  Acupuncture.  Kinesiology.  Past life regression.  Affirmations on my walls.  Personal trainers.  High protein diets.  Low carb diets.  Intuitive eating.  Juice cleanses.  The lemon detox diet.  Running a marathon.  Blood sugar supplements from a naturopath.  Even taping my mouth shut at night so I wouldn’t binge. And none of it worked. In this episode of The Self Led Woman, I share the long road of trying to stop emotional eating and why none of those strategies addressed the real issue underneath. I talk about: • the cycle of restriction, binge eating and exercise as punishment • the shame that can drive emotional eating patterns • why emotional eating often has nothing to do with food at all • the deeper longing many women carry to feel held, nurtured and supported • what I now understand as developmental hunger • and why healing emotional eating requires working with the nervous system and learning how to mother yourself with compassion If you feel like you have tried everything to stop emotional eating and nothing seems to work, this episode will help you understand why. Because emotional eating is not a food problem. It is the place where something deeper is asking to be seen. This episode includes discussion of eating disorders, binge eating, restriction, and exercise used as punishment around food. Please take care while listening if these topics feel sensitive for you. The Self Led Woman podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical advice, or professional healthcare. If this episode brings up anything difficult for you, please consider reaching out to a trained healthcare professional, therapist, or support service. In Australia you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 33 4673, which provides support for people experiencing eating disorders and body image concerns. Come find me on Instagram → ⁠⁠@megandarnelltherapy⁠⁠ Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle is coming. If you're ready to understand what's actually driving the cycle — not the food, the parts underneath it, join the waitlist to be the first to know when doors open and receive founding member pricing. → ⁠⁠[Join the waitlist here]⁠⁠

    21 min

  3. May 24

    Episode 26: The Hidden Link Between Emotional Eating, People Pleasing and Boundaries

    When people talk about emotional eating, the conversation usually focuses on food. Cravings. Discipline. Willpower. But when I work with women around emotional eating, the pattern rarely begins with food at all. It often begins in a moment where something didn’t sit right. A comment that hurt. A boundary that was crossed. A moment where you felt dismissed, unseen, or taken for granted. And instead of expressing what you felt, you swallowed it. In this episode, I explore the connection between emotional eating, people pleasing, and boundaries, and why many emotional eating patterns are rooted in years of suppressing emotions that never felt safe to express. We talk about: • how people pleasing develops as a survival strategy in childhood  • why boundary setting is not just a communication skill but a nervous system response  • the trauma response known as fawning and how it shows up in relationships  • why suppressed anger, frustration, and resentment often show up through food  • how emotional eating can become the place where unexpressed emotions finally find relief  • why scripts and mindset advice rarely work if the nervous system does not feel safe I also share why healing emotional eating isn’t about controlling food. It’s about helping the nervous system feel safe enough to express what was never allowed to be expressed before. Because when the pressure of suppressed emotions begins to release, the relationship with food often changes naturally. Not through force. But from the inside out. The Self Led Woman podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical advice, or professional healthcare. If this episode brings up anything difficult for you, please consider reaching out to a trained healthcare professional, therapist, or support service. In Australia you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 33 4673, which provides support for people experiencing eating disorders and body image concerns. Come find me on Instagram → ⁠⁠@megandarnelltherapy⁠⁠ Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle is coming. If you're ready to understand what's actually driving the cycle — not the food, the parts underneath it, join the waitlist to be the first to know when doors open and receive founding member pricing. → ⁠⁠[Join the waitlist here]⁠⁠

    21 min
  4. Episode 25: Emotional Eating Isn’t About Food | Dr Anita Johnston on Body Image, Cravings & What Your Body Is Really Saying

    May 17

    Episode 25: Emotional Eating Isn’t About Food | Dr Anita Johnston on Body Image, Cravings & What Your Body Is Really Saying

    In this episode, I’m joined by depth psychologist and eating disorder specialist Dr Anita Johnston, author of Eating in the Light of the Moon, for a powerful conversation that will completely shift the way you understand emotional eating and your relationship with food. We explore why struggles with food and body image are rarely about food itself, and what these patterns are actually trying to communicate beneath the surface. Dr Johnston shares her unique approach using metaphor and storytelling to help decode cravings, emotional eating, and food fears. We talk about the deeper meaning behind the foods you’re drawn to, the concept of “soul hunger,” and why healing your relationship with food requires more than just behaviour change. We also explore the role of intuition, the inner critic, and what’s really happening during moments like “fat attacks,” where the mind becomes hyper-fixated on the body. This conversation is a powerful reminder that your body is not working against you, and that the patterns you’ve been trying to control may actually be trying to help you. In this episode, we explore: • why emotional eating is not actually about food • how cravings can be messages, not problems • the difference between physical hunger and “soul hunger” • how food can act as a symbol for unmet emotional needs • what’s really happening during a “fat attack” • why intuition is often suppressed and how to reconnect with it • how eating behaviours can be protective, not dysfunctional • the role of assertiveness in healing your relationship with food If you’ve ever felt confused by your eating patterns, stuck in cycles of control or guilt, or disconnected from your body, this episode will help you see yourself with more clarity and compassion. You can find Dr Anita Johnston at: You can find her at: Dr. Anita Johnston: ⁠https://dranitajohnston.com/⁠ FB/IG⁠@dranitajohnston⁠ Light of the Moon Cafe: ⁠https://lightofthemooncafe.com/⁠ FB/IG: ⁠@lightofthemooncafe⁠ ⁠Ai Pono Hawaii⁠ FB/IG: ⁠@aiponohawaii⁠ You can purchase her book Eating In The Light Of The Moon  Resources: ⁠Free Food & Metaphor Guide⁠ ⁠Cracking the Hunger Code (special offer)⁠ ⁠New Crescent Moon (interactive course)⁠ Disclaimer This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical or psychological advice. If you’re struggling with your relationship with food or your mental health, please seek support from a qualified professional. Come find me on Instagram → ⁠⁠@megandarnelltherapy⁠⁠ Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle is coming. If you're ready to understand what's actually driving the cycle — not the food, the parts underneath it, join the waitlist to be the first to know when doors open and receive founding member pricing. → ⁠⁠[Join the waitlist here]⁠⁠

