Podcast
Emotional Eating Unwrapped
Hosted by Alana Kessler · EN
Alana Kessler, MS, RD, once looked high-functioning on the outside while privately battling emotional binge eating. Everything changed when she stopped trying to control food and began healing her nervous system. From emotional safety—not restriction—she ended the cycle and lost 40 pounds without dieting.
Emotional Eating Unwrapped shows how overeating and cravings come from stress, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and attachment patterns—not lack of willpower. Each episode teaches you how to regulate your nervous system, calm cravings, and trust your body again.
37episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Why Your Hunger Changes Week to Week (3 Reasons It’s Not ‘Lack of Control’)
Jan 800:22:57Tap to summarizeEmotional Eating Unwrapped (Sober Eating Podcast)In this episode, Alana explores why hunger can change from week to week — and why those shifts are often misinterpreted as a loss of control.She breaks down three key reasons appetite can suddenly feel louder, including stress, emotional load, sleep, hormones, and what happens when you start reconnecting with your body after years of restriction or fear around hunger. Drawing from her own experience and years of clinical work, Alana explains how diet culture teaches us to mistrust hunger — and why that mistrust creates more chaos, not less.This conversation unpacks the difference between physical hunger, emotional hunger, and relief-seeking, and why increased hunger is often a sign of reconnection rather than regression.Enter the giveaway to receive a 1:1 private session with Alana by DMing a screenshot of your review @bewellbyak on Instagram or emailing as podcast@bewellbyak.com!Leave us a voice message for our next Q&A episode!For Newbies to The Sober Eating Movement Looking to Get StartedInvisible Weight DetoxAn introduction to the Sober Eating Movement that finally gets your body and mind working together in under 30 days, so you can reclaim your personal power, lose weight and keep it off. No tracking, no shakes, no endless rules. It's a clear step by step process that helps you reclaim your self worth, eat like a normal person again, and watch the number on the scale move in the right direction. → Enroll hereFor a Deeper Transformation with The Sober Eating Method The Sober Eating Sequence™The proven 3-phase method to stop food and dieting chaos, and release weight naturally through a new proven way of eating for weight loss and enjoyment - without dieting, restriction, or counting macros in as little as 90 days. This is where you finally trust your body and food choices, feel at ease in your skin, and stop circling back to food as the problem.→ Enroll hereGET 1-1 SUPPORT FROM ALANAElite VIPA 3-month private mentorship where years of struggle collapse into months of precision change. With custom meal development refined daily, private coaching intensives, and direct access to Alana, you’ll stop negotiating with food and step into the woman whose body, confidence, and choices reflect her true power.→ Apply hereConciergeFor the woman who refuses to settle — Concierge is the highest level of private mentorship. With unlimited access to Alana for coaching, every detail and nuance is addressed with luxury-level concierge private support tailored to your real day to day life, so you experience the deepest transformation possible and embody full freedom. {Luxury 3-day 1-1 weekend retreat with Alana included}→ Apply hereA program designed to support your Sober Eating Method JourneyComing Home to Your BodyA self-paced course to help you feel safe, grounded, and at peace in a body that's still changing. Learn to build trust with your body now—not just after weight loss. → Enroll hereFree Quiz:What’s your hidden food and self belief pattern keeping you from lasting weight loss? Click here for the Free QuizExplore more from Be Well by AKBe sure to follow Alana on Instagram @bewellbyak.Follow on LinkedInSubscribe to the Podcast on Spotify Subscribe to the Podcast on AppleSubscribe to get alerts on YoutubeTakeawaysHunger changing week to week isn’t a loss of control — it’s your body responding to your life.Increased hunger often shows up when you stop ignoring your body, not when you’re doing something wrong.Emotional hunger isn’t about food; it’s about relief after holding it together for too long.Panicking about hunger creates more chaos than hunger itself.When you respond with curiosity instead of fear, eating becomes steadier and less extreme.
