Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol | Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast — Less Food Noise. More Life.

By Lindsey Nichol - Certified Health Coach, ED Recovery Coach, ED Intuitive Therapy CertifiedAlternative Health Health & Fitness Mental Health Religion & Spirituality Christianity

Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol | Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast — Less Food Noise. More Life. episodes

October 13EP 314: Why Does Recovery From an Eating Disorder Feel So Hard? The #1 Blind Spot Keeping You Stuck in the Fight
If recovery from an eating disorder feels so hard right now that you're white-knuckling your way through it — "why do I have to do this? why me?" — sis, I've been exactly where you are. But there's a blind spot keeping you stuck in that fight, and one shift in how you see it can make the whole thing feel lighter. Not because the work changes. Because you do.
In this episode:
The lie that makes recovery feel unbearable. When my treatment team told me exercise "had to go," it felt like the ultimate punishment — because exercise was my control, my identity, my reward. And because I believed the eating disorder's lie that I was being robbed, it felt impossible. That's the blind spot: when you believe recovery is a punishment, of course it feels like one.
The shift that changed everything for me. I had to completely flip how I saw rest and reward. Not exercising wasn't a punishment — it was a privilege. It was the exact thing that taught me a healthy relationship with movement for life. What felt like it was being taken from me was actually being given to me.
Everything the disorder calls "losing," recovery reveals as "gaining." The meal isn't a punishment — it's a privilege your body's been begging for. Rest isn't a punishment — it's a coming home to yourself. Feeling your feelings isn't a punishment — it's the privilege of finally learning to heal.
You can do anything you put your mind to. Same action, completely different experience — the only thing that changed was my perspective. You can't always change the hard thing in front of you, but you can always change how you see it. And how you see it determines whether you keep going or give up.
Your work this week: Every time "this is so hard" shows up, pause and ask the flip question — What if this isn't a punishment? What if this is a privilege? The meal, the rest, the fear food, the hard conversation. Not because it's easy — but because every one of those things is giving you your life back.
"The women who find freedom aren't the ones for whom it was easier. They're the ones who decided to see it differently — who stopped believing recovery was happening TO them, and started believing it was happening FOR them. You get to recover, sis. That's not a punishment. That's the greatest privilege of your life."
Your turn: Head to our free community at www.herbestselfsociety.com and share your True Up Tuesday — what are you tuning up this week? What do you want more of, and less of?
Ready for personalized support? I'm opening a waitlist — fill out a client application at www.herbestself.co so we can get you scheduled for a quick connect and see how I can help you.
If this blessed you, follow the show, leave a rating and review, and share it with a woman who needs this shift in perspective today. 💛
Connect with Lindsey:
🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms
Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show:
💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week!
Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now.
Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for women in eating disorder recovery who are ready to break free from perfectionism, people-pleasing, and diet culture to live authentically and wholeheartedly.
*While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.
17 min
October 09EP 313: Will This Ever Change? 5 Things Eating Disorder Recovery Taught Me (That No One Talks About)
Sis, let's start with something true, and a little bit hard.
When we first start down the long road of an eating disorder, we could never have imagined what we'd give up to become the smallest version of ourselves. It doesn't happen all at once — it's a slow sacrifice, one tiny concession at a time, until one day you look up and wonder, how did I ever let it get this far?
And then, when you finally get out of denial, you ask the two questions: Will this ever change? And how do I change it?
Today I'm answering that — with five things recovery taught me. And they're probably not the five you'd expect. Because recovery was never flashy. It wasn't the compliments or the "what do you do to be so skinny?" It was quiet. It was ordinary. It was doing the right thing when no one was watching and no one was clapping.
The 5 things recovery taught me:
What you do in the ordinary is what makes you extraordinary. Recovery isn't won in big cinematic moments — it's won in the mundane ones. Having the meal when you're not hungry. Choosing rest over the workout, even when everything in you wants to move. No one sees those choices. No one hands you a trophy. But those unseen, no-applause reps are the work.
No one is going to clap for you — and that's okay. In the disorder, you got noticed. In recovery, you'll do the bravest things of your life in total silence. Let that be okay. Work you do when no one is watching, for no reward except your own freedom, is the holiest work there is. You're doing it for her — the recovered you.
