Lucy Hale Opens Up For The First Time About Eating Disorders, Relationships & Addiction | E224

Lucy Hale opens up about her struggles with eating disorders, addiction, and relationships in her first deep and personal conversation publicly.

The video is an interview with actress Lucy Hale, where she opens up for the first time about her struggles with eating disorders, addiction, and relationships. She talks about how society's pressure to look a certain way led to her eating disorder, and how she struggled with self-worth and destructive coping mechanisms. She also discusses her journey to sobriety and finding her true identity beyond her career accomplishments. The interview is emotional and personal, with Hale shedding tears at times.

• Society makes it hard to like the way you look, leading to Lucy's struggle with eating disorders.
• Lucy felt unworthy of success, career, and people in her life.
• Lucy's coping mechanisms were incredibly self-destructive.
• Lucy has been working on getting sober since she was 20.
• Lucy moved to LA when she was 15 and started working young, leading to her identity becoming what she did for a living.
• Lucy struggled with an eating disorder for a long time.
• Lucy has had her fair share of failed relationships and struggled with addiction.
• Lucy has learned to find joy in her life and be her most authentic self.
• Lucy wants to use her platform to help others who are struggling with eating disorders and addiction.

Lucy Hale Opens Up For The First Time About Eating Disorders, Relationships & Addiction | E224 - YouTube

Lucy Hale's Struggles with Eating Disorders, Addiction, and Relationships

• Society makes it hard to like the way you look, leading to Lucy's struggle with eating disorders.
• Lucy felt unworthy of success, career, and people in her life.
• Lucy's coping mechanisms were incredibly self-destructive.
• Lucy has been working on getting sober since she was 20.
• Lucy tried to change for her mom and her career.
• Lucy's friend's death from alcoholism didn't make her want to get sober.

Lucy's Message of Thanks to Her Listeners

• Lucy thanks her listeners for enabling her to live out her dream.
• Lucy thanks her listeners for making this platform what it is.
• Lucy asks her listeners to hit the subscribe button to help the channel.
• Lucy is excited to see what this year brings for the show and the community.
• Lucy is grateful for the incredible guests on the platform.
• Lucy owes her listeners a huge thank you for being here and listening to the episodes.

Lucy's Journey to Discovering Herself

• Lucy moved to LA when she was 15 and started working young, leading to her identity becoming what she did for a living.
• It took Lucy a long time to figure out who she was or who she wanted to be.
• Lucy had no idea how to answer when people asked her what kind of person she was.
• Lucy is slowly peeling away the layers of who she is.
• Lucy's personal journey has been powerful.
• Lucy has rediscovered the person who has always been there but was forgotten.

Lucy Hale Opens Up For The First Time About Eating Disorders, Relationships & Addiction | E224 - YouTube

Lucy's First Deep and Personal Conversation Publicly

• Lucy is excited to have her first deep and personal conversation publicly.
• Lucy thinks the interviewer is amazing and intelligent and a good match for her to talk to.
• Lucy cried all the time during the conversation.
• Lucy wishes she could go back and tell her 16-year-old self to buckle up because they're going through some stuff.
• Lucy's journey has been dark, disgusting, and scary.
• Lucy's struggles with eating disorders, addiction, and relationships have been difficult.

Early Life and Emotional Sensitivity

• Lucy Hale has always felt things in a deep way, even as a child.
• She felt like she was on the outside looking in and never had many friends.
• She craved solitude because that's when she could be herself.
• Her love of entertaining came from singing in her room and pretending to be Jasmine on the Magic Carpet.
• She started performing around Memphis and found out what it meant to be an actor at age 13 or 14.

Struggles with Eating Disorders

• Lucy Hale struggled with an eating disorder for a long time.
• She felt like she had to be perfect and control everything in her life.
• She was constantly comparing herself to others and felt like she wasn't good enough.
• She eventually sought help and went to therapy.
• She learned to love and accept herself for who she is.

Relationships and Addiction

• Lucy Hale has had her fair share of failed relationships.
• She used to think that being in a relationship would make her happy.
• She realized that she was using relationships as a way to fill a void.
• She also struggled with addiction and used substances to cope with her emotions.
• She eventually got sober and learned to deal with her emotions in a healthy way.

Finding Joy and Authenticity

• Lucy Hale has learned to find joy in her life.
• She realized that true happiness comes from within and is sustainable.
• She has learned to be her most authentic self and is proud of who she is.
• She is grateful for the journey that has led her to where she is today.
• She hopes that by sharing her story, she can help others who may be going through similar struggles.

Discovering Acting

• Lucy Hale didn't know why she wanted to be an actor until recently.
• She got into acting after auditioning for Hannah Montana.
• Pilot season is when a network pays for one episode to see if they want to invest in doing a series.
• Her mom cashed in her retirement to move to California with her.
• Lucy Hale never left California and has been there for almost 20 years.

Feeling Like an Outsider

• Lucy Hale never felt like she fit in and always felt like the black sheep of the family.
• Acting was her coping mechanism and a way to escape.
• She has addictive tendencies and work was a huge Band-Aid for a lot of issues in her life.
• After Pretty Little Liars, she realized how she was contributing to her own suffering.
• She missed out on some normal experiences and didn't emotionally develop during the show.