Transcribe →The 5 Most Asked Questions About Overeating
Jan 100:31:07Tap to summarizeEmotional Eating Unwrapped (Sober Eating Podcast)In this Q&A episode, Alana answers the five most common questions she hears about overeating, especially from women who feel composed on the outside but struggle quietly with food, control, and guilt.The questions include:How do I stop overeating at night?Why do I eat past full even when I know better?Is one day of overeating going to make me gain weight?Why am I craving food even when I’m not hungry?How do I stop feeling guilty after I overeat?Rather than offering tips or rules, Alana explores what’s really happening underneath these patterns — the role of nighttime, pressure, perfectionism, food noise, and the way guilt tends to follow high expectations.Through personal reflection and lived clinical insight, this episode helps listeners understand why knowing more doesn’t change behavior, why overeating isn’t a personal failure, and how food often becomes the place we go when the day finally slows down.This conversation is for the woman who isn’t trying to fix herself — she just wants to understand why this keeps happening, and what begins to shift when she stops making food the problem.Enter the giveaway to receive a 1:1 private session with Alana by DMing a screenshot of your review @bewellbyak on Instagram or emailing as podcast@bewellbyak.com!Leave us a voice message for our next Q&A episode!Explore MoreFind Jamille’s Episode Here → How I Finally Lost 99 Pounds After Years of Binge EatingFor Newbies to The Sober Eating Movement Looking to Get StartedInvisible Weight DetoxAn introduction to the Sober Eating Movement that finally gets your body and mind working together in under 30 days, so you can reclaim your personal power, lose weight and keep it off. No tracking, no shakes, no endless rules. It's a clear step by step process that helps you reclaim your self worth, eat like a normal person again, and watch the number on the scale move in the right direction. → Enroll hereFor a Deeper Transformation with The Sober Eating Method The Sober Eating Sequence™The proven 3-phase method to stop food and dieting chaos, and release weight naturally through a new proven way of eating for weight loss and enjoyment - without dieting, restriction, or counting macros in as little as 90 days. This is where you finally trust your body and food choices, feel at ease in your skin, and stop circling back to food as the problem.→ Enroll hereGET 1-1 SUPPORT FROM ALANAElite VIPA 3-month private mentorship where years of struggle collapse into months of precision change. With custom meal development refined daily, private coaching intensives, and direct access to Alana, you’ll stop negotiating with food and step into the woman whose body, confidence, and choices reflect her true power.→ Apply hereConciergeFor the woman who refuses to settle — Concierge is the highest level of private mentorship. With unlimited access to Alana for coaching, every detail and nuance is addressed with luxury-level concierge private support tailored to your real day to day life, so you experience the deepest transformation possible and embody full freedom. {Luxury 3-day 1-1 weekend retreat with Alana included}→ Apply hereA program designed to support your Sober Eating Method JourneyComing Home to Your BodyA self-paced course to help you feel safe, grounded, and at peace in a body that's still changing. Learn to build trust with your body now—not just after weight loss. → Enroll hereFree Quiz:What’s your hidden food and self belief pattern keeping you from lasting weight loss? Click here for the Free QuizExplore more from Be Well by AKBe sure to follow Alana on Instagram @bewellbyak.Follow on LinkedInSubscribe to the Podcast on Spotify Subscribe to the Podcast on AppleSubscribe to get alerts on Youtube
Transcribe →How to Tell the Difference Between Hunger and Food Noise
Dec 2500:24:48Tap to summarizeIn this week’s episode, Alana explores the emerging science behind “food noise,” drawing from a recent review article in Nutrition & Diabetes that defines food noise as persistent, intrusive food thoughts perceived as unwanted or distressing.Alana reflects on how this new clinical definition helps women understand the mental load behind constant food thoughts, the checking, planning, negotiating, and self-questioning that can quietly run all day.She breaks down what researchers are now identifying as key features of food noise, cognitive burden, persistence, dysphoria, and self-stigma and discusses why so many high-achieving women mistake these patterns for a willpower problem when they’re actually part of the body’s alert system.This episode invites listeners into a calmer, more nuanced way of interpreting their inner chatter around food, not as failure, but as information.