Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol | Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast — Less Food Noise. More Life.

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  EP 308: 'I'll Start Living When I'm Recovered' ~ Hope for Your Messy Middle When You Aren't Sure What's Next 15.09.2026 13min

  If you're listening to this in one of those seasons where life feels messy and hard — sis, hear me before we even start: you are not broken, you are not behind, and you are not alone. Today's message is simple, and it's straight from my heart. So many of us are waiting — waiting to feel ready, waiting to be recovered, waiting to be smaller or better or "fixed" — before we let ourselves actually live. But your life is happening right now, whether you give yourself permission or not. And I don't want you to miss it. This one's for you if you're stuck in the messy middle, four steps forward and two steps back, wondering when your real life gets to start. The lie that keeps you waiting There's a part of you with dreams — the part that knows you were meant for so much more than days consumed by food and body thoughts. The part that wants to show up fully, chase what's on your heart, laugh without calculating calories. And then there's the other voice: "Not yet. Not until you're smaller. Not until you've got this eating thing figured out. Not until you've recovered." Sis, that voice is keeping you alone on your own island. One of my clients said it perfectly: "I keep thinking I need to wait until I'm recovered enough to start living — but I'm realizing that waiting for a perfect future is just another way the eating disorder is controlling me." That was her breakthrough. It can be yours too. Recovery isn't the waiting room for your life — it IS the living Here's the truth: recovering is the process of learning to live. It's not something you do and then start your life. It's the journey itself. And your eating disorder wants you to wait — because as long as you're waiting, you keep believing you need to be fixed, worthy, or "better" before you're allowed to take up space, want things, or pursue your dreams. But you don't need permission, sis. Not for food, not for rest, not for growth, not for a new hobby. This is your life. Because here's what's real: life doesn't pause while you figure out your relationship with food. Your dreams don't go on hold. Your purpose doesn't wait. How much more time do you want to give away? 3 ways to start making life happen (instead of waiting for it) 1. Name one dream you've put on hold.Just one. The thing you keep saying you'll do when you're better, when you have more energy, when the kids are older. Maybe it's applying for a job, taking a dance class, calling a friend you've been avoiding, forgiving someone, going on a date with your husband — or getting honest and reaching out for support. Write it down. Don't analyze it, don't judge it. Just name it. 2. Take the smallest possible step.Not the biggest step. Not the perfect step. The smallest. If it's the job, look at one posting. If it's the dance class, just find the studio's website (and nourish yourself with a good meal before you go). The eating disorder says it's all or nothing — but recovery, and life, are built on tiny, imperfect actions taken consistently. 3. Remind yourself: you are living your recovery right now.This mindset shift changes everything. Instead of "I'm waiting to recover," flip it to "I am living my recovery now. I'm giving myself permission to heal now." Every time you choose connection over isolation, pursue something that lights you up instead of restricting, or show up imperfectly — that is recovery. That's life. The honest part I won't lie to you — this isn't linear or easy. Some days you'll feel like you're moving backward. Some days you'll still hate your body, the thoughts will still be there, maybe even louder. But you don't have to wait until those days are gone to start living in them. Struggling doesn't mean you're doing it wrong — it means you're human, and it means you're about to do something brave. Your eating disorder is not who you are. She doesn't get the whole story of your life — she's not even the most interesting part of it. But you'll never know what the rest of your story looks like
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  EP 307.5: 'I'm Not Sick Enough for Help' ~ The Lie That's Keeping You in the Cycle + What to Do Next 11.09.2026 13min

  Sis, today I'm getting right to the good stuff — the number one pitfall that keeps so many women trapped in disordered eating for far too long: not asking for help. For the longest time in my journey, I sat in denial. I don't need help. No one could help me. I'm fine — I'm functioning. That's a lie, and today I'm lovingly calling you out on it, because you are more than a conqueror, you are an overcomer, and it is time to step into that truth. If you've ever told yourself "I'm not sick enough," this episode is for you. The lie underneath "I'm fine" Functioning is not the same as free. You can be eating, holding your life together, "fine" on the outside — and still be trapped in the cycle. Telling yourself you're not sick enough isn't the truth; it's the disorder keeping you exactly where it wants you. Here's my tough-love truth: if you're not okay asking for help, your why isn't big enough yet — and I say that only because I want freedom for you that badly. It's not enough to hope for a healthier future. It takes a new mindset, new behaviors, and uncomfortable action taken little by little, every day. Why asking for help matters so much The reality of this illness is serious — and I share these numbers not to scare you, but to light a fire of hope: Up to 10% of people with anorexia die within about 10 years of onset, and up to 20% within 20 years — but with treatment and support, that mortality rate drops to around 2–3%. Support changes everything. The death rate associated with anorexia is roughly 12 times higher than the death rate from all causes among females ages 15–24. And yet the majority of people with eating disorders never seek help. I fell into that "never seek help" group for a long time — until a fire rose up in me that said: I am not a statistic. I am not average. Watch me. Support took me from a statistic to a survivor. It can do the same for you. Why you might not be reaching out (you're not alone) Stigma and shame — fear of judgment from family, friends, or professionals "I'm not sick enough" — the functioning, willpower, "I'm fine" trap Fear of facing reality — because not facing it feels like control (but it's an illusion of control) Not knowing where to turn — or having had past negative experiences with providers Hopelessness — believing the disorder's lie that you're "too far gone" Hear me: you can feel every one of these things and still choose today to stand up for your future best self. You can start exactly where you are You can start late. You can start over. You can recover differently than anyone around you. You can be uncertain, scared, and unsure of every answer — and still succeed in finding freedom. You don't have to know all the answers. You just have to choose. I wasn't fully ready when I started. I just showed up, day after day, and let people guide me. That's all it takes to begin: not certainty — just a choice. A few lines from the episode "Functioning is not the same as free." "It's not enough to hope for a healthier future — it's not going to happen if you don't make it happen." "I am not a statistic. I am not average. Watch me." "You can start late. You can start over. You can be scared and still succeed." "Trying to do this alone is like climbing Mount Everest by yourself — who's going to catch you if you slip?" "You either want freedom, or you don't. How bad do you want it?" Your choice this week Ask yourself honestly: Is what I'm doing right now — the direction I'm headed, the choices I'm making — in alignment with the life I actually want? And then the braver question: Do I need support? Am I trying to climb this mountain alone? If the answer is yes, let today be day one. Not "someday I'll get help" — day one of reaching out. Here's your lifeline You were never meant to do this alone. If you're ready to stop white-knuckling it and let someone who's been there walk beside you, I'd be honored. Connect with Lindsey: 🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @the
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  EP 307: Held Hostage by Eating Disorder Thoughts? The 3-Step Tool That Sets You Free✨**Must Listen Fav!** 08.09.2026 18min

