SHOW UP | Pump Academy Podcast

Heads up: this episode talks about eating disorders, including bingeing and purging, and some very dark moments. It also has strong language. If that's heavy for you right now, look after yourself. Support details are at the bottom.

Louise "The Irish Bull" Creaven is a pro boxer who's called the Gold Coast home for twelve years. We recorded this days before she flew home to Ireland for a title fight, in front of her mum and dad for the first time. But this conversation isn't really about that fight. It's about the one she fought first.

Louise lived with an eating disorder from the age of 12. She tells Lay how one comment started it, how it followed her across the world, and the night she watched her friends laughing together and realised she wanted to be that present. She talks about reaching out to a stranger online for help, writing down every thought until her thinking changed, and the first time she hit pads and felt something again.

Her message: your body doesn't define you. And you don't have to be at your worst to ask for help.

In this episode:
- Why nothing in the ring will be as hard as what she's already been through
- How boxing found her, and what it gave back
- What actually helped: honesty, daily journaling and the right person in her corner
- Getting her period back, and using it as a sign she's eating enough
- Stepping on the scales before a fight without it taking over her day
- Why words matter, and letting go of anger at people who "don't know what they don't know"
- Panic attacks, slowing down, and the space she wants to build for kids
- Lay on finding Muay Thai and letting herself be angry

Follow Louise: https://www.instagram.com/louise_theirishbull_creaven/
Follow Pump Academy: https://www.instagram.com/pumpacademy_au/
Pump Academy: https://www.pumpacademy.com.au

If this episode brought something up for you, please reach out.
Butterfly Foundation (eating disorders and body image): 1800 33 4673 · https://butterfly.org.au/get-support/helpline/
Lifeline (24 hours): 13 11 14 · https://www.lifeline.org.au
Outside Australia, please contact a local helpline or your doctor.

SHOW UP is a Pump Academy podcast, hosted by Lay.
How did you show up today? Tell us at @pumpacademy_au.