[Click Here To See Food Noise Article]Enter the giveaway to receive a 1:1 private session with Alana by DMing a screenshot of your review @bewellbyak on Instagram or emailing as podcast@bewellbyak.com!Leave us a voice message for our next Q&A episode!For Newbies to The Sober Eating Movement Looking to Get StartedInvisible Weight DetoxAn introduction to the Sober Eating Movement that finally gets your body and mind working together in under 30 days, so you can reclaim your personal power, lose weight and keep it off. No tracking, no shakes, no endless rules. It's a clear step by step process that helps you reclaim your self worth, eat like a normal person again, and watch the number on the scale move in the right direction. → Enroll hereFor a Deeper Transformation with The Sober Eating Method The Sober Eating Sequence™The proven 3-phase method to stop food and dieting chaos, and release weight naturally through a new proven way of eating for weight loss and enjoyment - without dieting, restriction, or counting macros in as little as 90 days. This is where you finally trust your body and food choices, feel at ease in your skin, and stop circling back to food as the problem.→ Enroll hereGET 1-1 SUPPORT FROM ALANAElite VIPA 3-month private mentorship where years of struggle collapse into months of precision change. With custom meal development refined daily, private coaching intensives, and direct access to Alana, you’ll stop negotiating with food and step into the woman whose body, confidence, and choices reflect her true power.→ Apply hereConciergeFor the woman who refuses to settle — Concierge is the highest level of private mentorship. With unlimited access to Alana for coaching, every detail and nuance is addressed with luxury-level concierge private support tailored to your real day to day life, so you experience the deepest transformation possible and embody full freedom. {Luxury 3-day 1-1 weekend retreat with Alana included}→ Apply hereA program designed to support your Sober Eating Method JourneyComing Home to Your BodyA self-paced course to help you feel safe, grounded, and at peace in a body that's still changing. Learn to build trust with your body now—not just after weight loss. → Enroll hereFree Quiz:What’s your hidden food and self belief pattern keeping you from lasting weight loss? Click here for the Free QuizExplore more from Be Well by AKBe sure to follow Alana on Instagram @bewellbyak.Follow on LinkedInSubscribe to the Podcast on Spotify Subscribe to the Podcast on AppleSubscribe to get alerts on YoutubeTakeawaysFood can feel like a reliable friend during emotional highs and lows.Building a compassionate, consistent relationship with yourself is the foundation of true healing.Emotional overeating isn’t about willpower — it’s about unmet needs for safety and support.Your inner ally helps you pause and make intentional, self-honoring choices.The higher self is not perfection — it’s maturity, discernment, and calm.
Transcribe →How I Finally Lost 99 Pounds After Years of Binge Eating
Dec 1800:33:17Tap to summarizeThere’s a moment in every woman’s journey where the old way stops making sense.For Jamille, that moment didn’t look dramatic. It was quiet — a piece of cake she couldn’t bring herself to eat halfway, the panic of a closed restaurant, the feeling that food had more authority over her life than she did.In today’s episode, she shares how she went from a childhood shaped by shaming comments — “suck in your belly… no man will want you” — to decades of bingeing, punishing diets, secret spirals, and a belief that she would always live this way.Her story is not just about the 99 pounds she lost — it’s about the woman she became in the process. A woman who no longer fears buffets, who can leave candy in the house without losing herself to it , who wakes up before dawn to meet her own life on purpose rather than in reaction We talk about the slow, steady rewiring that happens when you stop performing control and start practicing presence — the tiny shifts that build into a kind of inner maturity you can feel in your posture, your choices, your quiet moments.If you’ve ever wondered whether long-term patterns can truly change, this conversation is proof that they can — and that the change begins long before the weight comes off.Enter the giveaway to receive a 1:1 private session with Alana by DMing a screenshot of your review @bewellbyak on Instagram or emailing as podcast@bewellbyak.com!Leave us a voice message for our next Q&A episode!For Newbies to The Sober Eating Movement Looking to Get StartedInvisible Weight DetoxAn introduction to the Sober Eating Movement that finally gets your body and mind working together in under 30 days, so you can reclaim your personal power, lose weight and keep it off. No tracking, no shakes, no endless rules. It's a clear step by step process that helps you reclaim your self worth, eat like a normal person again, and watch the number on the scale move in the right direction. → Enroll hereFor a Deeper Transformation with The Sober Eating Method The Sober Eating Sequence™The proven 3-phase method to stop food and dieting chaos, and release weight naturally through a new proven way of eating for weight loss and enjoyment - without dieting, restriction, or counting macros in as little as 90 days. This is where you finally trust your body and food choices, feel at ease in your skin, and stop circling back to food as the problem.