Disclaimer: These are real raw stories that I will be sharing in the podcast.  However I am not a health professional.  Please take the story with a grain of salt and consult your health provider before changing anything in your health journey.  

I almost can’t believe that this post is about a podcast. God does awesome things through us even when we think it’s not possible.  The first edition is on a subject really close to my heart, addictions and exercise.   I’m thankful to be moving on from the lessons of the last two blog posts and sharing this for your encouragement.   

I want give so much thanks to Georgie Morley(whose podcast is starting up SOON!) and Nicole Culver for inspiring me with their podcasts/podcast ideas.  This is going to be a bit simpler, as I don’t have a lot of hours to devote to it.  Yet I can definitely say that it won’t lack heart and a lot of real, raw sharing on recovery battles.   We’ll cover topics like:  

Exercise Addiction
Food Police (Inner Food Police)
Addiction to People Pleasing 
Comparison
Embracing the Way Your Body was Fearfully and Wonderfully Made and more.  

I also have a personal story from a sweet girl within a Facebook group called the Joy Squad. 

Jesse reached out and said that she would like to be a part of the brainstorming for the podcast.  I asked her if she had ever struggled with exercise addiction.  She said that she hadn’t, but she did know what it was like to be stuck in the trap of over-exercising.  She was sweet and vulnerable to share her story with me so that I could share it with you. 

Jesse’s Story:

‘I can definitely offer a couple of thoughts on over-exercising, though maybe not to the extent of addiction. When I started school, I had to readjust my exercise schedule, and took up jogging, which gave me incredible results after half a semester of relying only on metabolism and somewhat healthy eating to carry me through! I’ve always been an athlete, but put my sport of choice and exercise in general on the back burner in order to get situated at school. I started jogging and the (non-excess) weight disappeared. I loved it, and felt great. It became a stress release for me, but soon turned negative when the weight kept falling off, and when I began to guilt myself into a dedication to jog every day or else. The guilt that comes with not being able to work out, whatever the reason may be, sticks with me, and I make it a point even now to start my day with a workout. I don’t push myself too hard, but I know that I’ve not yet overcome the regimented mindset that a workout is a justification to feed my body what it needs throughout the day.

 For anyone in a similar situation, I encourage them to learn about the negative effects of pushing oneself too hard – on their bodies, their nutrient intake and expenditure, their mindset. I am still working to accept that rest days can be alright, and that intake is not justified by calorie expenditure. I acknowledge my problem, and encourage others to do the same and become educated on the actual benefits of exercise and how to listen to one’s body and what its asking for, be it a good run to let off steam or a good rest to recuperate!’  

Now to the podcast: 

This podcast is with one of the very first recovery bloggers I met named Alyssa.  Alyssa is sweet, compassionate, energetic, fun, and real.  

Lyss is bursting with life, and you wouldn’t know that she has battled some very serious episodes with an eating disorder and depression.  She tells her story on her blog: Blissful Lyss, and I hope you can go visit once you’ve listened.   

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