Food Freedom, Not Fear with Sloane Elizabeth

Diet rules don’t just live on your plate—they live in your head and your history. We invited food freedom coach and holistic wellness expert Sloane Elizabeth to unpack how fear-based nutrition, viral trends, and moralized labels push smart people into smaller, more anxious lives—and how to step out of that loop with clarity and calm.

We start by taking a hard look at diet culture’s favorite tactics: intermittent fasting as identity, carb and bread panic, and the halo of words like natural and healthy. Wendy shares a personal story about hidden allergens in a “simple” bar, reminding us why label literacy matters without spiraling into obsession. From there, we redefine healthy as personal and flexible—where taste, allergies, and sensitivities count, and where forcing “perfect” foods undermines trust. Sloane maps out a model that fuses evidence-based nutrition with spirituality, so choices are guided by both facts and felt safety.

The conversation digs into family scripts like the clean plate club and using food as reward, showing how scarcity and people-pleasing shape overeating and urgency. Sloane shares her own journey from perfectionism and control to intuitive eating, explaining why the real first step isn’t macros—it’s the subconscious. By addressing root beliefs around worth, scarcity, and trust, you create change that sticks and watch it ripple into work, relationships, and self-care. We also flag red signs for entrepreneurs: constant food thoughts, purity-driven label checks, skipped events due to body worry, and rules that sound like can’t or must.

If you’re ready to stop outsourcing your choices to trends and start listening to your body with compassion and skill, this one’s for you. Tune in, take what serves you, and test it gently in your next meal. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs food freedom today, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Transcript

Meet Sloane And The Food Fear Problem

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Hi everyone, this is Wendy Manganero with Wellness and Wealth. Welcome back to another episode. Today our topic is diet culture and food fears. I'm here with Sloane Elizabeth. I'm going to read her bio and then we'll get right into it. Sloan is a food freedom coach and holistic wellness expert who helps women eat, move, and live with love and intuition. She empowers women to stop dieting, obsessing, restricting, and playing small so that they can experience food and life freedom. She uses a unique and powerful combination of science and spirituality to help her clients heal and live through their dream lives. Sloan is a published author and has been featured on Food Network, The Doctors, Shape, Fetches, and Authority Magazine. Welcome, Sloan. Thank you. So we're gonna get right into it. How would you describe the US's diet culture and food fears today?

Social Media Diets And Viral Extremes

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Oh, yes. Just scroll on social media for five minutes and you'll see it. And there's so many different pieces. Diet culture piece where people are so obsessed with doing intermittent fasting and they're scared of eating carbs, eating bread, or maybe they're scared to eat in a certain time frame. We saw an interview with Gwyneth Paltrow that went viral. She was talking about how she eats coffee breakfast and has bone broth for lunch. And I don't know if that video was edited. It seemed like it was to me, but that's a prime example of the food fears and the diet culture. And then we also, especially in the US, have a lot of people that are just fearful about like our farming practices and all the marketing that goes into convenience foods, which there's a little bit of merit to that, I will say. So there's a lot here.

SPEAKER_01 1:54

It's interesting as you talk about the marketing of it, because there is this misnomer. If it says that it's healthy on the box or it is packaged like it looks healthy, then it must be. That takes part of education. I don't know if you agree with me to really figure that out, to really know what you're putting in your body in the first place.

Labels, Marketing, And Real Nutrition

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Exactly. There are some food freedom and intuitive eating practitioners that say, eat whatever you want. Don't worry about it. Just eat it and it's all fine and all foods fit. You have permission to eat all the things. And on the one hand, I agree foods can fit. Technically, you do have permission to eat the things. I do believe, though, that empowering people, my clients included, with nutrition science and that sort of nutritional information is just going to empower us to feel more confident in our food decisions, being scared of certain foods, but just knowing the truth about ingredients and natural means nothing. The term neutral is not organic, it is, but that doesn't mean a natural protein bar is bad. Just know what it is, and then you can make decisions best for you and your body. So that's why I like to combine the science, like the cold, hard facts about food with spirituality. The spirituality is where we get into mental healing and our relationship with food, the way we think about food, the way we feel, all the fears and stuff. To me, that's more in the spirituality category, but we need both.