  If you're tired of being held hostage by the thoughts that hijack your day — "When can I eat next?" "When can I work this off?" "If I eat that, I'll look like her" — sis, this episode is about to become your secret weapon. Today I'm teaching you my signature Triple Threat tool: name it, tame it, frame it. Because here's the truth — you can't fight what you don't acknowledge, and you can't change what you don't challenge. When you ignore these thoughts, they get louder. This tool makes you the boss of your own mind. First, the truth about the thoughts Having an eating disorder thought pop up doesn't mean you're failing. These thoughts come from years of diet culture and conditioning — of course they show up. You're not your thoughts; you're the thinker of them, which means you get to choose which ones you believe. Just because you have a thought doesn't mean you have to believe it, and it definitely doesn't mean you have to act on it. The 3 steps 1. Name it. Get crystal clear on who's actually talking — your authentic voice, or your eating disorder voice? Give that voice a name (mine was Gina; clients use "Restriction Rachel," "Control Freak Carla," "Betty"). The moment you name it, you separate it from you. → "Oh, that's just Restriction Rachel trying to make me earn my food. That's not me." 2. Tame it. Claim your power back. You're not ignoring the thought or fighting it — you're refusing to let it drive. → "Thanks for sharing, Rachel, but I'm not taking orders from you today. You don't get to be the boss of me." 3. Frame it. Replace it with a new thought that's actually true and moves you toward recovery — not fake affirmations, real truth. → "My body needs consistent fuel throughout the day. This cookie is part of my recovery." It works on every kind of thought Food: "I need to work this off later." → Name it (Carla), tame it ("exercise isn't punishment for eating"), frame it ("I move because it feels good, not to earn or burn"). Body image: "I look disgusting today." → Name it (Betty), tame it ("your comments aren't welcome here"), frame it ("I don't have to love the mirror today, but I can honor myself anyway"). A few lines from the episode "You can't fight what you don't acknowledge, and you can't change what you don't challenge." "Just because you have the thought doesn't mean you have to believe it — or act on it." "You're not your thoughts. You're the thinker of your thoughts." "This tool doesn't change one thought. It changes your entire response pattern." "Your voice is actually stronger than that voice. It's just been jaded." Your work this week Decide your comebacks in advance. Write down the thoughts that show up most — waking up, at meals, in the mirror, getting dressed, around people. For each one, write your name it / tame it / frame it response. Practice them, memorize them, get ready — because the thought will come, and this is your spiral stopper. Ready to build your full toolkit? The Triple Threat is just the beginning. If you're tired of being held hostage by that voice and you want to master your whole mental game — at family dinners, in dressing rooms, during workouts, in social settings — I'd love to personally help you build an entire life toolkit of recovery skills. Connect with Lindsey: 🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show: 💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week! Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now. Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for wo
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  EP 306: Chasing Perfect Keeps the Eating Disorder Alive ~ Here's How to Break Free (Four Agreements Series ~ Part 4) 04.09.2026 16min

  We made it, sis — the finale of our Four Agreements series. If you've walked through these with me — impeccable with your word, don't take it personally, don't make assumptions — I am so proud of you. Today we bring it all home. And I saved my favorite for last, because this fourth agreement holds a word that means everything to me — it's literally the name of this show. The fourth agreement is: always do your best. Not perfect. Your best. And by the end of today, I hope you feel the weight of perfection lift right off your shoulders — because chasing perfect is exactly what keeps the eating disorder alive, and your best? Your best is enough. (New here? Go back to Parts 1–3 first — they build to this.) This is the agreement that makes the others stick This one comes last for a reason: it's the engine. Doing your best is what allows the other three agreements to become habits. You don't master speaking truth, releasing what others think, or dropping assumptions in a day — you do your best with them today, then again tomorrow, and slowly they become who you are. This agreement isn't about knowing. It's about action. Because information isn't enough — doing your best is how the knowing becomes the living. Not perfection — excellence Doing your best is not being perfect. Perfect is a moving target that doesn't exist — and the eating disorder is obsessed with it, moving the goalposts so your best is never enough. Chasing perfect keeps the disorder alive, because perfect can never be reached, so you can never rest. Your best is different. Your best is excellence — showing up, in alignment with your values, as fully as you can today. And here's the freeing part: your best won't always look the same. Your best in the morning is different than your best at night. Your best on a strong day is different than on a hard day. Both count. When you're exhausted, rest is your best. When you're depleted, nourishing yourself is your best. You're not failing when your best looks different — you're being human. Your best includes rest and grace Doing your best means rest. You'll be productive, yes — but you'll also be good to yourself and to others. The disorder's version of "your best" is grind, punish, earn, never stop. That's not your best, sis — that's self-abandonment in a productivity costume. Real best-doing means taking action because you want to be healthy — not chasing a reward, not running from fear. It means nourishing instead of avoiding, honoring instead of punishing. And when you do your best from love instead of fear, something incredible happens: you learn to accept yourself. No judgment. No guilt. Because you know you showed up as fully as you could — and that is enough. Your best gets better Here's the hope: your best isn't static. As you build better habits — as the first three agreements take root — your best gets better. The woman doing her best today, scared and shaky and imperfect, is building the woman whose best a year from now is steadier, freer, stronger. You're not behind. You're in practice. You're growing. Every time you do your best, you're not just getting through the day — you're becoming her. From love, not obligation If you take action because you have to — dreading it, out of pure obligation — you're better off not taking it at all. So much of what the disorder drives is have to: have to work out, have to eat clean, have to earn it. That's not doing your best — that's obeying a cage. Your best flows from want to: I want to be healthy, I want to be free, I want to be here for my life. And you can't do your best while living in the past or the future — not while replaying yesterday or panicking about tomorrow. Your best only exists right here, right now, in this choice. That's the only place freedom lives. All four agreements, together Look at what we've built: Be impeccable with your word — stop letting the disorder write your inner voice; speak truth over yourself. Don't take anything persona
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  EP 305: The Eating Disorder Makes Up Stories ~ Here's How to Stop Believing the Lies (Four Agreements Series ~ Part 3) 01.09.2026 20min

  We're on Part 3 of our Four Agreements series, sis — and this one might be the sneakiest of them all. So far we've learned to be impeccable with our word, and to stop taking things personally. Today's agreement ties them together: don't make assumptions. Because here's the truth — the eating disorder is a master storyteller. It makes up stories all day long, then hands them to you as if they're facts. Today, we learn to stop believing the lies. (New here? Go back and start with Parts 1 and 2 — they build.) We assume about everything The problem isn't that we make assumptions. It's that we swear they're real. As the book puts it, "we make the assumption that everyone sees life the way we do." She didn't text back — she's mad. He looked at my plate — he thinks I'm eating too much. They went quiet — they were talking about my body. We don't check. We don't ask. We decide it's true and live like it's true. And from that one habit, so much suffering is born — we blame, we react, we misunderstand, we create drama out of thin air. Almost all of our sadness is rooted in making assumptions. The eating disorder is a master storyteller The disorder doesn't deal in facts — it deals in stories. It fills every silence, every glance, every unanswered question with the same story: they noticed. they judged. you're not enough. You have no evidence for any of it. But because the story feels so real, you believe it, react to it, restrict because of it, isolate because of it. We only see what we want to see — and when your lens is a disorder, you'll find "proof" for its lies everywhere. Making assumptions leads to chaos, and the disorder loves chaos, because it keeps you too spun-out to question it. The assumptions that become rules Here's where it gets really sneaky in recovery — assumptions don't just create stories, they create rules. We assume wellness culture knows best — that the influencer, the diet, the "clean eating" plan knows what your body needs better than your body does. So we take on their rules as gospel: can't eat past this hour, have to earn it, have to burn it, never skip the workout. And we never stop to ask: Is this actually nourishing my body? Is this genuinely healthy for me? Or is it just diet culture wrapped in a pretty bow of fake news? Because we don't ask, we obey — and every unquestioned rule makes the disorder stronger. The assumption becomes the cage. My biggest assumption I lived this one, sis. My biggest assumption in my whole journey was: if I eat more, I'll never stop gaining weight. I was convinced that if I nourished myself, my body would balloon endlessly and everyone would look at me and go, "Oh my gosh, look at her." That assumption left me chained. Trapped. Terrified for a very long time — too scared to move forward, but exhausted from the cycle of restriction and over-exercising. I was suffering over something that had never happened and that I had zero evidence for. I just assumed it was true, and let it run my life. The question that cracked it open: "But do you like it now?" Here's the question I want to ask you, gently. You're assuming that if you gain weight, you won't like your body. But sis… do you like it now? The disorder promises that staying exactly like this — restricting, controlling, shrinking — is protecting some peace with your body. But are you at peace right now? Or are you already at war with your body while telling yourself you're staying this way to avoid being at war with it? You don't need to gain a pound to be miserable in your body — the disorder has you doing that today. The peace you're protecting doesn't exist. So you're not actually choosing between peace and weight gain. You're choosing between this war and the chance at real freedom. The antidote: ask The antidote to making assumptions is to ask. With people: "Hey, are we okay?" instead of assuming. With the rules: "Is this actually nourishing me, or a rule I never questioned?" With yourself: "Do I have re
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  EP 304: The Truth the Eating Disorder Doesn't Want You to Know ~ Here's How to Take Your Power Back (Four Agreements Series ~ Part 2) 28.08.2026 17min

