Rethinking Food, Behavior, and Choice with Briana TherouxRethinking Food, Behavior, and Choice with Briana Theroux
Audio/Video – The Freedom Model For Addictions
Conversation with coach and eating psychology expert Briana Theroux about how beliefs, shame, and choice shape food and alcohol habits. The hosts and Briana discuss high-functioning adults with hidden compulsive behaviours and share alternative ideas to 12-step approaches focused on internal control and honest trade-offs.
31:33•5 May 2026
Rethinking Food, Alcohol, and Habit Change with Coach Briana Theroux
Episode Overview
- Habits around food, alcohol, and other behaviours often persist because people believe they are gaining benefits, even when the costs are obvious.
- Shame and guilt can block honest self-assessment, so removing harsh self-judgement is crucial for real change.
- Seeing yourself as having an internal locus of control, rather than being powerless, supports lasting behavioural change.
- All-or-nothing thinking traps many high achievers; learning to accept trade-offs and the “grey areas” of life can ease pressure and reduce compulsive use.
- Changing the stories attached to things like comfort food or nightly drinks can shift what you genuinely want, so you no longer feel deprived.
“You have control over your hands. You have thoughts inside of your head.”
What makes a recovery story truly inspiring? This conversation with Certified Freedom Model Coach and eating psychology specialist Briana Theroux gives a fresh angle on alcohol, food, and habit change that might surprise you. Hosts Michelle Dunbar and Mark Sheeran chat with Briana about her path from growing up around heavy substance use, to working in health and nutrition, to becoming a Freedom Model coach.
She explains how so many of her clients “know what to do, they just can’t apply it,” especially around food, alcohol, and other compulsive behaviours like gambling or overworking. Briana talks about working mainly with high-achieving adults over 40 whose lives look successful on the surface yet are weighed down by “soul-crushing” habits. She links binge eating, heavy drinking, and similar patterns through one simple idea: people keep doing what they believe benefits them.
As Mark puts it, humans are “always, and I mean always, moving in the direction of what they believe benefits them personally at that moment.” Instead of blaming biology or “powerless” labels, Briana focuses on beliefs, shame, and honest trade-offs. With food, she rejects the idea that people are at the mercy of cravings: “You have control over your hands.
You have thoughts inside of your head.” She helps clients unpack what they think a habit is giving them, strip away shame, and build an internal sense of control. There’s plenty here for anyone rethinking alcohol or other habits: discussion of all-or-nothing thinking, the limits of 12-step style programmes, and why picturing a future self that feels proud and in integrity can be a powerful motivator.
If you’ve ever felt like a high-functioning success on paper but secretly stuck in cycles you hate, this conversation might be the nudge that helps you question those stories and choose something better. Where could you start rewriting your own script today?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.
Related Episodes
Similar episodes from other shows in the catalogue.