    44 min

  5. May 10

    Episode 24: Why Weight Loss Is Not the Goal of Healing Emotional Eating

    In this episode, I talk about something that might surprise people who are new to my work. Even though I work with women who struggle with emotional eating, food, and their bodies, weight loss is never the goal of this work. And there are important reasons for that. We already live in a culture that constantly tells women their bodies need to be smaller, better, or fixed in some way. Diet culture, wellness marketing, and the fitness industry all reinforce the same message over and over again. That something is wrong with you. But what I see in my work tells a very different story. In this episode, I explore why emotional eating is rarely about food itself, and why focusing on weight loss can actually keep women stuck in the very patterns they’re trying to escape. We talk about: • why the body sometimes holds weight for protective reasons  • how early experiences with attention, boundaries, and safety can shape our relationship with our bodies  • why emotional eating is often an intelligent adaptation rather than a failure  • why intuitive eating can feel impossible if you don’t feel safe in your body yet  • the connection between sensitivity, trauma, and emotional eating  • how relational trauma shapes the way we cope with emotions  • why healing emotional eating requires safe relationships, not just behaviour change I also share parts of my own recovery journey and why I will never market my work through before and after photos or weight loss promises. Because the goal of this work is not to fix your body. The goal is to help women reconnect with themselves, rebuild safety in their nervous systems, and develop a relationship with their bodies that is grounded in trust, compassion, and self leadership. When that happens, everything else begins to change. The Self Led Woman podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical advice, or professional healthcare. If this episode brings up anything difficult for you, please consider reaching out to a trained healthcare professional, therapist, or support service. In Australia you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 33 4673, which provides support for people experiencing eating disorders and body image concerns. Come find me on Instagram → ⁠⁠@megandarnelltherapy⁠⁠ Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle is coming. If you're ready to understand what's actually driving the cycle — not the food, the parts underneath it, join the waitlist to be the first to know when doors open and receive founding member pricing. → ⁠⁠[Join the waitlist here]⁠⁠

    24 min

  6. May 3

    Episode 23: My Bipolar Diagnosis and the Gut Brain Connection: How Nutrition Changed My Mood Stability

    In this episode, I share something deeply personal about my own journey with mental health. At 35, I was diagnosed with bipolar type 2. At the time, it felt like a life sentence. I was told I would likely need medication for the rest of my life and that mood instability would always be something I had to manage. For years before that diagnosis, I had experienced cycles of depression alongside periods of elevated energy, creativity and productivity that I later learned were hypomania. I believed those high energy periods were my baseline and something I needed to maintain to succeed. When depression returned, it felt like failure. But what unfolded after that diagnosis led me down a path of exploring something I had already sensed for years: the connection between nutrition, gut health, trauma, the nervous system and mood stability. In this episode, I share the journey of how I began looking at my mental health through the lens of physiology and nervous system support rather than simply trying to control my symptoms. Inside this conversation we explore: • what it felt like to receive a bipolar diagnosis  • how that diagnosis impacted my identity and confidence  • the gut brain connection and why digestion affects mood  • how trauma and chronic stress influence digestion and nutrient absorption  • the role of blood sugar stability and nutrient status in mental health  • why the brain cannot be separated from the body  • the difference between controlling your body and resourcing it Since January 2020, I have not experienced another bipolar or depressive episode. This episode is not medical advice and it is not a suggestion that mood disorders can be solved with supplements alone. Mental health conditions are complex and deserve proper professional care. But this conversation is about something important. Sometimes the path toward stability begins with learning how to support your body and nervous system in ways you were never taught before. The Self Led Woman podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical advice, or professional healthcare. If this episode brings up anything difficult for you, please consider reaching out to a trained healthcare professional, therapist, or support service. In Australia you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 33 4673, which provides support for people experiencing eating disorders and body image concerns. Come find me on Instagram → ⁠⁠@megandarnelltherapy⁠⁠ Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle is coming. If you're ready to understand what's actually driving the cycle — not the food, the parts underneath it, join the waitlist to be the first to know when doors open and receive founding member pricing. → ⁠⁠[Join the waitlist here]⁠⁠

