01/04/2026
This one is personal 🤍
A couple months ago, we came together for a $1 fundraiser to support those navigating eating disorder recovery...and the response was incredible. $1,000 raised, and more importantly, conversations like this one are finally being had out loud.
Eating disorders are not just about food. They’re rooted in something deeper [ just like any addiction ] .. patterns, beliefs, coping mechanisms that often started long before we even realized.
This is why I do the work I do. Because I lived in the depths for years caught in addiction...'healing' from my eating disorder in my early 20s to only swap it for alcohol for the next decade until I went into the layers beneath..
Because when we can gently uncover and heal what’s underneath, we don’t just manage symptoms… we start to actually break the cycle.
I’m so proud to be part of this mission, and so grateful to everyone who showed up, supported, and continues to be part of the change.
If this post resonates with you, or someone you love.. please know you’re not alone 🖤
If you haven’t already, grab a copy of last week’s Pecatonica Valley Leader. Jenna with Naturally Empowered Living, JP, and I want to thank Kayla for giving us the opportunity to talk about our $1 🖤 Club Fundraiser back in February.
We also just want to say this loud and clear: you all showed up, and we are so grateful 🖤
We raised $1,000, and every dollar is going toward supporting those navigating eating disorder recovery—and educating the people around them, because this disorder doesn’t just affect the individual. It affects everyone in their orbit.
Long read ahead, but I promise it’s worth it for those that seek a deeper understanding of this devastating disorder. There are a few things Jenna and I feel strongly about, especially having lived this ourselves:
1) Eating disorders are never just about food.
They’re often rooted in something deeper—coping, control, safety, identity…patterns that started long before we even realized what we were doing. They’re layered, complex, and very much an addiction. The longer the behaviors stick—restricting, binging, purging—the more ingrained they become. Like anything else, the longer you live in it, the harder it is to get out.
A hill Jenna and I will die on is this: Eating Disorders are addictions. It can—and did, for both of us—lead to an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. Some people swap one addiction for another; I, however, had a love affair with both my Eating Disorder and Alcoholism con-currently for decades.
2) We want to reach people before it gets to that point.
BEFORE it becomes a lifestyle. BEFORE it becomes one’s identity. That’s why we’d love to see funds go into local schools. Because yes—this starts young. I can trace mine back to Elementary School. IT IS PRESENT IN SCHOOL POPULATIONS…So why wouldn’t we educate early?
3) Eating disorders are isolating as HELL.
The shame, the self-hatred—it’s heavy. It’s quiet. It’s complex.
When you don’t eat—or eat, but not enough, or eat in ways that don’t nourish you—your body is STARVING for proper nutrition. It can’t function properly. You can’t think clearly.
You latch onto the belief that you are wrong, you are disgusting, you don’t deserve to live—you are a disappointment of the highest level, and you, my Dear, do not deserve to eat or to BE. Those thoughts keep you trapped in an endless loop of despair.
You can’t tell anyone what you are because you are ashamed.
You keep your secret. You stay SILENT.
You don’t tell anyone.
You force a fake smile.
You function. (Although how well?)
You are 24 years old.
You are the mother of two toddlers.
You are in an abusive marriage.
You weigh 79 pounds.
You aren’t thin enough yet.
So you stay SILENT.
And silence keeps you sick. Your body stays stuck in it. Your mind keeps reinforcing it. And it becomes harder to see a way out.
You.Are.TRAPPED.
I stayed sick for decades.
That’s the part we want to change. No one should feel that alone in something this loud inside their own head.
4) The long-term damage is real.
This isn’t just emotional—it’s physical.
Your heart takes a hit.
Your hair thins and falls out.
Your skin turns dry, dull, fragile, translucent.
Your teeth can become damaged beyond repair.
I’ve had more dental work than I can even remember. I'm 46 years old, and dentures are in my future. Bulimia does a number on our pearly whites. Sexy, right? Good thing JP loves me.
And eventually, whether you like it or not, you deal with the mental side. Therapy, support, the hard work. I tried on and off for years. Didn’t get serious until late 2024. Did it on my own (of course), cold turkey, then realized I needed more guidance. Jenna and her Root Cause Therapy? Game changer. I’ve actually begun to HEAL—something I never thought was possible for me.
When you get to the root, things actually start to shift. The why behind the patterns, the experiences your system is still holding…that’s when real positive change can occur.
If you’ve made it this far—thank you. This matters to us.
To anyone struggling:
YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
YOU ARE NOT FLAWED.
YOU ARE NOT WRONG.
YOU DESERVE UNDERSTANDING.
YOU DESERVE SUPPORT.
YOU DESERVE HEALTH.
Reflecting now, so many emotions come to the surface. I cry for that lost and hurting girl from decades ago. For how alone she felt…how alone she actually was. The isolation. The shame.
Time, experience, and maturity do shift your perspective. Today, I’m proud as hell of that girl—that lost, alone girl—who kept pushing and ultimately survived. Everything she endured, overcame, and still managed to accomplish.
It can get better. I’m living proof. Jenna is living proof.
I don’t have it all figured out, and neither does Jenna. But this we do know: let us be your cautionary tale. Use our experiences as a guide for what maybe not to do. You don’t have to fall so far down the rabbit hole.
Let our authenticity, our vulnerability, and our experience show you that you are, in fact, NOT ALONE. There is a community that can—and wants to—help you see there is another way.
As we figure out the best ways to use these funds, we’re open to ideas. Truly.
And a huge thank you to Sarah Kyrie at the Blanchardville Public Library for suggesting we use some of the funds to bring in books on Eating Disorder education and recovery—such a solid idea.
We’re just getting started.
And we’re not staying quiet about it anymore.
Because silence keeps you sick—and we’re done with that.
