How Can I Help?

This evening I was listening to a podcast which made me really sad.  The subject of the podcast was women and eating disorders, and the speakers were therapists and CrossFit enthusiasts who had solicited questions about body image and disordered eating in order to address these questions for the benefit of their listeners.

My sadness stemmed from a sense that despite their good intentions, the speakers were not being especially helpful regarding disordered eating, body image, or the ultimate goal (as I see it) of achieving optimal health and a sense of self-satisfaction.  They were trying to help, of course, and the things they were saying are technically correct as far as I understand the current research on the subject, but they utterly lacked real empathy for the situation many women find themselves in from time to time, and/or (I wasn't sure which) they are so disordered themselves that they were unable to separate their own behavior from the disordered mentalities they were trying to address.  In all, I felt my heart clamoring to add my own voice to the conversation - to open my own experiences up, and offer all the associated pain I've overcome as it relates to experiencing staggering levels of perfectionism, the success and devastation that has brought me, and the depth of understanding I now have that we are who we are, and the journey is all there is (to quote Kill Cliff's new and brilliant tagline - can you guys please make shirts and sell them all to me?)

To that end, if anyone reading this thinks I might be able to help with something you're going through, or wants to learn any strategies I've used relating to overcoming eating disorders, coming to terms with failing to reach my life goal of competing in the Olympics, overcoming injury, pursuing optimized mental and physical health through thoughtful training and dialed-in nutrition, or the challenges of training at a high level while balancing a demanding career, I'd love to hear from you.  Please shoot me an email, and let me know how I can help.