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

Episódios

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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
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  EP 294: Freedom Is When It Doesn't Scare You Anymore ~ Proof from My Beach Vacation That Recovery Is Possible✨ 07.07.2026 20min

  No outline today, sis. No steps, no framework. Just me, fresh off our annual family beach vacation in the Outer Banks, riffing on what I noticed while I was there — and what it means for you. Because here's the thing: the beach used to be a trigger for me. Months of restriction and doubled-down exercise before "bikini season." Fake permission at vacation dinners that never turned into real permission. Coming home to restrict and repeat the cycle all over again. This year? I sat on the beach fully present. I played in the sand. I watched my son on his boogie board. I ate the ice cream — the salted caramel gelato with all the drizzle — without thinking twice. I had pizza with my husband. I didn't work out once. And I didn't have a single thought about my worth. If you're in Struggleville right now believing this is just who you are and how it's always going to be — this episode is your proof that it's not. Freedom is when something that used to scare you doesn't scare you anymore. And if I can get here, so can you. What this episode holds The honest before. What beach trips used to look like for me: the pre-vacation restriction, the "permission" that never came, the post-vacation punishment cycle. If you're living that loop right now, you're not alone — and it's not forever. The striking after. What this year felt like: present, spontaneous (well — more spontaneous, I'm still a structured girl), fully there with my boys. No comparing bodies. No planning how to "burn it off." No anxiety-driven chaos before the trip. Just… vacation. How I actually got here. Not overnight. Not with a magic ticket that somebody else has and you don't. With tiny steps of permission, intention, and consistent small actions over time that led to big results. It started way before the beach — and your version starts wherever you are today. The reflection from the waves. Sitting on the deck listening to the ocean, I thought about how the God of the universe made every single wave different — and wondered why I'd ever spent years doubting whether He made me well. Did I ever really know better than He did? The question I wish someone had asked me. How much longer do you plan to hang out here? Time passes either way. Recovering is the hardest thing I've ever done — but staying sick was harder. A few lines from the episode "Freedom is when something that used to scare you doesn't scare you anymore." "I'm just a couple steps ahead of you, girl. I'm not better than you. If I can get here, so can you." "You cannot measure your progress if you haven't truly gone all in on yourself." "There is nothing you will ever lose if you are constantly gaining experience." "Your willingness to fail in life is proportionate to your potential to gain and grow." "Don't believe the lie that this is how it's always going to be. If you believe that lie, then it is." "The fear is not going to dissolve. You have to face it and run anyway. Run messy, run trembling, run half certain — but run toward the life that keeps calling your name." "Recovering is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. But what was harder was staying sick." Your reflection this week My challenge from the deck chair to you: Look back, not just forward. Instead of fixating on the far-off vision of "fully recovered," ask yourself: what's one step forward where, six months from now, I could look back and know I've moved? Freedom is built out of those steps. Check your consistency. Are you remaining consistent with small actions over time that lead to different results — or waiting to feel ready? Sit with the big question: How much longer do you plan to hang out in Struggleville? I'm not asking with shame — I'm asking with love, because I lived there too. Stop waiting for permission. You only get one life. Just one. What's one hard thing you can go do today? Ready for more support? 🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com
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  EP 293.5: How Much of Your Day Is Spent Thinking About Food? The 4 Strategies That Change Everything **Must Listen Fav!** 03.07.2026 18min