Science Meets Spirituality In Eating

SPEAKER_01 3:28

I absolutely concur. I don't know if there's any mamas out there with children with food allergies. I actually have to tell the story on air. My son is allergic to pumpkin and sunflower oil. Even with the healthy stuff that is supposed to be healthy, I always have to look at that because many of the healthy things come with pumpkin. Pumpkin is like one of those things people are like, oh, it's only during the fall. I'm like, no, it's in all the healthy foods. They all think it's healthy that's in the granola. And he was going to take a very important test this past week. It was a peanut butter bar, not allergic to be a protein bar. And I didn't look at the label because I was like, it's peanut butter. Sure enough, it had sunflower and pumpkin oil in it. It was like instantaneous anaphologic shock. I think that we had everything in the car. But these are those things where, you know, again, it's, you know, if you have a child with a food allergy, I am usually very mindful about what he puts in his body, but I just was like, peanut butter only has peanut oil in it, which I know a lot of children can't have if they're allergic. My son can. So I didn't think anything of it. And that's where like that education comes in because you're and he's so funny because he's if it looks healthy, I gotta look for pumpkin and sunflower oil. It's got one of those two. He's a kid who knows. So I think that that's important to really know what works with your body and really looking at those labels, especially and it and then not only on that is like you may not even, and I'm sure you see this that people don't have a full food reaction, but they still won't feel good if they eat certain things and really coming to understand that.

Allergies, Ingredients, And Bio-Individuality

SPEAKER_00 4:57

Absolutely. And as you said, Wendy, just because it's labeled as healthier, it looks healthy, does not mean that it's going to be aligned for all of us, right? Whether it's an allergy, an intolerance, a sensitivity, or maybe you just plain old don't like the taste of it. Right? If you don't like the taste of Brussels sprouts, I don't care how healthy Brussels sprouts are, I don't care how many vitamins and minerals there are, it's not healthy for you to force yourself to eat a food that you don't like. So we get to really redefine what healthy means. And that gets to be so personalized.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Yeah. And I know that raisins are supposedly healthy. There's no way I'm putting one of those things in my mouth. It's so funny because everybody's like, you taste them. I taste all raisins and all things. I do not like. So I really understand that. And that's why I think when we talk about intuitive eating and understanding what you like and don't like is really important too. And I guess that goes back to the food culture. I had an extravagant uncle, and he would say, Buy you anything you want to eat as long as you finish every single piece of it. Really did, but everybody would overeat because they wanted the one thing, you know. So, whatever you're raised with, kind of understanding when we talk about intuitive eating, that it's okay to not fall back into those things culturally. That was just the way I was raised.

Redefining Healthy And Taste

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Oh, totally. I like to call that the clean plate club. And that is so common for my clients. And then, as you said, it it's trained you to eat everything off of me, not even because of the food, but because you want your uncle to still love you. You don't want him to be mad at you. So it creates this story that Wendy isn't lovable unless she eats food. Like at that point, it has nothing to do with food anymore. And everything to do with self-love, self-works. Or mom's if you get it now, like you can't have it later, or better finish your plate because the kitchen is gonna close. So then it's about taking advantage. It's about, oh my God, there's lack. Oh my god, there's scarcity. So I need to go overboard. So eventually you practice that for years. It's no longer about food, it's about rushing and it's about lack and scarcity and fear. And then we see that not just with your relationship with food, but maybe with your relationship with your career. And then you see this with your relationship with dating. Like it ends up trickling into everything, and it becomes not about food at all.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I think because we live, especially I think in the US, everything like you see it, like got a good grade, let's go for ice cream, did a great job at sports, let's go to McDonald's. There's this ideology that comfort food is associated with good things. On the opposite side, we associate food with oh, I did something well, so I need to treat myself as it's a treat, it's a reward.

Intuitive Eating And Family Rules

SPEAKER_00 8:02

And I always say treats are for dogs, not for humans. And so it's okay if food makes you happy. Food makes me happy. It's okay if food gives you comfort, but we just don't want it to be the primary thing making you happy or giving you comfort. How else can you treat yourself after accomplishing something that lasts for more than the five minutes it takes to eat your ice cream? Maybe it's celebrating yourself for days, for weeks, like, wow, I'm so proud of myself. It's ingraining self-pride, self-worth, self-love. Whereas the happy meal, or even if it's something more nutrient-dense, like, oh, we had to go out to my favorite restaurant tonight. Okay, that's beautiful. And food gets to be celebratory. And when we can get more grounded and rooted in the safety of self-love and self-birth, that's going to last you so much longer. Hopefully, it lasts you a lifetime.

