Talking with Emma: Stop fighting food & weight
Talking with Emma is the podcast for women who are tired of obsessive food thinking, struggling with body image and feeling like food and weight is the one thing they can’t get sorted.
I’m Emma Wright — feminist health coach, author, and someone who knows exactly how exhausting it is to live like not matter how much you try, your health is never quite “good enough.”
After years of controlling my weight, focusing on food, exercising harder, and constantly feeling like a failure, I discovered something different — and more powerful:
Coaching tools that help you trust yourself again - and take charge of your health the way you want to.
Each episode, I’ll share the tools I use with clients who want relief health feeling so confusing — and who are ready end emotional eating, stop thinking about food all the time and improve their body image.
If you’re ready for those things, this podcast is for you.
📥 Want to go deeper?
Download the Self-Assessment — a free tool to evaluate what’s really going on beneath the food and body thinking.
Curious about working together?
I’m currently welcoming new 1:1 clients. Book a no-cost consultation where we’ll talk about how to achieve the health goals you have and what kind of support you need to do that, and of course, whether coaching with me feels like the right fit.
Talking with Emma: Stop fighting food & weight
20: Food Addiction - A Different Perspective
This week on Talking with Emma, I’m diving into one of the most emotionally charged topics in the health world: food addiction. But instead of recycling the same old narratives, I’m offering a different lens — one that cuts through the confusion, the shame, and the pseudoscience. We’re pulling apart what people really mean when they say they feel addicted to food — and why that feeling is often more about cultural conditioning, restriction, and stigma than about the food itself.
If you've ever felt like you can’t trust yourself around chocolate or chips, or like food has power over you, this episode is for you. We’ll explore why the research around food addiction is messy and inconclusive, how shame and restriction create the very behaviours we label as addiction, and what you can do to shift the narrative and start healing your relationship with food.
Key Takeaways
- Food addiction isn’t a settled science. The evidence is unclear, and the definitions vary — is it a substance addiction like alcohol, or a process addiction like gambling? The science doesn’t agree.
- “Addictive” foods often reflect restriction + shame. When women say they feel addicted to food, it’s often the result of biological hunger colliding with dieting rules and cultural judgment.
- Restriction fuels the binge cycle. Most studies overlook the impact of restriction, even though it’s a major driver of feeling out of control around food.
- Cultural meaning shapes how we experience food. Pizza isn’t just calories — it’s memories, messages, and morality. The brain responds to all of it, not just the ingredients.
- Eating disorders and “food addiction” scores strongly overlap. This shows how easily we pathologise normal responses to restriction and shame.
- Weight stigma distorts everything. When you’ve been taught your body is a problem, it’s no wonder food feels like a battleground.
- Healing requires unlearning, not more control. Naming cultural scripts, questioning restrictions, and responding to your actual needs is the way out.
If you liked this episode and want to stay connected with Emma and the tools she shares, the next best step is to download the Midlife Body Image Guide. You'll also get first access to free masterclasses on emotional eating, body acceptance, and getting obsessive food thinking out of your brain.
Links & Resources:
🎧 Download the Midlife Body Image Guide + audio guide.
Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking private clients. Book a consultation where will discuss what you want to achieve, what you’ve currently been doing, and you’ll leave with a clear step-by-step individualised plan to achieve it. Whether I can help you archive your goal or not, you’ll leave knowing what the next steps are.
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