About this episode

Natasha Costales shares her journey from burnout and depression to finding her identity through strength training and bodybuilding.

At 26, Natasha Costales was leading an English department, inspiring students, and building a career that looked, from the outside, like everything she had ever wanted. Behind it, she was working 12 to 13-hour days, barely sleeping, experiencing panic attacks so severe that colleagues had to physically remove her from her car. She was binge eating to cope, battling sleep paralysis, and in the depths of a depression she hadn't seen coming. She was the strong one. The ambitious one. The one who kept going. Until one day, she couldn't. Her turning point came in 2016 when her brother, a fitness coach, suggested she come to the gym. She thought it was just a hobby. It turned out to be the beginning of the most profound identity transformation of her life. In this conversation, Rachel and Natasha go deep on: The hidden cost of being the strong, ambitious woman who always proves herself What burnout actually felt like from the inside - and how gradually it became her normal The panic attacks, the depression, the days she couldn't get out of bed or shower The conversation with her brother that changed the direction of her life Walking into a gym for the first time and feeling completely…

People in this episode

Host: Rachel Elimelech

Guest: Natasha Costales

Topics covered

• identity transformation
• burnout
• strength training
• mental health
• bodybuilding
• binge eating

Keywords

• burnout
• panic attacks
• depression
• strength training
• bodybuilding
• identity transformation
• binge eating

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Bingez to Barbell

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