Eating Disorders

• Lucy Hale struggled with eating disorders in the past.
• She was constantly busy and didn't focus on what was going on.
• She didn't realize the magnitude of her suffering until she was outside of the show.
• She had to relearn how to have a healthy relationship with food.
• She wants to use her platform to help others who are struggling with eating disorders.

Relationships and Addiction

• Lucy Hale has struggled with addiction in the past.
• She has had toxic relationships and has been in therapy to work on herself.
• She has learned to set boundaries and prioritize her mental health.
• She wants to be in a healthy relationship and is open to finding love.
• She is grateful for her past experiences because they have made her who she is today.

Impact of Parents' Separation

• Lucy thinks it was the best decision for everyone.
• She believes it allowed for more peace and calmness.
• Both of her parents are now remarried to wonderful people.
• She was raised by a single mom for a lot of her childhood.
• Her dad is now back in her life and has given her many lessons.

Lessons from Traumatic Experiences

• Lucy uses traumatic or painful experiences as ammunition to move forward.
• She believes it's okay to be the victim when you're younger, but at some point, you have to take ownership of your life.
• She doesn't want to be a victim of her life or circumstances.
• Lucy wants to be the happiest she can be and learn the most about herself.
• Sometimes, she has to go to a dark place to get to that point.

Standards in Relationships

• Lucy thinks it's easy to feel sorry for yourself when looking at experiences.
• She believes life is more interesting and freeing when you look at the beautiful lessons you got out of them.
• The biggest lesson she learned from her parents' divorce is what kind of love she wants in her life.
• She stands by not settling in her life and relationships.
• Lucy allows a certain kind of thing in her life and doesn't compromise on her standards.

Role of Lucy's Grandmother

• Lucy's grandmother Karen was her dad's mom and a badass woman.
• She taught Lucy about things she maybe shouldn't have learned at such a young age.
• Karen put on heavy topics like Oprah and the movie Grease for Lucy.
• Lucy was inspired by Grease and wanted to do that.

Lucy's Grandmother

• Lucy's grandmother died of emphysema at a young age.
• Lucy believes her grandmother's energy is still with her.
• Lucy never picked up smoking because of her grandmother's death.
• Lucy misses her grandmother and wishes she had more tangible memories of her.
• Lucy was named after her grandmother.

Lucy's Mother

• Lucy's mother moved to LA with her when she was 15 so she could pursue her dream of acting.
• Lucy's mother was not a stage mom and never forced her to pursue acting.
• Lucy's mother instilled willpower and a strong work ethic in her.
• Lucy and her mother have had rough moments but are now in a beautiful place in their relationship.
• Lucy's mother worked as a travel nurse to afford living in LA.

Lucy's Early Career

• Lucy's first TV series was a remake of Bionic Woman, where she played the little sister.
• The show was filmed in Vancouver, where Lucy recently returned to work.
• Lucy has been working in TV shows since she was 16 years old.
• Lucy has also pursued a music career and released an album in 2014.
• Lucy is grateful for the opportunities she has had in her career.

Lucy's Personal Struggles

• Lucy struggled with an eating disorder in her early 20s.
• Lucy has also struggled with addiction.
• Lucy has been in therapy for years and believes it is important to prioritize mental health.
• Lucy has learned to be kinder to herself and not compare herself to others.
• Lucy is grateful for the support of her friends and family during her struggles.

Lucy's Reflection on Her Teenage Years

• Lucy reflects on her teenage years living in LA before being cast in Pretty Little Liars.
• She hadn't thought about that time in her life in 10 years until she saw the building she used to live in.
• She struggled with an eating disorder from her teenage years up until her mid-20s.
• Lucy wishes she could go back and tell her 16-year-old self to buckle up because they're going to go through some tough times.
• She believes that her eating disorder was a way for her to control her life when everything else felt out of control.

Lucy's Compassion for Her Younger Self

• Lucy has compassion for her younger self and believes in doing inner child work to speak kindly to yourself.
• She doesn't remember a lot from that time in her life, which may be due to disassociating.
• Lucy believes that anything that disrupts your life, happiness, relationships, or career can be described as a problem.
• Her eating disorder was all she thought about from the moment she woke up until she went to bed at night.
• Lucy's eating disorder was rooted in the belief that she wasn't enough.

Lucy's Struggle with Self-Worth

• Lucy's struggle with self-worth is still something she's figuring out.
• She questions where the thought of "I'm not enough" came from.
• Lucy had a therapist on her podcast who is a leading therapist psychologist in the world on childhood trauma.
• He believes that children are narcissists and that much of the crux of what he talks about is where we learn the idea that we're not enough as kids.
• Lucy believes that her struggle with self-worth is something that she will continue to work on.

Lucy's Advice for Those Struggling with Similar Issues

• Lucy's advice for those struggling with similar issues is to seek help and to know that they're not alone.
• She believes that it's important to speak kindly to yourself and to do inner child work.
• Lucy also believes that it's important to surround yourself with people who love and support you.
• She encourages people to be vulnerable and to share their struggles with others.
• Lucy believes that it's important to remember that healing is a journey and that it takes time.

