Chatting with Cara - The Relationship with Food Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Do you keep trying to fix your emotional eating but nothing works? You might be solving the wrong problem.

If you struggle with stress eating, comfort eating, or boredom eating and you're tired of the all-or-nothing thinking food cycle that never leads to real food freedom, this episode is for you.

I dig into why smart, capable women keep plugging the wrong hole when it comes to their relationship with food. Using a real client example involving those sugary iced coffees you keep buying on the way home, I reveal that the coffee (or the chocolate, or the wine) is never actually the problem and what to do instead to create sustainable eating habits for good.

In this episode I talk about - 

• Why you keep solving the wrong problem. High-performing, perfectionist women are wired to fix things fast but when it comes to emotional eating, fixing the symptom (the coffee, the chocolate, the crisps) doesn't work long term.

• The sugary coffee that wasn't about the coffee. I give a real client story: a senior professional in a male-dominated workplace who started buying sugary frappes on the commute home and what was really going on underneath.

• What emotional eating is actually giving you. It's not about willpower or restriction. The coffee was giving her a pause, a ritual, a signal that the hard part of her day was over. Once she understood the why, the craving disappeared.

• How to stop emotional eating without banning anything. I walk through the coaching process: identifying the real feelings (anxiety, dread, unfamiliarity, fatigue) and putting practical strategies in place to address those instead.

• Why this approach creates lasting change. Unlike a diet, this isn't about calorie counting or rules. When you break the pattern with awareness, you don't need to do it again because the pattern is gone. That's how you stop yo-yo dieting for good.

• How to swap out the coffee for anything else. Stress eating at night? Chocolates in the office? A glass of wine that turns into the bottle? The same approach applies to all of it.

Download the free Emotional Eating Handbook here. It'll land straight in your inbox. Read it, then DM me on social media with what you're feeling and I’ll help you work out what's really going on.

Because once you start solving the right problem, you'll have food freedom, you'll stop thinking about food all the time, and yes, you'll feel lighter, brighter, and have so much more energy.

Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review if this resonated with you!

Connect with Cara - 

Thanks for joining me today on Chatting with Cara. I hope today's conversation gave you some food for thought!

If you're looking to transform this area of your life I'd love to support you, please get in touch with me using the below links.

Email -  cara@coachingwithcara.co.ukWebsite - www.coachingwithcara.co.ukFacebook - Coaching with CaraInstagram - @coachingwcara

Ready to explore how we can work together? 

Book a *FREE* no-obligation consultation call to discover what's possible.

Book your call here - https://calendly.com/coachingwcara/call-with-cara

Until next time, keep chatting!

You've seen them. The pig dancing in front of the pool. The person tucking into dessert seconds after complaining about their body. The guinea pig waddling to the kitchen after a cry. They're all over Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and every time they get reshared, they reach more and more people.

They feel harmless. A bit of self-deprecating humour. A relatable giggle. But they're not harmless and in this episode, I explains exactly why.

This one is more of an "I never thought about it like that" episode. No big transformation promised, just an important conversation that needs to be had and yes I am woke and proud of it!

In this episode I cover -

• What diet culture actually is. A system of beliefs that worships thinness and equates it with health and moral virtue. It oppresses people in larger bodies, disproportionately affecting women, people of colour, and people with disabilities and it shows up everywhere, including in those "funny" memes on your feed.
  

• Why these memes are stigmatising, not silly. For the person seeing them, especially someone in a larger body, these images send a clear message: your body is not worthy. Whether they're meant that way or not, the impact is real. It's fat phobia dressed up as a joke.
  

• What it means if you're the one posting them. I’m not here to shame you, I want to know are you okay? When "crying because I'm fat, ordering a Chinese" becomes a running joke, it normalises a cycle of body shame and emotional eating. That cycle can be broken but first it has to be seen for what it is.
  

• Fat isn't a feeling. When someone says they "feel fat," something else is going on underneath. What emotions are actually there? What role is food playing in managing those feelings? These are the questions worth asking and these are the ones that I ask in 1-1 coaching.
  

• What you can actually do about it. Call it out (if you feel safe and comfortable to do so). Educate rather than shame. Mute, block, or report if needed. And start asking: is this kind? One conversation, one meme at a time, that's how diet culture gets reduced.

