Amber on Food Addiction, Binge Eating, and Why Willpower Isn’t the Answer*

What if binge eating isn’t proof that you lack discipline—but a learned pattern your brain can actually change? In this episode, G-Rex and Dirty Skittles sit down with binge-eating coach Amber Abila to unpack food obsession, restriction, cravings, shame, and what it can look like to rebuild trust with yourself around food. Awards & Downloads Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 4.5 million downloads and listened to in over 160 countries. Feedback Link We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave us written or voice feedback here: https://castfeedback.com/67521f0bde0b101c7b10442a Mental Health Quote “You’re a lot less alone than you think you are.” — Amber Abila Special Announcement Amber shares a guided audio designed to help people slow down and “play the story forward” when an urge to binge hits. The direct resource link was not included in the transcript, but listeners can find Amber’s resources through: https://theconfidenteater.org/ Episode Description Binge eating can feel like a battle between what you want to do and what your brain seems determined to make you do. Amber Abila knows that fight firsthand. After years of restriction, bingeing, bulimia, food guilt, and trying everything from calorie counting to willpower, she began searching for a different way forward. In this raw and practical conversation, Amber joins G-Rex and Dirty Skittles to talk about how binge-eating patterns can develop, why shame often keeps people stuck, and why simply trying harder may not create lasting change. Amber explains her approach to separating the biology that may contribute to urges from the psychology that can reinforce them, while also challenging the belief that recovery has to take forever. The conversation gets especially real around dieting, food noise, emotional eating, body image, and the endless mental tug-of-war between “I’ve been good all day” and “I deserve this.” Amber also shares how visualization, questioning automatic thoughts, noticing how food actually makes you feel, and celebrating small wins can help create new patterns. G-Rex and Dirty Skittles bring their own complicated relationships with sugar, carbs, dieting, GLP-1 medications, and body changes into the conversation, making this episode less about perfection and more about curiosity, awareness, and self-trust. Most importantly, Amber reminds listeners that shame doesn’t have to run the show. Change can begin when you stop treating yourself like the enemy and start paying attention to what your mind and body are actually telling you. Keywords: binge eating, food addiction, emotional eating, binge eating recovery, food obsession, food guilt, eating habits, body image, diet culture, food cravings, mental health, emotional wellness, self-compassion, habit change, confident eating Meet Our Guest — Amber Abila Amber Abila is a binge-eating and overeating coach and the founder of The Confident Eater. Drawing from her own experience with binge eating and bulimia, Amber now helps people challenge learned food patterns, understand urges, question automatic thoughts, and build a more confident relationship with eating. Her work centers on emotional eating, hunger and fullness cues, food mindset, body confidence, habit change, and helping people move away from cycles of restriction and shame. Website: https://theconfidenteater.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconfidenteater_/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/532434625387487 YouTube: <sp