  Earlier this week in Episode 303, we starved the eating disorder voice by getting impeccable with our word. Today, we're coming for the next thing the disorder feeds on — and sis, this one is sneaky, because it feels like just being "sensitive" or "self-aware," when it's actually one of the fastest ways you hand the disorder your power. The one thing the eating disorder loves? When you take everything personally. Because taking things personally leads you straight into the place the disorder thrives most: isolation. Today, in Part 2 of our Four Agreements series, we're breaking that cycle — and I'm sharing the research on why the isolation is so soul-sucking, and so hard to climb out of alone. Here's the truth that stopped me cold: you take things personally because you assume everything is about you. That comment. That look at your plate. The friend who didn't text back. You absorb it and make it mean something about your body, your worth, your not-enoughness. But here's the freeing truth: nothing others do is because of you. What people say, do, and think is a projection of their reality — their beliefs, their wounds, their bad day, their own relationship with food and body. When someone comments on your body, even a "compliment," that's coming from their programming. It's a window into them. It was never the truth about you. Why the eating disorder LOVES this: The disorder is obsessed with making everything about you. It's the most self-focused voice in your head — narrating every glance and comment as they're judging you, they noticed, they know. Why? Because when everything is about you, you turn inward. You shrink. You isolate. And an isolated woman is so much easier to control. When you take things personally, you pull back — you skip the dinner, cancel the plans, avoid the room. You retreat right into the disorder's arms, and it loves that. Taking things personally is one of the fastest ways to hand the disorder your power. This is the part I really want you to hear, because it's backed by real research. Studies show that disordered eating and loneliness feed each other in a vicious cycle — the disordered eating drives you to withdraw and hide your behaviors from people who love you, and that isolation and loneliness then drive more disordered eating as a way to numb and to feel in control. Round and round. The disorder isolates you, and the isolation strengthens the disorder. And here's the part that gives me chills: researchers have found your brain has shared circuitry for hunger and social isolation. Meaning — when you're cut off from people, your brain craves connection the way it craves food. You are literally starving for connection when you isolate. Your soul is hungry, sis — and the disorder keeps telling you to eat alone in the dark. How to take your power back: When someone says or does something and you feel that sting — that is this about me? spiral starting — pause and say: "This is about them, not me." The friend who didn't text back → she's overwhelmed with her own life. The mom watching your plate → that's her anxiety, her generation's diet culture, her wound. The comment about your body → that's their programming, not the truth about your worth. None of it requires you to shrink. Because your worth is not up for a vote. When you stop taking things personally, other people's opinions lose their power over you — you can let a comment pass right through you, like wind through a screen door. It doesn't have to land. It doesn't have to become another brick in the disorder's wall. The faith anchor: Your worth was not assigned by people, so it cannot be revoked by people. You were fearfully and wonderfully made by a God who doesn't make mistakes — and if your worth was settled by Him before you took your first breath, then no comment, no glance, no opinion at a dinner table gets to override it. When you know whose you are, you stop needing everyone else to tell you who you are. A few lines
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  EP 303: The Eating Disorder Voice Survives on One Thing ~ Here's How to Starve It (Four Agreements Series ~ Part 1) 25.08.2026 18min

  I've been reading a book that wrecked me in the best way — The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz — and I could not stop seeing recovery on every single page. So we're kicking off a brand-new series: the Four Agreements, through the lens of eating disorder recovery. These four simple promises you make with yourself have the power to break the stories and the self-betrayal that keep you stuck — which is exactly why they're so pivotal to becoming free. We're starting with the first, and the one I believe everything else stands on: be impeccable with your word. Because sis, that voice in your head has been holding the pen for far too long — and today, we start taking it back. What "impeccable" really means Most of us hear "be impeccable with your word" and think don't lie, keep your promises to others. But it goes so much deeper. Impeccable traces back to a root meaning "without sin" — without self-betrayal. So being impeccable with your word means your words stand in full integrity with your truth. It means you don't use your words against yourself — not the ones you say out loud, and especially not the ones you say silently, in your own mind. And if you have an eating disorder, hear this: your words haven't been impeccable — not because you're bad, but because the disorder has been writing them for you. Your word has been hijacked The word is the most powerful tool you have. It can create, and it can destroy — and the eating disorder knows it. Think about what you say to yourself in a single day: I'm disgusting. I shouldn't have eaten that. I'll start over Monday. I have no self-control. I don't deserve to rest. That's not you being impeccable with your word. That's you using your most powerful tool as a weapon against your own body and soul. Every time you speak those words — even silently — you're agreeing with the lie, signing a contract that says this is true, this is who I am. The eating disorder voice survives on your word. It cannot keep its grip if you stop agreeing with it. Standing in your truth, no matter what Being impeccable with your word in recovery means you stand in your truth, no matter what the voice says. The voice will come — you don't need to eat, you've had enough, earn it first. Being impeccable means you don't repeat it, don't co-sign it. You catch the word and correct it back to truth: Voice: "I'm disgusting." → Truth: "My body is healing, and I am worthy right now." Voice: "I'll start over Monday." → Truth: "I honor my body today." You are not obligated to believe every thought that passes through your mind. You get to decide which words you agree with — and every time you refuse the lie and choose truth, you weaken the disorder and strengthen her, the recovered you. The words you speak over others boomerang back There's a sneaky layer here: being impeccable also means how you speak about other people's bodies and lives. When you comment on another woman's body — even a compliment, even "she looks so good, she must've lost weight" — you reinforce the very belief system keeping you sick. You're agreeing, out loud, that bodies are for ranking and thinner is better. And that word boomerangs right back onto you. A woman who is free doesn't trade in the currency that keeps everyone imprisoned. This is a faith thing, too This agreement is all over Scripture. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. The word spoke the whole world into being. Your words aren't neutral, sis — they're creative. They're building something every day: either a prison, or a path to freedom. So what are you speaking over yourself? Over your body? Over your recovery? Are your words building the life you say you want — where there's so much more than this, where this cannot be it — or quietly agreeing with the thing keeping you stuck? Why this is the foundation You can't rebuild trust with your body or step into your true identity while your word is betraying you every day. Being impeccable with your word is
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  EP 302.5: Extreme Hunger Isn't Binging + the 4 Types of Hunger You Might Feel in Recovery from ED 21.08.2026 22min

