On January 3, 2022, Glennon Doyle, a 46-year-old novelist and activist, discussed anorexia and her mental health diagnoses on her podcast We Can Do Hard Things. Doyle revealed the subject for her upcoming podcast conversation in an Instagram post.
Anorexia nervosa, often known as anorexia, is an eating condition in which a person radically modifies their eating habits. They reduce their calorie and carbohydrate intake, which finally leads to weight reduction. Anorexic individuals are unable to maintain acceptable body weight for their age, height, and stature. They may engage in obsessive exercise regimens and feel the need to purge the food they consume, either via purposeful vomiting or through the usage of laxatives. Anorexic individuals often have a skewed self-image and strong dread and anxiety about gaining weight. Extreme weight loss in anorexic individuals may result in malnutrition and other serious health issues. The patient may even die in extreme circumstances.
Glennon Doyle is the creator of the non-profit group Together Rising, which is run entirely by women. Together Rising has raised more than $25 million for at-risk children, women, and families. Doyle is also the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Untamed. The book sold over one million copies in less than five months after its release. She also penned the songs Love Warrior and Carry on, Warrior. Glennon Doyle married Craig Melton from 2002 until 2016, and the couple had three children. She met Abby Wambach in 2016 and claimed to have fallen in love right away. They married in 2017, and the pair plans to relocate to Hermosa Beach, California, in 2021.
Glennon Doyle first believed she was experiencing bulimia relapses.
Doyle frequently co-hosts her We Can Do Hard Things podcast with her wife, former American soccer star Abby Wambach, who is now a coach, and her sister, Amanda Doyle. Glennon Doyle revealed in her most recent podcast that she thought she was recovering from bulimia, an eating problem. However, after years of maintaining that mindset, Doyle was diagnosed with anorexia, which caused her to fall into denial and shock. Glennon Doyle first sought medical attention because she suspected she was relapsing from bulimia. She explained to the physicians that she wanted to learn how to regulate these relapses so she could be less afraid and free of any looming threat.
According to Today, Doyle’s doctor advised her after her medical assessment that her health history and medical testing revealed she had anorexia. She was clearly distressed by the news. Doyle went on to discuss how tough it was for her to accept that recovering from anorexia would need her to be strong. In the kitchen, she and her wife had an intimate talk in which Wambach informed her that she couldn’t do much for Doyle and that he had to find the fortitude to fight the war alone.
According to Today, Wambach told Doyle on the sponsored podcast:
“This was a difficult thing for me to say. I felt I had to say it – out loud — because you needed to take entire control of this process.”
Doyle responded by saying she remembers being chilly to the bone at the moment. She said that she had never felt more alone in her body. Doyle went on to say that everyone told her she was the one who was unwell and that she had to solve her illness. Glennon Doyle soon began reading anorexia literature in trying to learn more about eating illness. She said that this caused a significant change in her perspective.
Doyle revealed her feelings about the works when she said:
“I began reading this book on the life of an anorexic. I’m not sure how to describe the sensation of reading things that you believed were a part of your personality and who you were, only to discover that they’re really a collection of symptoms of an effing sickness.”
Doyle informed viewers that it was amazing that she was a person whose work was built on introspection and discussing the complexities of human identity, but she was unaware of this knowledge about herself. Doyle said that it was rather embarrassing for her.
Doyle said that she was still struggling with anorexia. She reflected on how she coped with bulimia over two decades ago. Doyle said that she had been “horribly bulimic” for a long period before becoming pregnant. Glennon Doyle discussed her battle with bulimia and how she utilized great discipline, control, and resolve to overcome the eating problem. Doyle previewed the podcast episode on Instagram, saying that she would rather speak about her anorexia while she was still in the midst of it than wait until her life was “beautiful and shining” again.