333: Examining the Voice that Fuels You: A Reveal on Shame, an Eating Disorder, a Diagnosis, and Not Fixing Others | with Rachel Nielson of 3 in 30 Podcast

Dawnbreakers by The LifeBeats Project

Friends I am so honored to reshare a favorite story from the LifeBeats Library. Dawnbreaker Rachel Nielson is the host of 3 in 30 podcast, a podcast for moms to give them 3 solid takeaways in 30 minutes. Rachel shares her battle for having control in her life that lead to a decade long eating disorder emerging from dealing with the health decline and death of her mother at a young age to her battle with infertility. She goes from one extreme of excessive running and starvation to lying to her husband to sneak away to eating multiple drive-thrus. After fighting long and hard to bring children into her family, upon the arrival of her child she came to the realization that she was done treating herself like that and no longer wanted any hidden shame. Rachel provides a fascinating insight into her own mind during that period of battling with her eating disorder as she moves through narrative therapy by personifying and giving a voice to it. So compelling to hear how poorly we treat ourselves and helps us to identify and rid ourselves of any similar thoughts.

Rachel shares how counseling and living true to who she actually was through living out her desires and passions helped turn around her negative thinking and need for control.

Rachel then shares the next part of her chapter that she has never shared before, how she fears for a tailspin back into her eating disorder, how it has been placing a strain on her marriage, what she hopes will come from sharing it, and how we can support her. In the spirit of sharing, I also reveal something about my divorce I have not since spoken of.

Listen and be inspired to remove shame in your life by bringing things to the light, realize we don’t have to have the perfect plan to start making changes, and to support others by not trying to fix them but by loving them.

Show Notes:

Rachel’s podcast 3 in 30

Rachel’s Instagram feed

Rachel’s article “The Surprising Way I Confronted My Eating Disorder”

Rachel’s podcast in which she read the narrative