Have Your Cake and Eat It Too

You know that pattern. You decide a food is off limits. You white-knuckle through the first few days. Then you cave — and somehow eat way more of it than you would have if you'd just let yourself have some in the first place. In this episode, I'm flipping the script on that whole approach. Your desires around food are valid. The crunch, the saltiness, the convenience, the spontaneity, the way it feels like a little break in your day — those are real needs, and pretending they're not is why every diet eventually falls apart. I'll walk you through the exact questions to ask about a food you keep going back to, and why finding alternatives that truly hit the spot — not consolation-prize versions — is the piece that makes healthy eating actually sustainable. If you've tried every version of restriction and keep ending up in the same place, this one's for you.  

Have you hit the wall? You've tried to lose weight or change your eating more than a few times now. Maybe it worked for a little while. Then it didn't. And now you're sitting there wondering if there's even any point in trying again. I recorded this episode for you, because I know how exhausting it is to keep trying and yet keep feeling like you're failing. In episode 350 of the Thriving As A Physician Podcast, I'm digging into why trying has felt so exhausting, so defeating, and so personal — and why that's not actually your fault. The way we've been taught to try is the problem, not you.  I walk you through why the failure lens most of us use is distorted and actually gets in the way of your success, why building something that feels good to do is the whole point (not a bonus), and what it looks like to approach weight and eating as a practice instead of a diet.  This one is for you if you feel battered and bruised and aren't sure you have another try left in you. I promise it's worth a listen.  

The appointments that drain you most aren't always the hardest clinically. They're the ones where you said all the right things and the patient still left frustrated. Or the encounter where something felt off and you couldn't name it — but you carried stress from it through the day (and maybe into a 3pm break-room raid).   In this episode, I talk with Christine Miles — a listening expert and CEO of EQuipt — about a skill that's under-taught in medicine: how to actually make people feel heard.    She shares the six simple questions that help patients tell their story faster, a 90-second technique that changes how safe people feel with you, and what to do when someone walks in already angry.    Listening well matters - it can make your clinical days better but also will help in your personal relationships.  And anything that makes your days go smoother will help with your eating.   If your days regularly leave you empty — this one's for you. Learn more about Christine at https://thelisteningpath.com/christine-miles/  

You've tried the diets. You've made the plans. And yet, there you are at 3pm, or after a brutal clinic day, or standing in the hotel breakfast buffet, eating more than you meant to — and feeling awful about it after. Here's what nobody has told you: the problem isn't that you can't stick to a plan. It's that every plan you've been given has been pointed at the wrong target. In this episode, I'm sharing a four-step "start here" plan that actually works.  We're not talking about what to eat or what to cut out. We're talking about understanding why you eat the way you do — and how to actually change it in a way that doesn't require more willpower or more energy you don't have. I cover why shame is the first thing that has to go, how to find the patterns hiding in your last two weeks of eating, why you should absolutely start with the easiest thing (not the hardest), and why failure is not only expected but actually part of the plan.  If you can't figure out why you keep hitting the drive through (even though you know it isn't healthy) then this episode is for you.

You've tried the diets. You know what you're "supposed" to eat. And yet there you are at 3pm, somehow in the break room eating cookies you didn't even plan to touch — and spending the rest of the afternoon beating yourself up about it.   Here's what I want you to hear: that's not a food problem. And diet culture has been handing you the completely wrong answer for years.   In this episode, I'm breaking down exactly why diet culture was never designed to help with stress eating, emotional eating, or binge eating — and why trying to apply diet rules to these struggles is like putting a band-aid over something that needs actual stitches.    I talk about why your brain is using food to solve other problems (and why that actually makes sense), why perfection-based approaches set you up to fall apart every single time, and why the scale might be making everything worse when you're already feeling out of control.   This episode is for you if you know exactly what to eat but can't figure out why you keep eating when you don't want to. You're not broken. You've just been given the wrong tools.  

You submitted the questions. Now here are the real answers. In this episode, I'm sharing a replay of a live Q&A I did the other week — and I answer the questions you're probably too embarrassed to ask out loud.  Why can't you stop eating after supper even though you know better? Is it worth tracking macros? Do supplements actually work? What about exercise in menopause? And is change even possible if you've struggled your whole life? The answers will surprise you. Because the way I talk about this stuff these topics is very different from the standard "just eat less" mentality.  Be sure to listen.  And then listen again - this one is packed with a LOT of tips. This episode is perfect for you if you're exhausted from trying to fix your eating in the evening, frustrated that your workouts aren't moving the scale, and ready to hear something that actually makes sense for your real life.

