Food Shrinks
Welcome to Food Shrinks, where your hosts— Molly Carmel, Clarissa Kennedy and Molly Painschab - offer candid, compassionate conversations about the realities of food addiction, recovery, and finding freedom with food. In each episode, we dive deep into the challenges people face in their relationship with food, share what we’ve discovered through years of clinical experience, and provide practical tools to help you along your journey. This isn’t just expert advice—it’s real talk among friends. We believe in navigating recovery with honesty, self-compassion, and empowerment, while acknowledging that healing is rarely a straight line. Whether you’re working through diet trauma, learning to trust yourself with food again, or figuring out what eating approach feels right for you, we’re here to support you every step of the way. Tune in for heartfelt conversations, actionable insights, and a safe space to explore what recovery looks like—for you.
Episodes
In this spontaneous and heart-forward episode, Molly C., Clarissa, and Molly P. crack open the resistance so many of us feel toward group work, and why that resistance might be precisely the sign we need more connection, not less.
Together, the trio explores why group healing matters, how co-regulation works, and what it means to feel seen, safe, and mirrored in community. From AA meetings to clinical groups to retreats full of “I-...
The Food Shrinks are back with a spicy, heartfelt conversation about one of the most polarizing tools in the recovery world right now—GLP-1 medications (like Ozempic and Wegovy). In this episode, they tackle the growing buzz (and backlash) around these drugs in eating disorder and food addiction spaces. Are GLP-1s a betrayal of “real” recovery, or can they be a supportive tool for healing?
The hosts spill some behind-the-scenes tea...
In this compelling episode, the Food Shrinks team tackles one of the most used—and deeply harmful—labels in recovery spaces: “chronic relapser.” With both fire and tenderness, the Shrinks dismantle this shame-based term and offer a new way to understand recurrence through the lens of chronic ambivalence, self-compassion, and trauma-informed care.
You’ll hear why language matters, how shame ...
In this deeply honest and layered conversation, The Food Shrinks—Clarissa Kennedy, Molly Carmel, and Molly Painschab— dive into one of the most misunderstood and rarely talked-about experiences in food addiction recovery: volume of whole foods in food addiction recovery. What begins as a casual check-in quickly becomes a masterclass on the biological, psychological, and emotional roots of overeating.
🔍 What you’ll learn:
🌸Volume ...
In this vulnerable and fiery episode, the Shrinks crack open a raw conversation about what happens when you dare to speak your truth in a world that’s not always ready to hear it. Molly C. shares the emotional fallout of going viral on TikTok — and getting slammed for it. What started as a conversation about food boundaries quickly turned into a deep dive on childhood bullying, impostor syndrome, clinical appea...
Feeling like you're slogging through sludge in your recovery? You're not alone. In this vulnerable and validating episode, the Shrinks get real about what to do when the motivation to stay on track just… isn’t there. From functional freeze to emotional flatness, we unpack what it means when everything feels like too much—even when you know what to do.
We explore:
- Read more
In this episode, the Food Shrinks crew explores a powerful, overlooked concept: fragilization. From personal stories to real recovery insights, the team explores how treating ourselves—or others—as too delicate can actually stall growth, deepen shame, and keep us stuck.
Whether it’s in addiction recovery, mental health, or just day-to-day life, fragilization can quietly shape how we show up...
Welcome to the Food Shrinks podcast! In this heartfelt and honest episode, the Food Shrinks team dives into a powerful listener-submitted question: What happens when the people, places, and things that once brought us comfort no longer fit in our healing and recovery journey?
This week, we explore the grief and growth that come with outgrowing relationships, hobbies, environments, and identities that once felt like home.
You’ll hea...
In this powerful episode, we tackle a question that resonates deeply for so many in recovery: "Why can’t I stay off sugar, even after a life-threatening diagnosis?"