SPEAKER_01 9:03

Yeah, absolutely. I love that you're talking about that. So I'd love to know a little bit about your personal experience with diet culture and food fear. Because I always find that that's fascinating, especially as we can go into our business for ourselves.

Rewards, Comfort Food, And Self-Worth

Sloane’s Path From Control To Trust

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Like, how did we get absolutely so I in Los Angeles? It's interesting because there's so much diet terms cultural, but I remember in high school, girls would come to school with juice cleanses for lunch. Like their lunch was juice. And I was like, that's crazy. That's absurd. I could never do that. And you always think, oh, I could never do that. I love food too much, but it's really about the mental piece and how you feel about yourself and food. As I mentioned, it's typically not even about food at the root. And that was the case for me too. It really stemmed from body image and feeling like I'm gaining weight. What am I doing wrong? I need to control. I feel out of control. Especially as a type A person, the control, the perfectionism was what I needed to work on. And it was just coming out in my food behavior, even though it had come out in other areas of life previously. I created all of these arbitrary food rules. I thought I was doing it the scientific way. I thought I was being healthy, but it was so obsessive. And I had so many rules. I was creating this prison for myself. And I also have always been a pretty self-aware person. So even at that age, like knew that this could get really bad really fast if I let this keep going on. So I knew that I had to do something about it. I knew that I had to heal. And so it started with more of the science piece. What's the truth about food and nutrition? Are these food rules legit? What's actually going on? But scientifically and logically knowing something is very different from believing it and trusting it. So I wasn't 100% sure that I was still obsessing, still controlling, even if I was a little bit looser with my food rules. I stumbled upon Gabby Bernstein's and her books on spirituality and trusting the universe. I've always been a very spiritual person. Even as a child, I just didn't really know what that looked like or what it meant. Her books really opened my eyes and gave me to develop a relationship with the universe, really learn all about fear, lack, scarcity, learn about manifestation. And then combining it with the nutrients so that I feel empowered in my food choices. That's where the concept of eating with love and intuition was really born. It's eating out of love for your holistic health, physical health, mental health, soul health using science. But then you're also using your intuition to make those choices. And whether you like it or not, your intuition is connected to your soul. It's connected to your spirit. And to me, that's what spirituality really means.

Manifestation, Intuition, And Food Freedom

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Yeah, I love that. Actually, I was having a conversation with my son last night because he doesn't know if he believes or what he believes. And that's fine. I give my kids the room to explore what that is. I was like, hey, broach this in a way. I know you don't believe in that God thing. But and he's like, I know it's a tool. Your very own. But I was explaining because we were talking about addictions in general. And because I was like, an addiction is usually we're trying to fill something as you're talking about self-words, whether it is, it doesn't matter what the addiction is, we're trying to fill that hole that we're not spiritually connected to. In his case, I have to say things like, Well, your intuition could be your spirituality. I'm glad we have those conversations in the house and any of this stuff. But it's interesting because I find that as you're talking about lack or love, especially when it comes to food, we're trying to fill that. And it's like that doesn't work, and we're still gonna feel the same at the end of the day. We might feel better for five minutes, but we're gonna still feel the same. Yeah, totally. So for female entrepreneur, what are any warning signs that they're too focused on dieting and food fares? What's kind of the watch words for them to look at themselves?

