115: Trauma, Dopamine, and the Drive to Numb: How to Stop Emotional Eating from the Inside Out with Amber Romaniuk
Welcome to Episode 115 of the Emotional Eats Podcast!
Get the FREE Tapping Video to Stop the Late Day Emotional Eating.
Click here: https://kimhynes.com/late-day-emotional-eating-tapping-video
What if the cravings, binges, and late-night shame spirals weren’t your fault—but a mix of trauma, hormones, and unmet emotional needs?
In this episode, I’m joined by Emotional Eating, Digestive, and Hormone Expert Amber Romaniuk to explore the hormonal root causes of emotional eating. From dopamine highs to hunger hormones like ghrelin and leptin, Amber breaks down how imbalances, especially during perimenopause and menopause, can make cravings stronger, sabotage your hunger cues, and heighten emotional overwhelm.
Whether you’ve struggled with binge eating, sugar addiction, or simply feel like food has control over you, this conversation explains how your hormones, gut, and energy systems are quietly working behind the scenes.
If you're a midlife woman wondering why your eating habits feel harder to manage than ever, you are not alone and it's not all in your head.
Amber also brings us into the emotional and energetic side of eating: the role of the ego mind, empathic energy, people-pleasing, and how early life experiences and trauma shape our food behaviors decades later.
Episode Highlights & Timestamps
01:18 Amber’s personal story: childhood trauma, food addiction, and her wake-up call moment
12:30 The dopamine connection: why food gives you a high—and then drags you down
18:53 Ghrelin and leptin: what your hunger hormones are doing behind the scenes
22:00 Thyroid dysfunction and perimenopause: what your doctor may be missing
27:00 Gut bugs, cravings, and the impact of candida and parasites on emotional eating
33:27 The ego mind vs. your true self—and how it sabotages food freedom
39:14 What it really means to be an empath—and how that impacts emotional eating
45:36 Amber’s top 3 tips if you’re just starting to face your emotional eating
47:00 Final words of hope: you can heal, and you are not alone
About Amber Romaniuk
Amber Romaniuk is an Emotional Eating, Digestive, and Hormone Expert who has helped thousands of high-achieving women heal from self-sabotage with food. After overcoming her own food addiction—gaining and losing 1,000 lbs and spending over $50,000 on binge foods—she now empowers women to reclaim their health, body confidence, and self-worth through deep emotional and hormonal healing. Amber hosts The No Sugarcoating Podcast, with over 2 million downloads across 88 countries.
Connect with Amber
Website: https://amberapproved.ca
Emotional Eating Quiz: https://amberapproved.ca/emotional-eating-quiz/
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-no-sugarcoating-podcast/id1158699464 https://amberapproved.ca/podcast/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@amberromaniuk
Instagram: https://instagram.com/amberromaniuk
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CLICK here for a FREE tapping video to STOP EMOTIONAL EATING
Use this short, powerful 7-minute tapping (EFT) session to help stop emotional eating after work, before dinner, or whenever the cravings hit hard.
https://kimhynes.com/late-day-emotional-eating-tapping-video
Connect with Kim:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimhyneshealth
Website: https://www.kimhynes.com
Podcast: https://kimhynes.com/podcast
If you like the Emotional Eats podcast, please subscribe, follow, and leave a 5-star rating and review. Tag us on social media—I would be so grateful.
Note: The information in this podcast is not intended to replace working with your doctor, medical provider, or mental health professional. It is for conversation, information, and entertainment only.
Join the Conversation and Community:
Continue learning, talking, and getting support around emotional eating, midlife women’s health, and menopause by joining the Emotional Eats Community.
Click here to join: https://kimhynes.com/emotional-eats-community-sign-up
Connect with Kim:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimhyneshealth
Website: https://www.kimhynes.com
Podcast: https://kimhynes.com/podcast
If you like the Emotional Eats podcast, please subscribe, follow, and leave a 5-star rating and review. Tag us on social media—I would be so grateful. Thank you, my friend.
Note: The information in this podcast is not intended to replace working with your doctor, medical provider, or mental health professional. It is for conversation, information, and entertainment only.
This is not a sponsored episode. I provide links to my viewers for discounts. When you buy, I receive a small commission to help support my podcast and channel.
CLICK here for a FREE tapping video to STOP EMOTIONAL EATING
Use this short, powerful 7-minute tapping (EFT) session to help stop emotional eating after work, before dinner, or whenever the cravings hit hard.
https://kimhynes.com/late-day-emotional-eating-tapping-video
Free Guide – Stress Eating Tips: https://kimhynes.com/stress-eating-tips-optin
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