Recovery is lived in action, not analysis. You can't think your way out of this. Freedom isn't found in understanding it perfectly — it's found in doing the next ordinary right thing before you feel ready, before it makes sense. The doing comes first. The belief catches up later.
You are only as happy as your heart allows you to be. I read a journal entry on this episode that I wrote back in October of 2007 — one line, written in the middle of my own mess, that I'm still unpacking all these years later. Your heart can't let happiness in when it's clenched shut around control and fear. Recovery is the slow opening of your heart — giving it permission to be happy before everything is perfect.
You're probably going to have to gain weight — and it WILL be okay. I'll love you enough to tell you the truth: the sooner you move out of denial and into acceptance, the better off you'll be. You cannot truly live in a body that's malnourished and restricted — that's not reality, and that body can't carry the life you actually want. Acceptance isn't giving up. It's where freedom starts.
The heart of it: Living in recovery means living in this moment — not the future one you're so afraid of. Not the "what if it's too hard, what if I can't do it" moment that hasn't even happened. Just this one. The meal in front of you. The rest you need right now. The ordinary choice, today.
"Recovery was never going to be flashy. It was always going to be built quietly, in the mundane, when no one was watching — one ordinary, extraordinary choice at a time. You are only as happy as your heart allows you to be. So let it."
Ready to find your own freedom? If you saw yourself in this conversation, I'd love to walk with you. Find coaching and community at www.herbestself.co or come join our free community at www.herbestselfsociety.com
If this episode blessed you, follow the show, leave a rating and review, and share it with a woman — or a daughter — who needs to hear it. 💛
Connect with Lindsey:
🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms
Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show:
💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week!
Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now.
Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for women in eating disorder recovery who are ready to break free from perfectionism, people-pleasing, and diet culture to live authentically and wholeheartedly.
*While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.
24 min
October 06EP 312: You Can Do Hard Things, But You Can't Do All Things ~ The Weekly Check-In That Resets Your Mind & Your Recovery
How's your week starting off, sis? Because mine? My Monday was a blur. The weekend was crazy, I got thrown into the week, and I needed a level set — a true up. So if you're feeling that too, this episode is your reset.
Today I'm sharing a simple, repeatable weekly check-in — I call it True Up Tuesday — that realigns your goals with your authentic self so one chaotic Monday doesn't hijack your whole week (or your recovery). Because freedom doesn't happen overnight, but it also doesn't happen without tangible tools you actually use.
The truth at the heart of this episode:
In a recent therapy session, my therapist told me something that stopped me cold: "Lindsey, you have a faulty notion that you can get everything done. You can't be everything to everybody." And listen — I'm the doer, Miss High Standards (I know you are too, or you wouldn't be here). But here's what I had to hear, and what you might need today: you can do hard things, but you can't do all things.
The True Up Tuesday check-in:
Grab your journal and fill in the blanks:
My number one priority this week is ______
I want to do more ______
I want to do less ______
I want to feel ______
To true up and feel this, I'm going to ______
If you get stuck on the more/less part, here are mine to spark yours: more connection, less isolation. More gratitude, less comparison. More joy, less negativity. More intention, less habituation. More self-love, less judgment. More peace, less chaos. More belief, less doubt. More creating, less procrastinating.
Why this works:
Doing more actually requires committing to less. You don't have to be the queen solver or fix everything. To raise your standards, you have to narrow your focus.
Analyze less, reflect more. Post less, take action more. Complain less, pray more. You don't need to be doing-doing-doing. You need to focus on the less.
As Peter Drucker said: "Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not have been done at all." Half the things on your to-do list don't need to be there — they're just there for the hit of checking them off.
The reminder you might need today: You're allowed to heal and to grow. You're allowed to forgive, to grieve the time this disorder has taken, to let go, let be, and let in. You're allowed to love other people while also honoring yourself. You are the boss of your week — the question is just how you want to show up in it.
"You can do hard things. You just can't do all things. Narrow your focus, and I promise you'll see what you want come to fruition."
Your turn: Head to our free community at www.herbestselfsociety.com and share your True Up Tuesday — what are you tuning up this week? What do you want more of, and less of?