  A client said something recently that tore me into pieces: "I realized I've been so consumed with thinking about my next meal or obsessing over what I can and can't eat that I totally missed my son's baseball season. I was physically there but mentally checked out. I was somewhere else entirely." If that hits you in the gut, this episode is for you. Today we're talking about the energy thief no one names: food obsession. Because eating disorders aren't just about food — they're time thieves. They steal your presence from your own life. And your life, friend, is real and beautiful and messy, and it's happening right now, whether you're there for it or not. In this episode, I walk you through the honest question that changes everything — how much of your day is spent thinking about food? — and gives you four practical strategies to reclaim that mental energy and come back to the people you love. The picture that might feel familiar: She has it all together on paper. But here's her actual day: feet hit the floor and she's already calculating what she'll eat. Planning breakfast in the shower. Thinking about lunch through her morning meetings. By evening she's exhausted — not from her job, not from her family, but from the constant mental chatter. Her husband asks about weekend plans and she's already spiraled into anxiety about restaurant menus. If you know her — if she could be you — keep listening. The question at the heart of this episode If you had to estimate what percentage of your waking thoughts are consumed by food planning, food guilt, food anxiety, or food rules — what would it be? For me, in the hardest seasons, it was 80–90% of my day. A constant conversation inside my own ears. And that sacrifice was costing me everything. Which brings us to the quote that shifted everything: "If you don't sacrifice for what you ultimately want, then you become the ultimate sacrifice." What do you ultimately want? It's probably not to think about food all day. It's connection. Presence. Energy for what actually matters. Peace in your own mind. But when food perfection runs the show, you become the sacrifice — your time with your spouse, your conversations with your kids, your ability to be fully in your own life. The 4 strategies to reclaim your presence 1. The Three-Second Check-InThroughout your day, pause and ask: "Where is my mind right now?" If you catch yourself in food thoughts during a conversation, a meeting, a moment that matters — don't judge it. Just notice it. Then ask: "What would it look like to be fully here right now?" Life goes on whether or not you participate in it. This tiny check-in brings you back. 2. The Energy AuditFor one day, keep track of how much mental energy goes to food thoughts. Every time you catch yourself planning, worrying, calculating, or obsessing — mark it in your notes app or on paper. At the end of the day, count it up. That's your energy audit: a real look at how much of your life force is being redirected away from what matters most. When you're on autopilot, you don't realize how time-consuming it is. This makes it visible. 3. The Presence PracticeNext time you sit down to eat — phone away, multitasking off — be fully there for the experience. Notice the taste, the texture, the satisfaction. This isn't about the food. It's about practicing presence, including presence with yourself. So often we eat standing, rushing, avoiding the experience entirely. Being present at your own table is where it starts. 4. The Connection RedirectWhen you catch yourself spiraling into food thoughts, immediately reach toward someone you love. Text your kid. Call your spouse. Hug your dog. The goal: redirect that mental energy toward connection instead of obsession. Try making dinner a device-free zone — and a free zone for your mind, too. Ask your people about their day. Really listen. (In Lindsey's family: "What was the most challenging part of your day, and what was the best part?" — it drives
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  EP 293: When Your Body Doesn't Feel Like Yours ~ 8 Things That Help You Feel at Home Again in Your Skin 30.06.2026 18min

  A listener wrote in recently and said the quiet part out loud — "I know I'm supposed to have this extra weight on - and I feel heathier, but it's so hard to keep eating when all I want to do is lose it. I've been cutting corners and I feel tempted to slip. How do I learn to be okay in this body and keep going?" Sister, if that's you — this episode is for you. Today Lindsey walks through the eight things she returns to again and again with the women she coaches — the shifts that help when your body feels foreign, when you're scared, when you don't know how to keep choosing recovery. Not quick fixes. Real ground to stand on while you find your way home to yourself. The short version: do the next recovered you thing Before the eight, the heart of it: just do the next recovered you thing. You don't have to figure out the whole road. You only have to take the next step the recovered version of you would take. Stop identifying with the older, smaller version of you — she wasn't your best self; she was you running on fumes. The body you're in now isn't your enemy. It's where the rest of your life gets to live. 8 things that help when your body doesn't feel like yours 1. Understand the recovery process.What you're going through is normal. Your body is healing, and healing isn't a sign you're doing it wrong — it's a sign you're doing it. Begin shifting your focus from how your body looks to how your body is healing. You're allowed to feel terrified and still take the next step. Both can be true. 2. Challenge the negative chatter.Acceptance starts with awareness. The harsh thoughts about your body? Those are symptoms of the disorder, not the truth. The mirror lies through that filter. Instead of trying to leap straight to loving how you look, aim first for respecting your body. That's the bridge. 