AFTER years of battling an eating disorder in the shadows, Tina Lembo is calling on women to ‘remove the mask’ and reach out for help and support. 

For decades, Lembo suffered in silence, pretending she was okay, while privately battling extreme weight loss and self-body issues.

At one point, she lost half her body weight and hadn’t eaten for weeks.

The seed was planted when she was a skinny 10-year-old and an auntie snapped she “had worms and was gonna get fat when she was older”.

But the walls truly came tumbling down when she was about to go on stage in a school musical and a male pupil sniped “I don’t want to be Tina’s dance partner, she’s too fat to lift.”  

• Inspirational speaker Tina Lembo.

This sparked a recurring pattern of extreme dieting, starvation, and on occasion self harm, which lasted for decades.

It contributed to the breakdown of Lembo’s marriage and she had hit rock bottom when a colleague invited her along to a wellness talk in 2008.

“I wasn’t really interested in going and sat at the back, sort of disconnected, until the speaker uttered the words—‘Stop killing yourself’,” she says.

“It sparked something in me and from that point on, I began to retake control of my life.”

A late diagnosis of ADHD helped Lembo put the pieces of the jigsaw together, discovering that eating disorders were often linked to neurodiversity.

Now she’s helping others as an inspirational speaker—telling them how she survived and encouraging them to choose courage over fear.

“I share my story to change people’s lives,” Lembo says.

“If it helps even one person find hope and healing, that makes it all worth it.

“My talks are designed to shift mindsets from punishment to a profound sense of self-care—Unmask, Connect and Collaborate.”

Lembo’s holding an Unmasking Retreat at an eco-farmstay near Toodyay (May 15-17) where folk can get away from it all and reconnect with nature.

“We’ll have everything from creative movement and a healing circle to feeding the animals and self-care facials by the lake,” she says.

“It’s a lovely spiritual setting with a paperbark forest and loads of wildlife.

“There’s also optional activities like canoeing and bellydancing for people who are a bit more adventurous.

“It’s an intimate retreat focused entirely on healing and self-acceptance.”

And folk can get on-going wellness care with her Remove the Mask WhatsApp group, where like-minded women support, network and connect with each other.

To find out more about Lembo and the retreat see tinainspireshope.com