Ready for personalized support? I'm opening a waitlist — fill out a client application at www.herbestself.co so we can get you scheduled for a quick connect and see how I can help you.
If this blessed you, follow the show, leave a rating and review, and share it with a woman who needs this reset today. 💛
16 min
October 02EP 311: What We Pass Down ~ A Mother-Daughter Conversation on Body Image, Worth & the Truth About GLP-1s (with Her Healthy Body)
Today I'm sitting down with Crysanne and Coryn, the mother-daughter duo behind the Her Healthy Body podcast — a show where faith and health meet. This conversation went places I didn't expect, and I'm so glad it did. We talk honestly about body image, self-worth, the generational patterns we pass down (and the healing we can pass down instead), and the truth about the GLP-1 era we're living in.
If you've ever wondered "did I cause this for my daughter?" or "is it too late for me?" — this one's for you.
In this episode:
Two stories, one thread. Crysanne grew up a "high cardio, low fat" girl of the '80s whose teenage weight loss turned into an eating disorder, then decades of "orthorexia" — an unhealthy pursuit of healthy. Coryn grew up inside that environment, fell in love with the gym, then spiraled into bodybuilding, lost cycles, and disordered patterns of her own. Same damage, different faces — restriction for one, binge patterns for the other.
What we pass down — and what we can pass down instead. The hard truth Crysanne names: what I said to my daughter and what I did were two different things. But the conversation flips the script — we don't only pass down the curses. We can pass down the hope and the healing too. When you honor and nourish yourself, you become the model, not the warning.
When worth comes from the world. Crysanne's most vulnerable share: a marriage ending, rock bottom, and realizing her self-worth had been built entirely on the world's approval — "look how skinny you are" — which left her empty and always chasing. Everything shifted when she started seeing herself through God's eyes instead of the world's. You are worth more than rubies — and God doesn't view you as a label.
Letting go of control. Both women land in the same place: surrender. You get to the end of yourself, stop future-tripping, and finally let God have it. That's where the peace lives.
The truth about GLP-1s. We go there honestly. "Do you really have your dream body if it's a nightmare to maintain?" We talk about why GLP-1s can function like "an eating disorder in a shot," the muscle loss nobody mentions, what happens when the insurance runs out — and the difference between chasing fast weight loss and building a body that's genuinely healthy. (There's a place for support and healthy habits — but a shortcut that creates a worse situation isn't it.)
The side effect of healthy. The big reframe: looking good isn't the goal — feeling good is, and looking good becomes the side effect. Imagine waking energetic, sleeping through the night, getting dressed without mirror-checking, enjoying the meal without the shame. That's freedom. That's "God food," presence, and joy.
What it means to be your best self. I asked them both — and without missing a beat: being present, and letting go of control. Present with God, with your kids, with your clients, with your food. Because if you're obsessing over the scale or the menu, there's no way you're living as the best version of you.
"When you realize you're a daughter of the Most High — worth taking care of, worth loving — you walk differently. And whether you're an extra-extra small or an extra-extra large, it doesn't make a difference, because God doesn't view you as a label."
Go follow Crysanne and Coryn — the Her Healthy Body podcast is on all platforms. They keep it real, raw, and rooted in faith, and we need more of that.
Ready to find your own freedom? If you saw yourself in this conversation, I'd love to walk with you. Find coaching and community at www.herbestself.co or come join our free community at www.herbestselfsociety.com
If this episode blessed you, follow the show, leave a rating and review, and share it with a woman — or a daughter — who needs to hear it. 💛
Connect with Lindsey:
🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms
Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show:
💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week!
Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now.
Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for women in eating disorder recovery who are ready to break free from perfectionism, people-pleasing, and diet culture to live authentically and wholeheartedly.
*While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.
42 min
September 29EP 310: How to Finally Believe You Deserve to Recover ~ The Mental Conditioning Secret That Changes Everything
Let's start with a question that might sting a little: What are you missing out on right now because you don't believe you deserve it?
Because here's the truth, girl — your mind has so much power. What you believe, you become. And so many women are stuck, not because recovery isn't possible for them, but because deep down they don't believe they belong recovered. Today we're changing that.