  If you're listening to this because you're experiencing extreme hunger right now or concerned when you allow yourself to eat more you will just not stop — take a deep breath, sis, and hear this special truth: you're not broken, you're probably not binging, and what you're experiencing is not only normal, it's necessary. This one comes straight from a conversation with a client who was terrified. She's doing all the right things in recovery — eating, honoring the process — but she's hungrier and hungrier and can't seem to get satisfied, and she's scared she's going to "blow up." If that's you, this episode is going to hold your hand through what's actually happening in your beautiful, wise body. (And if you're on the opposite end — no appetite at all after years of suppressing it — stay with me too. This episode still serves your journey forward.) What extreme hunger actually is Extreme hunger is your body's natural, intelligent response to any period of restriction or inadequate nourishment. That's it. It's not a malfunction. It's healing in action. And here's what surprises so many women: it can show up at any stage of recovery. Early on as you add foods back in — or, like my client, years later, when your body finally feels safe enough to ask for what it truly needs. Your body is deeply intelligent. You can't out-trick it. It waits until it trusts you enough to express its real needs. The 4 types of hunger you might feel Mechanical hunger — the physical growling, gnawing, bottomless-pit sensation that you just can't seem to fill. Mental hunger — when your brain is constantly obsessing about food, you can't concentrate on anything else, and you're having intense cravings for specific foods. (Mental hunger counts. It's real hunger.) Reactive hunger — eating large amounts quickly, especially of foods you previously feared or restricted. Primal hunger — that desperate, urgent, impossible-to-ignore need to eat. Like pregnancy hunger: fine one second, and the next, like you'll pass out if you don't eat now. In daily life it can look like: being hungry again right after a meal, waking hungry in the night, needing more snacks than before, or feeling unsatisfied even as you finish eating. What's happening in your body When you've restricted — through dieting, eating disorder behaviors, or simply not eating enough for your needs — your metabolism slows to conserve energy because your body believes it's in a famine. In recovery, it's suddenly doing many jobs at once: speeding your metabolism back up, repairing your organs, bones, hair, and skin, replenishing energy reserves, and — most importantly — learning to trust that food will be consistently available. Research on recovery from starvation (and yes, eating disorders involve starvation, even if you were never classified as underweight) shows people often need significantly more energy than "normal" for an extended time. Your hunger is your body doing exactly what it's designed to do. 4 myths keeping you stuck Myth 1: Everyone experiences extreme hunger in recovery. Not true — bodies and needs differ. If you do experience it, you're not wrong. If you don't, that's okay too. Myth 2: Extreme hunger is wrong or bad. It's your body's wisdom in action. It's the same category of healing as your period returning, or your hair getting shiny, or your glow coming back. Myth 3: Extreme hunger means you're binging. This is the big one. Extreme hunger is a biological necessity driven by your body's needs. Binge eating is often driven by restriction and psychological factors — a different thing entirely. When you're healing, your body genuinely needs large amounts of food. It can feel like a binge because you're so used to eating small amounts. It isn't. It's honoring. Myth 4: If you honor it, you'll blow up and gain a bunch of weight. The truth: your body settles at its natural point once it feels nourished and can trust you. It's the cycle — feed, restrict, over-exercise, rest
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  EP 302: Exhausted from Fighting Your Own Body? The Internal Battle No One Sees + Your Untold Body Story 18.08.2026 21min

  Sis, I want to talk to the YOU today - the woman listening who is exhausted. Exhausted from restricting. Exhausted from punishing yourself with endless workouts and never taking a day off. Exhausted from trying to shrink yourself while showing up as the leader in every other area of your life. You have it all together on the outside — you lead teams, manage budgets, raise humans, keep the whole household running. But when it comes to your body, you still feel like that confused little girl who learned her worth was tied to her size. That's the battle no one sees. And today, we're bringing it into the light. By the end of our time together, you'll understand how your body story got written — and you'll have a framework to start rewriting it, from shame to self-compassion. You didn't start out hating your body Here's the truth I need you to hear: you learned to. You didn't come into this world at war with yourself. Somewhere along the way — maybe at seven, watching your mom criticize her thighs in the mirror; maybe at ten, when someone commented on your changing body; maybe at thirteen, when the magazines promised happiness if you just looked a little different — you were taught that your body was a problem to be solved. You learned it from a culture that profits from your insecurity. From diet companies making billions convincing you your body is wrong. From a fitness industry that sold you the lie that more exercise equals more worth. Nothing was ever actually broken, sis. You were taught a story. And what was taught can be rewritten. The messages that built your prison These are the "body story" messages so many high-achieving women carry — see which ones you recognize: "Good girls don't take up too much space." You learned to make yourself smaller, literally and figuratively. "Your body is your responsibility to control." Enough willpower, enough discipline — and your body became a project instead of your home. "Thin equals healthy, healthy equals worthy, big equals bad." You learned the scale measures your value as a person. "Successful women have it all together — including their bodies." So controlling your body became one more item on the success checklist. "Your body exists to look good for other people." You learned to see yourself through everyone's eyes but your own. These messages worked. They kept you small, compliant, and constantly striving. And that same control that felt like freedom was actually building your prison — brick by brick, year by year. What this story has cost you Your energy — all the mental space spent calculating, planning, and worrying, that could have gone to your dreams and relationships. Your presence — the family moments missed, the social events avoided, the opportunities declined while you waited to "feel better" in your body. Your authentic self — the woman you are when you're not worried about food or exercise. She's creative, brave, vibrant, and magnetic — and she's been buried under years of body shame and food rules. Your physical health — the chronic restriction and over-exercising you think is keeping you "healthy" is actually putting real stress on your body. You have the power to rewrite it You're not that young girl anymore. You're a powerful, strong woman with wisdom and experience — and now you have a choice to choose differently. It starts with one decision, one meal, one moment of self-compassion over self-criticism. Your body story doesn't have to end with restriction and exhaustion. The best chapters are yet to come. A few lines from the episode "You didn't start out hating your body, sis. You learned to." "You learned from a culture that literally profits from your insecurity." "Your body became a project instead of your home." "That same control that felt like freedom was building your prison, brick by brick." "The woman you are when you're not worried about food or exercise? She is magnetic." "You're not too much. You're not too little. You're exact
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  EP 301: It's Not a Weight Problem, It's a Worth Problem ~ Faith, Food & the GLP-1 Era🩱My Conversation on Her Healthy Body 14.08.2026 36min

  Something a little different today, friend — I'm sharing my guest conversation on the Her Healthy Body podcast with the sweetest mother-daughter duo, Coryn and Crysanne. We went right to the heart of it. Here's the line they stopped to replay: if food is taking up so much space in your mind that it's stealing your presence from your life, that's not a weight problem — it's a worth problem. Maybe you've never been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Maybe you don't think your relationship with food is "that bad." But if you're constantly thinking about what you can eat, whether you've earned dessert, or believing you'll finally be happy when the scale hits a certain number — this conversation is for you. What we talked about My story — from figure skating and "come back 10 pounds lighter" to anorexia, and the long road to real freedom Why I never felt "ready" to recover — and how surrender, faith, and "doing the opposite" of what my mind said got me through The worth problem behind the weight problem — what the scale can never give you The deeper question underneath wanting to lose weight: what's actually driving the desire? The GLP-1 conversation — and my honest concern about fear of eating and where this cultural moment is heading Nourishing, honoring, and respecting your body as the starting place — not the reward This conversation isn't about telling you not to pursue your health. It's about asking a deeper question: what's driving that desire? Because if we're chasing a number on the scale hoping it'll finally hand us peace, confidence, or worth — we're chasing something the scale was never able to give. Your worth was settled before you ever stepped on a scale. That's the freedom underneath all of this. A few lines from the episode: "If food is stealing your presence from your life, that's not a weight problem — it's a worth problem." "I never felt ready. I said, 'God, I'm scared to death, but I need you to save me from me.'" "A lot of days, I just did the opposite of what my mind told me to do. That's how I got through." "What started as trying to be healthier ended up controlling my life." "No number on the scale can give you peace, confidence, or worth." Huge thanks to Coryn and Crysanne for having me on Her Healthy Body — a podcast helping Christian women build a healthy lifestyle that actually lasts, from a place of faith instead of perfectionism. Go give them a follow and some love. Ready to stop doing this alone? If you saw yourself somewhere in this conversation, I'd be honored to walk with you. Connect with Lindsey: 🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show: 💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week! Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now. Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for women in eating disorder recovery who are ready to break free from perfectionism, people-pleasing, and diet culture to live authentically and wholeheartedly. *While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.
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  EP 300.5: Do You Still Have Bad Body Image Days? My Honest Answer + 8-Step Game Plan When You Are Feeling Blah 11.08.2026 17min

