The podcast

You do not need to like the way you look but it is your duty to will your own good. A bad body image does not simply mean you don’t like your physique. A bad body image is comprised of two components. One, you don’t like the way you look and two, because of dislike toward your body you allow looks to dictate the choices you make. The good news is, you do not need to like what stares you back in the mirror to make choices that are ultimately best for you.

As an internally ambitious person the idea of a "little way" repulsed me until I learned that Thérèse herself toiled deeply with the internal chains of ambition. Ambition, the loss of her mother and perfectionism are just some of the reasons that like many of us Thérèse experienced several bouts of antagonizing depression. Religious or not, I think we can all gain inspiration from St. Thérèse of Lisieux's legacy

I began binge eating in response to the restriction I thought required to maintain a perfectly chiseled, adolescent, athletic physique. Once learned, bindge eating became so much more. My coping mechanism, my avoidant mechanism, my source of exhilaration, sadness, joy ect. Binge eating became my everything, my adventure. It was however an adventure rooted in a lie, vanity and thus only on a "False Adventure" did binge eating lead me.

Bodies Change. A short encouraging message.

In this episode I share a small God story. I share how God used the worst of me to write the best of Him. If you are at your worst it is my sincere prayer that if anything is taken from this, dilute suffering story, that it is hope.

We live thinking, "I am never going to achieve 25 % body fat, might as well not go to the gym, never going to be a marathon runner, why run at all, I'll never be able to consistently eat healthy why try." If a loved one heard you talking like this what would they say ? They would say, “listen up! you can be fluffy, puffy, heavy and without an ounce of muscle and still go and experience a post workout endorphin high, you are worthy of the best.”

While the title is, “Tips to Stop Binge Eating,” breaking free from this problem goes deeper than the robotic pursuit of said tips and the magical disappearance of food attachment. In my experience I could not simply pursue certain strategies, check them off of a box and miraculously be okay. No, I had to, and continuously have to transcend to a place of peace.

At my lowest point of depression and disordered eating I had to reason, logic, speak and then move myself to act in accordance with what I knew to be true and good as opposed to continuing down the path of self-destruction. We must say the ultimate, good, truth over and over again until it becomes engrained in our bodies enough to which we start acting in accordance with this truth.

In this episode Inez and I discuss the serendipity of how we came to know one another. We were briefly introduced yet a friendship was not immediately born. As God would have it our struggles with binge eating began and rooted our now very dear friendship. Further discussed is how my own eating disorder painted a narrative of what it actually means to have faith and how faith helped me understand my eating disorder.

In part one of Inez's episode we discuss how Inez developed disordered eating, body image issues and the big impact social media had in this development.

MaryEllen discusses a season in which she could barely look at herself in the mirror. Regardless of weight change and body image thoughts, the truth is during those times we feel unbearable to look at. Feelings are not the sole dictator of attractiveness and should not be the dictator of your actions. My friend go do something that is good for you: drink a glass of water, take a shower, take a nap, go for a run, smile, dance, just get the positive upward spiral initiated.

In part one MaryEllen and I discuss the promptings of intuition, instinct or as I call it, God. Leaning into the small pulls lead MaryEllen to leave her biology degree in a frame on the wall and pick up her career as an artist and illustrator. Every time I leave a conversion with Maryellen I am inspired to be a better version of myself. Listen to the prompting of your heart, their quiet, so be quiet, shut all the noise off and find some silence.