In this episode:
The belief that's keeping you stuck. You won't ever end up somewhere your mind doesn't believe you belong. For years, Lindsey missed out on a life of freedom because deep in her spirit she felt unworthy of it. Sound familiar? The first shift is asking: Do I actually believe I belong recovered?
What mental conditioning really is. Just like conditioning your body builds stronger muscles rep by rep, mental conditioning trains your mind to modify your thoughts and rewrite the negative beliefs keeping you trapped. Without it, it's incredibly hard to break out of years of disordered patterns. The difference between the woman who takes action and the one who doesn't? The force of certainty behind her.
The four-minute mile. Before 1954, everyone believed running a mile in under four minutes was physically impossible — until Roger Bannister trained his mind as much as his body, visualizing the finish line until it became impossible not to happen. Within two years, 37 more people did it. That's the power of a transfer of belief — and it's available to you.
How to put yourself in your dream. Define your dream. Visualize that it will be hard. Get so familiar with the recovered version of you that not becoming her feels like the failure. And reject the old you — the one who's been agreeing with the lies that recovery is "possible for her, but not for me."
Holding your thoughts captive. Mental conditioning is learning to say "not today" to the negative self-talk — catching the thought when you reach to check a label, when you start to put your body down — and replacing it with intentional, positive dialogue. "How can I honor my body today? That version of me is going to be so proud of the version choosing better right now."
Your work this week: Write a list. What do I want? What am I missing out on because I don't believe I deserve it? What does my dream of freedom actually look like? The more your brain becomes acquainted with your dream, the more you'll believe you belong in it.
"You won't ever be somewhere your brain doesn't believe you belong. Your past is not your potential — you belong in your dream. That's why you're here."
Ready to condition your mind alongside women who get it?
Come join our free community at www.herbestselfsociety.com — Lindsey would love to get to know you and walk with you through this.
And if you're ready for personalized support, coaches help you with the here and now. Find out how you can partner together at www.herbestself.co
I believe you belong recovered — not just because I'm recovered, but because if I can do this, so can you. If this episode blessed you, follow the show, leave a rating and review, and share it with someone you love. 💛
Connect with Lindsey:
🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms
Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show:
💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week!
Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now.
Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for women in eating disorder recovery who are ready to break free from perfectionism, people-pleasing, and diet culture to live authentically and wholeheartedly.
*While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.
15 min
September 25EP 309.5: When ED Recovery Feels Impossible ~ The 3 Outcomes of Every Hard Season (& How to Choose the Right One)
Real talk today, girl — no sugarcoating, no empty platitudes. If you're in the thick of it, the messy middle, exhausted from fighting the same battles in your head day after day, this one's for you. I've been right where you are, wondering if recovery was even worth the fight. So let's get honest about the way through.
Here's the truth: when you're in a hard season, there are only three possible outcomes. Understanding them changes everything about how you show up.
In this episode:
Outcome #1: You quit. Not always quitting recovery altogether — often it's quitting on yourself in the moment. Choosing restriction over nourishment because it feels safer. Skipping meals after a bad body image day. Here's the hard truth: quitting doesn't make the hard end — it makes it last longer. When you stop moving forward, you just stay in the hard.
Outcome #2: It gets better. The one we all want — the situation improves, the trigger passes, the holiday ends. And sometimes it does. But if the circumstances change and you don't, you're just waiting for the next hard season. You'll always be one comment, one bad body image day, one curveball away from spiraling. Getting better on its own isn't enough.
Outcome #3: You get better. This is where your power lives. Not it — you. When you get better, you have tools for the triggers. You show yourself compassion instead of punishment. You stop waiting for life to be easy and start building the resilience to handle it as it comes. The hard times don't disappear — but they hit differently. They stop controlling you.
The truth you need to hear: Hard times end — but only when you decide they end. Not when it's easy, not when the kids are grown, not when there's more in the bank. When you refuse to move through it, the hard season becomes your identity instead of something you're moving through. And the belief that "this is just how it'll always be"? That's a lie from the enemy. That's the disorder talking.
Your decision today: Wherever you are right now — in your car, on a walk, lying in bed — make a choice. Quit, wait, or get better? Because you have what it takes to choose door number three. Staying stuck is the harder thing. Waking up a year, five years, ten years from now still fighting the same battle — that's the hardest of all.