    21 min

  7. Apr 26

    Episode 22: What If Your Hunger Isn’t About Food? Understanding Developmental Hunger

    In this episode, I introduce a concept that can completely change the way you understand your appetite. It’s called developmental hunger. Many women believe their hunger means something is wrong with them. They tell themselves they have no discipline, that they’re always hungry, or that they can never feel satisfied around food. But what if the hunger isn’t actually about food at all? In this episode, I explore how unmet emotional needs in childhood can create a deeper kind of hunger that shows up later in life as emotional eating, food noise, or feeling unsatisfied even after you’ve eaten. We talk about the difference between physical hunger and developmental hunger, why food can become a reliable source of comfort for the nervous system, and how many high functioning women learned to care for everyone else but never learned how to receive care themselves. Inside this conversation I explore: why emotional eating is often connected to attachment and early emotional nourishmenthow developmental needs like attunement, soothing, and emotional safety shape our relationship with foodwhy some hunger feels urgent, bottomless, or emotionally chargedthe internal cycle between emotional eating, shame, and controlhow learning to “mother yourself” changes your relationship with foodwhy healing emotional eating isn’t about discipline but about completing unmet developmental needsIf you’ve ever wondered why food sometimes feels like the only thing that softens a hard day, this episode offers a completely different lens. Because sometimes the hunger isn’t about food. It’s about something you didn’t receive when you needed it most. The Self Led Woman podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical advice, or professional healthcare. If this episode brings up anything difficult for you, please consider reaching out to a trained healthcare professional, therapist, or support service. In Australia you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 33 4673, which provides support for people experiencing eating disorders and body image concerns. Come find me on Instagram → ⁠⁠@megandarnelltherapy⁠⁠ Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle is coming. If you're ready to understand what's actually driving the cycle — not the food, the parts underneath it, join the waitlist to be the first to know when doors open and receive founding member pricing. → ⁠⁠[Join the waitlist here]⁠⁠

    15 min
  8. Episode 21: ADHD, Food Noise & Healing Your Relationship With Food with Kiah Paetz

    Apr 19

    Episode 21: ADHD, Food Noise & Healing Your Relationship With Food with Kiah Paetz

    In this episode, I’m joined by Accredited Practising Dietitian and Credentialled Eating Disorder Clinician Kiah Paetz for a deeply compassionate conversation about healing your relationship with food. Kiah specialises in supporting people experiencing eating disorders, disordered eating, food anxiety, and neurodivergence through a non diet, weight neutral approach. In this conversation, she shares her own recovery journey with food, how it shaped the way she practices today, and why so many struggles around eating are misunderstood. We explore why the behaviours often labelled as “disordered” are usually adaptations rather than personal failures, and what can sit underneath patterns like restriction, binge eating, emotional eating, and constant food noise. Kiah also shares how ADHD and executive functioning challenges can shape eating patterns in ways many people don’t realise. From planning meals and grocery shopping to remembering to eat and managing capacity, we talk about how to support yourself in ways that actually work for your brain and your life. This episode is a powerful reminder that your body is not the enemy, and that healing your relationship with food starts with understanding, nourishment, and self compassion. • why eating behaviours are often adaptations rather than problems to fix • what can sit underneath emotional eating, restriction, and bingeing • how under nourishing the body can intensify food struggles • how ADHD and executive function challenges affect eating patterns • why capacity and meeting yourself where you are matters • simple ways to begin supporting yourself around food • why self compassion is essential in healing your relationship with food If you’ve ever felt stuck in cycles of food guilt, shame, or confusion around how to nourish yourself, this conversation will help you feel less alone and more understood. In this episode we explore You can find Kiah on instagram ⁠@nutritionbykiah⁠ On her podcast ⁠Nutrition By Kiah⁠ Her website ⁠kiahpaetz.com⁠ The Self Led Woman podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for therapy, medical advice, or professional healthcare. If this episode brings up anything difficult for you, please consider reaching out to a trained healthcare professional, therapist, or support service. In Australia you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or the Butterfly Foundation National Helpline on 1800 33 4673, which provides support for people experiencing eating disorders and body image concerns. Come find me on Instagram → ⁠⁠@megandarnelltherapy⁠⁠ Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle is coming. If you're ready to understand what's actually driving the cycle — not the food, the parts underneath it, join the waitlist to be the first to know when doors open and receive founding member pricing. → ⁠⁠[Join the waitlist here]⁠⁠

    44 min
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About

The Self-Led Woman is a podcast about emotional eating, the experiences that shape our relationship with food, and the path back to self-leadership.These conversations explore emotional eating beneath behaviour, through trauma, the nervous system, nourishment, and lived experience, with deep respect for the intelligence of the body and what it learned to do to keep you going.This is a space for understanding, relief, and reconnecting with your inner world.Hosted by Megan Darnell, Internal Family Systems therapy practitioner and psychedelic-assisted therapy facilitator.

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