So next time you see one of these memes or catch yourself about to share one - pause. 

Ask: who is this actually kind to? Then go forth and educate.

Connect with Cara - 

Thanks for joining me today on Chatting with Cara. I hope today's conversation gave you some food for thought!

If you're looking to transform this area of your life I'd love to support you, please get in touch with me using the below links.

Email -  cara@coachingwithcara.co.uk

Website - www.coachingwithcara.co.uk

Facebook - Coaching with Cara

Instagram - @coachingwcara

Ready to explore how we can work together? 

Book a *FREE* no-obligation consultation call to discover what's possible.

Book your call here - https://calendly.com/coachingwcara/call-with-cara

Until next time, keep chatting!

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara is one I've been dying to record for ages because if there's one thing I am, it's a low-key psychology geek. And this topic genuinely lights me up.

Today's episode is for the woman who has everything together. The career, the colour-coded calendar, the kids' clubs, the lot. But who is absolutely exhausted by the constant food noise in her head. If that's you, and I suspect it is, this one's for you.

You're probably type A. 

And type A comes out in your relationship with food in ways that are really, really specific. The control. The rules. The all-or-nothing. The secret Monday resets that nobody sees because from the outside, you look like you've got it all sorted.

I've coached so many women like this. This episode, I talk through two of them Lisa, a teacher who was paralysed at the holiday buffet and living in the exhausting cycle of full control or total chaos. And Sarah, a decades-long dieter who had just hit the peak of her career and finally realised she'd been trying to fix the wrong problem all along. Both of them had their minds blown. Not by more rules. By finally doing something different.

In this episode, we cover the ways type A shows up in your food relationship —

• Using food as a control mechanism. Calorie counting, clean eating, ultra-processed food obsessing, it's not about health, it's about having something to master. The rigidity creates a box to operate in and when you fall out of it, there's nothing in between. Just the binge-restrict cycle on repeat.
  

• Emotional eating at peak life, peak stress. Young kids, aging parents, a career you're pushing hard in, a mental load that's genuinely phenomenal. Food is available, it doesn't talk back, it doesn't want anything from you. It's not weakness. It's an exhausted nervous system reaching for the easiest crutch.
  

• The high-functioning secret struggle. On the outside you're nailing it. On the inside the food thoughts are relentless. And because you excel at everything else, this feels like the one shameful gap which makes it even harder to ask for help.
  

• Hormones making everything feel like personal failure. What worked in your twenties isn't working now and no amount of willpower is going to change that. That's physiology, not failure. But against the backdrop of diet culture telling you it's all about discipline? It sends you deeper into the spiral.
  

• Knowing it all and still not being able to stop. You've read the books. You can explain the binge-restrict cycle. You're listening to this podcast. And yet. The pull back to tracking, to the meal plan, to being more rigid this time, it's still there. Because knowledge isn't the problem.

The answer isn't more rules. It isn't more willpower. It's fixing the actual problem and that's the mindset shift. Living in the grey instead of the all-or-nothing. Introducing mindful eating. Getting the food noise quiet enough that you can just... get on with your life.

If you heard yourself in any of this, book a free 30-minute call here. I know what I'm looking at. I'll hear you, I'll see you, and we'll figure out what's actually going on. It's not scary. And you don't have to keep doing this on your own.

Connect with Cara - 

Thanks for joining me today on Chatting with Cara. I hope today's conversation gave you some food for thought!

If you're looking to transform this area of your life I'd love to support you, please get in touch with me using the below links.

Email -  cara@coachingwithcara.co.ukWebsite - www.coachingwithcara.co.ukFacebook - Coaching with CaraInstagram - @coachingwcara

Ready to explore how we can work together? 

Book a *FREE* no-obligation consultation call to discover what's possible.

Book your call here - https://calendly.com/coachingwcara/call-with-cara

Until next time, keep chatting!

Women’s health deserves better (and here’s how we start fixing it)

This week’s episode of Chatting with Cara is a special one because I’m joined by consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr Laura Bangs and honestly, it’s one of those conversations every woman needs to hear.

We talk about postnatal care, menopause, medical myths, why women’s symptoms are so often dismissed… and what we can actually do about it. Because while the system might be stretched, we don’t have to accept poor care or silence around our health.