"The hard time you're in right now isn't forever. It's not your ending. It's just a chapter — and you get to write what comes next."
Ready to choose "get better" with someone in your corner?
This is exactly the work I do. If you're ready to go deep with personalized one-on-one support, apply at www.herbestself.co and we'll see if it's the right fit.
And come check out the Recovery Collective — an intimate group of women doing the work and life together through recovery. You get live coaching with me, a community choosing to get better alongside you, and the tools and frameworks to move through the hard times instead of staying stuck. Join us at www.herbestself.co/recoverycollective
You don't have to figure this out alone.
If this episode spoke to you, follow the show, leave a rating and review, and share it with a woman who needs to hear it today. Keep showing up, keep putting in the reps, keep choosing you — the woman you're becoming is worth every hard step. 💛
Connect with Lindsey:
🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms
Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show:
💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week!
Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now.
Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for women in eating disorder recovery who are ready to break free from perfectionism, people-pleasing, and diet culture to live authentically and wholeheartedly.
*While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.
16 min
September 22EP 309: Ever Wonder If You Have What It Takes to Fully Recover? The 5th Agreement I Never Told You About (Four Agreements Series ~ The Bonus Agreement)
Surprise, girl — there's a fifth agreement.
If you walked through the Four Agreements series with me (episodes 303–306), you thought we were done at four. But Don Miguel Ruiz came back years later, with his son, and gave us one more. And it might be the one you need most — especially if you're standing at the edge of your recovery, ready to leap but quietly wondering if you have what it takes.
The fifth agreement: be skeptical but learn to listen.
In this episode:
Be skeptical of the loudest voice. The voice saying you'll never fully recover, this is just who you are — loud and familiar is not the same as true. You're allowed to doubt the voice that's been doubting you. (Holy skepticism: take every thought captive.)
But learn to listen. Skepticism alone becomes its own prison. Get quiet enough to hear what's actually true underneath the noise — your body's real signals, your recovered voice, the people who love you, and the still, small voice of God.
Be discerning about who helps you. You can't do this alone — but be skeptical of fit, not of support itself. If help hasn't worked before, that doesn't mean help won't work for you. Keep looking until you find someone who truly understands eating disorder recovery. You deserve the right support, not just any support.
Leap before you see the whole staircase. You don't need the full picture to take the next step. We walk by faith, not by sight. The fact that you're scared and you still want to leap? That's not what disqualifies you — that's the proof you've got what it takes.
This week's practice: When "I don't have what it takes" shows up, pause and ask two questions — Is that actually true? (skepticism) and What's the truer thing underneath? (listening). Then take one small step the truer voice would take.
You don't have to see the whole staircase to take the step. Doubt the lie, listen for the truth, and leap — because that willingness, right there, IS what it takes.
New here? Go back to episodes 303–306 for the first four agreements, then come home to this one — it'll hit even deeper.
If you're ready for support that truly understands eating disorder recovery, I'd love to walk with you. Reach out at www.herbestself.co, and come join our community of women doing this together at www.herbestselfsociety.com.
Follow the Her Best Self podcast so you never miss an episode — and if this one spoke to you, share it with a woman who needs to hear it today.
Connect with Lindsey:
🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms
Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show:
💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week!
Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now.
Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for women in eating disorder recovery who are ready to break free from perfectionism, people-pleasing, and diet culture to live authentically and wholeheartedly.
*While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.
27 min
September 18EP 308.5: Overthinking Every Food Choice? My Favorite Recovery Tool to End Analysis Paralysis & STOP Self-Sabotage
Sis, if you overthink and overanalyze every choice — what do I eat next, when can I eat, is this the right thing to eat? — and you wonder if you'll ever escape the nonsense, this episode is for you.
Today I'm sharing one of my very favorite recovery tools for the woman stuck in analysis paralysis, self-sabotage, and perfectionism. Because here's the thing — waiting to feel 100% certain before you act is exactly what's keeping you stuck. And the eating disorder loves it that way. Let me show you a better way to decide.