Lucy Hale's Struggles with Eating Disorders

• Lucy Hale talks about her struggles with eating disorders, addiction, and relationships.
• She explains that her eating disorder started when she was around 13 or 14 years old.
• She had to start logging her exercise hours for PE, and that started her obsession with movement.
• She saw her body change and started restricting eating, which slowly grew into something she couldn't enjoy life.
• Lucy Hale talks about how she hated herself so much that she couldn't even give her body basic needs like food.

The Spectrum of Eating Disorders

• Lucy Hale talks about how there's a spectrum of eating disorders.
• She can only speak from her point of view, but she doesn't know any woman that has a normal relationship with their body or food.
• Society makes it really hard to like the way you look, and social media can be poison.
• Lucy Hale has to limit what she looks at and curate her life to keep her mind, soul, and spirit feeling good.
• She feels a little uncomfortable talking about eating disorders because she's sensitive and knows that it can be triggering and hard for people to talk about food and bodies.

Low Self-Worth and Relationships

• Lucy Hale talks about how her eating disorder was ultimately about self-worth.
• She had incredibly low self-worth, and it wasn't about the way she looked.
• Lucy Hale dated an Italian guy who loved and appreciated food, and he helped her learn to enjoy food again.
• Each year that went by, she started to feel better and better.
• Lucy Hale's relationship with food has changed, and she now loves and respects her body.

Coping Mechanisms and Recovery

• Lucy Hale talks about how she learned other coping mechanisms that worked for a while until they didn't.
• She never thought she could call herself a foodie, but now she loves food and experiences new cities and cultures through it.
• Lucy Hale knows that we need food to survive, and she loves and respects her body.
• If she's tired, she rests, and she nourishes her body because she loves herself enough now.
• Lucy Hale talks about how recovery is a journey, and eating disorders can always creep back up on you.

Struggles with Eating Disorders

• Lucy Hale talks about her struggles with anorexia.
• Her mother recognized it as a problem and helped her in the best way she knew how.
• She went to a therapist only a handful of times and was diagnosed with anorexia.
• She knew it wasn't normal behavior but was addicted to the feeling of controlling her own body.
• She started dealing with the eating disorder when she was 13, before she found success in the entertainment industry.

Challenges in the Entertainment Industry

• Lucy Hale talks about how being in the entertainment industry can be a tricky place when contending with issues of eating disorders.
• She mentions the influence of advertising, movies, and social media.
• She says that the industry is at a different point now where many people are accepted for different types of bodies.
• When she was starting out, she felt pressure to look a certain way, especially since she was on a show called Pretty Little Liars.
• She felt out of control and thought that controlling her body would make her enough and people would like her.

Relationships and Addiction

• Lucy Hale talks about how for so much of her life, she wanted people to like her even though she hated herself.
• She talks about how real confidence is knowing who you are and being okay with it, even if others don't like you.
• She says that confidence is what she has been searching for her whole life.
• She talks about how she used to drink to numb her feelings and how she has been sober for over two years now.
• She says that she has the confidence to show up anywhere and say that she is accepted because she accepts herself.

Overcoming Struggles

• Lucy Hale talks about how she is on the other side of her struggles now and how it's nice to not have that hamster wheel in her head all the time.
• She says that she can navigate feeling uncomfortable so much better these days.
• She talks about how she has learned to love herself and value herself.
• She says that she has the confidence to get through any situation sober and happy.
• She talks about how she hopes that her story can help others who are going through similar struggles.

Struggles with Self-Worth

• Lucy Hale talks about her struggles with feeling unworthy of success and the people in her life.
• She describes it as a limiting belief that she was a fraud and didn't deserve anything.
• She explains that this lack of self-worth manifested in various ways, including people-pleasing and trying to gain control over something.
• Lucy also talks about how this lack of self-worth led to her coping mechanisms, which were self-destructive and self-sabotaging.
• She mentions that she has been working on getting sober since she was 20 and has been sober for over a year now.

People-Pleasing and Anger

• Lucy discusses how people-pleasing can lead to anger and resentment.
• She explains that doing things that aren't authentic builds up anger and resentment.
• Lucy talks about how she bottled up her rage for a long time, and her coping mechanisms were self-destructive.
• She mentions that she has been working on getting sober since she was 20 and has been sober for over a year now.
• Lucy talks about how alcohol quieted her mind and made her feel like her true self, but it also led to blackout drinking and scary situations.

Relationships and Addiction

• Lucy talks about how her addiction affected her relationships.
• She explains that addiction is a taboo topic, and people would just tell her to stop drinking.
• Lucy describes herself as a textbook binge drinker who would blackout and not remember what she did or said.
• She mentions that she has been working on getting sober since she was 20 and has been sober for over a year now.
• Lucy talks about how her addiction affected her relationships and how getting sober has helped her rebuild them.

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Lucy Hale Opens Up For The First Time About Eating Disorders, Relationships & Addiction | E224 - YouTube