In this deeply moving and inspiring conversation, Dr. Cristina Castagnini welcomes Haley Schiek, an eating disorder recovery coach and founder of COSANA Coaching, to share her personal journey from years of struggling with anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating to building a life of freedom, purpose, and joy. Haley recounts how childhood bullying, social media pressures, and the cultural obsession with thinness shaped her early sense of self and triggered her eating disorder. She opens up about her healing path—starting with yoga teacher training at just 15, discovering energy work and spiritual connection after college, and ultimately finding peace with her body and food. Together, Haley and Dr. Cristina explore how trauma, systemic pressures, and the “thin ideal” keep so many people trapped in cycles of shame and self-criticism, and why true recovery often requires addressing mind, body, and spirit—not just behavior. This episode is for anyone who has struggled to feel at home in their body, or who is curious about incorporating yoga, mindfulness, and energy work into their recovery process.

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In this inspiring episode, Dr. Cristina Castagnini welcomes Sherry Shaban, Certified Athletic Therapist, Osteopath, Hypnotherapist, and creator of the Make Peace With Food method.

Sherry shares her powerful personal journey from being a competitive athlete, to a life-altering accident that left her in chronic pain, to rediscovering strength, and eventually questioning everything she had been taught about nutrition and fitness.

Through her story, listeners will learn how diet culture and endless cycles of restriction create confusion, fear, and disconnection from the body. Sherry explains how nervous system dysregulation often lies at the root of emotional eating, bingeing, and food fear — and why true healing requires going beyond calories, macros, and meal plans.

Together, Sherry and Dr. Cristina uncover why most diets fail, how fear drives food behaviors, and how cultivating self-compassion and emotional safety can transform not just eating habits, but overall well-being.

This candid conversation offers a refreshing, hopeful approach: healing from the inside out.

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In this special milestone episode, Dr. Cristina Castagnini celebrates the 250th episode of Behind the Bite! Unlike most episodes, today it’s just Dr. Cristina—no guest—reflecting on the journey of this podcast and diving into one of the most insidious forces impacting our body image and relationship with food: media-driven diet culture.

Dr. Cristina unpacks decades of harmful ads, reality TV shows, fashion campaigns, and celebrity influences that have shaped our collective beliefs about health, beauty, and worth. From the infamous “Are You Beach Body Ready?” campaign to The Biggest Loser, Friends, and TikTok diet trends, she reveals how fatphobia has been sold to us through shame, humor, and exclusion.

This raw and passionate solo episode is both a celebration of how far the podcast has come and a call to keep questioning the messages we’re fed. Whether you’ve been here since episode one or are joining for the first time, this episode will empower you to see through the myths, challenge stigma, and reclaim your worth beyond the scale.

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In this powerful and heartfelt conversation, Dr. Cristina Castagnini welcomes back Beatriz (Béa) Victoria Albina, NP, MPH, SEP—nurse practitioner, somatic life coach, and host of the Feminist Wellness Podcast. Béa returns to discuss her upcoming book, End Emotional Outsourcing: A Guide to Overcoming Codependent, Perfectionist, and People-Pleasing Habits (Hachette Balance, Sept. 30).

Béa introduces the term “emotional outsourcing”—her reframe of the outdated concept of codependency. Rather than pathologizing love, care, and connection, she explains how people-pleasing, perfectionism, and self-erasure are survival strategies we once needed to stay safe. Now, however, these patterns keep us disconnected from our authenticity, self-trust, and worth.

Through personal insights, metaphors (like “baby sweaters” and “newborn kitten steps”), and clinical wisdom, Béa and Dr. Castagnini explore how emotional outsourcing is deeply tied to body image, diet culture, and perfectionist pressures. Together, they outline pathways toward reclaiming self-trust, rebuilding body awareness, and setting loving boundaries—so we can live lives rooted in authenticity rather than external validation.

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In this heartfelt and deeply personal episode, Dr. Cristina Castagnini sits down with Danielle Bernock—award-winning author, international speaker, and trauma-informed faith-based self-love coach. Known as “that lady on the internet who loves you,” Danielle courageously shares her journey from childhood shame and emotional neglect to years of battling eating disorders, self-hatred, and trauma—before finding healing, faith, and self-love. Through raw storytelling, Danielle opens up about growing up feeling invisible and unwanted, coping with pain through disordered eating, and the pivotal road trip that set her on a path toward transformation. Together, she and Dr. Castagnini unpack how shame, neglect, and trauma manifest not only in emotions but in the body, leading to physical illness and destructive coping mechanisms. Listeners will hear Danielle’s insights on reclaiming choice as a “superpower,” the importance of safe relationships and community, and how unconditional love—both from others and within ourselves—becomes the foundation for true healing. This powerful conversation reminds us that while trauma shapes us, it doesn’t have to define us. Healing is possible, and self-love is the way forward.

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In this episode, Dr. Cristina Castagnini sits down with therapist, author, and co-founder of the Center for Body Trust, Hilary Kinavey, for a powerful and deeply validating conversation on body trust, midlife transitions, and the complex emotions surrounding menopause and aging.

Hilary shares her personal and professional insights into how diet culture and beauty standards intersect with perimenopause, and how our society’s obsession with thinness, youth, and productivity intensifies body shame during these natural life transitions. The conversation explores the emotional, physiological, and social dimensions of menopause, while inviting listeners to step away from control-based approaches and move toward a more compassionate, liberatory path of healing.

Together, they challenge the dominant narratives of “fixing” the body, especially through diet fads or medications like GLP-1s, and instead call for a return to self-trust, grief work, and embodied wisdom.

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In this episode of 'Behind the Bite,' Dr. Cristina Castagnini explores the often overlooked 'messy middle' phase of therapy and recovery. Drawing from her own experiences and decades of professional expertise, Dr. Cristina Castagnini addresses common misconceptions about healing and emphasizes that progress is a gradual process filled with small, significant steps. She reassures listeners that feelings of confusion, exhaustion, and doubt are normal and crucial parts of the journey towards a better life. Dr. Cristina Castagnini also shares practical insights on recognizing subtle signs of healing and underscores the importance of perseverance and self-compassion. She encourages those in therapy to communicate their struggles openly and to see each step as a movement forward, no matter how challenging it may feel.

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The CBT Rewrite We’ve Been Waiting For: A Weight-Inclusive Path to Eating Disorder Recovery, featuring Drs. Lauren Muhlheim, Jen Averyt, and Shannon Patterson—three psychologists reshaping how we treat eating disorders through a radically inclusive new CBT workbook.

This episode of Behind the Bite, hosted by Dr. Cristina Castagnini, examines the evolution and shortcomings of traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for eating disorders, and unveils a newly developed, radically weight-inclusive CBT workbook. Joined by three expert psychologists—Dr. Lauren Muhlheim, Dr. Jen Averitt, and Dr. Shannon Patterson—the conversation provides insight into how culture, weight stigma, and inclusivity must reshape how clinicians and individuals approach eating disorder recovery.

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