First, a word on purpose
Before I get into the tool, I have to share the devotional that lit a fire in me this morning: purpose is more about realignment than achievement. You are a workmanship, created in His image and for His purpose — and your identity is found in your design, not in your passions or your resume.
How you see yourself will determine what you see for yourself. So often it's your past — the ups and the downs — that blocks you from believing your potential. And that's directly linked to today's tool, because when you don't believe something is for you, you block your own ability to act on it.
The tool: you don't need 100% — just 51%
Here's the whole thing, and it's beautifully simple: you never need to be 100% sure about a decision. You just need to be 51% sure — slightly more convinced it's the right choice than not.
I call it a "rule," but honestly, sis? It's the opposite of a rule. You're a perfectionist drowning in food rules and shoulds already — this is the one that sets you free from needing to be perfectly certain. Think of it as permission.
Because total certainty is rare, and waiting to feel fully confident is what's keeping you from living. The eating disorder demands 100% (hello, Queen of Perfection) — and that demand creates paralysis. Recovery doesn't require perfect confidence. It just requires the next step. And God can't bless the actions you don't take.
How to apply it — 3 steps
1. Acknowledge the uncertainty.
Feeling uncertain is normal — you're about to do something brave, and brave is scary. Not knowing what to eat next or what your body needs doesn't make you a failure. You don't need all the answers. The assignment is just to go.
2. Listen to your recovery voice.
Ask: What would my recovered self do? What aligns with where I'm headed? What would my support circle tell me to do? (And if you don't have a strong circle yet — sis, you can't do this alone. Come find one.) I tell my clients: if you won't grant yourself permission, take mine.
3. Make the 51% choice now.
No delaying. If your recovery voice is even slightly louder than the eating disorder voice, that's enough. Lean in. Trust that 51% sure is enough to move.
What 51% looks like in real life
The snack: You're not 100% ready, but you're 51% convinced it supports your health. That's enough. What's in the pantry? Let's go.
Getting support: You've thought about coaching off and on — maybe she could help me. If you're leaning toward even the idea, that's 51%. That's enough to take action.
The dinner out: You don't know if you're ready for the Mexican restaurant with friends — but a small part of you knows isolation won't serve your recovery. That small part is the 51%. That's enough to say yes.
Why it works: you're building evidence
Every 51% decision in favor of your recovery does something powerful — you build evidence in your brain that you can trust yourself. Your true voice gets louder. The eating disorder voice gets quieter, because you're no longer taking its orders. You create real momentum for healing (not a Band-Aid on a bullet hole), and you practice flexibility over perfectionism.
You get to be Queen Flexibility. Queen Spontaneity. You do not have to be Queen Perfection.
And when the percentages feel really close and you still aren't sure? Celebrate making the decision at all — focus on the process of deciding, not the result. Treat each choice as an experiment and a learning opportunity. Recovery isn't about being 100%. It's about being brave enough to choose you — one 51% decision at a time.
A few lines from the episode
"You don't need to be completely sure. You just need to be sure enough."
"The eating disorder demands 100% — and that demand creates paralysis."
"If you won't grant yourself permission, take mine."
"Every 51% decision builds evidence in your brain that you can trust yourself."
"You can be Queen Flexibility. You do not have to be Queen Perfection."
"God can't bless the actions you don't take."
Your assignment this week
Notice the moments where you can apply it. When a decision comes up, ask: Am I 51% convinced this supports the direction I want to live? Am I 51% convinced this supports my recovery? If yes — step forward. Messy, sloppy, "I don't know" action all counts. The point is to move.
Ready for a circle that helps you decide?
You were never meant to do this alone — and having support makes every one of these decisions easier.
Connect with Lindsey:
🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms
Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show:
💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week!
Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now.
Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for women in eating disorder recovery who are ready to break free from perfectionism, people-pleasing, and diet culture to live authentically and wholeheartedly.
*While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.
14 min
September 15EP 308: 'I'll Start Living When I'm Recovered' ~ Hope for Your Messy Middle When You Aren't Sure What's Next
If you're listening to this in one of those seasons where life feels messy and hard — sis, hear me before we even start: you are not broken, you are not behind, and you are not alone.
