How the Carnivore Diet Healed My 9-Year Eating Disorder | Francis Gunn (Lady and Her Steak)

In this episode, I sit down with Frances Gunn — Australian carnivore lifestyle enthusiast and the voice behind Lady and Her Steak.

Frances spent nine years inside an eating disorder that took her through anorexia, two hospital admissions, binge eating, purging, and alcohol-fueled cycles before she found a way of eating that, by her own account, quieted her hunger signals within a week and eventually restored a menstrual cycle she hadn't had in nearly a decade.

She brings a perspective rarely voiced in eating disorder recovery spaces: that for some people, anorexia isn't really about thinness — it's downstream of an unaddressed sugar addiction that no one ever named.

Here's what we cover in the episode:

The boarding school food environment that lit the fuse — and why Frances believes her sugar addiction came long before her eating disorder ever had a name

Why her hospital admissions made things worse, and her argument that refeeding protocols built around high-carbohydrate foods can reinforce the very addiction driving the disorder

The binge–restrict–purge–alcohol cycle that followed treatment, and the Allan Carr book that finally helped her quit drinking without relying on willpower

The Kelly Brogan-inspired mindset shift — moving from "I have a brain disease I can't influence" to "I am the one who has to heal this" How carnivore quieted her hunger signals within a week, restored her period after nine years, and changed her relationship with food in ways she didn't expect

Why she thinks keto can become its own trap for people with food obsession — and how the lack of decisions on carnivore quietly hands back the mental space food used to occupy

The full holistic stack around her healing: 8pm bedtimes, spring water, intentional social media use, and the people she chooses to surround herself with

Where she'd tell someone with a sugar addiction to start — and why she believes the path looks different for everyone

If you've ever felt like the standard recovery narrative didn't quite map onto your experience, suspected sugar might be playing a bigger role in your story than anyone's letting on, or just want to hear an honest recovery account told without the usual filters — this conversation is worth your time.

00:00 – "I Don't See How Anyone Heals on a High-Carb Diet"

00:52 – Meet Frances Gunn (Lady and Her Steak)

01:49 – Boarding School & Where the Sugar Addiction Started

03:34 – From Sugar Addiction Into Anorexia

04:19 – Two Hospital Admissions & Why She Came Out Worse

06:50 – Adding Alcohol Into the Mix

07:21 – Quitting Drinking With the Allan Carr Method

09:50 – Discovering Carnivore Through Her Mother

10:55 – Healing Hunger Signals & Feeling True Hunger Again

13:54 – The Refeeding Critique: "We Don't Give Alcoholics Alcohol"

19:15 – The First Week of Carnivore & What Changed

22:42 – What She Actually Eats Day to Day

25:36 – Keto vs. Carnivore: The Decision Fatigue Problem

33:59 – The Kelly Brogan Mindset Shift: From Victim to Author

37:24 – The 8 PM Bedtime & Protecting the Morning

39:19 – Spring Water, Clean Products & Curating Your Circle

41:40 – The Social Media Balance After Five Years Offline

43:58 – Where to Start if You Have a Sugar Addiction

45:27 – Closing & Where to Find Frances ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Follow Beyond Binge Eating Instagram: / https://www.instagram.com/BeyondBingeEating/ Website: https://www.BeyondBingeEating.com Newsletter: https://beyondbingeeating.com/Newsletter/ Contact and follow Fances Gunn here: https://www.instagram.com/ladyandhersteak/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grab your FREE Eat-With-Awareness Bundle to slow down, stay present, and reclaim peace with food: https://beyondbingeeating.com/opt-in/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: The information on this channel is for educational purposes and is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice or therapy. The views and opinions expressed by podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Kristina Dobyns or Beyond Binge Eating.