Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads

Podcast for Mental Health Insights, Compassion, and Friendship

This episode is Live Today

👋Hey beautiful humans,

We’ve got a powerful episode for you this week—one that’s going to hit close to home for anyone who’s ever turned to food for comfort, stress relief, or just to fill the void.

📅 Episode drops: Thursday, 9/25/25 at 3 AM ET

We’re joined by Dr. Nina Savelle-Rocklin, a psychoanalyst, author, and host whose work is reshaping the way we think about binge eating and emotional health. If you’ve ever thought “I just don’t have enough willpower”—this one’s for you.

💡 Mental Health Quote

“Be curious, not critical. If you’re turning to food, you’re turning away from something else.” — Dr. Nina

🚗 What’s Up with G-Rex & Dirty Skittles

G-Rex admitted to taking down six Dunkin’ donuts in three hours (no shame, just real talk).
Dirty Skittles shared her lifelong struggle with turning comfort food into binge food.
Together? They found themselves nodding along to Dr. Nina’s “food-mood formula” and realizing just how much of our eating is about everything but food.

💸 Grab Your Free $20 Wellness Credit from Maavee

We’ve partnered with Maavee, a wellness platform doing amazing things in mental health.

How to claim:

Click: https://lnk.gomaavee.com/inourheads
Use activation code: STG20 (required to unlock the credit)
Download the app + explore

📝 Podcast Reflection Worksheet

Why it matters: This worksheet helps you connect cravings to triggers so you can spot patterns before the binge hits.
👉 Podcast Worksheet _09_25_25_Dr. Nina on Binge Eating, Emotional Triggers, and Mental Health Recovery.pdf

📖 Episode Description

Some episodes teach. Others transform. This one does both.

In this heartfelt conversation, Dr. Nina opens up about her personal journey from being, in her words, the “poster child for eating disorders,” to becoming a psychoanalyst who now helps others reclaim their lives. She shares how her own recovery happened in an unexpected way—through therapy that never even mentioned food—revealing that the real work was always about healing her relationship with herself.

She takes us inside the hidden emotional roots of binge eating: the perfectionism, the self-criticism, and the belief that being “too much” makes us unlovable. Food, she explains, isn’t the enemy. It’s the coping mechanism we use when feelings feel unbearable. By reframing food as a signal rather than a failure, she helps us see that cravings carry messages about what we truly need.

One of the most powerful tools she offers is her food-mood formula, which connects the types of foods we crave with the emotions underneath:

Smooth & creamy = craving comfort
Crunchy = unspoken anger
Filling = loneliness or a missing piece in life
Sweet = yearning for more joy

Dr. Nina doesn’t stop with theory—she grounds her insights in real client stories, from the woman who thought ice cream was her addiction only to discover unresolved grief about her sister, to G-Rex’s own moment of clarity when six donuts turned out to be about business stress, not hunger.

She also offers practical tools for shifting self-talk, spotting emotional triggers, and replacing self-criticism with compassion. By the end of the episode, it’s clear her mission isn’t about controlling what’s on your plate. It’s about helping you stop beating yourself up—and start asking the deeper question: What’s eating at me?

👩‍⚕️ Meet Our Guest — Dr. Nina Savelle-Rocklin

Dr. Nina Savelle-Rocklin is a nationally recognized psychoanalyst, author, and podcast host who has become one of the leading voices in understanding the psychology of eating. Her signature message, “It’s not what you’re eating, it’s what’s eating at you,” has resonated with audiences around the world, with listeners in 57 countries tuning in to her work.

As the founder of The Binge Cure Method, Dr. Nina has guided countless people struggling with emotional eating to find lasting food freedom—without diets, calorie counting, or shame. Her approach helps individuals identify hidden emotional triggers, transform their self-talk, and replace self-criticism with compassion, so they can finally feel at home in their bodies.

Her expertise comes not only from years of clinical practice, but also from her own lived experience. Once describing herself as the “poster child for eating disorders,” she spent 15 years trapped in cycles of restriction, bingeing, and self-loathing. It wasn’t until she entered therapy for anxiety—never even mentioning food—that she discovered the truth: food was never the problem. It was the solution to deeper emotional pain. This breakthrough shaped her life’s work and ignited her passion for helping others break free.

Dr. Nina holds a doctorate in psychology and has authored multiple books, including The Binge Cure: 7 Steps to Outsmart Emotional Eating and its companion journal. She has contributed to leading publications such as Psychology Today, the National Eating Disorders Association, and Psyche Online. Her insights have been featured on The Dr. Drew Podcast and numerous media outlets. She also hosted The Dr. Nina Show on LA Talk Radio for six years and now reaches audiences worldwide through her live podcast, The Binge Cure with Dr. Nina.

