MSI Press Blog

Carl and Murjan , at table Carl loved food. Not in the way people love snacks or comfort meals. He loved food like a musician loves sound—deeply, reverently, with curiosity and delight. He grilled with precision, plated with flair, and never met a cuisine he didn’t want to explore. Ethiopian injera, Vietnamese pho, Sicilian caponata—he welcomed them all. Food was his passport, his playground, his poetry. Carl didn’t binge. He didn’t eat to numb or escape. He ate because he loved the taste, the textures, the craftsmanship. He ate like some people chase sunsets or symphonies. It was his feel-good stuff. 🍽️ When Passion Meets Physiology Carl’s appetite was joyful, but it was also relentless. Over time, his body bore the weight of his enthusiasm—literally. He developed health complications, including cancer, and his doctors noted that his size played a role. This isn’t a cautionary tale. It’s a complexity tale. Some people eat to soothe emotions. Others eat to chase flavor. Some ...

  Lent can be a beautiful season of renewal, but for someone who lives with binge eating or a binge‑restrict cycle, it can also feel like a trap disguised as holiness. The Church speaks of fasting, sacrifice, and self‑denial; the disordered mind hears diet culture, control, and the promise of finally “fixing” oneself. It’s a dangerous overlap. Many Catholics give up sweets, snacks, or entire food groups during Lent. For someone with a binge‑eating pattern, that kind of abstinence doesn’t lead to holiness. It leads to the familiar spiral: restrict, white‑knuckle, binge, shame, repeat. One writer described how she used to treat Lent as “yet another diet,” hoping each year that the season would finally force her body into submission. Instead, she gained weight, lost peace, and missed the point entirely. Mental‑health professionals echo the same warning. Lent is a time when unusual food behaviors—skipping meals, avoiding certain foods, pushing through hunger—are socially accepted, ev...

  Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT‑E) is the gold‑standard treatment for binge eating disorder. It helps people understand how restriction, guilt, and distorted beliefs about food and body image keep the binge cycle alive. When it’s used: CBT‑E is often the first‑line approach when binge eating is tied to irregular eating patterns, chronic dieting, or harsh self‑judgment. How it works: Therapy begins by restoring regular eating — three meals and two to three snacks daily — to stabilize hunger and reduce physiological triggers. Then, it helps identify and challenge the thoughts that lead to binges: “I’ve already blown it,” “I’ll start over tomorrow,” or “I can’t control myself.” Expected results: Within 12–20 weeks, most people experience fewer binges, less guilt, and a more balanced relationship with food. The goal isn’t perfection — it’s consistency and self‑trust. image and some content AI-generated This post was inspired by the book, The Optimistic Food Addict...