Food Junkies Podcast

In this episode of Food Junkies, Dr. Vera Tarman and Clarissa Kennedy sit down with Brian Baumal, a registered psychotherapist based in Toronto and owner of Aliva Psychotherapy, where he specializes in weight management, eating disorders, food addiction, and psychological support for bariatric surgery patients. Brian trained at the Gestalt Institute of Toronto and has been a licensed member of the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario since 2015. He's also a food addict in long-term recovery, having lost 100 pounds and kept it off for over 14 years.
Brian shares the moment that changed his understanding of food addiction forever — an intense, addictive reaction to a piece of chocolate at a holiday party that made him realize this was on an entirely different scale than an ordinary craving. From there, the conversation dives deep into perfectionism: how shame and diet culture create an idealized, unrealistic self-image; the difference between adaptive perfectionism (using structure and tools in service of recovery) and toxic or maladaptive perfectionism (an all-or-nothing mindset that treats any slip as total failure); and how perfectionism can quietly become a "runaway train," redirecting obsessive focus from food onto weight, exercise, or other behaviors.
Brian also explains how he uses a Gestalt therapy lens — treating what shows up in the room between therapist and client as the material for the work itself — to help clients build individualized, flexible recovery plans instead of rigid, punishment-driven rules. The group discusses distinguishing an addictive relapse from a psychological or shame-based slip, the role of relapse plans and "gathering data" after a slip, and why using tools (scales, timers, structure) isn't a sign of weakness but a sustainable part of long-term recovery.
The episode closes with Brian's reflections on chairing the Sugar and Food Addiction Professionals Network, a free Facebook community of nearly 200 food addiction professionals offering training, research updates, and access to leading voices in the field.
Topics Covered
Brian's personal food addiction story and his "aha moment" with chocolate at a holiday party
What Gestalt therapy is and how it approaches defense mechanisms relationally
How shame and diet culture create unrealistic, idealized self-images
Adaptive vs. maladaptive (toxic) perfectionism in recovery
Perfectionism as a "runaway train" — when focus shifts from food to weight, exercise, or other behaviors
Distinguishing an addictive relapse from a shame-driven psychological slip
Building individualized, flexible abstinence and relapse plans
Using tools (scales, timers, structure) without turning them into self-punishment
Vulnerability factors: trauma, family food dynamics, anxious or over-controlled personality styles
Adaptive perfectionism as flexibility, not the absence of high standards
The Sugar and Food Addiction Professionals Network on Facebook
Connect with Brian Baumal
Website: Aliva Psychotherapy — https://alivapsychotherapy.com/
WORKSHOP LINKS:
🚨Curious why cravings hit harder some days than others? Viktoria Hamma's two-part Circadian Rhythms & Red Light Therapy workshop breaks down the biology behind your body's internal clock and shows you exactly how morning light, meal timing, and red light therapy can work with your recovery instead of against it.
Grab your spot for Part 1: https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/circadian-rhythm-and-red-light-therapy-educations
And Part 2: https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/circadian-rhythms-red-light-therapy-part-2-understanding-your-body-s-internal-clock
 
The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

CJ welcomes Lara, a former professional soccer player from Iceland, for a powerful and deeply honest conversation about food addiction and recovery. Lara began struggling with food at a very young age and recognized early that it was beginning to take over her life, even while competing as an elite athlete. She speaks with remarkable transparency about her experiences, their impact on her, and the path she has taken toward healing. Lara's willingness to share is so profound that she even wrote a book about her journey. CJ found her story fascinating and truly loved talking with her.
If you're considering personalized assistance, CJ, a Certified Addiction Professional specializing in Food Addiction, is here for one-on-one coaching. Reach out to CJ at cjnguy@myfoodaddictioncoach.com 
Interested in sharing your recovery story on our show? We'd love to hear from you! Please email FJRecoverystories@gmail.com

📢 A quick announcement from the Food Junkies team: For the first time, we're moving to a new release schedule — new episodes every other week, still featuring one Recovery Story each month. We'll share more about this decision in our next Clinician's Corner. Whether you've been with us from the beginning or just found us, thank you. This is also the perfect time to dive into our archive of hundreds of conversations with experts, clinicians, researchers, and people with lived experience. Our next episode launches on July 17th.