→ Enroll hereGET 1-1 SUPPORT FROM ALANAElite VIPA 3-month private mentorship where years of struggle collapse into months of precision change. With custom meal development refined daily, private coaching intensives, and direct access to Alana, you’ll stop negotiating with food and step into the woman whose body, confidence, and choices reflect her true power.→ Apply hereConciergeFor the woman who refuses to settle — Concierge is the highest level of private mentorship. With unlimited access to Alana for coaching, every detail and nuance is addressed with luxury-level concierge private support tailored to your real day to day life, so you experience the deepest transformation possible and embody full freedom. {Luxury 3-day 1-1 weekend retreat with Alana included}→ Apply hereA program designed to support your Sober Eating Method JourneyComing Home to Your BodyA self-paced course to help you feel safe, grounded, and at peace in a body that's still changing. Learn to build trust with your body now—not just after weight loss. → Enroll hereFree Quiz:What’s your hidden food and self belief pattern keeping you from lasting weight loss? Click here for the Free QuizExplore more from Be Well by AKBe sure to follow Alana on Instagram @bewellbyak.Follow on LinkedInSubscribe to the Podcast on Spotify Subscribe to the Podcast on AppleSubscribe to get alerts on Youtube
Transcribe →Why Being Alone Triggers Emotional Overeating And How to Change It
Dec 1100:23:28Tap to summarizeIn this episode, Alana unpacks a tender truth that so many high-functioning women carry quietly: why being alone can feel like an invitation to lose yourself in food.She shares her story, the years when silence and unstructured time felt less like rest and more like permission to slip into the ritual of binging. And she explores why these moments never start with the first bite, but with the anticipation of being unwatched, unneeded, unseen.Through honest reflection and grounded insight, Alana explains how secret patterns form, why they feel so powerful, and what it takes to build a relationship with yourself that doesn’t disappear the moment the door closes.If you’ve ever felt like you can hold everything together… until you’re alone, this conversation will change how you understand yourself.Enter the giveaway to receive a 1:1 private session with Alana by DMing a screenshot of your review @bewellbyak on Instagram or emailing as podcast@bewellbyak.com!Leave us a voice message for our next Q&A episode!For Newbies to The Sober Eating Movement Looking to Get StartedInvisible Weight DetoxAn introduction to the Sober Eating Movement that finally gets your body and mind working together in under 30 days, so you can reclaim your personal power, lose weight and keep it off. No tracking, no shakes, no endless rules. It's a clear step by step process that helps you reclaim your self worth eat like a normal person again, and watch the number on the scale move in the right direction. → Enroll HereFor a Deeper Transformation with The Sober Eating Method The Sober Eating Sequence™The proven 3-phase method to stop food and dieting chaos, and release weight naturally through a new proven way of eating for weight loss and enjoyment - without dieting, restriction, or counting macros in as little as 90 days. This is where you finally trust your body and food choices, feel at ease in your skin, and stop circling back to food as the problem.→ Enroll hereGET 1-1 SUPPORT FROM ALANAElite VIPA 3-month private mentorship where years of struggle collapse into months of precision change. With custom meal development refined daily, private coaching intensives, and direct access to Alana, you’ll stop negotiating with food and step into the woman whose body, confidence, and choices reflect her true power.→ Apply hereConciergeFor the woman who refuses to settle — Concierge is the highest level of private mentorship. With unlimited access to Alana for coaching, every detail and nuance is addressed with luxury-level concierge private support tailored to your real day to day life, so you experience the deepest transformation possible and embody full freedom. {Luxury 3-day 1-1 weekend retreat with Alana included}→ Apply hereA program designed to support your Sober Eating Method JourneyComing Home to Your BodyA self-paced course to help you feel safe, grounded, and at peace in a body that's still changing. Learn to build trust with your body now—not just after weight loss. → Enroll hereFree Quiz:What’s your hidden food and self belief pattern keeping you from lasting weight loss? Click here for the Free QuizExplore more from Be Well by AKBe sure to follow Alana on Instagram @bewellbyak.Follow on LinkedInSubscribe to the Podcast on Spotify Subscribe to the Podcast on AppleSubscribe to get alerts on YoutubeTakeawaysAloneness isn’t the trigger — it’s the moment your real needs surface.Binge urges begin long before food enters the picture.High-functioning women often unravel only in silence, not in public.