Dr Bangs shares her journey leaving the NHS to start her own women’s healthcare company and why empowering women with knowledge is at the heart of everything she does.

This episode isn’t just about ranting about the state of women’s health (though there is some very satisfying ranting). It’s about what you can do right now to advocate for yourself, your friends and the next generation.

•  Stop accepting symptoms as “just how you are.”

Heavy periods. Pelvic pain. Leaking after birth. These things might be common, but they’re not necessarily normal. If something is affecting your quality of life, you deserve answers, treatment, and support.

•  Get informed, knowledge really is power.

  Whether it’s postnatal recovery, perimenopause, or understanding a diagnosis, asking questions and learning about your body is key. You are not wasting your doctor’s time. If you’re worried about something, it matters.

• Be sceptical of social media health claims.

  You can’t “balance your hormones” with a magic supplement. Collagen isn’t the miracle fix influencers promise. Evidence matters. Follow qualified experts, ask questions and don’t let marketing hijack your critical thinking.

• Demand better postnatal and women’s healthcare.

  Postnatal care shouldn’t be a rushed phone call. Birth trauma deserves to be talked about. Women deserve proper checks, proper support, and care that treats them as whole humans, not just an afterthought once the baby arrives.

Women’s health is changing. More women are asking questions, sharing experiences and refusing to suffer in silence.

Every time you book that appointment, ask that question or share this episode with a friend, you’re part of the shift.

Because your health matters. And so does every woman watching you advocate for yourself. 

If you listen and think “I need to chat with Dr Bang’s” then here is how you can find her -

Email -  info@dahliamedical.co.uk

Website - https://www.dahliamedical.co.uk/

Whatsapp - 07754 996975

Instagram - @dahliamedical

Connect with Cara - 

Thanks for joining me today on Chatting with Cara. I hope today's conversation gave you some food for thought!

If you're looking to transform this area of your life I'd love to support you, please get in touch with me using the below links.

Email -  cara@coachingwithcara.co.uk

Website - www.coachingwithcara.co.uk

Facebook - Coaching with Cara

Instagram - @coachingwcara

Ready to explore how we can work together? 

Book a *FREE* no-obligation consultation call to discover what's possible.

Book your call here - https://calendly.com/coachingwcara/call-with-cara

Until next time, keep chatting!

Diet culture can do one (and here's how you help make that happen)

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara is a special one, it's International Women's Day, and if you know me, you know I’m a massive feminist. If I’d been born in the Suffragettes era, I’d have been right there on the front lines. No question.

Last year on International Women's Day I talked about diet culture. This year? I think it's gotten worse. And she's got some thoughts on why (spoiler - Donald Trump gets the blame).

But rather than just ranting about it (though there is some very satisfying ranting), this episode is all about what you can do, at your level, right now to help shift things. Just like recycling and bags for life felt ridiculous at first and are now just... normal life, the same paradigm shift can happen with diet culture. But only if we all start making small changes.

In this episode, we cover four tips for telling diet culture to sod off - 

• Change your language around food. No more "good," "bad," "naughty," "treat," or "clean." Foods aren't moral. Some are more nutritionally dense than others, but no food deserves to be put on a pedestal or demonised. When we use that language, we're feeding into a system that keeps us preoccupied with making ourselves smaller. That's by design.
  

• Stop commenting on other people's bodies. And your own. Don't compliment weight loss. Don't narrate what you're eating on a night out. Don't watch the Kelly Osborne reels or the Wicked cast reels. Scroll past. Don't feed the algorithm, don't give it the views, just keep moving.
  

• Curate your social media and your real-life circle. Unfollow anyone pushing diet culture. Mute them, grow apart from them, whatever works. Follow people for their ideas, their businesses, their parenting content, not for what their body looks like. And if you've got people in your real life who are very appearance-focused or make you feel a bit rubbish? Have a little think about that. Once you know better, you can do better.
  

• Move your body in a way that feels good. Not to sculpt, re-sculpt, tone, or earn your dinner. Legs, bums and tums classes and Pilates sculpt sessions are diet culture in a leotard. Exercise because it feels good mentally and physically, because your body houses your soul, not because you want to change what it looks like.
  

