So Brian, can you start by introducing yourself and telling people what you do, a little bit about your professional background?

Sure.

Thank you for the introduction.

I am a registered psychotherapist, uh, in, in Toronto, Canada.

I've trained in the deep form of, of, of psychotherapy, so I, I believe I have a depth of understanding around emotionality and some of the unconscious issues that go on as we try to, to lose weight.

I also am someone who has lost 100 pounds and kept it off for almost 14 years.

Of equal importance to that is I overcame two eating disorders that caused the weight fluctuation, so exercise bulimia followed by binge eating disorders.

Of course not.

Why did food addiction speak to you?

Food addiction spoke to me because I had, after I lost weight, I had a food addiction moment which literally changed my life.

I had lost the weight and in that process tapered off of, tapered off of sugars and carbohydrates and didn't really know about food addiction at that time.

This was prior to us meeting Vera through a gentleman named Tony Vassallo.

And I just tapered off because that was what you do to lose weight.

And then I became abstinent for about six or seven weeks.

I just decided that it was the right thing to do.

I'm really curious about how you distinguish between adaptive perfectionism and maladaptive perfectionism in the context of food addiction and eating disorder recovery.

Right.

There's a reason.

One of the things you learn about working with very depressed patients who often believe similar facts about themselves, like I'll always be socially awkward.

I'll never get ahead in a job.

I'll never hold a relationship.

You don't get into an argument with them because they're going to win every time based on fact.

And it's the same thing.

How would you suggest they catch that shame? Like assuming they're they're not working with you or with a therapist? Do you have kind of techniques that you suggest people do at home?