3. Focus on body functions over body image.Your body is a vessel — it carries your soul through this life. As Glennon Doyle said: your body is not your masterpiece; your life is. Notice what your body lets you do. Appreciate it for showing up, even through the struggle. And as you move, shift from a metrics mindset to a mindful-movement one. No more exercising for numbers — movement for joy, for strength, for being alive in your skin. 4. Practice self-compassion.Speak to yourself like someone you love. Maybe write a letter to the younger version of you who started all this — apologize, tell her it's okay, let her know the wiser, stronger version of you is here now. You are a human. Struggling is part of being one. Feelings aren't facts — you're allowed to feel something hard without making it a verdict on who you are. 5. Keep making pro-recovery choices.Prioritize your meals. Prioritize your snacks. Prioritize sleep — seven to nine hours, because your body is doing real work and it needs rest to heal. Step off the metrics treadmill. Choose movement out of preference, not punishment. We're not playing small anymore. 6. Seek support.You can't do this alone, and you were never supposed to. Whether that's a coach, a therapist, a dietitian, or a community of women who get it — let people in. Vulnerability heals what isolation can't. Come hang out with us in the private community at HerBestSelfSociety.com, or reach out about working together one-on-one. 7. Practice patience and plan for the messy middle.Celebrate the small daily things — journaling, time off social media, sitting in nature, music, stillness. And plan for the hard moments before they hit. What are your triggers? Who are they? Where will you need boundaries? Planning is your friend. The messy middle is the hardest part — preparing for it makes it survivable. 8. Adopt the sunset mindset.Picture a sunset. We never look up and criticize one for being different than yesterday's — for the colors being "wrong," the shape being off. We just take in its beauty. Sunsets aren't criticized for their differences because their beauty doesn't need to be altered. Yours doesn't either. W
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  EP 292: The Messy Middle of Recovery ~ The 4 Questions to Ask Yourself When You Don't Know What's Next 26.06.2026 16min

  You're not at the beginning anymore. You know something has to change — and honestly, you've already started. But you're nowhere near the finish line either. You're just in it. The messy middle. Tired, unsure, not certain what your next step even is. If that's where you are, this episode is a gentle hand on your shoulder. Lindsey shares the truth that reshaped how she sees recovery and coaching — the quality of your life is a reflection of the quality of the questions you ask yourself — and in today's episode she walks through four questions she recently sat with alongside the women in her support group program: the Recovery Collective. Not questions that fix you. Questions that get to the root. Why you feel stuck in the middle... In the messy middle, we start asking ourselves the same draining questions on a loop: Why can't I get this right? What's wrong with me? Why am I still struggling? Here's the thing — your mind answers whatever you ask it. Ask what's wrong with you, and it will go find evidence and hand you a list. That's not the truth; that's just your brain doing its job with a bad question. So sometimes being stuck isn't a sign you're failing. It's a sign you're asking questions that can only ever pull up weeds. The way through isn't a better answer. It's a better question. The four questions (and why each one matters).... What would you do if you couldn't fail?The messy middle is ruled by fear of failure — you hold back because what if it doesn't work? Take failure off the table, even just in your imagination, and your real desire floats to the surface. Your honest answer is a clue. It points straight at the step you've been afraid to take. How are you, really?That one word — really — changes everything. You're so practiced at "I'm fine" you can say it in your sleep. In the middle, we numb out and stop checking in because we're afraid of what we'll find. This question is an invitation to tell yourself the truth, even if you're the only one listening. Why are you worth knowing?Not what you do. Not what you accomplish, provide, or hold together — why you, underneath all of