Pondoff’s Anonymous – Cristina Preston Episode Who this episode is for:
- Anyone outworking pain in the gym
- Folks from good homes who wrecked their lives
- People with pasts they swore they’d never share
- Anyone who’s felt like a fraud—addict or not
- Church kids hiding chaos behind smiles
Chris is on a Staten Island ferry, pizza grease on his fingers, yelling at Lady Liberty and eating humble pie ‘cause the remote-record plan tanked. But that tech fail is your gain—because we’re re-dropping a raw convo with Cristina Preston: fitness model, news junkie, steroid-using bodybuilder, trafficking survivor, and miracle in motion.
She leads Celebrate Recovery in Fenton, MO, but she’s lived the wreckage—bullying, self-harm, covering a school shooting, being trafficked during addiction, shady doctors, and a Vegas wedding that made her dad cry the wrong way.
This one’s heavy and holy. Laugh. Cry. Throw a chair. Hug your mom.
⏱️ Full Timestamp Breakdown
- 00:00 – Ferry intro: busted tech & grandma’s 100th
- 01:50 – Why this is a re-release
- 03:20 – Goldberg tease: Ducks, meth, mayhem
- 04:05 – Cristina joins: war-tested & real
- 05:30 – How Chris found Cristina’s testimony
- 06:45 – Celebrate Recovery ain’t just AA
- 08:15 – Codependency, food, image issues
- 09:20 – Why “grateful believer” hits different
- 10:30 – Honesty over polish
- 11:15 – CR outnumbers Starbucks?!
- 12:20 – Church-run, same vibe everywhere
- 13:45 – Big lessons, big tears
- 14:50 – Pondoff talks real recovery spaces
- 16:05 – Why safe doesn’t mean soft
- 17:45 – Losing a dog in sobriety
- 20:00 – Sitting in pain instead of escaping
- 22:00 – Cristina’s “perfect” upbringing
- 23:30 – Bullying & broken stalls
- 25:30 – Before we knew “anxiety”
- 27:15 – The high-achieving mask
- 28:10 – Speech team nerd to newsroom
- 30:00 – Covering the NIU school shooting
- 32:45 – Trauma, Valentine’s, heartbreak
- 34:20 – Cancelled wedding, lost faith
- 36:50 – Panic attacks & silence
- 38:45 – Gym life as addiction in disguise
- 40:30 – Attention, abs, and adrenaline
- 42:00 – Bikini comps & pressure
- 43:45 – First steroid cycle
- 45:00 – “Helpful” doctor + real side effects
- 46:30 – Vegas wedding, mall ring, regrets
- 48:15 – Cocaine enters stage right
- 50:10 – Using on the move
- 51:30 – Broke, exposed, unraveling
- 53:00 – Dependent and out of options
- 54:10 – Doctor with blank-label pills
- 55:30 – Lies, performance, denial
- 57:10 – Who even am I?
- 58:45 – Comfort in chaos
- 01:00:00 – From worshipped to wasted
- 01:01:30 – Realizing it’s all a façade
- 01:03:00 – Surrender & grace
- 01:05:00 – Truth through accountability
- 01:06:20 – Living life again
- 01:07:45 – Family healing
- 01:09:00 – Second marriage, no lies
- 01:10:15 – Parenthood post-recovery
- 01:12:00 – Telling your kids the truth
- 01:13:20 – Sharing to save others
- 01:14:40 – Message to the struggling
- 01:16:00 – How to plug into CR
- 01:17:30 – Church ≠ performance
- 01:19:00 – What healing really means
- 01:20:20 – Sobriety doesn’t erase shame
- 01:23:00 – Self-forgiveness is brutal
- 01:25:00 – Cristina opens up: trafficked in addiction
- 01:27:30 – Manipulated, silenced by shame
- 01:29:00 – Her son asks the hard questions
- 01:32:10 – Even now, cravings sneak in
- 01:34:45 – Triggers: mirrors, songs, stores
- 01:38:20 – Faith in the ugly middle
- 01:40:50 – Leading while healing
- 01:44:10 – Routine, friends, raw prayer
- 01:47:00 – “You’re not too far gone”
- 01:50:30 – Chris on public shame & honesty
- 01:53:00 – Jakob & Jeff on spiritual BS
- 01:55:45 – Cristina hated “Christianese” too
- 01:58:20 – Healing doesn’t follow rules
- 02:00:10 – Why CR keeps her grounded
- 02:03:30 – Sobriety is sacred and simple
- 02:06:00 – Stories evolve—they don’t end
- 02:10:00 – Gratitude for lifelines
- 02:12:45 – “Stay here”—for anyone slipping
- 02:15:30 – Chris signs off from the ferry
- 02:17:40 – END
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