Diet culture is a feminist issue. And every single time you implement one of these four things, you're part of the shift. Tell a friend. Share this episode. The ripple effect is real and the next generation is watching.

Happy International Women's Day. Now let's get to work.

Connect with Cara - 

Thanks for joining me today on Chatting with Cara. I hope today's conversation gave you some food for thought!

If you're looking to transform this area of your life I'd love to support you, please get in touch with me using the below links.

Email -  cara@coachingwithcara.co.uk

Website - www.coachingwithcara.co.uk

Facebook - Coaching with Cara

Instagram - @coachingwcara

#coachingwithcara

This week's episode is a little different, it's a special guest appearance I made on Charlotte Williams' Mindful Monday Marketing and it's such a good one that it deserved its own episode.

In this episode we cover - 

How Cara got to where she is today - From a sports science degree to PT, Pilates, nutrition and now relationship with food coaching. It's been a seven year journey to find the work that truly lights her up. Spoiler - it started with noticing that the clients who did the deep work always got the best results.

Why she moved fully online -  Becoming a mum shifted everything. Moving online meant more flexibility, more sustainability and the freedom to go all in on the coaching work she loves most, one-to-one relationship with food coaching.

What makes her approach different - No "eat this, not that." No pain point marketing. No making people feel rubbish about themselves. Cara's whole philosophy in her coaching and her marketing is about compassion, feeling seen and showing people the way forward rather than making them feel like something is broken.

The marketing conversation that might change how you show up - Charlotte asks Cara about how she markets her business, and what comes out of it is genuinely thought-provoking, why leading with fear and scarcity doesn't serve anyone, and what it looks like to build a "safe space" corner of the internet instead.

Her advice for business owners right now - Stop digging into pain points. Show people what's possible. If everyone did that, the world and the internet would be a better place.

Connect with Cara - 

Thanks for joining me today on Chatting with Cara. I hope today's conversation gave you some food for thought!

You can find Charlotte on Instagram here

If you're looking to transform this area of your life I'd love to support you, please get in touch with me using the below links.

Email -  cara@coachingwithcara.co.uk

Website - www.coachingwithcara.co.uk

Facebook - Coaching with Cara

Instagram - @coachingwcara

#coachingwithcara

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara is about something I see with nearly every client who walks through my door, stress eating. But it's not actually about the food.

I've been collecting client reviews this week (yes, I know I should do them as I go along), and reconnecting with ex-clients has reminded me why I love this work so much. So I wanted to share Sarah's story with you (not her real name, because confidentiality is everything).

If you've ever had a stressful day, dealt with a nightmare boss, wrestled with feral kids, watched your inbox explode and then found yourself in the kitchen eating an entire bag of something without even processing it... yeah. 

You're Sarah. 

And you're exactly who I work with.

In this episode, I talk about - 

• Why stress eating isn't a food problem - it's an emotional regulation problem - The food is a symptom, not the cause. Your nervous system is running at its highest level, you're stressed, maybe a bit isolated or lonely and food is the only thing that seems to soothe you. It works in the moment, then the guilt hits.

• What Sarah was actually dealing with - Burnt out from her job, stressful boss, typical kid chaos and using food to cope with everything. She'd eat without stopping, even though she knew she "should" stop, then beat herself up about willpower.

• The shift that changed everything - Instead of heading to the kitchen, imagine sitting down and actually asking yourself: what's going on with me? Naming the feelings - helpless, frustrated, powerless, overwhelmed and using different tools. Deep breaths. A walk. A cup of tea (without the biscuits). Not white-knuckling it or throwing biscuits in the bin - actual emotional regulation tools.

• The breakthrough moment - Sarah messaged me one Wednesday after a stressful meeting with "that tosser of a boss" and said: "I didn't go to the kitchen to eat. I didn't do it." That's not Instagram-worthy transformation pictures - that's real-life progress. That's an actual shift.

• Where Sarah is now - Still has stressful meetings. Boss is still a tosser. But now she names the feelings, has coping strategies at work, understands the difference between physical hunger and emotional hunger. Her body feels like hers again because she's living in alignment, regulating her emotions, feeling successful around food. And she's still thriving months after we finished working together.

