‘Never again': 31yo backflips on gym claim
Welcome to You Got This, news.com.au's weekly fitness series featuring stories and ideas from real women who've experienced it all.
A mother has revealed how she surprised herself by entering the fitness industry after swearing she would never be part of it again.
Danielle Mitchell, 31, suffered from bulimia and binge eating disorder for many years, and said the former was often a result of the latter.
'The bulimia stemmed from the binge eating disorder, so I would over-consume foods and it was copious amounts of food. It was uncontrollable, like I was having out-of-body experiences,' Ms Mitchell told news.com.au.
She said binge eating would inspire a large amount of guilt and she felt the need to 'fix' her prior behaviour through other dangerous acts. She said it all stemmed from body image issues and quickly became a repetitive cycle.
Danielle Mitchell has stepped back into the fitness world after swearing she never would. Picture: Supplied
At the time, she was in the fitness industry working for a gym, managing F45 studios, running group fitness classes and doing online coaching. She was helping other women on their own journeys but said she felt unable to admit what was happening in her own life.
'I decided I needed to step away from the fitness industry to fix what was actually going on,' she said.
She said at the time, she was struggling with a lot of other issues such as substance abuse. The Brisbane mum also revealed she is currently in the process of being diagnosed with ADHD.
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After stepping away from the fitness world, she went to a GP and got a referral for a psychologist. She said she'd always had body issues and it wasn't until she decided to become a mother, welcoming daughter Bette into the world 18 months ago, that she really addressed the root cause of everything.
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Ms Mitchell at the peak of her eating disorder. Picture: Supplied
'I think I dug deep and looked inside and said, where did this kind of stem from my body image issues? And seeing the women around me look in the mirror for that little bit too longer, or make comments that they need to go on a diet, or seeing them weigh themselves — things like that really do play such a big part in a little mind,' she said.
Ms Mitchell said while the women around her when she was a child didn't know any better, she said she didn't want to project her problems onto her child.
Post-partum presented another set of body issue challenges for the new mum. She'd gained weight during her recovery, and then again during pregnancy. As Bette started to become more active, Ms Mitchell realised she was having difficulty getting up off the floor and that she was puffed from walking to and from her car.
'I needed to make a change, but not for my physical appearance but just for the way that I feel in the way I move. And that's when it flipped a big switch in me, like hang on, I don't have to do this stuff for just how I look,' she said.
Ms Mitchell post-partum. Picture: Supplied
Ms Mitchell now. Picture: Supplied
Ms Mitchell said she banned scales from her house in order to not fall down a slippery slope, and focused on wholefoods and protein. She said she also made sure she didn't have restrictions so she could enjoy things such as breakfast with friends and family. She said it was all about making sustainable lifestyle changes. It's a world away from a woman who had to weigh every single thing that went into her body.
After eight months, she totally transformed her life and made the leap into something she'd never thought she'd do again.
'I used to say you'd never see me in the fitness industry again, and it was because I was still in that place with exercise and nutrition that it had to be one way,' she said.
'And that was such a toxic environment and there's so misleading things people say like you can't have a Diet Coke.'
During her own journey, she realised there were no fitness content creators she could relate to — and so she decided to become that person for others. That is how The Lifestyle Reset Project was born. Ms Mitchell said she knew what it was like to be in a bigger body, and experiencing gym anxiety for the first time — something she didn't experience previously. She said she didn't want anyone to feel alone in the process of transforming their lives in a sustainable way.
Originally published as 'Never again': 31yo backflips on gym claim
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