it, are worth knowing. This is the one that undoes people, because so many women have been valued for their output for so long they've forgotten they're worth knowing just as they are. Learning to finish the sentence "I'm worth knowing because…" is some of the most important work there is. What does freedom mean to you?Not freedom in the abstract — yours. You can't walk toward something you can't picture. For one woman it's a quiet mind. For another, being fully present at her kid's party. For another, peace at the table. Naming yours, specifically, turns freedom from a someday fantasy into a real destination you can start moving toward. What these four have in common.... Notice that not one of them is about fixing you. Not one is a rule or a behavior. They go underneath all of that — to desire, honesty, worth, and vision. That's the difference between pulling a weed and getting to the root. And it's the heart of why being coached, and being held by other women, can move you further in one honest night than months of white-knuckling alone. A good question, asked by someone who cares, changes things. A few lines from the episode "The quality of your life is a reflection of the quality of the questions you ask yourself." "Your brain will answer whatever you ask it. Ask what's wrong with you, and it hands you a list." "The way out of the messy middle isn't a better answer. It's a better question." "You are worth knowing — just as you are." "The messy middle isn't where you're stuck. It's where you're becoming." Your reflection this week: Take the four into the middle with you. Don't rush them — let them work on you over a few days: What would you do if you couldn't fail? How are you, really? Why are you worth knowing? What does freedom mean to you? If it helps, journal one each day and notice what surfaces. The point isn't a tidy an
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  EP 291: Rejection, Redirection & Recovery ~ What My 12-Year-Old Taught Me About Worth & Letting Go 23.06.2026 14min

  Yesterday my heart broke a little — and then my son handed me a piece of wisdom I'm still carrying. He'd worked so hard for a spot on a travel baseball team. He was sure he had it. And then the no came, and I watched my 12-year old question his worth in a way I know all too well. But after all the tears and the what-ifs were out, he looked at me and said something I'll never forget. This episode is about the two choices life hands every one of us, every single day: to see problems, or to see possibilities. Because the difference between a heavy heart and a peaceful one is almost never the circumstance. It's the looking glass. If you've ever stood in front of a closed door and heard maybe I'm just not enough — this one's for you. What this episode is really about The moment my son felt "not good enough" — and the surprising thing he understood Why feeling your hard feelings first is part of the healing, not a detour around it The two looking glasses: problems or possibilities, fear or faith, complaining or gratitude How the same closed door can mean "something's wrong with me" or "something's being protected in me" Why your worth was never up for the team, the number, or anyone's yes A few lines from the episode "You are chosen. You are loved. And I know this is hard." "Mom… God must have been protecting me from something He knows that I don't." "The difference between a heavy heart and a peaceful one is perspective." "Same event. Two completely different lives lived from it." "The closed door doesn't always mean something is wrong with you. Sometimes it means something is being protected for you." A gentle invitation If you're in a season where every looking glass seems to show you a problem — where you can't quite find the possibility on your own — you don't have to find it alone. That's what walking with someone is for. You can find me and the ways we can work together at www.herbestself.co, and come be held by the women in our community at www.herbestselfsociety.com.  Your next steps: 👥 The Recovery Collective: Join women who are saying "no more" to eating disorders controlling their lives—group support with women who understand www.herbestself.co/recoverycollective  👤 1:1 Coaching: Fast-track your "no more" journey with personalized support for women ready to reclaim their lives www.herbestself.co  👉 Apply to work together You don't need more time, readiness, or perfect conditions. You need to channel that same energy you use to run your life into reclaiming your life. 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 290.5: Stop Lying to Yourself About Your Eating Disorder ~ This Could Be Your Summer of Freedom☀️ 19.06.2026 18min

