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. 7h ago

    Episode 32: Emotional Eating, Bingeing & the Search for Something Food Could Never Fix

    In this episode, I share a deeply personal story about emotional eating, bingeing, loneliness, shame, and the nervous system patterns underneath it all. I take you back to my late 20s, living alone in Melbourne during a cold winter while working in a high stress banking environment that left me emotionally exhausted and completely dysregulated by the end of the day. What looked like “food issues” on the surface was never really about the food. It was the supermarket trips.  The chocolate aisle.  The searching.  The shame.  The rules.  The dissociation.  The feeling of trying to scratch an itch that food could never actually reach. This episode explores:  • emotional eating and binge eating from the inside  • the nervous system patterns underneath compulsive eating  • shame, secrecy, and food obsession  • emotional hunger vs physical hunger  • why control and discipline don’t heal emotional eating  • loneliness, overwhelm, and nervous system dysregulation  • the hidden emotional experience so many women are silently living with If you’ve ever found yourself eating in secret, driving from store to store, promising yourself “this is the last time,” or feeling like food temporarily numbs something you can’t explain, I think this episode will make you feel deeply seen. You are not broken.  And this was never just about willpower. The waitlist for Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle is now open. Women who join before launch will receive founding member pricing. Join the waitlist here:  Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle Waitlist Disclaimer This episode contains discussions around emotional eating, binge eating, body image, shame, and disordered eating behaviours. Please listen with care and use your own discretion if these topics feel activating for you. This podcast is educational in nature and is not a substitute for medical, psychological, or therapeutic support.

    21 min

  2. Jun 28

    Episode 31: The Desire to Be Smaller Didn't Start With You

    There's a question I come back to again and again in sessions with clients. Is this actually your belief, or is it something you inherited? So much of what women carry around food, their bodies, visibility, and taking up space was never consciously chosen. It was absorbed. Passed down through generations of women adapting to environments where being smaller, quieter, more agreeable, and less visible was genuinely safer. In this episode, I explore the generational, historical, and nervous system roots underneath body image struggles, emotional eating, and the quiet pressure so many women feel to shrink themselves. Not just physically, but energetically, relationally, and in how much space they allow themselves to occupy. I also share a personal memory from when I was twelve years old, a moment I didn't have language for at the time, and why it sits at the centre of something so many women experience but rarely talk about. This episode is for the woman who has spent years trying to fix herself and keeps coming back to the same place. Because what you've been trying to fix may never have been fully yours to begin with. Whose voice have you been listening to this whole time? The waitlist for ⁠Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle⁠ is now open. Women who join before launch receive founding member pricing.  Disclaimer: This episode contains discussions around emotional eating, body image, generational trauma, and unwanted attention during adolescence. Please engage gently. This podcast is not a substitute for professional support.

    17 min

  3. Jun 21

    Episode 30: Emotional Eating & the Hidden Cost of “I’ll Deal With It One Day”

    How long have you known that your relationship with food or your body is something you want to change? Not how long you’ve been trying.How long you’ve known. In this episode, I’m talking about the hidden cost of tolerating emotional eating, body obsession, self criticism, and the constant mental noise around food. Because for many women, the issue isn’t a lack of awareness.It’s that the pattern has become manageable. You can still function.Still work.Still show up.Still look like you have it together on the outside. Meanwhile, part of your mental energy is being quietly drained every single day by food thoughts, body checking, self monitoring, guilt, negotiation, and the exhausting cycle of “I’ll deal with it one day.” In this episode, we explore:• emotional eating and nervous system patterns• the gap between knowing and changing• why awareness alone doesn’t create healing• the hidden exhaustion of body obsession• why rock bottom often never comes• how women adapt to patterns that are quietly hurting them• why emotional eating is about more than food If you’ve ever felt like you intellectually understand your patterns but still feel stuck in them, this episode is for you. The waitlist for Breaking the Emotional Eating Cycle is now open and women who join before launch will receive founding member pricing. Join the waitlist ⁠here

    14 min
  4. Episode 29: Emotional Eating, Control & Parts Work with Ivana Legnerova | IFS Therapy for Healing Your Relationship with Food

    Jun 14

    Episode 29: Emotional Eating, Control & Parts Work with Ivana Legnerova | IFS Therapy for Healing Your Relationship with Food

    In this episode, I’m joined by Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapist Ivana Legnerova for a deeply compassionate conversation about emotional eating, control, and healing your relationship with food. Ivana specialises in working with eating disorders, including emotional eating, under-eating, perfectionism, and self-sabotage. Together, we explore how these patterns are not failures, but protective parts of your system trying to help you cope. We talk about what’s actually happening underneath the need to control food, why so many high-functioning women struggle in private, and how parts work can help you move out of shame and into understanding. This episode will help you see your behaviours differently, not as something to fix, but as something to get curious about. In this episode, we explore: • why emotional eating and restriction are protective, not problems  • what’s really underneath the need to control food  • how high-functioning women can struggle with food behind closed doors  • the role of shame in eating patterns and why it keeps the cycle going  • how IFS therapy helps you build a relationship with your inner world  • what healing actually looks like beyond just changing behaviour  • why you’re not broken, and change is still possible If you’ve ever felt stuck in patterns around food, or like you’re holding everything together on the outside while struggling internally, this conversation will help you feel less alone and more understood. 🌐 Connect with Ivana Link to website  https://www.ivanatherapy.co.uk/ 🎙️ Listen to more episodes The Self Led Woman Podcast is where we go beyond behaviour to understand emotional eating, body image, and your relationship with food through a self-led, parts-based lens. ⚠️ Disclaimer 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]⁠⁠

    43 min

  5. Jun 7

    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

  6. 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

  7. 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
  8. 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
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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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