Insatiable with Ali Shapiro, MSOD, CHHC

313. What’s Still Missing From the “Emotional Eating” Conversation with Dr. Deborah MacNamara [Best Of]

Happy New Year, Insatiable listeners! Welcome to 2026.Today I’m resharing my conversation with parenting expert Dr. Deborah MacNamara, where we explore how food connects to our deep need for belonging, how feeling significant plays into belonging and food choices, as well as the many ways we can heal our relationships with food, fullness, and needing other people.If you want to make real changes with your or your loved ones eating, this episode just might help you make life-changing connections that have been elusive for years and be focused in the right direction for 2026.Tune in, then make sure to check out my new website trucewithfood.com. We discuss:The difference between attachment and belongingWhat Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is missingHow to focus on receptivity in relationships with our kidsWhy food is often the place our relationship dynamics play outThe surprising connection between food, fullness, and vulnerabilitySelf-soothing vs satiationWhy feelings are different than emotionsThe problematic invasiveness of “work mode”Experimenting with being “needy” so we can learn to depend on othersMore about our guest: Dr. Deborah MacNamara is the author of two books, Nourished: Connection, food and caring for our kids (and everyone else we love), and Rest, Play, Grow: Making sense of preschoolers (or anyone who acts like one). She is on Faculty at the Neufeld Institute and the Director of Kid’s Best Bet counselling.Connect with Dr. Deborah MacNamara:WebsiteBooksFacebookInstagramMentioned in this episode:Dr. Gordon Neufeld & Dr. Gabor MatéThe Religion of Wellness Culture with Anne Helen Petersen (Episode 252)Send me (Ali) a text message.🧭 If you're tired of knowing what works but not being able to make it stick, try my free food stage finder. There are four distinct stages in how we relate to food, and a few questions will reveal yours along with next steps. Visit: trucewithfood.com/find-your-food-stage

312. Why Willpower Isn’t the Problem: The Truth About the Knowing–Doing Gap [Courageous Pivot Podcast]

What if your inability to change isn't a failure of willpower, but your heart's way of protecting you from something you're not ready to face?Today I’m sharing a conversation I had with Meghan Telpner for the Courageous Pivot podcast about how my journey from overworking addiction to radical life redesign began with a simple question: "Why does this make sense?"I reveals how addressing my relationship with food became the gateway to confronting deeper questions about worth, identity, and what success actually means—and why healing often requires becoming a beginner all over again. From my journey through cancer, infertility, and postpartum menopause to finally redefining wealth as "freedom over my time," we get into how having the courage to slow down and listen to your body's wisdom can unlock transformations you never imagined possible.Essential listening for anyone measuring busyness instead of impact, struggling to make changes they know they need, or ready to understand why their body might be wiser than their ambition.We discuss:Why only 1 in 7 heart attack survivors actually change their diet and lifestyle—even when they know it could save their livesThe hidden cost of measuring busyness instead of impact and how it perpetuates chronic exhaustionThe developmental reason we spend the first half of life proving we can exert our will on the world—and what the second half requiresWhy food (and overwork) are “almost addictive”—soothing just enough to quiet the alarm but never enough to meet the actual needWhat “immunity to change” reveals about the knowing-doing gap and why willpower will never be the answerHow cultural conditioning around productivity and “earning your worth” gets embedded in our nervous systemsThe question that transforms self-judgment into constructive self-compassionConnect with Meghan:Visit Meghan’s websiteListen to the Courageous Pivot PodcastMentioned in this episode:Culinary Nutrition: How to Cook for Health and Taste with Meghan Telpner – Insatiable Season 12, Episode 2Enneagram: personality typesImmunity to Change by Robert Kegan and Lisa Laskow Lahey — published by Harvard Business Review PressRest, Play, Grow by Dr. Deborah MacNamaraNourished by Dr. Deborah MacNamara — available through her foundation websiteLaura McKowen — writer on sobriety whose rule "it's not your fault, but it is your responsibility"Dr. Stacy Sims — exercise physiologist, Ali references regarding protein recommendationsSend me (Ali) a text message.Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!