We received a heartfelt listener question from someone who has been struggling with sugar addiction for years—even after a cancer diagnosis. This sparked a deep, honest conversation about the nature of addiction, why even fear or facts aren't always enough to inspire ch...
In this episode:
Clarissa opens up about a deeply personal and challenging season in her life—navigating grief, fear, and emotional overwhelm as unexpected hardships pile up. From her puppy's serious health concerns to her mother’s cancer recurrence, Clarissa vulnerably shares what it’s like to face wave after wave of uncertainty.
The Food Shrinks dive into what happens when emotional pain feels relentless, and all the usual tools ...
In this thought-provoking episode of Food Shrinks, we challenge the concept of self-sabotage and explore a radical reframe—what if it’s not sabotage at all, but an attempt at protection? Join us as we unpack the deeper, more compassionate understanding of behaviors that are often mislabeled as sabotage. Together, we discuss how our brains are wired for survival, not destruction, and how unmet need...
In today’s episode, we dive deep into a thought-provoking listener question: Will there always be something waiting in the wings to take the place of old addictive patterns?
Molly C. shares a personal experience about her resolution to avoid blue light before bed—and how she noticed an urge to watch TV after a fun night out. This sparks a rich discussion on self-awareness, nervous system regulation, and th...
In this episode, Molly C, Molly P, and Clarissa dive deep into the feeling of being "othered"—that sense of not quite fitting in, even among close friends or trusted spaces.
We explore:
✅ The fear of being too different—what happens when our thoughts, experiences, or intuition don’t align with those around us
✅ The connection between feeling othered and food behaviors—how discomfort leads to numbing or binging
✅ The armor we put up...
In this episode of Food Shrinks, we’re shaking things up! With one shrink missing, we dive into how we handle scheduling conflicts as a team and the importance of open, honest conversations in problem-solving. Then, we transition into a powerful discussion about a common struggle in food addiction recovery: sneaking, hiding, and lying about food.
We explore how secrecy and shame amplify dopamine release, m...
In this insightful and heartfelt episode of Food Shrinks, we explore the complex relationship between hormones, perimenopause, and food addiction recovery. Inspired by listener questions, we share our journeys, client experiences, and the science behind hormonal changes—whether you're still cycling, in perimenopause, or navigating menopause.
🌿 In This Episode:
🧘 Hormones and Recovery: How shifts during the menstrual cycle, per...
In this episode of Food Shrinks, Molly C. shares a significant life shift—she's entirely off social media! Coming back from a retreat, she realized how much screen time was impacting her nervous system, focus, and ability to engage with life. She opens up about the moment she knew she had to step away, the withdrawal symptoms she experienced, and how she transitioned off social media with the help of the Freedom app.
<...In this episode of Food Shrinks, we dive into an important question: When do we need to go deeper than recovery coaching, and when is it enough to stay at that level?
🔑Key Topics Discussed:
Read more
In this episode, Molly, Clarissa, and Molly (aka The Food Shrinks) dive deep into healthy conflict resolution and how it impacts relationships, recovery, and our connection with food. Through personal stories, the hosts share their challenges and breakthroughs when it comes to communication, boundaries, and repair.
📌 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Molly’s 2025 Resolution
🩷Why she’s committing to ending people-pleasing and lea...
In this candid and impromptu episode of The Food Shrinks, Molly Carmel, Clarissa Kennedy, and Molly Painschab dive deep into their personal experiences with psychedelics, focusing on their potential as tools for emotional and psychological healing. From ketamine-assisted therapy to psilocybin journeys, the hosts share raw insights into their transformative—yet challenging—experiences. This conversation emphasizes the importance of ...
Today the Food Shrinks unpack what "diet culture vultures" represent in the context of diet culture and self-help programs, emphasizing the importance of self-determination and how to recognize manipulative tactics in various industries, including healthcare, food recovery, and coaching. This honest conversation also explores personal vulnerabilities, the importance of critical thinking, and the need to trust one’s inner wisdom.
K...
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