  A woman in my community sent me a message this week that stopped me in my tracks: "Lindsey, do you ever have bad body image days? What does recovery actually look like years later? Do those old thoughts still creep in?" Girlfriend, I had to sit with that one — because we don't talk about this enough. There's a myth floating around that recovery means you reach some magical finish line where body image struggles vanish forever. That is simply not true. So today I'm pulling back the curtain completely and giving you my honest answer — plus the exact 8-step game plan I use when those old familiar feelings come knocking and I'm just feeling blah in my body. Grab your Target journal, friend. This one's a keeper. The honest truth first Yes — I still have days where I don't feel amazing in my body. Maybe I'm bloated, maybe I'm PMSing, maybe I caught myself in a dressing room mirror under those God-awful fluorescent lights, maybe I'm stressed in my business or walking through a hard season, and my body becomes the target for those feelings. This is normal. And here's the difference. These moments used to consume entire weeks and months — sending me spiraling into restriction, over-exercise, avoidance. Now? They might last an hour, a moment, a day at most. Because I have a game plan that actually works. Having these moments doesn't mean I'm not recovered. It means I'm human. Recovery isn't about never having a hard moment — it's about how quickly you return to love and gentleness with yourself when you do. The 8-step game plan for bad body image days 1. Grace upon grace.Before anything else, give yourself permission to feel what you're feeling without judging the feeling. No more "I should be past this by now." Instead: "It's okay you're having this thought. You're human. This doesn't mean anything about your worth or your recovery." Talk to yourself the way you'd talk to your best friend. 2. Throw on the comfy, baggy clothes.Sounds simple — it's a game-changer. Soft jams, oversized shirt, cozy cardigan, hair in a bun. This isn't about hiding your body; it's about removing physical discomfort that amplifies emotional discomfort. Ditch the tight jeans. When you're not aware of how clothes are fitting, you can focus on how you actually feel instead of how you think you look. 3. Get to the root.Stop plucking weeds and expecting different results. Ask: "What's really going on here? What am I actually trying to control by focusing on my body?" Overwhelm? Anxiety about a relationship? Exhaustion? Nine times out of ten, the body image struggle is about something else entirely — and naming it lets you address the real issue instead of taking it out on your body. 4. Avoid the mirror for the rest of the day.If you're already in a critical headspace, why put yourself in front of a reflection you're only going to pick apart? No body checking, no seeking reassurance from a mirror. Body checking on a bad day is like picking at a wound and expecting it not to bleed. Catch yourself heading toward one? Turn around and find something else to do. 5. Honor yourself with mindful eating anyway.The voice might whisper "skip lunch" or "eat cleaner tomorrow." Don't. Eat normally, regularly, every few hours — foods that nourish and satisfy you. Don't punish your body for an emotional feeling. Those feelings will pass. They're not facts. Your body deserves consistent nourishment regardless of a temporary thought. 6. Notice exercise compulsions and pause.Here's a sneaky one — bad body image days can suddenly "motivate" you toward an intense new workout or extra cardio. Pause and ask: am I moving from love and energy, or trying to punish and change my body? If it's the latter, choose gentle movement — yoga, a walk in nature, stretching, or plain rest. You can sit with uncomfortable feelings without exercising them away. 7. No social media scrolling.Non-negotiable on a hard day. Stay off Instagram and any platform where you'll compare yourself or get
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  EP 300: Waiting to Feel Ready to Recover? Here's the Truth No One Tells You ~ Hope, Courage, & Fresh Starts🎉 07.08.2026 21min

  Episode 300, sis! 🎉 I can hardly believe it — and I'm marking it with a message straight from my heart, plus a little personal news I can't wait to share with you inside. If you've been telling yourself "I'll go all in on recovery when things calm down… when work slows… when the kids are older… when I finally feel ready" — this episode is your wake-up call and your permission slip, all in one. Because here's the truth almost no one tells you: ready isn't coming. The calm season isn't on its way. And this fresh-start season is your invitation to stop waiting and take the next brave step — right in the middle of your beautifully full, messy life. The lie that's keeping you stuck: I'll start when I feel ready. Sis, I need you to hear this from someone who just made a big, scary, wildly inconvenient decision in the messiest middle of her own full life: the perfect time is never coming. Readiness is a feeling, and feelings don't arrive on schedule. You don't wait to feel ready and then do the brave thing. You do the brave thing, and the readiness grows behind you. You go all in inside the hard season — or it doesn't happen at all. You are living under a ceiling the eating disorder built. The low, gray one that whispers this is as good as it gets for you. This is just who you are. Don't reach for more than survival. That ceiling is a lie. And refusing to accept it — deciding I want more than this — is where your whole story turns. Recovery isn't you pressing pause on your life to go fix yourself in a corner. It's the natural next step in becoming who you were made to be. And every chapter you've lived — even the hard ones, especially the hard ones — isn't wasted. It's woven in. It becomes your foundation. Nothing you've been through is for nothing, sis. It's all preparation. Here's what I ask of you every single week: picture your recovered self — present, free, quiet-minded, at peace in her own skin — and walk toward her before the whole path is visible. You don't need the entire staircase. You just need the next stair, and the bet that she's real. Recovery is believing in a future you can't yet see and moving toward it anyway. There's a reason we love this season — fresh starts, clean notebooks, the permission to begin again. And here's what I want you to know: you don't have to be a kid, or in a classroom, to get a first day. You can have one today. Not a finished, perfectly-recovered woman someday. A brave, in-process one, now. A few lines from the episode "Ready isn't coming. The calm season isn't coming. You go all in inside the hard season, or it doesn't happen." "Refusing the ceiling — that's where your whole story turns." "Nothing you've been through is wasted. It's all woven in." "You don't need the entire staircase. Just the next stair, and the bet that she's real." "You don't have to be in a classroom to get a first day. You can have one today." "I want this, AND I'm scared, AND I'm going anyway." Your invitation this week: Whatever your "fresh start" is — the brave recovery step you keep postponing until you feel ready — take one real move toward it this week. Not the whole staircase. Just the next stair. Grab a fresh notebook if you need to. Write down the one small, brave thing. Then go do it — scared, imperfect, and anyway. Ready to stop waiting alone? If the step you're ready to take is finally letting someone walk this road with you, I would be so honored. That blend of lived experience and real coaching is exactly what I bring to the women in the Recovery Collective and in my one-on-one work — walking with you through this kind of brave, inconvenient, mid-season courage. Connect with Lindsey: 🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show: 💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message
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  EP 299: Your Body Is the Least Interesting Thing About You ~ 'Health,' Body Image & Ariana Grande 04.08.2026 20min

  The internet is buzzing right now about Ariana Grande — her stepping back from public life, and her message asking people to stop commenting on her body. And underneath this whole conversation is something every one of us needs to hear, because it goes straight to the heart of recovery. Today, with a whole lot of grace, we're talking about the word "healthy" — and how it can become one of the most slippery slopes in all of recovery. I'm not here to speculate about anyone's private health (that's actually part of my point). I'm here to name the lie our culture keeps selling us: that thinner automatically means healthier. Sis, it doesn't — and the science agrees with me. The part she got so right For years, Ariana has asked people to stop commenting on her body, recently re-sharing that message as a "loving reminder." And she's right. There's a comfortability in our culture with narrating other people's bodies, faces, and weight — and it's dangerous for everyone. We have to stop this. Stop the "did she lose weight," stop the "is she okay, she looks so thin." You never know who's in recovery. You never know whose daughter is listening. You never know what your words land on top of. Where the fire got lit in me Somewhere in this conversation came the idea that an older, fuller version of a body wasn't "the healthy one." That may be completely true for any given person — only they and their care team could know. But that exact sentence — "my old body wasn't the healthy one" — is a sentence I told myself. It's one I've heard from a hundred women in this community. And it's one of the most slippery sentences in recovery, because the eating disorder is a master at wearing the costume of wellness. It doesn't say "let's be destructive." It says "let's just be healthy, let's just be clean, let's just be disciplined." When "healthy" is actually the disorder talking Let me be clear, because I lived it: Eating very little and calling it clean Only eating foods with five ingredients or less and calling it healthy Cutting whole food groups and calling it a lifestyle Being so consumed by "wellness" that you can't sit at the family table, can't travel without a plan, can't be spontaneous, can't live That is not health. That's a disorder in a wellness costume. And the hardest part? When you're in it, you believe your own lie. For a long time I fully believed I was just "making healthy choices." It felt like virtue. It felt like discipline. That's what makes the distortion so dangerous — from the inside, it feels like truth. The lie our culture keeps selling We're in a moment where thinness is loudly celebrated again — and our teens, our tweens, the young women who idolize who they follow are absorbing the message that thinner automatically equals healthier and better. The science says otherwise. In the large studies on weight and mortality, being underweight carries a significantly elevated risk of death — roughly one and a half times higher in many studies, and several times higher in some populations. Meanwhile, the category our culture panics about — "overweight" (a BMI of 25–30, without obesity) — is consistently not linked to higher mortality, and in a number of large studies is associated with slightly lower risk than "normal" weight. Let that land. The body our culture tells you to fear is often not the dangerous one. The body our culture applauds can be hiding real danger. Thin is not a synonym for healthy. It never was. We also don't get to pretend we see nothing Here's the nuance, held with honesty: "stop commenting on bodies" is true — and love sometimes notices. When people express genuine concern for someone they can see is struggling, that isn't always cruelty. Sometimes it's the same instinct that makes a mother knock on a door. The problem isn't caring — it's consuming: the speculation, the spectacle, strangers turning a real person into content. So here's the line: we don't get to narrate, diagnose, or gossip
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  EP 298.5: The Fear No One Names in Recovery ~ What If You Actually Get Better? What If You Find Freedom from Your Eating Disorder? 31.07.2026 14min

