EP 229: Why Your Husband’s Workout & BFF's Lunch Choice Has Nothing to Do With Your Recovery (+ 3 Strategies to Break Free From Comparison)

Struggling with watching your husband grab a banana and head out for his 5-mile run while you're sitting with your full breakfast? Feeling guilty about eating meals when your friend skips lunch because she's "too busy"? This episode tackles the comparison trap that's keeping you stuck in eating disorder recovery. Lindsey gets raw and real about why other people's food and exercise choices have absolutely nothing to do with your healing journey.

Key Takeaways

• Other people's food and exercise choices have nothing to do with your recovery
• You're not comparing apples to apples - you're comparing apples to pineapples
• Comparison is literally increasing your risk of ED relapse
• Your recovery is not up for a vote
• Stop giving mental energy to other people's plates and start celebrating your own healing

🧠 The Hidden Truth About Why You Compare

• The science behind your comparison brain (Social Comparison Theory)
• How your ED voice hijacks normal brain processes
• Why comparison feels logical but leads you away from healing
• The difference between recovering and "normal" relationships with food

🔍 The Three Comparison Traps

1. Exercise Comparison: "Why does he get to run when I need rest?"
2. Food Comparison: "She only ate half her meal and I finished mine"
3. Body Comparison: "They look amazing and barely work out"

⚡ The Real Cost of Comparison

• 2020 study: Social comparison = strongest predictor of ED relapse
• How comparison steals your present moment
• Why shame keeps you stuck in the disorder cycle
• The difference between shame vs. grace in recovery

🛠️ Practical Tools to Break Free

Tool #1: The Reality Check Questions

• "Am I comparing my recovery to someone's normal?"
• "What would I tell my best friend thinking this?"
• "Is this thought moving me toward or away from healing?"

Tool #2: The Information Gathering Technique

• Get curious instead of assuming
• Remember you don't see the full picture
• Challenge your assumptions about "normal"

Tool #3: The Redirect and Refocus

1. Name it: "I'm comparing again"
2. Redirect: "My recovery is about MY healing"
3. Refocus: "What does MY body need right now?"

Powerful Quotes from This Episode

• "You're not comparing apples to apples - you're comparing apples to trauma recovery."
• "Your recovery is not a democracy. It's not up for a vote."
• "Comparison is the thief of joy, but it's also the thief of recovery progress."
• "The most rebellious thing you can do against your eating disorder is to stop caring what everyone else is doing."

Scripture References

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