LIVING IN SYNC | Lifestyle & Wellness for Women in their 30s · Joelle Suess | Podcast Producer & Entrepreneur

Story Time: What 2 Trolls Taught Me About Boundaries Online

·26 min·1 clip

A commenter told Joelle to be ashamed for not losing postpartum weight fast enough after her second baby.

1. Living In Sync's "Story Time: What 2 Trolls Taught Me About Boundaries Online" focuses on Joelle's experience with trolls, postpartum shame, and social-media posting habits. 2. Joelle, the host, speaks as a former online health and fitness coach and current podcast producer, so her comments land as both personal and work-related. 3. The episode asks what happens when online criticism forces a creator to rethink how much of her body, schedule, and family life she shares. 4. In April 2019, Joelle says a commenter attacked her for not losing "the baby weight" fast enough when she was roughly nine months postpartum with her second baby. 5. She says she was getting dressed for a cousin's special event, wearing a black one-piece jumpsuit borrowed from her mom because nothing else fit. 6. Joelle repeats that the commenter called her body "disgusting" and said she should be ashamed as a "health and fitness" person. 7. She says that criticism hit while she was already carrying shame about her body and working in the online health and fitness industry. 8. Joelle says her current response would be to block the commenter and tell her not to speak to another woman that way. 9. She connects that experience to a broader change in her view of weight loss, saying she did not struggle with weight before her 30s and saw more progress only from 2021 through 2025. 10. She references Alana Molstein and "Tubi Mindset" while describing the idea that weight-loss struggles can start in different decades for different people. 11. Joelle says the first troll made her realize she did not want her body to be her business or to "sell" her business through body image. 12. She explains that in the fitness and network-marketing world, bodies often got more credibility and more likes than words alone. 13. The second story centers on a 2020 DM about her husband being at work while she stayed home with a one-and-a-half-year-old and a three-and-a-half-year-old. 14. Joelle says the sender was a farmer's wife and seemed to minimize her fatigue by describing her own harder schedule and more children. 15. Her best friend responded by asking, "do we have to compare each other's hearts," which Joelle says changed how she thinks about comparing families and workloads. 16. Joelle adds that, as a farmer's daughter, she understands early mornings, field food deliveries, and seasonal work, which complicates easy comparisons. 17. The third story describes a follower who noticed repeated Tuesday-morning routines, which made Joelle realize that sharing day-to-day patterns could reveal habits to strangers. 18. Joelle says she now posts family outings and runs as later grams, uses podcasting for deeper context, and feels better because she can speak with more depth there. 19. People who like honest creator-business talk, postpartum body-image stories, and social-media boundary-setting will likely like this episode. 20. People wanting a tightly structured teaching episode or step-by-step strategy may skip this one.

As heard by us

A storytime reflection on how hurtful online comments sharpen the line between openness and discernment.

The episode is a storytime-style reflection on two hurtful encounters and one standoffish moment that reshaped how the host shows up on social media.

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Why you'd press play

Press play if you want a storytime on how online comments can change the way you show up on social media.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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