Posts Tagged “Eating Disorder Recovery”

Episode description:

In this episode of Peace Meal, Jason shares his story of recovering from an eating disorder as a male, including why, after more than 25 years of recovery, he felt called to share his story publicly. Jason traces the roots of his eating disorder back to the weight-cutting culture of competitive wrestling in high school, where restrictive and binge eating cycles were normalized and even encouraged by coaching staff. Those patterns followed him into college, where isolation and stress deepened his struggles.

Without many resources or relatable voices to turn to, Jason navigated much of his recovery on his own. Today, Jason channels the wisdom of his journey into raising his two young daughters with open conversations about feelings, balanced approaches to food, and a foundation of unconditional love. His message to anyone still fighting in silence: you are loved, you are enough, and recovery is possible.

You’re a few hours into treatment—or maybe a few days in—when you begin to wonder if you’ve made a mistake. The anxiety you expected to subside has only gotten more intense. You’re not sick enough for this, it says. You can handle this on your own. Part of you is already scanning for the exit.

This can happen even if you felt ready to begin eating disorder treatment. Even if you walked in with real motivation and a sense of hope. However disorienting it might be to experience, a spike of panic at hour twelve or an overwhelming urge to leave at the end of day three are not signs that treatment is wrong for you. Research tells us that the eating disorder voice tends to get loudest when it feels most threatened, and entering treatment is about as threatening as it gets.

Read on to learn why the first days can feel so destabilizing, and what to do when the urge to leave feels the strongest.

Episode description:

Recovery is hard work. Eating disorders are tenacious illnesses that fight to stick around, convincing you they’re keeping you safe even as they chip away at your joy, health, and freedom. When you’re in the thick of your healing work, it’s natural to ask yourself, “Why am I doing this again?”

In this episode, Jillian validates the natural ebb and flow of recovery motivation while exploring the many reasons to keep going. You’ll find practical tools for the tough moments, and hear why people who’ve walked this path say it’s both the hardest and the best thing they’ve ever done.

**Content warning: This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences in recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms. Please use your discretion when reading and speak with your support system as needed.

Pam Sanderson Lyon lives in Durham, North Carolina, in a home full of animals, people, colored pencils, and half-filled journals.

I don’t know about you, but I have never needed encouragement to think more or live in my head.

“Dig in.”
“Analyze your every thought.”
“Stew on it.”

All unnecessary statements.

I never forget them. They come easy.

Episode description:

In this episode of Peace Meal, dietitian Gretchen Wallace joins us to explore how we can protect the next generation’s relationship with food. Together, we unpack why body image struggles in adolescence shouldn’t be dismissed as a harmless phase—and why the fact that these struggles are common doesn’t mean they’re acceptable or something young people should simply have to endure.

Gretchen sheds light on the environmental influences that shape kids’ views of food and bodies, from developmentally inappropriate health class curricula to the highly curated world of social media. She challenges the idea that nutrition should feel like a math problem, offering a more compassionate, body-trusting framework instead.

With warmth and wisdom, Gretchen outlines a hopeful, practical roadmap for families—one that emphasizes supportive boundaries, curiosity, and compassion as the foundation for lasting food freedom.

Episode description:

It happens like clockwork: a new year arrives, and with it, renewed pressures to shrink, sculpt, or “fix” ourselves. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 80% of people who set New Year’s resolutions focus on changing their bodies, eating habits, or fitness routines.

For those living with an eating disorder, working to protect their recovery, or simply feeling worn down by body talk over the holidays, this seasonal flood of body-focused messaging can feel particularly destabilizing. In this episode, Dr. Jillian Lampert shares how to move through this season with greater awareness and support—and what actually helps when eating disorder thoughts get stirred up.

**Content warning: This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences in recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms. Please use your discretion when reading and speak with your support system as needed.

A graduate of the University of Miami’s College of Engineering, Abbey Griffith (she/her/hers) is an Eating Disorder Recoveree, N.A.S.M. Certified Personal Trainer, and Certified Body Positive Facilitator. She owns Clarity Fitness, Georgia’s first body-positive, weight-inclusive, eating disorder-informed fitness studio, and has devoted her life to helping people of all ages, shapes, and sizes find a wellness routine they truly enjoy. Abbey sees the dangers that come from an obsession with fitness and nutrition, and believes it’s time for us to see our bodies in a positive, empowered way — regardless of the number on the scale.

Like many of us out there, I am sad to say that I grew up absolutely hating my body. Diet culture found me young and convinced me that smaller meant better, more lovable, more attractive, more worthy, and I desperately wanted all of the above. In a misguided attempt to try to mitigate some of these feelings, I began personal training sessions at a local fitness studio. Fortunately for me, my trainers were kind, funny, and made movement feel like hanging out with a friend. They’re a big reason I became a trainer myself.

**Content warning: This is one person’s story; everyone will have unique experiences in recovery and beyond. Some stories may mention eating disorder thoughts, behaviors, and symptoms. Please use your discretion when reading and speak with your support system as needed.

Molly Morrison is a future physician, runner, and self-proclaimed journal enthusiast who is in ongoing recovery from anorexia and continues to choose healing each day. When she’s not writing or running, she’s probably curating a new recipe in the kitchen, laughing with her sisters, or planning her upcoming travels.

This is a story of a time in my life when I stopped feeling, thinking, and existing fully as a human being. It is also a story of how I found myself again.

For years, I underate and exercised my body into the ground. I thought that being “healthy” and “disciplined” would make me more lovable—not just to others, but to myself. Those thoughts came from everywhere: cultural standards, my social media feed, and comparison to others. I started to believe that the smaller I became, the more worth I had.

There was nothing logical about my eating disorder, but at the time, it felt like the only thing giving me order and direction. I knew something was wrong—when I snapped at people I loved, when my body was giving me clear warning signs—but anorexia’s voice still drowned out my own.