  We talk all the time about the fear of failing in recovery. But today I want to name the fear almost no one says out loud — the fear of actually succeeding. What if I do recover? Then what? Who am I without this? What would my life even become? Sis, that quiet terror is one of the biggest reasons high-achieving women stall out in recovery and never quite go all in. So today, on the heels of a reflective walk, we're talking about perfection, success, surrender — and a completely different way to measure whether you're "winning" at this. My biggest struggle in recovery Wanting it to be perfect. Flawless. Honestly? That perfectionism is what entrenched me in the eating disorder in the first place. Before I ever started recovering, I stayed in denial even longer because it felt safer — I couldn't fail if I stayed stuck. Then once I started the work, the story just shifted from "I'll be like this forever" to "I should be further along by now." And underneath both was fear. Not just the fear that I'd never get better — but the fear of the opposite. What would it mean for my life if I actually succeeded at this whole recovery thing? That's the question I want to ask you: what would it mean for your life if you quit playing small? If you fully surrendered to the process — knowing it doesn't have to be perfect, because you are perfectly flawed? The two sides of the same coin Fear of failure: What if I don't recover? What if this is just who I am? → leads to doubt and discouragement. Fear of success: What if I do recover? Then what? → the fear nobody names, and often the one keeping you stuck. Both are cultivated in control and in fear. And that very thing controlling you is exactly what you have to release to gain real freedom. Redefining success Society hands us a definition of success built on achievements, status, appearance, financial worth, influence — scroll Instagram and you'll feel it instantly. But I want you to shift the whole frame: From what you accomplish → to who you become in the process. Success does not equal full recovery. Success does not mean you checked every box today or "were good." Success equals becoming your best self. That simple. Constant growth leads to contentment — and that's the success you're actually after. So ask yourself: if I'm putting one foot in front of the other, growing my character, softening old behaviors… isn't that success? There's no gold medal for healing Here's the humbling, freeing truth: there's no PhD for recovery. No gold medal. Nobody's clapping (well — maybe your people, and your coach who sees how far you've come). You don't heal "better" than anyone else. It's the daily choices you make when no one is watching that lead to your success. It's not shiny. It's not applauded. It's yours. So if you say you want freedom — what are you actually doing to reach for it? Are you feeding the lie that it's just not available to you? Or are you making the quiet, unglamorous, pro-recovery choice again today? The most valuable thing you can make is a mistake You can't learn a thing from being perfect. It's your failures, your hard days, your challenges that hand you the momentum to bounce back. A client came to me this week and said, "Yesterday was awful. I didn't show up for myself. I let the disorder take over." And I asked her: "Do you want me to sit in that pity party and tell you how bad you were? Or do you want me to ask — where do we go from here? What's next?" She said, "You're right. I just need to put this down and start over. Tomorrow's a new day." The more you surrender and let be, the higher you rise. You weren't called to be perfect. You were called to be better. Let God be perfect — you're allowed to be perfectly flawed. The power of surrender The thing that's controlling you is the very thing you have to release to gain real freedom. Research on surrender in recovery has suggested that people who let go — who anchor their trust in something bigger than their o
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  EP 298: If You've Tried Everything (Including Therapy) & You're Still Struggling ~ You're Not Failing & You're Not Behind 28.07.2026 17min

  We just got back from a few days at the lake, and I came home with something on my heart I have to share with you — especially if you're the woman who has already tried. You've done the therapy. Maybe more than once. You've read the books, listened to the podcasts, worked the treatment programs. And you're still here, still struggling, carrying a specific kind of heavy: "If I've done all this… why am I not better yet? What's wrong with me?" Sis, nothing is wrong with you. And in today's quiet, reflective episode, I want to hand you the truth that surfaced for me in the stillness by the water — the one that sets that shame down for good. For years, I did not know how to pause. Before recovery, I was going, and going, and going — always chasing the next destination, the next thing to control. And if I'm honest, I dragged that same energy into recovery. Even healing became a race. Am I there yet? Am I better yet? What's the next box to check? Here's what the lake taught me: you cannot expect to know your right next step if you're unwilling to sit in the pause. The answer doesn't come in the sprint. It comes in the stillness. The quote that undid me: "You must forgive yourself for not knowing earlier what only time could teach." If you're the woman who's tried everything — including therapy — you're carrying so much shame that it didn't "work" yet. I did the hard thing. I showed up. Why am I still struggling? But hear me: your attempts were not failures. Some things can only be understood after — after you grow, after you go through it, after time quietly teaches you what you simply couldn't have known before. Every round of trying wasn't wasted time. It was the living that was growing the truth in you. You weren't behind. You weren't failing. You were becoming. I'm a woman of faith, and I believe stillness is where God finally gets a word in edgewise. But the science backs it up, too. When you're in constant motion, your nervous system lives in fight-or-flight — and a body stuck in stress doesn't heal well or think clearly. The part of your brain that figures out your "next right step" actually dims under chronic stress. So of course the answer won't come while you're sprinting. Here's the study that convinced me: researchers ran a huge experiment — over 2,000 people across 37 sites, and these weren't monks, they were total beginners — compared against people doing another calm activity (listening to stories). They found that even a single mindfulness exercise, done one time, measurably lowered stress. Not after ten years. One pause. One time. As a beginner. You don't have to be good at this, sis. And it compounds: in a separate ten-week program, more than 8 in 10 people showed a real drop in stress by the end. (Fun note — globally, women are nearly twice as likely as men to reach for this kind of stillness. We already know we need it.) The going-going-going isn't just wearing you out. It's keeping the wisest part of you switched off. The pause turns her back on. The proof, sitting at a lake: Here's the part that made me teary in my chair by the water. I looked at my life on this trip and realized I was living the exact thing I never believed was possible for me. I ate normally. With other people. I planned meals with my family every night and had what was served. I didn't panic, didn't calculate, didn't restrict the day before or promise to "make up for it" after. I sat at a lake, in my body, and felt not one second of unease. Not one flicker of regret about my weight. I was just there — present with my people, at peace in my skin. Ten years ago I'd have sworn that woman wasn't in me. But she was. The whole time. I just hadn't yet lived the years that would grow her. And if she was in me, sis — she is in you. A few lines from the episode "You must forgive yourself for not knowing earlier what only time could teach." "Your attempts weren't wasted time. They were the living that grew the truth in you." "You weren't
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  EP 297: Can't Skip a Workout Without Guilt? How to Break Free from Compulsive Exercise **Must Listen Fav!** 24.07.2026 16min

