How Healing My Body Image Changed the Way I Coach Burnt-Out Women

I never imagined that healing my relationship with my body would also transform the way I coach.

As a Burnout and Resilience Coach, I’ve spent years supporting high-achieving women highly intelligent, driven, compassionate women who were also deeply exhausted. I knew how to guide them through boundary setting, nervous system regulation, rest, and career alignment.

But beneath the packed schedules and perfectionism, I noticed something deeper. A quiet, unspoken struggle. Body shame.

A silent war with themselves. The belief that their bodies were too much, not enough, or somehow failing them.

It mirrored my own story and I realised I couldn’t guide others to true healing until I faced mine.

My Body Image Story: From Control to Compassion

For years, I treated my body like a problem to solve. It started young, as it often does for women. I was naturally slim and athletic, but the messages were mixed “You need to eat more,” then later, “You should probably eat less.”

In my twenties, I went through two long-term relationships that ended with the same heartbreaking message:

“I love you, but I’m just not attracted to you anymore.”

I internalised those words. In defiance and protection, I gained weight, almost as armour. But what hurt most wasn’t the weight itself. It was the belief that my worth was tied to my size.

From that point on, I was either chasing a flatter stomach or career milestones, usually both at the same time. I was convinced that when I finally looked better, I’d feel better confident, free, worthy.

But the finish line kept moving.

My body changed with motherhood. It shifted again with age and hormones. Compliments didn’t land. Even when friends told me I was gorgeous, I didn’t believe them.

And I began to worry my appearance would impact my coaching work. That I wouldn’t be credible if I didn’t look a certain way.

But the problem was never my body. The problem was the belief that my body wasn’t enough.

“You can’t hate yourself into a version of yourself you’ll love.”

That truth cracked something open. It made me realise how burnout and body shame were just two sides of the same coin.

She used to think she had to change her body to feel confident. Now she teaches women to treat their bodies with kindness, not pressure.

Because healing burnout starts with self-compassion.

Body Image and Burnout: Different Symptoms, Same Root

As I started working more intimately with burnt-out women, the patterns were undeniable.

Women who skipped rest to "burn off" what they ate. Women who said yes to everything at work and home because they equated worth with being needed. Women who avoided being seen at the beach, in leadership, in photos, because they didn’t feel safe in their skin.

They weren’t just tired. They were carrying years of internalised pressure to be smaller, slimmer, more productive, more perfect.

Their bodies weren’t betraying them. Their bodies were begging for safety, softness, and space.

And as I looked into their stories, I saw a mirror.

I knew I had to coach differently.

What I Now Teach About Body Image and Mental Wellness

Burnout recovery isn’t just about boundaries or better time management. It’s about rebuilding the relationship you have with yourself, especially with your body.

Here’s what I now bring into my coaching practice:

1. Stop Seeing the Body as the Enemy

Your body is not the problem. It’s the part of you that’s been working tirelessly to keep you alive. Learning to honour hunger, rest, emotion ... it’s a radical first step in healing.

2. Name the Internalised Voices

Whose voice told you your thighs were too big? That rest is lazy?

When you identify the source, you can choose whether it still deserves space in your life.

3. Anchor Self-Worth in Truth, Not Performance

You are not your weight.

You are not your title.

You are not how much you get done.

You are worthy simply because you exist.

4. Practice Gentle Embodiment

Not as a trendy buzzword but as a way home. Breathwork. Stillness. Gentle walks. Even just placing your hand on your heart and whispering, “How do I feel? What do I need?"

Your body is not a before-and-after photo.It’s the home you live in every single day.

5. Seek Empowering Representation

We’ve all had rocky relationships with social media. But now, there’s a rich community of creators celebrating body positivity across all shapes, sizes, ages, and life seasons. I’ve found so much healing from following mums with apron bellies and women proudly sharing unfiltered joy. Let them be your mirror.

How I Coach Burnt-Out Women Differently Now

I coach with more softness now.

I hold space for the tears that come from deep disconnection, not from being overbooked, but from being out of touch with the body that holds them.

I help women:

• Speak to themselves with kindness

• See their reflection without judgment

• Rest before the crash

Because mental wellness isn’t just in your mind, It lives in your body. It lives in your breath. It lives in the way you treat yourself when no one’s watching.

If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and thought:

“I need to change in order to be confident, successful, or loved…”

I see you.

I’ve been you.

And I want you to know:

You are not broken.

You don’t need fixing.

You need care.

Start Your Burnout Recovery Today

If you’re feeling the weight of exhaustion, physically, emotionally, mentally, I created something gentle to help you begin.

My free 3-Day Burnout Recovery Mini Course walks you through simple shifts to reconnect with your energy, your body, and your needs from a place of compassion, not criticism.

Because you don’t need to shrink to be enough.

Join the free mini course here.