The Daily Ascent – Détails, épisodes et analyse

In today's episode, I'm sharing how one tiny dinner-table moment with my 15-year-old goddaughter catapulted me straight out of adulthood and right back into my teenage self — and how a Celtic prayer helped me find my way back to love.

Whether it's parenting, friendship, or just life being life, this one's about the messy magic of being human — and the peace that comes when we stop needing to be right and start showing up with an undefended heart.

Question to carry into your day:
What might happen if you set down your armor and chose connection instead?

Connect with Molly Carmel: 

• Email: dailyascentpod@gmail.com
• Instagram: @mollycarmel
• Subscribe on YouTube
• Amazon Storefront (in case you want to hang out with my Pocket Sages)

If The Daily Ascent hits home for you, subscribe, leave some love and share it with someone who might need a little reminder that growth can be gritty - and still sooooo good.

An Operation Podcast production | @OperationPodcast

Welcome to The Daily Ascent — a quick, meaningful moment in your day to pause, breathe, and come back to yourself. I'm Molly Carmel: therapist, coach, business owner, sister, godmother, dog mom, and a woman who's learned the hard way that real healing doesn't come from chasing fixes — it comes from finding truth.

Each weekday, I'll bring you real stories, simple insights, and honest reflections from my own winding path of recovery and growth. Together, we'll explore what it means to live with intention, stay grounded, and keep climbing — one small step at a time.

It's honest. It's hopeful. It's like your favorite morning ritual — the one that always leaves you feeling a little lighter, a little clearer, and a lot more human.

In this episode of What You're Craving, you will listen to Leanne's story and her journey so far. Molly and Leanne talk a lot about the idea of being honest with the people around us, such as our friends and family who are supportive of our journey. When we are on a mission to quit an addiction - especially food addiction - we might think that sharing our struggles with others will make them leave. Leanne is living proof that is not the case.

It is important to be open with people we trust. But it is also essential to tell the truth to people you know will accept it, no matter what. On another topic, Leanne talks about the importance of having a community, a group of people she can trust - like the Breaking Up with Sugar group.

Episode Quotes

• "I went to the group, I did the homework, I listened, and read, and really immersed myself in it but at the same time I realized that was this part of me that was just hanging on for dear life to my previous ways."
• "If we are trying to establish safety and if you were to drop a bunch of weight like you would do on a quick-fix diet, I would actually think that would be rather disorienting. If you think about the weight as a shield."

About Molly Carmel

Molly is a leading addiction and eating disorder therapist and the founder of the BeaconProgram, which offers individual and group solutions to help people break free from their destructive relationships with food and dieting. She is also the author of 'Breaking up with Sugar' and the host of 'What You're Craving' Podcast.

Connect with Molly

• LOTS of EXCITING stuff going on over at mollycarmel.com
• Join my mailing list for info (+ discount!) on our SELF LOVE CAMP coming in August, my Sunday Love Letter, and a free mini masterclass: mollycarmel.com/signup
• You can purchase the Breaking Up with Sugar course here: mollycarmel.com/buws
• Become a part of the Breaking Up with Sugar FB Group: facebook.com/groups/buwsbook

Come hang with me on social media!

• IG (I love a DM!): @mollycarmel
• YouTube: Molly Carmel
• TikTok: @realmollycarmel
• Facebook: com/mollycarmel.buws

Today's podcast is so so so important and answers the questions that people have been asking me for YEARS - What do I do about my kids? Today, Dr. Michael Goran and Dr. Emily Ventura, authors of Sugarproof: The Hidden Dangers of Sugar that Are Putting Your Child's Health at Risk and What You Can Do, answer these questions with ease, humor and DOABILITY. We all know that sugar is everywhere - and especially in our kids' foods. Dr. Goran and Dr. Ventura talk us through how to protect kids from the harmful effects of sugar, while also balancing their need to make their own choices, enjoying what we eat, the real-world challenges of making changes, and the truth about fruit juice (one of my most beloved topics). This is a must-listen for anyone who interacts with kids and wants to help make positive change with actionable tips - you know those are both my faves!