Beyond her professional work, Dr. Nina is a devoted mother of two daughters, an advocate for adoption, and a passionate supporter of animal welfare organizations. She also serves on the board of Rose City Center, a nonprofit dedicated to providing accessible psychoanalytic therapy to underserved communities in California.

Dr. Nina’s life is a testament to resilience, transformation, and the power of facing what’s truly eating at us. Her mission is clear: to help people everywhere find peace with food, peace with themselves, and the freedom to live fully.

🌐 Website: drninainc.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/drnina4help

💬 From the Conversation

🍩 Food, Feelings & Freedom
What if binge eating isn’t about food at all—but about the hidden emotions we haven’t learned to face? Dr. Nina pulls back the curtain on why “comfort food” feels like love, why crunchy cravings often hide unspoken anger, and how childhood messages like “you’re too much” can quietly morph into lifelong battles with body image.

🧠 Emotional Roots of Eating
From her own history as the “poster child for eating disorders” to her patients’ stories, Dr. Nina reminds us: food is never the enemy. It’s the solution we’ve learned to reach for when the pain feels unbearable.

💬 Owning Your Story
Rather than shaming ourselves for overeating, Dr. Nina challenges us to get curious: What’s eating at me? Success, she says, isn’t about resisting the donut—it’s about noticing why you want it in the first place.

🫀 Quote That Stuck with Us
“Be curious, not critical. If you’re turning to food, you’re turning away from something else.” — Dr. Nina

🎙️ Real Talk from the Hosts
“When Dr. Nina explained that my donut binge was really about stress in my business, it floored me. It wasn’t weakness—it was a signal.” – G-Rex

“I’ve always thought of comfort food as harmless, but she helped me see that my spiral isn’t about willpower. It’s about unmet needs.” – Dirty Skittles

📓 Reflection Prompts to Sit With

What food do you crave most—and what emotion might it represent?
How do you talk to yourself when you “slip up”? Could shifting to I statements soften the blow?
Where in your life are you “filling a void” with food—or something else?

🌱 Gentle Reminder
Your cravings aren’t failures. They’re clues. Healing begins not with willpower, but with compassion for the parts of you still hungry for comfort, love, and understanding.

✨ Key Takeaways

Food is never the problem—it’s the solution to an emotional need.
Our cravings (smooth, crunchy, filling, sweet) are emotional codes waiting to be cracked.
Second-person self-talk (“You’re gross”) is often a leftover voice from critics in our past. Switching to first-person (“I feel…”) changes everything.
Healing from binge eating isn’t about willpower—it’s about self-compassion and curiosity.
Success = noticing the why behind the craving, not punishing yourself for it.

✅ Actionable Takeaways

Next time you crave comfort food, ask: What do I really need right now?
Try Dr. Nina’s “food-mood formula” to decode cravings before they become binges.
Swap “you” for “I” in your self-talk—and notice the shift.
Write down one non-food way to comfort yourself (call a friend, take a walk, journal).
Practice curiosity: replace “What’s wrong with me?” with “What’s eating at me?”

💬 Listener Engagement

We’d love to know: what’s your “comfort food” and what might it really be telling you?
Reply to this email or tag us on IG @grex_and_dirtyskittles.

⭐️ Subscribe, Rate & Review

Help us grow the pod and keep these vital stories in the spotlight 🌟
Leave a review on your favorite platform—it really does make a difference.

🎯 Closing Remarks

Food is not your enemy. It’s a mirror, reflecting what’s happening inside. And if you take one thing from this episode, let it be this: you are not broken, you are not weak, and you are not alone.

Healing doesn’t come from willpower or restriction—it comes from compassion, curiosity, and the courage to sit with what’s really going on beneath the surface. Every craving, every urge, every late-night kitchen trip is a chance to ask yourself a deeper question: What am I really needing right now?

Wherever you are in your journey—whether you’re still in the struggle, taking your first step, or celebrating freedom—your story matters. Your healing matters. And so do you.

We’re grateful to walk this path with you, one conversation at a time. Keep being kind to yourself. Keep choosing curiosity over criticism. And remember: you are worthy of love, joy, and peace exactly as you are, right now.

With all our love,
G-Rex & Dirty Skittles
Changing the way we talk about mental health, one real convo at a time.