311. How to Finally Stop White-Knuckling Your Weight-Loss Journey with Sas Petherick [Body Stories #5]

Today, Sas Petherick returns for the fifth installment of our Body Stories series — and she’s nearly a year into her holistic weight-loss journey!In this conversation, Sas shares what’s become unmistakably clear along the way: true change happens at the pace of your body, and all-or-nothing thinking around food and movement is far more pervasive (and sneaky) than we realize.Together, we discuss:Why dieting isn’t an either/or thing — and you’re never just “on track” or “off track”How Sas embraced her birthday dinner without stressing over macrosMoving at the pace of your body instead of rushing to the “end” of a dietThe realities of The Biggest Loser and the ways they faked things for TVHow to choose a trainer you can actually trustSelf-compassion as an antidote to perfectionismSas’ sobriety journey and finding the third wayMake sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com, and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment!Connect with Sas Petherick:Visit Sas’s websiteFollow Sas on InstagramSubscribe to Sas’s newsletter Courage & SpiceMentioned in this episode:How to Lose Weight AND Love Yourself (because you can do both!) with Sas Petherick [Body Stories Series #1]“We’re the Brave Ones” — Discipline vs Devotion, Macros & Being “Sporty” with Sas Petherick [Body Stories Series #2]Emotions & Embodiment for Sustainable Weight Loss with Sas Petherick [Body Stories Series #3]How to Hold Your Weight Loss Goals Loosely (for better results) with Sas Petherick [Body Stories #4]Fit For TV: The Reality of The Biggest LoserSelf-compassion books from Kristin NeffTrain with JoanSend me (Ali) a text message.

310. How to Feel our Feelings with Mary Tilson

You’ve probably heard the advice: “Feel your emotions.” But what does that actually mean in everyday life? Especially when so many of us believe we’re feeling our feelings when we’re actually thinking our feelings. And thus, not feeling better or resolving our stubborn bad habits.In this episode, Mary Tilson joins me to explore how we’ve each learned to stay with and move through our emotions.Mary also opens up about her journey with addiction and anorexia, offering an honest look at how activation, dysregulation, and stress show up in our bodies and minds.We discuss:Being with our feelings instead of “rising above” themPracticing mindful awareness with the R.A.I.N. acronymSimple (but effective!) ways to resource yourselfAddiction as an adaptationThe realities of recovery and finding joy every dayThe science of awe and the healing powers of nature More about our guest: Mary Tilson is a Certified Professional Recovery Coach and Somatic Practitioner with a Master’s Degree in the Psychology & Neuroscience of Mental Health. She draws on a holistic background, which includes Somatic Experiencing, a body-based approach to healing trauma and stress-related disorders and over a decade of experience as a Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher. Having experienced drug and alcohol addiction firsthand, Mary's approach to coaching is rooted in compassion and understanding. She has been sober for over 12 years and is passionate about helping others build fulfilling lives substance-free. She supports clients through 1:1 Coaching and Retreats.Connect with Mary:Visit her website at sunandmoonsoberliving.comFollow her on IG: @marytilson @sunandmoon.soberlivingListen to her Podcast: The Sun & Moon Sober Living PodcastJoin her 2026 Women's Recovery Retreat: sunandmoonsoberliving.com/banffSend me (Ali) a text message.

309. What Feels Good Right Now: Ending Emotional Outsourcing with Beatriz Victoria Albina [Part 2]

This week, Beatriz Victoria Albina returns to Insatiable for part two of our conversation on ending emotional outsourcing — the habit of looking outside ourselves for validation, safety, and worth.In this episode, we explore the practices that help you come back home to yourself: tuning into your needs, regulating your nervous system, returning to your body, and reclaiming your center.It all begins with one simple but powerful question: What feels good right now?Join us as we explore what it means to live from that place of connection and self-trust.We discuss:How to reconnect with your biological impulsesFunctional freeze and how to feel your feelings (not think them)Why wellness is not about coffee enemas or random supplementsThe dangers of emotionally outsourcing to wellness professionalsHow we’re trained to prioritize productivitySomatic practice and praxisMore about our guest: Beatriz (Béa) Victoria Albina, NP, MPH, SEP (she/her) is a UCSF-trained Family Nurse Practitioner, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Master Certified Somatic Life Coach, author of End Emotional Outsourcing: a Guide to Overcoming Codependent, Perfectionist and People Pleasing Habits and Breathwork Meditation Guide with a passion for helping humans socialized as women to reconnect with their bodies, regulate their nervous systems and rewire their minds, so they can break free from codependency, perfectionism and people pleasing and reclaim their joy.She is the host of the Feminist Wellness Podcast, holds a Masters degree in Public Health from Boston University School of Public Health and a BA in Latin American Studies from Oberlin College. Born in Mar del Plata, Argentina, Béa grew up in the great state of Rhode Island. She has been working in health & wellness for over 20 years and lives with her wife, Billey Albina and their handsome all-black cat Wade.Connect with Béa:WebsiteBook WebsiteInstagram: @beatrizvictoriaalbinanpPodcast: Feminist WellnessFacebookLinkedInFree MeditationsSend me (Ali) a text message.