 

Dr. Michael Grogan is a Professor of Pediatrics at The Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and  Co-Director of the USC Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute. His research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health and other Foundations for the past 30 years during which he has raised almost $50m in funding to support this work. He has published over 350 professional peer-reviewed articles and reviews. He is the Editor of the "Childhood Obesity: Causes, Consequences and Intervention Approaches" published in 2017, co-editor of "Dietary Sugars and Health" published in late 2014, and currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for Pediatric Obesity. He has been the recipient of numerous scientific awards for his research and teaching. You can find the full details on Dr Goran's research on his website at: www.GoranLab.com and you can follow him on twitter at @michaelgoran. 

 

Dr. Emily Ventura is a nutrition educator, public health advocate, writer, and cook. Emily has 10 years of research experience in public health with a focus on dietary strategies for the prevention of obesity, diabetes, and cancer. As an advocate for community health, Emily has worked as a nutrition educator for children and families, managed programs in the greater Los Angeles area ,and led public health campaigns for Slow Food International as well as the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation. Emily has spent extensive time abroad, including studying food and culture in Ecuador and serving as a Fulbright Scholar in Italy, where she taught Public Health Nutrition at the University of Gastronomic Sciences and conducted research at the University of Verona. 

 

I'm partnering with Sugarbreak this week on a 7 day No Sugar Challenge. We're two days in, but you can still participate! Follow along on Instagram @takeasugarbreak to join and get tips and inspiration all week through October 10!

To check out their book Sugarproof, visit https://sugarproofkids.com!

As you know, I'm obsessed with knowing all about you, so please follow (and DM!) me on Instagram and Facebook and find more on my website. We're in this together and the journey is going to be so awesome.

Produced by Dear Media

On today's Solo Pod, I'm talking about the HUGE lie we tell ourselves - and that diet culture has told us for ages - that we always need to be doing better. Diet culture is a thief and terrorist when it comes to us achieving peace and happiness - it tells us we're never enough and always need to be doing more. I'm talking today all about why I truly truly believe we are all doing the best we can, the ways to break out of our perfectionist mindset and change our belief system, and what to do if you're not sure if you're doing your best or are afraid you're not (and ps: you ARE). 

I'm obsessed with knowing all about you - what you're thinking and what you're up to, so please follow (and DM!) me on Instagram and Facebook and find more on my website. We're in this together and the journey is going to be so awesome.

Produced by Dear Media

In this episode, I get to have an incredibly insightful and authentic conversation (my favorite kind) with Mia Kang. Mia is a Hong Kong–born international model and author of the amazing book, KNOCKOUT. She discusses her story of struggling with her own eating disorder and addiction while working in the modeling industry, and how she unexpectedly found her solution in Indonesia at a Muay Thai gym, starting her on the path of true healing. We get to all the goods: how Mia is developing a new loving relationship with herself and her body (and how you can too!), why we should pay attention to our own internal wisdom, and how coming out of the shadows and into recovery is very, very possible. 

 

Mia has graced the pages of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, and Sports Illustrated, among many others, and has worked with many international brands. She is currently the host of Bravo's Spy Games. She lives in New York City, when she is not in Thailand practicing Muay Thai. Beneath her success is the story of a woman who once lived and died by her weight. In her first book, KNOCKOUT she opens up about her struggles with bullying, anorexia, bulimia, body dysmorphia, drug addiction, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts, and how, in a true life-saving moment, she eschewed normative body standards and, with the help of martial arts, learned to redefine her sense of self-worth.

 

If you want to know more about Mia, you can find her on Instagram, and you can listen to her amazing TED Talk here. 

I'm also obsessed with knowing all about you, so please follow (and DM!)  me on Instagram, Facebook and my website. We're in this together and the journey is going to be so awesome.

Produced by Dear Media

In this episode, I'm talking with Lisa, a member of the Breaking Up with Sugar community who opens her heart to share the complete and total transformation of her physical, emotional, and spiritual self. At age 57, having been struggling with her relationship with food, weight, body and dieting since her late teens, and on her very last shred of hope, Lisa decided to try one last intervention. She broke up with sugar, connected with an incredible community of people on the same journey and her life completely changed for the better. We discuss this amazing transformation since discovering that sugar was the culprit in her compulsive eating and what she does to keep steady in her recovery every day. She explains why it's never too late to make a change, and talks us through the importance of taking one day at a time and finding support. You don't want to miss this!

I'm obsessed with knowing all about you, so please follow (and DM!) me on Instagram and Facebook and find more on my website. We're in this together and the journey is going to be so awesome.

