Exclusive Content:

3 Ways to Fight for Your Marriage When You’re Tempted to Throw in the Towel

"People were placing bets at our wedding. Nobody thought we had a chance."

How to Deal With a Lying Husband and Get a Better Marriage

"I can still remember vividly the look on my husband’s face as regretful tears fell and he lay broken before me."

One Year After “I Do,” Husband Realizes Why Marriage Isn’t for Him

They met when they were 15 and were best friends for 10 years—but after being married just 1 year, the truth hit him HARD.

“I Didn’t Want to Die. Tears Rolled Down My Cheeks as the Fear Consumed Me”: Woman Who Battled Anxiety, Anorexia & Addiction Finds Hope and Healing

Courtesy of Lauren Costello

In high school, it was the first time I felt like I finally belonged. I excelled in academics and athletics and had a group of friends who loved and accepted me, exactly the way I was. I embraced the aspects of myself I had previously abandoned. Every day wasn’t perfect, but I was happy. So, when it came time to head off to college, I felt a huge amount of resistance. I had three solid years in recovery, only to feel like I had to start from scratch somewhere completely foreign.

Courtesy of Lauren Costello

As a freshman in college, it didn’t take long for the overwhelming desire to disappear to show back up. I was scared. Naive. Insecure. The familiar excruciating pain of feeling different consumed me. I was mocked for my height since, at 6’1”, I surely didn’t look like the typical sorority girl. I longed for a safety that I couldn’t find being myself. Not wanting to tell anyone what was going on inside, out of my own shame, I turned to the one sure way that I knew would make the pain I was in go away – losing weight. And so, I relapsed.

My family, unable to deny what was happening, soon intervened. At the conclusion of the first semester of my sophomore year, I was forced to withdraw.

Courtesy of Lauren Costello

Over the next few months, with significant family involvement, I arrived at a mentally stable enough place that I was able to transfer to a college I loved. But I refused to get the proper treatment I needed because I was unwilling to address the root cause of my behavior: my own self-hatred. Frankly, I was afraid of someone taking it from me. It was what I knew I could count on to escape. I was determined to protect it. Therefore, my pain was simply band-aided, not remedied. And I proceeded to shuffle symptoms.

Lauren Costello
Lauren Costello
Lauren Costello, 36 lives in Philadelphia, PA where she writes a recovery and personal transformation blog. She is currently in the process of starting her own coaching business in hopes of helping women and young girls foster an unwavering love and acceptance of themselves. She is passionate about using her battles with Anxiety, Anorexia, and Addiction as well as her strong faith to empower and inspire others. She enjoys meditation, dancing, coffee, reading and laughing. Her dream is to write an award-winning book! You can follow her journey on Instagram @lightupwithlauren.

3 Ways to Fight for Your Marriage When You’re Tempted to Throw in the Towel

"People were placing bets at our wedding. Nobody thought we had a chance."

How to Deal With a Lying Husband and Get a Better Marriage

"I can still remember vividly the look on my husband’s face as regretful tears fell and he lay broken before me."

One Year After “I Do,” Husband Realizes Why Marriage Isn’t for Him

They met when they were 15 and were best friends for 10 years—but after being married just 1 year, the truth hit him HARD.