If you've lived life in a larger body, you know what it's like when you just feel "too big".  You look at a group photo and instead of seeing a great memory, all you see is how much space you take up. You second-guess what you order at a catered lunch because you're sure someone's watching what the overweight doctor eats. And that shrinking doesn't stop at your body — it starts showing up in your opinions, your needs, and how you move through the world. In this episode, I dig into the "too big, too large" belief — where it actually comes from, how it quietly runs way more of your life than you realize, and why the place you make changes from matters just as much as the changes themselves.  This one's for you if you've ever tried to make yourself smaller in any way — physically or otherwise.  

Welcome to Part 3 of our annual Thriving in the New Year interview series! Every January, I sit down with physician coaches to hear how they're thinking about the year ahead—and there's always something that shifts my perspective. I'm joined by Dr. Sonia Wright (pediatric radiologist and midlife sex coach), Dr. Sarah Smith (family physician and charting coach), and Dr. Lea Grace Famularcano (family medicine and obesity medicine physician, health coach).  We got into why the "push, push, push" approach we learned in training doesn't work for reaching your personal goals, how small pivots beat giant overhauls every time, and what it looks like to focus on experience instead of achievement. If you're exhausted from trying to achieve your way to feeling better, this conversation offers a different path forward. Featured Guests: Dr. Sonia Wright – Pediatric radiologist and midlife sex coach for women. Find her at soniawrightmd.com, on Instagram/TikTok @SoniaWrightMD, or listen to The Midlife Sex Coach for Women Podcast Dr. Sarah Smith – Family physician and clinical day advisor. Find her at chartingcoach.ca or listen to the Sustainable Clinical Medicine Podcast Dr. Lea Grace Famularcano – Family medicine and obesity medicine physician, health coach. Find her at thepivotingphysician.com

Welcome to Part 2 of our annual Thriving in the New Year interview series! Every January, I sit down with physician coaches to hear how they're approaching the year—and I always walk away with something that shifts my thinking.   I'm joined by Dr. Maneesha Ahluwalia (life coach and former infectious disease physician), Dr. Nora Vasquez (internist and high-performance coach), and Dr. Ladan Davallow (pediatric endocrinologist and coach). We got into what to do when your January has already gone sideways, why physicians are so bad at celebrating wins, and the difference between living in the gap versus the gain.   If you're feeling behind on your New Year's intentions, this conversation will feel like a breath of fresh air.   Featured Guests: Dr. Maneesha Ahluwalia – Former infectious disease physician, now full-time life coach. Find her on Instagram @LifeCoachingForIndians   Dr. Nora Vasquez – Internist and certified high-performance coach. Find her at renewyourmindmd.com Dr. Ladan Davallow – Pediatric endocrinologist and coach for parents of kids with diabetes. Find her at endoMDhealth.com and diabrite.com

Welcome to the first episode of our annual Thriving in the New Year interview series! Every January, I sit down with physician coaches to hear how they're approaching the year ahead—and I always learn something that shifts my own thinking. This year is no different. I'm joined by three brilliant physician coaches: Dr. Jessie Mahoney (pediatrician and mindfulness coach), Dr. Allison Anderson (cardiothoracic anesthesiologist and relationship mentor), and Dr. Wendy Schofer (pediatrician specializing in eating disorder prevention). We got into words of the year, what it means to feel whole, why satisfaction is so hard for physicians, and how to approach goals in a way that actually feels good. Jessie shared her words for the year—strategic and focused, wealthy and healthy, brave and bold—and her decision to filter everything through one question: is it fun? Wendy opened up about surviving the hardest year of her life and landing on "whole" as her compass for saying no. And Allison gave us a completely different approach to New Year's intentions: focusing on experiences you want to have and setting monthly themes instead of rigid goals. We also talked about why working harder backfires in certain areas of life, how we were literally trained not to feel satisfied, and what it means to stop just "plugging holes" and start bringing your whole self to your life. Featured Guests: Dr. Jessie Mahoney – Pediatrician and full-time physician coach offering mindful coaching and retreats through Pause and Presence. Find her at jessiemahoneymd.com Dr. Allison Anderson – Cardiothoracic anesthesiologist and dating/relationship mentor for women physicians. Find her on Instagram @AllisonAndersonCoaching (two L's in Allison) Dr. Wendy Schofer – Pediatrician specializing in eating disorder prevention through her Family in Focus program for parents. Find her at wendyschofermd.com