• What this could look like for you - Imagine having one of those overwhelmed days but instead of heading to the snack drawer or fridge, you pause. You name the feeling. You do something helpful for that feeling. No guilt. No shame. No "I'll start Monday." Just calm and in control.

This isn't about meal plans or calorie counting. We go deep in coaching - tackling the root cause. Why you reach for food when you're not hungry. What emotions you're avoiding. How to cope with emotions without food (and wine, because let's be honest, it's half term isn't it?).

If you're nodding along thinking "yeah, that's me, I'm Sarah" - you're exactly who I work with. 

You don't need more willpower. You need to understand what's going on deeper under the surface.

Let's just chat, I offer a free, no-obligation consultation call which you can book here.

No pressure, not a sales pitch, just a nice conversation about what's going on, where you want to be and if coaching is right for you right now.

That version of you seven months down the line? 

She's waiting for you and I can get you there.

Connect with Cara - 

Thanks for joining me today on Chatting with Cara. I hope today's conversation gave you some food for thought!

If you're looking to transform this area of your life I'd love to support you, please get in touch with me using the below links.

Email -  cara@coachingwithcara.co.uk

Website - www.coachingwithcara.co.uk

Facebook - Coaching with Cara

Instagram - @coachingwcara

Subscribe to my newsletter- ⁠here⁠

#coachingwithcara

Why I Can Coach You Through Menopause (Even Though I Haven't Been Through It Myself)

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara tackles a question my 11-year-old stepdaughter Ruby asked me: "How can you tell people what to do if you've never done it yourself?"

Fair question, Ruby. And if she's wondering, I bet you are too.

I'm hosting a No-Nonsense Menopause Workshop on February 28th at TP Fitness in Wem (2-4pm, £30), and this episode breaks down exactly why I'm qualified to guide you through perimenopause and menopause - even though I'm still in my late 30s and haven't experienced it myself.

If you're tired of the noise, the supplements that promise everything, the influencers selling you magic pill, and wondering what actually WORKS for menopause symptoms, this episode cuts through that noise.

In this episode, I talk about - 

• Why evidence-based coaching beats personal experience - I'm a scientist (sports science degree and all). Everything I teach comes from peer-reviewed research, not anecdotal "this worked for me so it'll work for you" advice. No magic gummies here - just facts, figures, and what's statistically proven to help women like you.
  

• The unsexy stuff no one else tells you - Because it doesn't sell supplements or courses. I tell you what actually works, even when it's boring. This is about real solutions, not clickbait.
  

• My track record coaching women through this - I've coached countless women through perimenopause and menopause. I've helped them sleep better, exercise consistently despite fatigue, communicate their emotional needs to partners, overcome brain fog and feel more energetic. I know how to apply the science to real life.
  

• Why I get your life - I'm 38 with a young child, a partner with a demanding job, and I do the majority of cooking, planning, shopping, life admin, washing, hoovering - all while running a business and maintaining a social life. I understand you don't want to cook three meals a night or wake at 4:30am to exercise. I know what your life looks like.
  

• What the workshop actually gives you - A hierarchy of the most important things you need to be doing, where you score yourself 0-10 in each area (sleep, training, nutrition, emotional regulation, supplements), and you leave with a personalised action plan for where to focus your efforts.
  

• The supplements thing - I'll tell you the maximum FIVE supplements you should be taking and help you throw the rest away. This actually saves you money and makes you immune to the golden pill advertising you see on social media.
  

This isn't about selling you something you don't need. It's about giving you evidence-based strategies that actually work for your real life.

If this has resonated with you please come to the No-Nonsense Menopause Workshop on Saturday, February 28th, 2-4pm at TP Fitness, Wem - £30. Perfect whether you're deep in menopause, experiencing perimenopause symptoms, or want to set yourself up for success before it arrives.

Book here - https://www.coachingwithcara.co.uk/themenopauseworkshop 

And if you want one-to-one support implementing what you learn, that's exactly what I do in my coaching - I take your scores and help you apply the science to your actual life.

Book a *FREE* consultation call here - https://calendly.com/coachingwcara/call-with-cara

Message me on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara

Please share this episode with anyone who's perimenopausal, menopausal, or thinking about menopause - and subscribe so new episodes go straight to your library every Friday!

Until next time, thanks team!