Today's message is simple, and it's straight from my heart. So many of us are waiting — waiting to feel ready, waiting to be recovered, waiting to be smaller or better or "fixed" — before we let ourselves actually live. But your life is happening right now, whether you give yourself permission or not. And I don't want you to miss it.
This one's for you if you're stuck in the messy middle, four steps forward and two steps back, wondering when your real life gets to start.
The lie that keeps you waiting
There's a part of you with dreams — the part that knows you were meant for so much more than days consumed by food and body thoughts. The part that wants to show up fully, chase what's on your heart, laugh without calculating calories.
And then there's the other voice: "Not yet. Not until you're smaller. Not until you've got this eating thing figured out. Not until you've recovered."
Sis, that voice is keeping you alone on your own island. One of my clients said it perfectly: "I keep thinking I need to wait until I'm recovered enough to start living — but I'm realizing that waiting for a perfect future is just another way the eating disorder is controlling me." That was her breakthrough. It can be yours too.
Recovery isn't the waiting room for your life — it IS the living
Here's the truth: recovering is the process of learning to live. It's not something you do and then start your life. It's the journey itself.
And your eating disorder wants you to wait — because as long as you're waiting, you keep believing you need to be fixed, worthy, or "better" before you're allowed to take up space, want things, or pursue your dreams. But you don't need permission, sis. Not for food, not for rest, not for growth, not for a new hobby. This is your life.
Because here's what's real: life doesn't pause while you figure out your relationship with food. Your dreams don't go on hold. Your purpose doesn't wait. How much more time do you want to give away?
3 ways to start making life happen (instead of waiting for it)
1. Name one dream you've put on hold.
Just one. The thing you keep saying you'll do when you're better, when you have more energy, when the kids are older. Maybe it's applying for a job, taking a dance class, calling a friend you've been avoiding, forgiving someone, going on a date with your husband — or getting honest and reaching out for support. Write it down. Don't analyze it, don't judge it. Just name it.
2. Take the smallest possible step.
Not the biggest step. Not the perfect step. The smallest. If it's the job, look at one posting. If it's the dance class, just find the studio's website (and nourish yourself with a good meal before you go). The eating disorder says it's all or nothing — but recovery, and life, are built on tiny, imperfect actions taken consistently.
3. Remind yourself: you are living your recovery right now.
This mindset shift changes everything. Instead of "I'm waiting to recover," flip it to "I am living my recovery now. I'm giving myself permission to heal now." Every time you choose connection over isolation, pursue something that lights you up instead of restricting, or show up imperfectly — that is recovery. That's life.
The honest part
I won't lie to you — this isn't linear or easy. Some days you'll feel like you're moving backward. Some days you'll still hate your body, the thoughts will still be there, maybe even louder. But you don't have to wait until those days are gone to start living in them. Struggling doesn't mean you're doing it wrong — it means you're human, and it means you're about to do something brave.
Your eating disorder is not who you are. She doesn't get the whole story of your life — she's not even the most interesting part of it. But you'll never know what the rest of your story looks like if you keep waiting for permission to write it.
A few lines from the episode
"You are not broken. You are not behind. You are not alone."
"Recovering is the process of learning to live. It's the journey itself."
"You don't need permission. This is your life."
"Life doesn't pause while you figure out your relationship with food."
"Every time you show up imperfectly — that is recovery. That's life."
"Your eating disorder doesn't get the whole story. She's not even the most interesting part of it."
"Your life is waiting for you — not the other way around."
Your work this week
Name one dream you've put on hold — write it down.
Take the smallest possible step toward it.
Remind yourself: I am living my recovery right now.
You're allowed to want things. You're allowed to dream, to pursue, to have purpose — especially in the middle of healing. Your life is happening right now. Not when you're thinner, not when you're better. Right now.
You don't have to walk this alone
Connect with Lindsey:
🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms
Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show:
💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week!
Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now.
Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for women in eating disorder recovery who are ready to break free from perfectionism, people-pleasing, and diet culture to live authentically and wholeheartedly.
*While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.
14 min
September 11EP 307.5: 'I'm Not Sick Enough for Help' ~ The Lie That's Keeping You in the Cycle + What to Do Next
Sis, today I'm getting right to the good stuff — the number one pitfall that keeps so many women trapped in disordered eating for far too long: not asking for help.