  Sis, today we're talking about escaping excessive exercise — because rest is required in recovery. If you never miss a Monday… if you work out every single day… if you alter your vacations around getting a workout in… if you carry insane guilt and punish yourself later when you miss one… if you skip social plans to exercise, or your routine is affecting your marriage and your family… if you restrict your food on the days you move less — this episode is yours. I've been exactly where you are, and I'm proof you can lay this down. My clients are proof. And sis, you can be proof too. Why this happens (and why it's not your fault) This is so common for women struggling with disordered eating. Why? Because you've learned to cut corners. Cut calories. Take away. Survive on less in every way possible. You've manipulated your food to do it — and you've manipulated your body and your movement to do it, too. I didn't start out working out twice a day. I didn't start out doing compulsive movements on my bedroom floor just to burn a little more. None of it happened overnight. The disorder built it over time while I ran on fumes. I was a cardio queen who genuinely believed she loved that life. Letting it go was one of the hardest parts of my recovery — and what saved me was discovering movement that had nothing to do with burning anything. Mindful meditation. Yoga. Experiencing my body for the first time without a calorie counter attached. And I've watched a client go from 7 days a week at nearly two hours a day… to 3 days a week at 30 minutes. If that feels impossible to you right now, stay with me. 5 steps to release excessive exercise 1. Get real with your current routine.Write it out. How much, how often, how long? Then write out the feelings — what comes up when you don't get a workout in? What's the anxiety like around when you'll fit it in? What rises up in you at the mere suggestion of cutting back? Awareness has to come before change. 2. Understand the power of permission.You must grant yourself permission — with exercise and with food. So much of the panic around cutting back is really about permission you've never given yourself. What you give your mind power over is what will have power over you. Voice the permission out loud: "I've run my body ragged for years, and I can choose to live differently." 3. Picture your future recovered self.How much does she exercise? Does she really want to be on a treadmill every single day — or is she at brunch with her family? For me, the honest answer was: I want to meditate. I want yoga. I want to relax. Some days I want to do nothing at all. Ask yourself honestly: is my current routine enjoyable, or is it an obligation driven by fear? (And be ready — there's an identity shift in this one. "I'm just someone who loves the gym" was a badge of honor for me until I got honest about it.) 4. Pick one tangible, small goal.Get off the treadmill five minutes early. Replace Monday's workout with journal time. Then actually put your rest days on the calendar — society tells you to pen in your gym time, so do the reverse and pen in your rest. Planning in advance sets positive intent, which builds momentum, which gets you the result. 5. Progress, not perfection.If you decide in advance to rest and then catch yourself scheming a workout anyway — that's not failure, sis. That's awareness. That's growth. You're going against diet culture and beliefs you've held as truth for years. Give yourself grace. It's okay to not work out today It's okay to rest if… Your body is telling you to slow down You're trying something new with your time Life is overrun with work, family, and obligations You're sick You're not nourishing your body enough You're hurting or injured You're struggling with body image today You're making time to fill your own cup or chase a dream True happiness is making peace with what's no longer serving you — and creating a healthier version of it. A few lines from the episode "R
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  EP 296.5: Terrified to Eat More, but Know You Aren’t Eating Enough? How to Gently Increase Your Portions in Eating Disorder Recovery✨ 21.07.2026 16min

  On the pod today, we're discussing a question from a sweet listener who wrote in and asked: "I know in order to find peace with food and fully embrace recovery, I must increase my food intake and my portion sizes. However, I'm truly anxious and scared every time I think about this. How do I stick with it and make it a habit that builds momentum?" Sis, I adore this question — because I have been right there. If you're terrified to even think about increasing your portions, or you feel like you're already at capacity, I want you to know: you are right where you need to be listening to today's episode. It's okay to be afraid — you're about to do something brave We've been programmed by a culture where less is more. Dressing on the side. Don't drink your calories. You don't need those carbs. Everything is elimination, elimination, elimination. So of course it feels scary to go the other direction. When my dietitian first handed me my meal plan, I looked at it and thought, there is no way in H-E-double-hockey-sticks. Every fear flooded in. But here's the truth: it's okay to be afraid, because you're about to do something that is going to bring you future joy. This takes courage. And your future self is looking back at the you sitting here right now saying, "Yes, girl. You're going to rock this recovery thing." Step 1: Understand your resistance When you think about adding more to your day, what actually comes up? Fear of weight gain? Anxiety that you'll lose control and never stop? A flood of old rules — when would I fit that in, what would I choose, I can't have this if I have that? That's just your brain spinning. See yourself in that place without judgment — because the resistance shows up precisely when you're about to embark on something amazing. It's okay to be scared and still do the dang thing. Fear is what keeps the cycle going: heaviness → restriction → overwhelm → shame → right back where you started. The way out is building new dominant pathways in your mind — and that starts with what you practice on repeat. Step 2: Know the truth about nourishment Don't just tolerate the idea that eating more is "better" — coach yourself on why. Adequate nutrition supports healing for your organs, your muscles, your skin, your hair. It fuels the basics — breathing, circulation, digestion. It regulates hormones that directly impact your mood and health. It armors up your immune system and protects your bones for the long haul. This isn't about shame for lost time, sis. It's about the reframe: "This is what I'm doing for my future self, because my body deserves this level of healing." And swap the mindset: instead of more food = weight gain, try "I'm finally supporting my body's natural regulation. My body is learning to trust me, and I'm learning to trust it." Food is medicine. It's a non-negotiable — stop making it optional. Step 3: Practical ways to gently increase Work with a dietitian. I'll say it plainly: I'm a certified health coach, not a dietitian — and the single best move for portions and meal planning is a professional who specializes in this. They can help with visual aids, adequate-meal guidance, and the "plate distortion" that makes it hard to even know what a normal portion looks like. If you don't have one yet, finding one is worth it. Go gradual and small. Don't overhaul every meal at once. Pick one small, consistent addition and honor it — then build week after week. Small steps compound. Make it a game. Can I add a little more of this? A little something extra there? Each tiny win proves to your mind that you're capable — and that empowered feeling builds real momentum. Add variety. If your meals or meal times are rigid, gently challenge it. Try a different lunch. Add something new in a gap in your day. What's one thing you could commit to this week? Create a mindful eating environment. Eat where you feel safe, supported, and connected — not rushed, watched, or on the go. Set healthy boundaries where
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  EP 296: 'I Want to Recover, BUT I'm Scared' ~ The One Word Keeping You Trapped + What to Do Next 17.07.2026 12min

  Today's episode is about one word, sis. One tiny, three-letter word that is quietly deciding the direction of your entire recovery — and honestly, your entire life. "I want freedom, BUT I'm terrified." "I want to recover, BUT I've tried everything." "I want peace with food, BUT I don't trust myself." Sound familiar? That little word BUT is doing more damage than you realize — and today I'm handing you the one-word swap that changes everything. Grab your Tarjay journal, girl. This one's a game changer. BUT is a fixed mind Here's what the word BUT actually does: it erases everything that came before it. "I want freedom, BUT I'm scared." Do you hear it? The want just got deleted. The fear got the final word. BUT is a full stop dressed up as a sentence — it takes your desire and slams the door on it. BUT is the fixed mind talking. It says these two things can't exist together: if I'm scared, I can't move. If I've struggled before, I can't succeed now. If it's hard, it must not be for me. I lived in BUT for years. I want to get better, BUT this is just who I am. Every BUT was a brick in the wall between me and my freedom. AND is a growth mind Now watch what happens with one swap: "I want freedom, AND I'm scared." Both things get to be true. The fear doesn't erase the want. The want doesn't require the fear to disappear first. They walk together. AND is the growth mind: I can be terrified AND take the next step. I can have doubts AND keep going. I can have a history of struggle AND a future of freedom. This is how courageous women actually move — not by waiting for the fear to leave, but by letting the fear ride in the backseat while the want drives. Not one woman who ever got free stopped being scared first. They just stopped letting BUT have the last word. You can't choose both — choose one Coach Lindsey coming in hot, because I love you too much not to: you cannot live in BUT and AND at the same time. One kills the want; one carries it. So the next level of your life — the recovered you, the free you, the fully-present-at-the-dinner-table you — is asking you one question: what does this next level require from me? It starts here: choose your word. BUT or AND. Fixed or growth. The wall or the door. You're already choosing one, a hundred times a day, in the tiny sentences inside your head. Today, choose it on purpose. The longest walk you'll ever take My business mentor and coach James Wedmore says something that has never left me: "The greatest distance we will ever walk is between our head and our heart." And whew — is that the truth in recovery. Because your head already knows. You've listened to the podcasts, read the books — you could teach a class on what recovery requires. Knowledge isn't your problem, sis. The walk is from knowing it up here… to believing it in here. From "recovery is possible" as information to "recovery is possible FOR ME" as truth. And what carries you on that walk isn't more information — it's AND. Every time you say "I'm scared AND I'm doing it anyway," you take one more step from your head toward your heart. Every meal chosen in fear, every rest taken in doubt, every hand raised for help before you feel ready — those are the footsteps. That's the walk. Try it on Take your sentence — you know the one — and swap the word: "I want to be free, BUT I've had this for decades" → "I want to be free, AND I've had this for decades — so I know exactly how much this freedom is worth." "I want to trust myself, BUT I've broken promises to myself before" → "I want to trust myself, AND I'm learning to keep promises to myself, one at a time." Feel the difference? BUT ends the story. AND continues it. And sis — your story is not finished. A few lines from the episode "BUT is a full stop dressed up as a sentence." "The fear doesn't erase the want. They walk together." "Not one woman who ever got free stopped being scared first. She just stopped letting BUT have the last word." "The greatest distance
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  EP 295: Exhausted from Fighting Food Thoughts Every Day? You're Closer to Shore Than You Think **Must Listen Fav!** 14.07.2026 19min