Red Flags For Entrepreneurs

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Self-awareness is critical. Sometimes I'll ask women, why are you applying to work with me now or why do you want to sign up now? They're like, I thought it was normal until I realized it wasn't. So especially if your family is in the same boat or your friends, it can be hard to realize what's normal and what's not. If you feel fear around certain foods, like it's one thing to say, okay, I want the whole wheat bread because that feels really empowering for me and I want more fiber and it tastes good to me, versus I cannot have white bread. So I have to have the whole wheat, right? Like that's something to look at. If you are thinking about food a lot, that's not normal. It's different to think about food because you're like, oh, that's really yummy and I'm really excited to eat that later. It's another thing to think, what should I have for lunch? How is that gonna fit, etc.? If you aren't going places because you're worried about what people will think of your body, or you are not wearing the clothes that you want to wear because you feel like, oh, I can't wear this. We can work on. Well, for some people, it's very evident that they need to heal their relationships with food. They're binge eating or overeating, totally ignoring their hunger cues, ignoring fullness cues, just kind of mindlessly snacking. And then for some people, it's like it's fine, but it's not the most intuitive, it's not the most ideal. I say supern stars, right? Even if you have an okay relationship with food, why not make it incredible? Because it's just going to have a positive trickle effect into other areas of your life too. Also, like food labels, if you are always thinking about what quote, the cleanest can very quickly turn into disordered eating and obsession. Subtle hints to just so that either you can get help now or you make sure that it doesn't get worse.

Weight, Beliefs, And Neutral Numbers

SPEAKER_01 15:30

Those are great hints. I really like those. In the past, I've done a few of them. I got sick when I was in high school and I didn't realize it because it was so easy and I had the flu. I just got sick, but I wasn't eating. When you're not feeling well, you just don't eat. But I happened to make the mistake of when I went back to school. I don't know what happened during that time. I lost, I was sick. I didn't eat. I weighed myself, and it was like an obsessive marriage made in heaven, where then I was every day weighing myself. And I'm like, hey, if I don't eat, I'm not gonna gain this weight. I was not an overweight teenager. It wasn't even on the, you know. So it's an interesting thing because sometimes you don't even realize it. It wasn't anything I was looking for, but it was like, oh, I was sick, I didn't eat, and I lost all this weight. It was just like my brain went, if you don't eat, you'll stay like that. Obviously, I got help for that, but you don't realize sometimes it literally was just that conducive from one to the other.

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Yeah. And it's so interesting because weight, the number is neutral until we assign value to it. So somewhere along the road, you probably learned that weight equals better for whatever reason, even if it wasn't conscious. It's so interesting what our brains do.

Start With The Subconscious, Not Macros

SPEAKER_01 16:42

I'd love to low for the last question. What's the first step to eliminating those food fears or yo-yo dieting of I'm eating, I'm not eating, I should eat, I can't can't eat type of thing.

SPEAKER_00 16:55

Most people will tell you the first step to busting the food fears is to learn the truth. Look at the nutritional science. That's actually not where I start because the fear of food isn't really about food. Deep down, I can tell you all the facts in the world, but that doesn't mean you are going to feel safe. That doesn't mean that you're gonna trust yourself around those foods. It just skips so many steps. So where I like to start is in the subconscious mind, understanding what is the root of all of this for you? Is it control, perfectionism, self-worth, lack of trust? Like, what really is it? And that's where we start because then it's gonna last. We're actually dealing with the root, and it's not only going to benefit your relationship with food, but it's going to benefit every other area of your life where you're being a control freak or a perfectionist, or you are self-sabotaging with food, with dating, with career, with finances. Like it's typically all related to a similar route. The first step for me and my clients is understanding what those subconscious roots really are. Identifying it is the first step, and then beginning to rewire and reprogram those beliefs on the deepest layers because when you do that, it's going to have that beautiful trickle up effect. And then your behavior is naturally going to change.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

Yeah, I really appreciate hearing that. This has been a great conversation. I know you have an offer for our audience. I'd love for you to share that now.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Absolutely. So, really good place to start is the mindful eating starter kit. It is a bundle of tools like meditations, audio guides, habit trackers, checklists to help you eat mindfully in any situation. There's 10 different eating situations, whether you're a stressed-out mom for breakfast time, trying to hustle the kids, or whether you are that guilty dessert eater in the evening time. That's a really good place to start. If you want to skip ahead and start working with me in a more intimate way, I recommend filling out a quick application form. You can get on a consultation and see if it makes sense to work together and choose a program for you.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Thank you so much for coming on today. Really enjoyed this. I'm sure our listeners did too. Thank you so much for having me, Wendy. Thank you. So if you love what Sloane had to say today, please subscribe for more self hair care tips and leave a review. In the meantime, I hope you have a blessed and abundant week. Bye for now.