For the longest time in my journey, I sat in denial. I don't need help. No one could help me. I'm fine — I'm functioning. That's a lie, and today I'm lovingly calling you out on it, because you are more than a conqueror, you are an overcomer, and it is time to step into that truth.
If you've ever told yourself "I'm not sick enough," this episode is for you.
The lie underneath "I'm fine"
Functioning is not the same as free. You can be eating, holding your life together, "fine" on the outside — and still be trapped in the cycle. Telling yourself you're not sick enough isn't the truth; it's the disorder keeping you exactly where it wants you.
Here's my tough-love truth: if you're not okay asking for help, your why isn't big enough yet — and I say that only because I want freedom for you that badly. It's not enough to hope for a healthier future. It takes a new mindset, new behaviors, and uncomfortable action taken little by little, every day.
Why asking for help matters so much
The reality of this illness is serious — and I share these numbers not to scare you, but to light a fire of hope:
Up to 10% of people with anorexia die within about 10 years of onset, and up to 20% within 20 years — but with treatment and support, that mortality rate drops to around 2–3%. Support changes everything.
The death rate associated with anorexia is roughly 12 times higher than the death rate from all causes among females ages 15–24.
And yet the majority of people with eating disorders never seek help.
I fell into that "never seek help" group for a long time — until a fire rose up in me that said: I am not a statistic. I am not average. Watch me. Support took me from a statistic to a survivor. It can do the same for you.
Why you might not be reaching out (you're not alone)
Stigma and shame — fear of judgment from family, friends, or professionals
"I'm not sick enough" — the functioning, willpower, "I'm fine" trap
Fear of facing reality — because not facing it feels like control (but it's an illusion of control)
Not knowing where to turn — or having had past negative experiences with providers
Hopelessness — believing the disorder's lie that you're "too far gone"
Hear me: you can feel every one of these things and still choose today to stand up for your future best self.
You can start exactly where you are
You can start late. You can start over. You can recover differently than anyone around you. You can be uncertain, scared, and unsure of every answer — and still succeed in finding freedom. You don't have to know all the answers. You just have to choose.
I wasn't fully ready when I started. I just showed up, day after day, and let people guide me. That's all it takes to begin: not certainty — just a choice.
A few lines from the episode
"Functioning is not the same as free."
"It's not enough to hope for a healthier future — it's not going to happen if you don't make it happen."
"I am not a statistic. I am not average. Watch me."
"You can start late. You can start over. You can be scared and still succeed."
"Trying to do this alone is like climbing Mount Everest by yourself — who's going to catch you if you slip?"
"You either want freedom, or you don't. How bad do you want it?"
Your choice this week
Ask yourself honestly: Is what I'm doing right now — the direction I'm headed, the choices I'm making — in alignment with the life I actually want?
And then the braver question: Do I need support? Am I trying to climb this mountain alone? If the answer is yes, let today be day one. Not "someday I'll get help" — day one of reaching out.
Here's your lifeline
You were never meant to do this alone. If you're ready to stop white-knuckling it and let someone who's been there walk beside you, I'd be honored.
Connect with Lindsey:
🌟 Website: www.herbestself.co 🌟 Instagram: @thelindseynichol 🌟 Free FB Community: www.herbestselfsociety.com 🌟Client Application: HBS Co. Recovery Coaching - Client Application - Google Forms
Love this episode? Here's how you can support the show:
💕 Share it with a woman who might need to hear this message 💕 Leave a review on Apple Podcasts - it helps other women find the show 💕 Screenshot and tag @thelindseynichol if any of these steps help you this week!
Remember, beautiful: Your worth is not measured by how perfectly you do recovery. Healing isn't linear, progress over perfection always, and you are exactly where you need to be right now.
Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is a podcast for women in eating disorder recovery who are ready to break free from perfectionism, people-pleasing, and diet culture to live authentically and wholeheartedly.
*While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.
14 min

About Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol | Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast — Less Food Noise. More Life.

From the publisher's feed

Her Best Self with Lindsey Nichol is the eating disorder recovery podcast for women who are completely exhausted from food noise and food restriction. If you are ready to finally break free from food obsession, body anxiety, and the mental prison of ED - this show is for you.