Transcribe →How to Restart Your Wellness Journey After Losing Momentum with Kristin McGee (Peloton Yoga)
Dec 400:36:46Tap to summarizeIn this week’s episode of Emotional Eating Unwrapped, Alana is joined by longtime friend and guest Kristin McGee to explore the real emotional terrain behind self-doubt and how it can quietly sabotage our goals, wellness journeys, and sense of worth.They revisit personal stories and career pivots to reveal how doubt isn’t a flaw, it’s a threshold; a signal that something deeper is asking to be seen.From wellness fatigue to perfectionism, this conversation goes beyond motivation and into the deeper question: What if your next breakthrough isn’t about doing more, but staying with yourself when it’s hardest to believe you can?Connect with Kristin McgeeWebsite: https://www.kristinmcgee.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristinmcgee/ Substack: https://kristinmcgee.substack.com/ Enter the giveaway to receive a 1:1 private session with Alana by DMing a screenshot of your review @bewellbyak on Instagram or emailing as podcast@bewellbyak.com!Leave us a voice message for our next Q&A episode!For Newbies to The Sober Eating Movement Looking to Get StartedInvisible Weight DetoxAn introduction to the Sober Eating Movement that finally gets your body and mind working together in under 30 days, so you can reclaim your personal power, lose weight and keep it off. No tracking, no shakes, no endless rules. It's a clear step by step process that helps you reclaim your self worth, eat like a normal person again, and watch the number on the scale move in the right direction. → Enroll hereFor a Deeper Transformation with The Sober Eating MethodThe Sober Eating Sequence™The proven 3-phase method to stop food and dieting chaos, and release weight naturally through a new proven way of eating for weight loss and enjoyment - without dieting, restriction, or counting macros in as little as 90 days. This is where you finally trust your body and food choices, feel at ease in your skin, and stop circling back to food as the problem.→ Enroll hereGET 1-1 SUPPORT FROM ALANAElite VIPA 3-month private mentorship where years of struggle collapse into months of precision change. With custom meal development refined daily, private coaching intensives, and direct access to Alana, you’ll stop negotiating with food and step into the woman whose body, confidence, and choices reflect her true power.→ Apply hereConciergeFor the woman who refuses to settle — Concierge is the highest level of private mentorship. With unlimited access to Alana for coaching, every detail and nuance is addressed with luxury-level concierge private support tailored to your real day to day life, so you experience the deepest transformation possible and embody full freedom. {Luxury 3-day 1-1 weekend retreat with Alana included} → Apply hereA program designed to support your Sober Eating Method JourneyComing Home to Your BodyA self-paced course to help you feel safe, grounded, and at peace in a body that's still changing. Learn to build trust with your body now—not just after weight loss. → Enroll hereFree Quiz:What’s your hidden food and self belief pattern keeping you from lasting weight loss? Click here for the Free QuizExplore more from Be Well by AKBe sure to follow Alana on Instagram @bewellbyak.Follow on LinkedInSubscribe to the Podcast on Spotify Subscribe to the Podcast on AppleSubscribe to get alerts on YoutubeTakeawaysSelf-doubt often signals a turning point, not a dead end.Growth looks like showing up on the days you want to hide.Real confidence is built through imperfect action.Transformation doesn’t always feel inspiring and sometimes, it feels like staying.You don’t need to “feel ready” to begin again.Chapters00:00 — Why Doubt Can Be a Sign of Growth03:15 — Showing Up When You Feel Off07:42 — The Breakthroughs That Come After Resistance11:56 — Kristin’s Biggest Transformation16:30 — Redefining Success in Wellness20:45 — Trusting the Next Version of You
