Ep 123- How to Overcome the Fear of Eating More with Sabrina Magnan
June 18, 2026
Today I’m joined by Sabrina Magnan, a Women's Relationship With Food Coach and the host of Live Unrestricted, a podcast dedicated to helping women break free from food obsession and reclaim their lives. Over the past six years, she's worked with hundreds of women to heal their relationship with food and their bodies at the root — not through more rules, but through the nervous system, the subconscious, and identity-level change.
We discussed…
What the nervous system actually is and why it matters so much for your relationship with food
How your body can perceive things like counting calories or eating certain foods as a literal survival threat
What fawn response is and how people-pleasing patterns can quietly drive food behaviors
Why trying harder and doing more is often the exact wrong approach when you're overwhelmed
Why Eating More Feels So Scary
Most people with binge eating have spent years trying to eat less. Restriction starts to feel safe, while eating enough feels dangerous.
Sabrina shares that many of her clients are convinced they eat too much, when in reality they're often undereating for long periods of time. The fear isn't really about food, it's about what they think will happen if they stop controlling it.
The Restriction-Binge Cycle
When your body doesn't get enough food, it adapts.
Hunger cues become stronger.
Food becomes more tempting.
Cravings increase.
Binge urges feel harder to resist.
The binge isn't usually a lack of willpower. It's often your body responding to deprivation.
What Many People Miss
A lot of people focus on stopping binges while continuing to restrict.
But if restriction is creating the urge to binge, then more restriction isn't the solution.
Recovery often requires learning to eat enough consistently—even when that feels uncomfortable at first.
Why Weight Gain Isn't Guaranteed
One of the biggest fears people have is, "If I eat more, I'll gain weight forever."
Sabrina explains that healing your relationship with food isn't about eating endlessly. It's about giving your body enough consistency that it no longer feels the need to overcompensate.
As trust with food grows, hunger and fullness signals become more reliable, and eating starts to feel more natural.
The Discomfort Is Temporary
Eating more after years of restriction can feel wrong.
You may feel:
Uncomfortably full.
Nervous around meals.
Afraid you're doing recovery incorrectly.
That doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong. Sometimes it means you're doing something different than what diet culture taught you.
A Helpful Reframe
Instead of asking:
"What if I gain weight?"
Try asking:
"What is restricting costing me right now?"
For many people, the cost is constant food thoughts, binge eating, guilt, shame, and feeling trapped around food.
Key Takeaway
If you're afraid of eating more, remember that the goal isn't to eat as little as possible. The goal is to build enough trust with food that your body no longer feels the need to binge.
Sometimes the path out of binge eating isn't eating less, it's finally giving your body enough.
Need Support with Binge Urges?
One of the hardest parts of recovery is knowing what to do in the moment when a binge urge hits. That's why I created a free Stop Binge Eating Audio to help you calm the urge, reduce food noise, and build confidence around food.
Download the free guided audio here and use it anytime you feel a binge urge coming on.