Eating Disorder Healing and Writing the Book She Needed in Recovery, with Brooke Heberling

Today I’m talking to Brooke Heberling, author of the bestselling novel Protecting Her Peace. Brooke is a teacher, advocate, and eating disorder survivor who wants to use her story of recovery to help others know, that there is hope in fighting for freedom from the disorders and addictions that hold us hostage.  Brooke worked with Jessica Flint and her team at Recovery Warriors from 2017-2020 as Editor and Chief-Social-Media Director, and top writing contributor. She received the Humanitarian Award for her advocacy work in the eating disorder community from The Manna Fund in 2022, while also donating $13,000 to the Fund that helped her pay for her own eating disorder treatment in 2016 when she ran out of money but still needed time to heal.  Brooke is also an ex-ultramarathon runner who almost lost her life to exercise addiction and anorexia. She decided to get help when she saw her own two children beginning to use behaviours around food that she wished repeatedly that she’d never learned. Brooke went to inpatient treatment for seven weeks at The Carolina House in Durham, North Carolina in February of 2016, followed by further treatment at Atlanta Centre for Eating Disorders. It took Brooke eight months of treatment, but with hard work and hard truths, she came out a survivor.  Following her own journey, Brooke was determined to create the book that she needed at the start of her eating disorder journey. She recognised that there were already many non-fiction resources out there, but her heart needed to see proof from the survivors who paved the way before her in recovery. In Brooke’s book, Protecting her Peace, her main character, Ruby Blue, lives a story of perseverance and grit to encourage anyone suffering - that there is a way out of an eating disorder, while also enlightening the depths of the disease to those who may not understand it. It is a book that hits all the topics that many women face on a daily basis: marriage, motherhood, friendship, anxiety, depression, addiction, disordered eating, and disordered exercising. In this conversation, Brooke shares the ups and downs of her tumultuous journey in eating disorder recovery, and how she navigated through to find a place of true healing. She also talks about her book, the motivation behind this and how it can be a great source of information and support to anyone suffering with an eating disorder, and their families. I hope that you enjoy the episode To find out more about Brooke:- Instagram: @authorbrookeheberling  Book: ‘Protecting Her Peace’ by Brooke Heberling https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BJNWT67Q/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A3TJVJMBQL014A&psc=1   This week's sponsor: Amber Romaniuk amberapproved.ca