Episode 39

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Published on:

18th Nov 2025

Jessica Setnick on Food, Trauma & the Stories We Carry (Part 2)

Eating disorder dietitian Jessica Setnick returns for Part 2, and we go straight into the intersections of trauma, food, grief, and the stories we’re still unconsciously living by.

Jessica breaks down food as a mood-altering chemical, why bingeing or restricting often starts as survival, and how childhood chaos gets wired into adult patterns. Sacha shares her own post-op anger and a childhood food memory that suddenly makes perfect sense.

We explore how shame hijacks behavior, how regret opens the door to change, and why seeing parents’ reactions through the lens of fear can rewrite your whole internal narrative.

🧭 In This Episode

  • How nervous system wiring shows up in food patterns
  • Food as self-medication
  • Shame vs. regret — emotional chemistry explained
  • Grief after losing coping tools (hello, bariatric journey)
  • Why some food memories feel “random” but aren’t
  • How kids internalize adult fear

🪞 Key Takeaways

  • Your eating patterns are survival strategies, not failures.
  • Shame thrives in secrecy; curiosity dismantles it.
  • Removing food coping brings suppressed emotions forward.
  • “I’m too much” or “I’m not enough” often started with someone else’s fear.
  • Compassion for the younger you is a power move.

⚠️ Content Note

Themes of trauma, grief, parental conflict, shame, emotional coping, body image, and weight stigma. Sensitive topics handled gently.

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Keywords

Jessica Setnick, trauma healing, emotional eating, food coping, grief, nervous system, subconscious behaviors, shame, regret, weight stigma, body narrative, survival strategies, inner child

🎧 In Part 3, Jessica dismantles the harmful simplicity of “eat less, move more,” exposes how weight stigma in healthcare causes real harm, and shares scripts for advocating for yourself. We also get into family food dynamics and small language shifts that reduce shame.

👉 Make sure you’re subscribed to The High-Functioning Disaster so you don’t miss this next chapter.

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About the Podcast

The High-Functioning Disaster
High-functioning on the outside. Hot mess on the inside.
You’ve got the color-coded calendar, the competent job persona, the “I’m fine!” mask down to an art—and a mental load heavy enough to throw out your back. Meanwhile, life? That's a hot mess express—total chaos with zero chill and a full tank of emotional baggage. And what makes it even worse? Nearly no one’s talking about it.

Welcome to The High-Functioning Disaster, a podcast for people who are doing their best to hold it together while navigating burnout, grief, trauma, anxiety, caretaking duties, family drama, body image issues, and a to-do list that never quits.

Host Sacha Holder isn’t the disaster (neither are you!)—life is. And this show is about making space for that truth and giving ourselves permission to say it out loud. Every week, Sacha explores what it means to be deeply human in a world that keeps demanding more. Sometimes she’s flying solo, sometimes she brings along guests and friends—but the vibe is always real, raw, unfiltered, and grounded in radical self-acceptance and permission to be human.

We talk boundaries. Body image. Mental health. Emotional labor. The moments where everything feels like too much—and the ones where we catch our breath and keep going.

This isn’t a self-help podcast. It’s a self-permission podcast.
Permission to be exhausted.
To not have it together.
To be honest about what’s hard—without needing to package it as a “lesson.”

Because you don’t need fixing.
You need space to fall apart—and still be seen.
Because some of us are just trying to make it through the day.
And here? That’s more than enough.
New episodes every Monday. Come as you are. Seriously.
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About your host

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Sacha Holder

Sacha Holder is a project manager, podcast host, and bariatric patient who’s not here to pretend it’s all perfect. With over a decade of professional experience and a whole lot of lived experience, she creates podcasts that tell the truth about what it means to live, heal, and grow — through chaos, and curveballs, while keeping it together (mostly).

She’s the voice behind Life in the Bari Lane, a bite-sized bariatric podcast for real people navigating post-op life, and The High-Functioning Disaster, a show about showing up even when everything feels like too much. Through humor, honesty, and zero judgment, Sacha builds community through conversation — because no one should have to figure it out alone.