What Eating Disorders Don’t Tell You with Karina Chandler | The Hopeaholics Podcast


In this powerful episode of The Hopeaholics Podcast, guest Karina Chandler shares an extraordinary journey of resilience, vulnerability, and transformation. Opening up about her long battle with an eating disorder, complex PTSD, childhood trauma, substance use, and a harrowing medical crisis involving encephalitis and toxic mold exposure, Karina reflects on the years she spent suffering in silence while maintaining the appearance of a functioning professional and mother. She speaks candidly about how addiction, shame, and secrecy intertwined with her past, the collapse of her marriage, and her eventual rebuilding from the ground up as a single parent. Today, Karina finds strength in recovery, fitness-based community support, spirituality, and service, and she discusses how these practices not only helped her heal but also reignited her passion for helping others. This episode offers a raw, deeply human look at survival, self-discovery, and the courage to reclaim one’s life.


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Timestamps:
00:13:39 – First Purge and Feeling “Powerful”
00:13:52 – Realizing the Eating Disorder Took Over Her Life
00:14:09 – Considering Surrendering to the Disorder While Driving
00:16:30 – Drinking at 17 and Being Introduced to Alcohol at Age 8
00:17:12 – Meeting Her Addicted Father for the First Time
00:17:29 – Her Father Showing Her Off Without Ever Making Amends
00:20:17 – Losing Her Developmentally Delayed Sister
00:24:20 – Working in a Prison Facility While Her Eating Disorder Spiraled
00:25:02 – Drinking, Binging, Purging, and Drunk Driving as a Daily Cycle
00:30:53 – Becoming a Clinical Director While Secretly Drinking Nightly
00:31:26 – Losing Her Career and Driving Uber Just to Survive
00:50:39 – Getting Her Second DUI After Months of Isolation
00:51:52 – Board Told Her She Must Get Sober to Restore Her License
00:53:01 – Sharing Trauma Stories While Climbing a Mountain in Recovery
01:07:06 – Crying While Realizing Her Pain Now Helps Others Heal