Ever tried to introduce yourself without saying what you do, where you’re from, or what you’ve achieved? That discomfort is the doorway we walk through with Sophia, a 23-year-old mental health creator, researcher, and former college athlete who left her team to pursue eating disorder recovery—and ended up rebuilding her identity from the inside out.

We trace the messy middle: panic in fast-casual parking lots, a banana that wouldn’t stay down, and the steady exposure work that turned survival into momentum. Sophia shares how she reframed control, moved the disorder’s voice from driver’s seat to trunk, and found quiet victories like a holiday without panic for the first time in years. Along the way, she gives a practical identity framework—avowed vs ascribed—that helps anyone in fitness or recovery stop outsourcing self-worth to roles, numbers, and applause.

The conversation takes aim at curated bodies and AI-made “candids.” We break down why side-by-side posts—posed vs unposed—matter, how hyperreal images are distorting baseline expectations, and what creators can do to protect younger audiences from dysmorphia and comparison spirals. We also talk coaching, sports psychology, and the line between being helpful and hinging your worth on usefulness. Sophia previews her next research steps in experimental psychology and her ongoing essays on Happy You’re Here, where she writes about recovery, dating, and early adulthood with clarity and bite.

If you’re navigating weight, identity, or the pressure to be “useful,” this is a warm, unposed invitation to build a self that stays when the roles shift. Listen, share with a friend who needs a nudge toward hope, and leave a review to help more people find these conversations.

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