  Hey girl — if you're in the thick of a hard season right now, this one is for you. If you're exhausted from fighting the same thoughts every single day… if you're so tired of trying to do this whole recovery thing by yourself… if you're scared to death of letting go of control but you know you desperately want to stop carrying this burden alone — I created today's episode just for you, sis. We're doing something a little different: seashells, ocean currents, and the imagery of my happy place. But don't let the beach vibes fool you — this is one of the most important truths I've ever shared on this show. Because you are closer to shore than you think. Picture this with me: You're standing at the ocean. Way off in the distance is a beautiful, peaceful shoreline — that's your recovery. Your freedom. Your life without the constant mental chatter. But between you and that shore is a massive current pushing against you. Every stroke toward healing, the eating disorder voice pushes back. That current is made of everything that feels impossible right now: the fear of weight gain, the voice saying you can't have that yet, the terror of losing the thing that's made you feel safe even while it's been destroying you, and the sheer exhaustion of fighting every single day. And somewhere in the middle of it, you get tired. You start thinking, maybe I should just stop swimming. Here's what I need you to know: every single woman who has found freedom from an eating disorder has had to swim against this same current. And you are stronger than the current trying to take you under. __________________ My son spent our beach trip hunting for the "perfect" shells to bring me — the smooth ones, the whole ones, no holes, no rough edges. And it hit me: we were looking at it all wrong. The pressure, the tumbling, the tossing — that's exactly what creates a shell's strength and its beauty. Every line and curve comes from surviving another storm. And here's the part that gives me chills: after all the chaos, the shells wash up complete. Children collect them. People treasure them. They become symbols of the ocean's power to create beauty from something that got tossed around and slammed to the ground. The broken ones tell a story. And nobody actually wants the "perfect" ones anyway — those are the little baby shells that have never been in the deep waters. Sis, this is your story. Every hard day, every moment you choose your meal over your fear, every time you resist the scale — you're forming another layer of strength. You're not broken because you're in the storm. You're in the process of becoming a treasure. _______________ I know what you're thinking: "I'm terrified of letting go. What if I lose control?" Truth bomb, sis: you're not actually in control right now anyway. Your eating disorder is controlling when you eat, what you eat, how much you exercise, what you wear, where you go, your thoughts from the moment you wake until you sleep. That's not control — that's a false sense of safety that's keeping you fighting the current. Or worse, drowning in it. And stepping into faith? I'm not talking about a giant leap where you suddenly trust everything perfectly. I'm talking about one stroke toward shore instead of treading water in the same spot: Eating your snack when the voice says you don't need it Choosing rest when your body is exhausted Reaching out for support instead of figuring it out alone Trusting that putting yourself first isn't selfish — it's necessary Even the strongest swimmers need a lifeguard I know you. You're the woman who thinks she has to do everything herself — believe me, I am her. You've been managing your recovery, your food, your kids, your husband, your whole life all by yourself, and beating yourself up when you get tired. But here's the hardest truth: the hardest thing isn't doing it perfectly. The hardest thing is admitting you can't do it alone. Your eating disorder has been stealing the oxygen from your l
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  EP 294.5: Can I Actually Recover From an Eating Disorder? Why Can’t I Just Eat Normally? What if I’m Too Far Gone? 10.07.2026 18min

  Sis, I'm coming at you with some serious tough love today, because I'm about to call you out on the story you've been telling yourself about your journey. If you've been walking around asking "Why me? Why do I have to deal with this? Why do I even bother trying to recover?" — this episode is your wake-up call. Because I'm about to flip that victim script and hand you the question that changes everything. I just got off a coaching call with a client who's stepping into a whole new identity away from the eating disorder voice, and it lit a fire in me. So buckle up, grab your  journal, and get ready to shift from poor me thinking to powerful me living in the next 15 minutes. The story: You wake up and the first thought in your head is about food, your body, your weight. You spend your days calculating, restricting, obsessing — then beating yourself up for all of it. And somewhere in that mental chaos, the questions start: Why me? Why can't I just eat normally like everyone else? What if I'm the exception? What if I'm just too far gone? Here's the truth I need you to hear loud and clear: you are writing yourself as the victim in your own life story — and then getting mad that you're playing the victim role. You're taking clips from your journey — the hard days, the setbacks, the fears — and making them mean you're doomed. But your thinking is driving your entire life. So let me ask you, girl… how's that working out for you? The facts: 60–70% of people with eating disorders make a full recovery (National Eating Disorder Association) With proper treatment, recovery rates can reach as high as 80% (Journal of Clinical Medicine) People who believe in their ability to recover are significantly more likely to achieve full recovery — and women who reframe their eating disorder as something they're overcoming rather than something they have show better outcomes The majority of women struggling with exactly what you're struggling with right now? They get better. They don't just manage symptoms — they become free. So here's my question: if most women recover… why not you? What "why me?" is really doing for you Here's the uncomfortable truth: that question isn't really about seeking understanding. It's about staying comfortable in an identity that keeps you feeling safe. When you ask "why me?" you get to stay stuck without taking responsibility. You get to avoid the scary. You get to keep the mask on that the eating disorder thrives off of. I'm not judging you — I asked every one of those questions myself. "My eating disorder is different. I've had it longer. It's more severe. I've tried everything." Sis, I said all of it. And every single woman I've ever worked with thought she was the exception too. You know what happened when they stopped playing the victim in their own story? They became the hero. As 1 Corinthians 10:13 says: "No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind." Your struggle isn't unique. Your pain isn't special. And your recovery isn't just possible — it's probable. Same facts, different story The facts of your life don't change. But the story you tell about them? That's 100% your choice. "I have an eating disorder" → could mean I'm ready to heal "Recovery is hard" → could mean I'm doing something brave "I'm scared of gaining weight" → could mean I'm about to break through my biggest fear Right now, your default identity is "the woman with the eating disorder." Every morning your brain boots up like a computer running that operating system — so of course the disordered thoughts come first. That's your default setting. But what if you changed the default to recovery warrior? A recovery warrior doesn't ask "why me?" She asks "why not me?" She doesn't say "I can't do this." She says "I'm doing this." She doesn't make herself the victim of her story. She makes herself the hero. As Romans 8:37 reminds you: you are more than a conqueror. Decide in advance Here's the real truth: when I went t