Welcome to another episode of the Healing and Dealing podcast. In today’s episode, Ashley Beeman joins me to talk about her journey from battling addiction and body image issues to achieving personal and professional success, and highlights the transformative power of mindset shifts and self-acceptance. She touches on the ADHD management, body dysmorphia, and the impact of multi-level marketing (MLM) culture on self-perception and the importance of balance, sustainable approaches to health, and the rejection of restrictive ideologies, whether in dieting or other aspects of life. Overall, the emphasis of this episode is on creating a positive, empowered mindset that extends to all aspects of life, including personal development, relationships, and overall well-being.

“I realized that in the anti-diet space, I had just as many rules as I did when I was in the diet culture space. And I remember crying to one of my friends on the phone being like, I just want to order a scale, but I'm not supposed to, I'm not supposed to want to change my body, I'm not supposed to want to do any of that. And she reminded me that, you know, this is your life, actually, you can do what you want. And that's when I started breaking all of the rules. And I found my happy little like, gray area, the magical gray area is what I like to call it. And I went on this journey of just trusting myself, trusting my decisions, and really coming from a space of love and not hate”- Ashley Beeman

Key highlights from this episode:

• Ashley shares her weight loss journey after becoming a mother, discussing the emotional toll, unhealthy practices, and struggles with addiction to Adderall. She emphasizes the turning point when she decided to heal her relationship with herself.

• The shift from the yo-yo diet culture to the anti-diet and body positivity space. While initially liberating, she later realized the presence of restrictive rules in this space as well.

• Breaking free from rigid rules, finding a balanced approach, and embracing the "magical gray area” and the importance of trust, self-love, and decision-making from a positive mindset.

• Discussion on ADHD, her coping mechanisms, and the importance of self-awareness and personalized strategies for managing daily tasks.

• Past struggles, including addiction, withdrawal from Adderall, and the commitment to share her story to help others.

• The conversation transitions to body dysmorphia, with Ashley defining it as perceiving one's body differently from reality. She shares her personal struggle,emphasizing the importance of deep work, self-love, and acceptance.

• The intensification of body dysmorphia to her involvement in multi-level marketing (MLM), where the focus on body transformations for business purposes contributed to negative body image.

• Mindset Shift, moving from detachment to embracing and appreciating her body for its capabilities and the experiences it allows.

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