  This one comes at you hot — with so much love, and some truth wrapped in a bow. Lindsey gets real about the moment she stopped blaming everyone and everything else and finally took radical responsibility for her recovery. If you've been waiting to feel ready, waiting for the perfect time, waiting for someone to come save you — this is your wake-up call, and your invitation. You're not powerless. You never were. And this summer could be the beginning of your freedom. A note of care before you press play: this episode speaks honestly about the turning point in Lindsey's recovery. If you're in a tender, vulnerable place right now, it's completely okay to come back to it another time, or to listen with a trusted person nearby. You get to protect your peace. What this episode is really about Why "waiting to feel ready" keeps you exactly where you are The difference between playing the victim and taking radical responsibility — and why responsibility is actually the hopeful part How recovered women aren't better than you; they just stopped waiting The truth that if you have the power to choose the disorder, you also have the power to choose recovery Why you don't think your way into recovery — you act your way into it The come-to-Jesus moment that changed everything A few lines from the episode "You're not powerless. You've never been powerless." "Recovered women aren't better than you — they just don't wait to feel ready." "You don't think your way into recovery. You act your way into recovery." "If you have the power to choose your eating disorder, you also have the power to choose recovering from it." "Your future self is counting on the choice." "You weren't meant to live small." Your next step: The Best Self Breakthrough If this episode hit you right in the chest — if you're tired of the excuses and ready to make changes — Lindsey is opening the Best Self Breakthrough, a 21-day summer sprint for women done playing small and ready to take radical responsibility for their recovery. You'll work with Lindsey directly, get a real win, and start believing again that you're not meant to be controlled by these thoughts. Apply at www.herbestself.co — and don't overthink it. Action is the whole point. Taking radical responsibility sometimes means recognizing you need specialized, clinical support — and reaching for it is one of the bravest, most responsible choices there is. That's not failure. That's strength. 👤 1:1 Coaching: Fast-track your "no more" journey with personalized support for women ready to reclaim their lives 💛 You're not powerless. You never were. This could be your summer of freedom. You don't need more time, readiness, or perfect conditions. You need to channel that same energy you use to run your life into reclaiming your life. 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 290: Is Restricting My Food Actually Hurting Me? Real Talk in the Era of GLP-1s & Celebrity Thinness 16.06.2026 16min

  You're trying to recover. The whole world seems to be on a shot, shrinking on purpose, celebrating it loudly. And somewhere underneath all of that, a quieter question keeps surfacing in you: is what I'm doing to my body actually hurting me? That question is the whole episode. If you've been afraid to ask it out loud — this one's for you. In this one, Lindsey opens up about the moment "just trying to be healthy" stopped serving her life and started running it, what restriction quietly takes that no scale can show, and the truth she wants you to hold onto in a culture that keeps telling you to make yourself smaller. This isn't a meal plan. It's not a fear list. It's an honest word, woman to woman, for the one who's wondering if she's okay. What this episode is really about How "wellness" can quietly become the cage The cultural moment we're in — GLP-1s, shrinking-culture, and what it's like to try to recover in the middle of it The real, honest answer to "is this hurting me?" — without giving the disorder one more thing to monitor What restriction takes that no one talks about: not what you see in the mirror, but what makes you you Why your wondering is the wisest part of you The truth that you were chosen to be free — right now, as you are A few lines from the episode "A lot of us didn't fall into this through vanity. We fell in through wellness." "You're not losing what you see in the mirror. You're losing what makes you you." "If that question is in you at all — listen to it. That's not fear talking. That's the wisest part of you, the part that's still on your side." "Health was never the number. It never was." "You can feel the storm and not be the storm." "You were chosen to be free. Not free once you fix it. Free right now, as you are, in the middle of the struggle." If something in this episode is sitting with you You don't have to untangle this alone — and you were never supposed to. Lindsey works one-on-one with women who are ready to stop white-knuckling recovery by themselves, and her Freedom Formula experience is the space where you'll be supported and surrounded as you do the real work of coming home to yourself. Both live at www.herbestself.co.  