Produced by Dear Media

In this episode, I'm speaking with Victoria Garrick, former Division I volleyball player, TED Talk speaker, and mental health advocate. Victoria talks through her story of battling her own mental health struggles in silence before opening up to receiving help and coming to speak about the problem of mental health in college athletics on the TED Talk stage. She also discusses her own experience with a binge eating disorder and dead-end dieting, the importance of sitting in discomfort in your body, and what we can do when we make mistakes.

 

Victoria first began sharing her story of how she battled and overcame depression and anxiety in her 2017 TED Talk, "The Hidden Opponent," which has been viewed over 370,000 times. Victoria has been featured in The Players' Tribune, People Magazine, USA Today

College, and has amassed over 1M followers on her social media platforms where she's known for her positive media campaign, #RealPost. She brings this campaign to life weekly on her podcast Real Pod where she has interviewed some of the greatest athletes and psychologists in the world. As the founder of mental health non-profit, The Hidden Opponent, Victoria now tours the country as a public speaker and advocate, sharing her story in hopes of raising awareness and destigmatizing the conversation around mental health.

 

You can find out more by following Victoria on Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, and Twitter, and exploring her website at www.victoriagarrick.com.

 

I'm also obsessed with knowing all about you, so please follow (and DM!)  me on Instagram, Facebook and my website. We're in this together and the journey is going to be so awesome.

Produced by Dear Media

I'm so excited to be talking with Stephanie Simbari and Elizabeth Kott, hosts of That's So Retrograde, a podcast that helps listeners to build their own wellness toolkit through their interviews of thought leaders in health and beyond. Stephanie and Elizabeth bring their experience on the wellness journey - as podcast hosts and amazing humans - to talk about their journey in finding their own intuition about what's best for them amongst all the opinions of various health and wellness gurus. We also get into talking through the harms of toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing, the importance of self-talk and taking action on micro habits, and why sometimes we need to visit the darkness first before finding the light. Join us as we talk it all through and have some great laughs along the way!  

A truth teller with a knack for direct communication, Stephanie Simbari is the comedic backbone of That's So Retrograde. An Italian Jew from New York, and a born seeker, she performed for the better part of a decade as a stand up comic; exploring her personal truth and oversharing about it for laughs. She's got a big mouth and a soft heart and as a writer Stephanie has a unique voice with a penchant for infusing consciousness into humor while exposing deep life truths. Fans got to know her as a standout in Funny Girls on Oxygen as well as appearances on Comedy Central's @midnight, Showtime's White Famous, Here + Now on HBO.

 

Raised in Metro Detroit and a graduate of Michigan State University, Elizabeth spent her 20s building an impressive career in fashion and PR: conceptualizing and running Rachel Zoe's The Zoe Report, founding online consignment business, Closet Rich, while styling, creative directing and consulting for a multitude of brands. With a passion for turning ideas into things, it was her evolving interests that led her to merge podcasting and wellness 7 years ago, with listeners instantly connecting with her discerning tastes and specific brand of candid relatability. A true explorer in the space, Elizabeth spends a great deal of her spare time in research mode: discovering emerging trends, practitioners, products and brands in wellness.

 

You can find out more by following Stephanie on Instagram @ssimbari and Elizabeth on Instagram @elizabethkott. Also, don't forget to check out their amazing podcast That's So Retrograde!

 

I'm obsessed with knowing all about you, so please follow (and DM!) me on Instagram and Facebook and find more on my website. We're in this together and the journey is going to be so awesome.

Produced by Dear Media

Perfectionism is a killer - in my experience as a therapist, I've seen perfectionism and unrealistic expectations of ourselves derail, deflate and even destroy people's spirits and relationships with food. I can honestly say it's one of - and maybe even the biggest obstacles I see to creating a loving, stable relationship with food. Diet culture has told us for far too long that there's only one way to "succeed" in stopping overeating and losing weight, and anything short of that is failing! This couldn't be farther from the truth. In this episode, I talk about a very different, and much more effective way to deal with the inevitable imperfections in your relationship with food that helps to keep you moving in the direction of your goals, while also releasing you from the shame and diet roller coaster we know all too well!  

I'm obsessed with knowing all about you, so please follow (and DM!) me on Instagram and Facebook and find more on my website. We're in this together and the journey is going to be so awesome.

Produced by Dear Media