Please welcome Dr. Theresa Larson to this episode of Hylete Live! Today we’re talking about her book, Warrior, which covers her story as an athlete/marine/woman who struggled with an eating disorder.
Dr. T knew that she wanted to get her story out, but writing it was a whole different animal. She was in grad school, tackling speaking engagements, and had a very busy schedule. But she was speaking at an eating disorder conference when she met a ghost writer who finally made up her mind.
The actual book writing process took Dr. T and her ghost writer a couple of years. They started writing the book in 2014, but before that Dr. T had to do interviews with publishing companies to pick up the book. A lot of the publishers wanted to bring out pieces that Dr. T didn’t want to, so she had to stand up for herself until she finally found one that just wanted to take her story for what it was: a strong woman, dealing with, and overcoming mental health issues.
While the book Warrior touches specifically on eating disorders, it’s a very relatable story. It covers addiction and how Veterans struggle with it and most importantly, how they can speak up and get help.
In our society there’s a huge stigma surrounding addiction, specifically eating disorders, and especially in the military. You’re supposed to be strong and not have struggles, but yet the book shows how you can be a strong woman and struggle internally, but also show strength by asking for help.
The process of asking for help is hard, no matter who you are. And not everything makes sense once you do ask for help. But as the book shows, if you can step outside of your comfort zone and trust the process and have hope, the despair will go away.