Episode Details

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Glenn Livingston — veteran psychologist, author of Defeat Your Cravings, and former CEO of a multi-million-dollar consulting firm that worked with Fortune 500 food and pharmaceutical companies before he turned away from that work to help people fight the very industry he once served.

His research and theories have been featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and Sky News, and he's been interviewed on over 300 podcasts.

Glenn brings something rare to the recovery space: decades on the inside of the food system that engineers cravings, paired with his own lifelong personal struggle with binge eating and a self-funded study involving over 40,000 participants. His approach is rooted not in willpower or restriction, but in simple, bright-line personal rules that take the decision out of the moment of temptation.

Here's what we cover in the episode:

What it was actually like consulting for Big Food and Big Pharma — and the moment Glenn realized he was on the wrong side of the war

Why he believes there's real "evil" built into parts of the food system, engineered by rocket scientists to hit the bliss point in the brain — and why the responsibility to navigate it still falls on each of us

Glenn's own decades-long journey through Overeaters Anonymous, therapy, and medication — and why healing his self-hatred never actually stopped the bingeing

The "food monster" — Glenn's term for the part of the brain that rationalizes, minimizes, and talks you into "just this once," and how it mirrors the tactics companies use to sell you their products

How to extinguish cravings that feel "irresistible" — and how to recover faster when you do slip

His single best piece of advice for getting started: pick one rule so simple you can follow it even on your worst day, and let the identity shift do the rest

00:00 – Opening: "There's Evil in the Food System"

00:40 – Meet Dr. Glenn Livingston

02:09 – His Own Battle with Binge Eating Begins

03:18 – Marriage, Grad School & the Weight Creeping In

04:03 – Growing Up in a Family of Psychotherapists

04:30 – Overeaters Anonymous & the Therapeutic Route

05:25 – Consulting for Big Food & Big Pharma

06:05 – How the Food Industry Engineers Cravings

07:31 – The Reptilian Brain & the Science of Food Addiction

09:23 – Why Willpower Fails During a "Survival Emergency"

10:21 – His Self-Funded Study of 40,000 People

11:11 – What Chocolate, Salty & Soft Foods Reveal About Stress

11:58 – Calling His Mom: The Bosco Syrup Origin Story

14:05 – The Voice of Justification (Why Self-Love Wasn't Enough)

15:08 – Birth of "The Inner Pig" & His First Rule

16:40 – Rational Refutations: Talking Back to the Craving

18:33 – Losing 80 Pounds and Getting Divorced

19:18 – Turning His Journal Into a Book

20:36 – The 2023 Insight That Combined Self-Care with Rules

22:02 – Life After Recovery: When the "Food Noise" Goes Quiet

23:26 – The Extinction Curve, Explained

26:25 – The Caveman, the Monkey & the Banana Tree

30:16 – Should You Abstain or Moderate?

31:28 – Why Cravings Are Tied to Specific Places, Not Just Food

32:59 – The 30-Exposure Rule & "Just-in-Time" Refutations

36:21 – Renaming the "Inner Pig" to the "Food Monster"

39:02 – Is There Really "Evil" in the Food System?

40:02 – Why Less Processed Food Beats Any Specific Diet

41:12 – What to Do After a Slip or Relapse

41:48 – The Archer and the Bullseye

43:37 – Collecting Evidence of Success, Not Failure

46:36 – Defeat Your Cravings & Free Resources

49:47 – Final Advice: Start with One Simple Rule

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