About Today's Guest
Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson is a cognitive psychologist with expertise in the psychology of eating and the founder and CEO of Bright Line Eating, a global program for abstinence-based recovery from ultra-processed food addiction and long-term weight management. She is an adjunct associate professor in Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the University of Rochester and the author of Bright Line Eating, ReZoom, On This Bright Day, The Official Bright Line Eating Cookbook, and her newest book, Maintain.
In 2025, Susan published a study in Frontiers in Psychiatry reporting six-year outcomes from the Bright Line Eating program that suggest an abstinence-based food addiction recovery approach can support clinically meaningful, long-term weight loss.
In This Episode
Vera and Clarissa sit down with Susan to unpack her research, her personal recovery story, and the deeper psychology of maintenance. Topics include:
Susan's journey from drug addiction to food addiction recovery — and why she found the food harder to quit
How Bright Line Eating began, and why so many people won't walk into a 12-step room
The honest story behind ReZoom: Susan's own break-and-resume cycles while leading a recovery movement
The six-year follow-up study: methodology, sample, limitations, and what the numbers actually show
How outcomes compare to published GLP-1 (semaglutide) data at long-term follow-up
Why simply learning about the addictiveness of sugar and flour may "inoculate" people against further weight gain
The four Bright Lines: sugar, flour, meals, quantities
Who did best at six years — and the surprising role of morning accountability calls
GLP-1 medications in food addiction recovery: Susan's "pro-choice" stance, the promise, the unknowns, and why we shouldn't pathologize medication for a brain-based disease
The tension between weight loss outcomes and addiction symptom recovery — and protecting listeners in larger bodies who are doing everything "right"
Lipedema: the under-recognized condition affecting an estimated 11% of women that doesn't respond to dietary intervention
The three identity shifts in Maintain: becoming devoted, resourced, and liberated
Grief work: why letting go of foods (and food-centered traditions) is a real loss that deserves real mourning
Finish-line anxiety and the fear of liberation — who am I without the food and weight struggle?
Willpower, habit stacking, and designing a life that works even on your worst day
What's next for Susan: an alternative memoir about the dopamine-dominant brain
Connect with Susan Peirce Thompson
Website: https://brightlineeating.com
Books: Bright Line Eating, ReZoom, On This Bright Day, The Official Bright Line Eating Cookbook, and Maintain
The Food Junkies Podcast
Hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Clarissa Kennedy, and Molly Painschab — real conversations about food addiction, recovery, and the science that supports both.
✉️email us at foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com 
Circadian Rythms and Food Addiction Workshop with Viktoria Hamma
🔗Part 1: https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/circadian-rhythm-and-red-light-therapy-educations
🔗Part 2: https://sweetsobriety.newzenler.com/courses/circadian-rhythms-red-light-therapy-part-2-understanding-your-body-s-internal-clock
The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

In this episode, Dr. Vera Tarman sits down with world-renowned nephrologist, researcher, and New York Times bestselling author Dr. Jason Fung to explore one of the most pressing questions in the food addiction community: Is fasting safe for the food addict?
Dr. Fung's latest book, The Hunger Code: Resetting Your Body's Fat Thermostat in the Age of Ultra-Processed Food, challenges the calorie-centric model of obesity and offers a deeper, more honest look at why we eat the way we do — and what it actually takes to change.
In this episode, you'll hear:
Why the calories in/calories out model fails — and what the hormonal model of obesity actually means
The three types of hunger driving overeating: homeostatic, hedonic, and conditioned hunger — and why the social and emotional components may account for 90% of our eating behavior
How ultra-processed foods are engineered to hijack the brain's reward system — and why that matters for food addicts
The difference between fasting and starvation — and why the mindset behind fasting changes everything
The dangers of using fasting as a punishment after a binge — and how to use it safely and intentionally instead
Why a low-carb, higher-fat diet makes fasting more sustainable for people coming out of binge cycles
Dr. Fung's honest take on GLP-1 medications like Ozempic — the benefits, the limitations, and why they're not the whole answer
What Japan and Italy get right about eating culture that the U.S. has lost
Why public policy — not just personal willpower — must be part of the solution to ultra-processed food addiction
 
About Dr. Jason Fung:
Dr. Jason Fung is a Toronto-based nephrologist and one of the world's leading experts on therapeutic fasting and low-carb nutrition. He is the bestselling author of The Obesity Code, The Diabetes Code, The Cancer Code, and his newest release, The Hunger Code. He is also the co-founder of The Fasting Method, a coaching program helping people reverse obesity and type 2 diabetes through hormonal and lifestyle approaches.
🔗 Learn more at thefastingmethod.com
The Food Junkies Podcast is hosted by Dr. Vera Tarman, Molly Painschab, and Clarissa Kennedy — dedicated to exploring the science, stories, and solutions behind ultra-processed food use disorder.
🎙️ Subscribe, rate, and review wherever you listen to podcasts.
✉️ Email us at foodjunkiespodcast@gmail.com
The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede your healthcare provider's professional relationship and direction. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

CJ is joined today by Keren, a vibrant young woman whose passion for recovery and love of life shine through in everything she does. With an infectious enthusiasm and deep gratitude for her journey, Keren is dedicated to sharing her experience, strength, and hope with others who may be struggling. Her commitment to helping people has even inspired her to launch her own YouTube channel, where she openly documents her recovery journey and encourages others to keep going. Full of energy, honesty, and heart, Keren brings a refreshing perspective to the conversation and reminds us all that recovery can be filled with purpose, joy, connection, and hope.
If you're considering personalized assistance, CJ, a Certified Addiction Professional specializing in Food Addiction, is here for one-on-one coaching. Reach out to CJ at cjnguy@myfoodaddictioncoach.com 
Interested in sharing your recovery story on our show? We'd love to hear from you! Please email FJRecoverystories@gmail.com