Episode 4 : Desire vs. Capacity: Understanding Your Body's Limits

Episode 7 : Try This Instead of Another Summer Diet

Summer is approaching, holidays are booked, and for many women, the pressure to “get your body ready” can feel overwhelming. If you’ve found yourself thinking: 1. “I need to lose weight before my holiday.” 2. “I have to get my eating under control.” 3. “Maybe I just need to go on one more diet.” 4. “This summer has to be different.” …this episode is for you. In this episode, Alex explores why going on another diet may feel like the solution - but is often the very thing that keeps binge eating going. You’ll learn: 1. Why summer can trigger urgency, shame, and body anxiety 2. • The critical difference between healing binge eating and pursuing weight loss 3. Why diets create the exact biological and emotional conditions that drive binge eating 4. The two-phase approach to achieving both freedom with food and sustainable weight loss 5. The one practice that begins to calm the binge-restrict cycle: consistent, adequate nourishment This episode will help you understand that binge eating is not a willpower problem. It is a nervous system response to scarcity, stress, and emotional overload. And when you change the conditions your body is living in—by creating safety, consistency, and support—the cycle can begin to soften. Because you don’t need another diet for summer. You need a different relationship with food. And that begins not with more control, but with safety. FREE masterclass: Register here: https://thefoodfreedomtherapist.mykajabi.com/freemasterclass-april2026 [https://thefoodfreedomtherapist.mykajabi.com/freemasterclass-april2026] Connect with Alex Website: https://thefoodfreedomtherapist.com [https://thefoodfreedomtherapist.com/] Instagram: https://instagram.com/thefoodfreedomtherapist [https://instagram.com/thefoodfreedomtherapist]

Episode 6 : How Loneliness Drives Binge Eating

In this episode of Beneath the Binge, somatic practitioner Alex Bottomley invites listeners to ground in what physically supports their body, then explore loneliness as a felt sense of disconnection that can show up as collapse, fogginess, or an empty “void” often sensed in the belly. From her personal experience and client work, she describe how early differences, shame, and losses can shape a nervous system “map” of belonging, and how chronic loneliness activates threat circuits similar to physical pain, increasing cortisol and disrupting dopamine, making binge eating more likely especially with low emotional regulation. Food can become a predictable substitute for co-regulation, and recovery involves grief, being emotionally met, and building safe connection. Alex offers practices to notice connection/disconnection, recall supportive beings/places, and hold a soft object to the affected body area. If you are looking for more community and support, Alex is hosting a group retreat to Portugal in July for women who are struggling with binge eating and haven’t yet been with others through this journey. For more information, visit www.thefoodfreedomtherapist.com [http://www.thefoodfreedomtherapist.com/] or @thefoodfreedomtherapist [https://www.instagram.com/thefoodfreedomtherapist/].

Episode 5 : A Binge Urge is Your Body Shouting for Your Attention

In this episode of Beneath the Binge, I reframe binge urges as urgent body-based communications from the survival nervous system rather than a problem to fight. I explain that urges feel overwhelming because they arise as physical sensations and activation that demand immediate resolution — fighting, distracting, analyzing, using willpower, or immediately giving in can intensify urges or reinforce food as the only path to relief, embedding an automatic loop in the nervous system. I suggest creating small pauses to relate to urges with compassionate curiosity by noticing where and how they appear in the body (shape, color, movement), which builds capacity to be present with discomfort and supports regulation. I also note that some feelings may be too big to hold alone and recommend support from a practitioner, my self-study course Foundations of Food Freedom [https://thefoodfreedomtherapist.mykajabi.com/the-foundations-of-food-freedom],, and my six-month group program Find Your Freedom [https://thefoodfreedomtherapist.com/findyourfreedom-2026] — plus I invite your questions and close with a body check-in. For more information, visit www.thefoodfreedomtherapist.com [http://www.thefoodfreedomtherapist.com/] or @thefoodfreedomtherapist [https://www.instagram.com/thefoodfreedomtherapist/]

Episode 4 : Desire vs. Capacity: Understanding Your Body's Limits

In this episode of Beneath the Binge, Alex Bottomley explains how binge urges relate to the body and nervous system through somatic psychology by unpacking the all-or-nothing cycle with food, exercise, and life. She reframes the pattern as a nervous system response rather than a willpower problem, introducing the difference between desire (what you want and expect) and capacity (what your nervous system can realistically hold). When expectations exceed capacity, pressure builds and the body seeks relief through bingeing, collapse, or “screw it” moments, followed by guilt and renewed overcontrol. Alex maps the cycle’s bodily cues (bracing vs shutdown), describes protective parts (controller/proactive protector and soother/reactive protector) guarding a vulnerable core, and guides a practice to dial expectations up or down to find a “sweet spot” where the body softens and breath deepens, emphasizing that realistic expectations support regulation. For more information, visit www.thefoodfreedomtherapist.com [http://www.thefoodfreedomtherapist.com] or @thefoodfreedomtherapist [https://www.instagram.com/thefoodfreedomtherapist/]

Episode 3 : The Somatics of Survival and Safety

In this episode of Beneath the Binge, Alex Bottomley explains how binge urges relate to the body and nervous system through somatic psychology. The episode contrasts survival mode (sympathetic activation with racing heart, shallow breath, muscle tension, agitation, anxious thoughts, and urgent cravings used for fast relief) with safety mode (parasympathetic regulation with slower breath, soft muscles, openness, calm, emotional capacity, and more choice around food). Alex emphasizes these reactions are adaptive and automatic, and invites listeners to notice bodily signals that precede binges, name sensations without judgment, orient attention toward areas of softness, and engage “resources” (people, places, memories, or spaces) that bring safety. For more information, visit www.thefoodfreedomtherapist.com [http://www.thefoodfreedomtherapist.com] or @thefoodfreedomtherapist [https://www.instagram.com/thefoodfreedomtherapist/]