Her Best Self | Eating Disorder Recovery Podcast, Disordered Eating, Anorexia, Bulimia, Orthorexia, Body Image, Food Freedom, Calorie Counting, Obsessive Exercise, Food Restriction EP 228.5: How to Give Yourself Permission to REST When Exercise Controls Your Life (+ The REST Method) **Must Listen Fav!**
If you exercise too much but can't stop, if rest days fill you with anxiety, if you've convinced yourself that constant movement equals worthiness—this episode is your permission slip to finally rest. Lindsey shares her personal journey from exercise addiction to freedom, revealing the powerful 4-letter word and method that saved her life: REST.
You'll discover why your brain equates rest with laziness, learn the REST acronym that breaks the compulsive exercise cycle, and understand why rest isn't a reward for work—it's part of the recovery work itself.
What You'll Learn✨ Why exercise addiction is common in eating disorders (and how to recognize it)
✨ The false beliefs that keep you trapped in compulsive exercise patterns
✨ How "dedicated" becomes destructive (and when to be concerned)
✨ The REST method: A practical 4-step approach to breaking exercise addiction
✨ Why rest days anxiety is normal in recovery (and how to manage it)
✨ Biblical perspective on rest and recovery (Matthew 11:28)
Do you recognize yourself in these patterns?
- Exercising every single day, multiple times per day
- Eating while standing to "burn more calories"
- Doing random exercises throughout the day (crunches, etc.)
- Believing rest makes you lazy or weak
- Feeling anxious or guilty about missing workouts
- Exercising even when injured or exhausted
- Viewing movement solely through a calorie-burning lens
- Isolating from friends/activities that involve sitting
- Surrender and give up control
- Pause, pray, stop, step away
- Let go of the bondage to constant movement
- Practice: Try stopping your workout 1 minute earlier each day
- Get in tune with your feelings and emotions
- Reframe emotions with facts
- Challenge thoughts: "Will I really 'blow up' if I don't go to the gym?"
- Ask: "Am I actually going to heal my disordered relationship with exercise?"
- Define what your best self means to you
- Plan and pre-decide your actions
- Ask: "What's one thing I can do to step in her direction?"
- Focus on who you want to become, not what you want to avoid
- Put that step in motion and practice
- The hardest part: actually doing what you've been thinking about
- Don't wait for your eating disorder to give permission
- Remember: The action here IS resting
"You aren't lazy, you're living. You're allowed rest."
Rest Is Part of Recovery Work"Resting isn't a reward for work. It's part of the work. It's part of the recovery work."
Your Body Needs Repair"If you don't rest, you can't repair. If you don't rest, you can't restore. If you don't rest, you can't reflect."
Cultural Lies vs. Recovery Truth- Culture says: Hustle and go, go, go
- Recovery truth: Two rest days in a row is exactly what you need to heal
- Fear of sitting with yourself
- Not knowing who you are without constant motion
- Anxiety about having more time to think about food
- Fear of "losing control" around food when home longer
- Weekends felt harder because more time at home
- More food available = more food thoughts
- Fear of "going off the rails"
- Solution: Learning to sit with discomfort
Matthew 11:28: "Come to me, all you who feel weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
- God himself rested after creation
- Rest is divinely designed, not humanly weak
- Weariness and burden are invitations to rest
- Rest is both physical and spiritual restoration
- One Minute Method: Stop your workout 1 minute earlier each day
- Sitting Practice: Sit for 5 minutes without doing anything productive
- Weekend Rest: Allow yourself one full rest day this weekend
- When you think "I'm being lazy": Remind yourself "I'm healing"
- When you feel guilty: Remember "Rest is part of recovery work"
- When you fear weight gain: Focus on "My body needs repair"
Rest isn't just napping—it's anything that makes your nervous system feel safe:
- Yoga or gentle stretching
- Meditation or prayer
- Reading for pleasure
- Warm baths
- Nature walks (for joy, not calorie burn)
Lindsey emphasizes the importance of working with qualified professionals:
- Clinicians: For DBT therapy and emotion management
- Dietitians: For nutrition guidance during recovery
- Coaches: For lived experience and practical support
"The best thing you can do is give yourself permission and work with someone who has lived experience."
Recovery Encouragement You're Not Alone- Exercise addiction is common in eating disorders
- Your struggle with rest is valid and normal
- Recovery is possible, even from severe exercise addiction
- You have permission to rest
- You deserve to discover who you are without constant motion
- Your worth isn't determined by calories burned
"If I can have an addiction with exercise, if I can completely break the chains of that bondage, I know that's God's plan in your life too."
Ready for Professional Support?If this episode resonated and you're ready to break free from exercise addiction, you don't have to do this alone.
Next Steps:
- Email the team: info@lindseynichol.com
- Join the private community: www.herbestselfsociety.com
- Fill out a client application: www.herbestself.co
Remember: You deserve freedom from the chains of compulsive exercise. Rest isn't your enemy—it's your healing.
Share This EpisodeIf this episode gave you permission to rest: ✨ Leave a review about your exercise addiction recovery journey
✨ Share with a friend who needs permission to rest
✨ Tag us on social with your rest day victories using #PermissionToRest
"Grant yourself permission to rest this week. Grant yourself love and compassion and grace. The world is not gonna crumple and fall apart if you don't get in your exercise this week."
Your rest day starts now.
xo, lindsey
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* While I am a certified health coach, anorexia survivor & eating disorder recovery coach, I do not intend the use of this message to serve as medical advice. Please refer to the disclaimer here in the show & be sure to contact a licensed clinical provider if you are struggling with an eating disorder.