And if you're in a harder place than a program can hold right now — that's not failure, and you're still worthy of support today. Please reach for it. Talk to your doctor, a therapist, or the National Alliance for Eating Disorders helpline. You're worth asking for help to reach freedom. Your next steps: 👥 The Recovery Collective: Join women who are saying "no more" to eating disorders controlling their lives—group support with women who understand www.herbestself.co/recoverycollective  👤 1:1 Coaching: Fast-track your "no more" journey with personalized support for women ready to reclaim their lives www.herbestself.co  👉 Apply to work together You don't need more time, readiness, or perfect conditions. You need to channel that same energy you use to run your life into reclaiming your life. 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 no
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  EP 289.5: Setting Out to Lose 10 Pounds Destroyed My Life ~ The Belief That's Ruining Yours **Must Listen Fav!** 12.06.2026 13min

  It started innocently enough—just 10 pounds. A simple goal that millions of women set every day. But for me, that decision to lose "just 10 pounds" became the beginning of years trapped in an eating disorder. Today I'm re-sharing the story of the day my dreams were crushed by one comment, and how the belief that "something is wrong with me" became the foundation of my disordered eating. More importantly, I'm revealing why this same toxic belief might be keeping you trapped. In this vulnerable episode, you'll discover: The skating audition that changed everything with one cruel comment Why believing "something is wrong with you" is your biggest recovery obstacle How 10 pounds became 15, then 20, then 30 in a dangerous spiral The difference between walking in the storm and being the storm How to go back and heal your wounded inner child Why you were chosen to be free, not perfect The question that changes everything: "How would you live if nothing was wrong with you?" For the woman ready to stop believing she's the problem. THE DAY THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING I was living my childhood dream—skating at the rink I'd only watched others perform at as a little girl. The audition was going perfectly. Every jump, every spin—years of training paying off. Then came the soul-crushing words: "Well, Lindsay, your skating is amazing. However, come back when you've lost 10 pounds." Those words stung harder than any ice burn or fall. I left that day a changed person, believing something was fundamentally wrong with me. The dangerous spiral: 10 pounds became 15, then 20, then 25, then 30. What started as proving I could lose weight became an obsession that consumed my life. YOUR BIGGEST RECOVERY OBSTACLE The biggest problem you'll face in your quest to freedom: Holding onto the belief that something is wrong with you. Just like me, you may have received messages that you weren't good enough as you were—from people who likely didn't have their own needs met and were passing down their wounds. Your eating disorder doesn't define who you are. It's something you've experienced, just like my crushing audition moment. Time to let go of who you think you need to be. THE LIFE-CHANGING QUESTION How would you live differently if you believed there was nothing wrong with you? For years, I lived as if I had something to prove and someone to prove it to. I spent every day trying to drop those 10 pounds just to show I could. But here's the truth: I wasn't meant to be their version of enough, and you weren't meant to be their version of enough either. HEALING YOUR WOUNDED INNER SELF My breakthrough came when I went back in time—to little Lindsay who was innocent, vulnerable, trying to be perfect. I had to talk to her, comfort her, remember when I first felt "not enough." The day I realized I was living my life for others—built up and broken down by people who shaped my belief that I wasn't enough—was the day I chose to commit to recovery. YOU ARE THE SUNSHINE, NOT THE STORM You can walk in the storm and feel the storm, but you're not the storm. You are the sunshine. The day you decide you can be good enough just for you is the day you set yourself free. Maybe you're not thin enough, pretty enough, smart enough for someone else—but you weren't meant to be their version of enough. My dream in recovery was to be normal. But I wasn't made to be normal, and neither are you. Being different is what makes a difference. THE BIBLICAL TRUTH "You were chosen to be free." - Galatians 5:13 The biggest problem you'll ever face in your quest to freedom is holding onto the belief that something is wrong with you. There is nothing wrong with you. You just need to step out into the sunshine. WHEN YOU FEEL TRAPPED When I felt unlovable, not enough, like something was wrong with me—I would love on others, shine on others, serve others. Maybe that's where you start today. Your rock bottom has to be the bottom because that's where the living takes place. Life is