Feeling Lost After Eating Disorder Recovery and Befriending Like-Minded Women

This is a “reverse interview” where Jessi Jean interviews Mary about the aftermath of ED recovery. Let’s unpack a feeling many of us know all too well—feeling lost, lonely, and realizing that making friends as an adult is HARD. We chat about how healing your relationship with food and body image can throw you into an existential crisis. You might have also asked yourself, "WTF just happened?" or "Who am I?" after ED recovery. How do you move forward when (thankfully) food and body-image no longer control your life?

Mary shares her journey from battling disordered eating and body-image issues to becoming a self-love queen, hosting retreats, writing books, and blowing up on social media. We break down the nuances of ED recovery, followed by the awkward "I'm lost" phase, why building community as an adult is so damn hard, and how to actually do it.

This conversation is for anyone feeling lonely, lost, or in need of community.

Tune in to hear…

01:37 Mary's Journey to ED Recovery and Self-Love

04:01 The Concept of Being 'Recovered' from an Eating Disorder

07:48 Navigating Identity and Purpose After ED Recovery

17:50 Building Community and Friendships as an Adult

33:55 Advice for Making Your Friendships Stronger

39:00 What It Means to Act “As If” to Create a More Positive Mindset

39:17 The Importance of Low Expectations in Friendships

46:36 What is a Self-Love Retreat? Why Did Mary Start Hosting Self-Love Retreats?

53:15 The Power of In-Person Connections and Gatherings

Whether you're trying to level up your relationships, figure out who you are, or start a self-love journey, this episode is packed with practical tips, personal stories, and wisdom from two women who are very much so still figuring it out.

If you enjoyed this conversation, share it with your friends to spread the gift of self-love! We love women empowering women!

Deepen your self-love journey with Mary’s books:

1. The Gift of Self-Love, an interactive workbook that will help you build confidence, recognize your worth, and learn to finally love yourself.
2. 100 Days of Self-Love, a guided journal with 100 prompts to help you calm self-criticism and learn to love who you are.