#coachingwithcara

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara addresses something a PT said to me over coffee - "Don't you find clients drop off after a bit?"

“No, not my clients”.

If you're tired of the four-week motivation crash, the endless cycle of starting strong and fading out or wondering why nothing seems to stick, this episode is going to completely shift your perspective.

I'm breaking down why relationship with food coaching is fundamentally different from traditional fitness coaching and why my clients actually get MORE invested over time, not less.

In this episode, I talk about -

• The four-week drop-off myth - why traditional PT clients often lose momentum after the initial buzz, but relationship with food coaching works completely differently. It's not about willpower or motivation - it's about deep learning.

• Why my clients love the work - they're learning about themselves, why they do what they do, why they think the way they think. Self-awareness is a form of self-care and once I open their eyes, they can't unsee it. It becomes almost addictive.

• The tools that change everything - food noise, emotional eating, diet culture conditioning, how friends and family talk about food. My clients don't just learn these concepts - they understand them, apply them to their lives and even start coaching others with the same strategies.

• When it becomes natural - it stops being something you're "on track" or "off track" with. It just becomes something you do. And when it becomes natural, it becomes part of your identity. That's where the real transformation happens.

• Real client results - from applying emotional regulation to parenting, to completely transforming how they approach ANY goal (not just weight loss), to leaving food on their plate without guilt, to being free of food noise entirely.

This is the deep self-awareness work that creates lasting change. Once you understand yourself and why you've been running these patterns, you simply don't do it anymore. You build new patterns, new behaviours, and that becomes the new you.

If this has resonated with you -

I currently have space for someone exactly like you. Book a free consultation call where I'll talk you through how I'll help you leave food on your plate without feeling guilty, and achieve your health and fitness goals without restricting or counting calories.

Book your call here - https://calendly.com/coachingwcara/call-with-cara 

Message me on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara if this episode has hit home.

And please subscribe so new episodes go straight to your library every Friday - don't make yourself search for me!

Until next time, thanks team!

This week's episode of Chatting with Cara tackles something I hear constantly - "I'm a boredom eater." 

But here's the truth bomb - you're not actually bored.

If you're standing in the kitchen grazing after dinner, picking at snacks throughout the day or eating while cooking, calling yourself a boredom eater, this episode is going to completely shift your perspective.

I'm breaking down why boredom isn't the real issue and what's actually driving your emotional eating.

In this episode, I talk about -

• The boredom eating illusion - why I haven't met a genuinely bored woman in 20 years. You've got a to do list longer than you are, the mental load of a small country, and constant productivity pressure. Boredom simply isn't the problem.
  

• What's really going on - emotional eating is a coping strategy for numbing, distracting or avoiding. Food is freely available, non-judgmental, doesn't talk back, and you don't need an appointment. But what are you actually avoiding?
  

• The real culprits - are you overwhelmed? Procrastinating? Living misaligned with your values? Avoiding difficult conversations? It's along these lines, not boredom.
  

• Getting to the root cause - once you identify what you're actually numbing, distracting or avoiding, you can tackle that specific thing. The tonic to boredom is doing something, but you already have plenty to do, so we need to find the real tonic for your real issue.
  

• How the pattern breaks - when you address the root cause instead of the surface behaviour, the emotional eating just disappears. You stop thinking about it. You focus on what's actually going on for you and the old coping strategy fades away naturally.

This is the deep self-awareness work that creates lasting change. Once you know yourself and understand why you've been running these patterns for years, you simply don't do it anymore. You build new patterns, new behaviors and that becomes the new you.

If this has resonated with you - 

Join my Mindful Eating Workshop this Saturday, 31st January at TP Fitness in Wem. There's a game-changing emotional eating section that goes into this in much more detail. You can secure your seat here - https://www.coachingwithcara.co.uk/themindfuleatingworkshop 

Or watch the virtual Mindful Eating Workshop back (two hours of transformative workshop). Buy it here and the links will be sent over to you.

Or book a free no obligation consultation for 1-1 coaching where we explore these patterns together through powerful coaching questions that help you find your own answers.

Book your call here.

Message me on Instagram or Facebook at @coachingwithcara if this episode has hit home.

And please subscribe so new episodes go straight to your library every Friday - don't make yourself search for me!

Until next time, thanks team!