Transcribe →Why You Overeat During the Holidays (And What to Do Instead)
Nov 2700:40:09Tap to summarizeIn this revisited holiday episode, Alana explores the emotional pressure that surfaces during food-centric gatherings and how it often masks as overeating, guilt, or the need to perform “self-control.”She shares practical insight on managing emotional overwhelm, setting boundaries without conflict, and rethinking what support actually looks like when the table is full but your needs aren’t met. Whether you're dreading the family dynamics or navigating the pressure to eat “perfectly,” this episode offers tools to help you stay connected to yourself through it all.Enter the giveaway to receive a 1:1 private session with Alana by DMing a screenshot of your review @bewellbyak on Instagram or emailing as podcast@bewellbyak.com!Leave us a voice message for our next Q&A episode!For Newbies to The Sober Eating Movement Looking to Get StartedInvisible Weight DetoxAn introduction to the Sober Eating Movement that finally gets your body and mind working together in under 30 days, so you can reclaim your personal power, lose weight and keep it off. No tracking, no shakes, no endless rules. It's a clear step by step process that helps you reclaim your self worth, eat like a normal person again, and watch the number on the scale move in the right direction. → Enroll hereFor a Deeper Transformation with The Sober Eating Method The Sober Eating Sequence™The proven 3-phase method to stop food and dieting chaos, and release weight naturally through a new proven way of eating for weight loss and enjoyment - without dieting, restriction, or counting macros in as little as 90 days. This is where you finally trust your body and food choices, feel at ease in your skin, and stop circling back to food as the problem.→ Enroll hereGET 1-1 SUPPORT FROM ALANAElite VIPA 3-month private mentorship where years of struggle collapse into months of precision change. With custom meal development refined daily, private coaching intensives, and direct access to Alana, you’ll stop negotiating with food and step into the woman whose body, confidence, and choices reflect her true power.→ Apply hereConciergeFor the woman who refuses to settle — Concierge is the highest level of private mentorship. With unlimited access to Alana for coaching, every detail and nuance is addressed with luxury-level concierge private support tailored to your real day to day life, so you experience the deepest transformation possible and embody full freedom. {Luxury 3-day 1-1 weekend retreat with Alana included}→ Apply hereA program designed to support your Sober Eating Method JourneyComing Home to Your BodyA self-paced course to help you feel safe, grounded, and at peace in a body that's still changing. Learn to build trust with your body now—not just after weight loss. → Enroll hereFree Quiz:What’s your hidden food and self belief pattern keeping you from lasting weight loss? Click here for the Free QuizExplore more from Be Well by AKBe sure to follow Alana on Instagram @bewellbyak.Follow on LinkedInSubscribe to the Podcast on Spotify Subscribe to the Podcast on AppleSubscribe to get alerts on YoutubeTakeawaysEmotional eating often begins long before the food shows up.Saying “no” doesn’t make you ungrateful, it makes you self-aware.Guilt after eating usually points to unmet emotional needs, not a food mistake.Boundaries aren’t walls, they’re invitations to honor your truth.You don’t have to perform wellness to be well.Chapters00:00 — Why Holidays Are Emotionally Loaded03:52 — Family Triggers & Food Noise07:10 — How to Say No with Compassion11:34 — Why “Safe Food” Isn’t Always the Answer15:42 — Staying Present with Yourself Through Chaos21:06 — Redefining Support During the Holidays
Transcribe →