How I turned Lipedema
into My Superpower!

For twenty years, I was sent from pillar to post. No one could tell me what was wrong with my legs. Until I finally got the diagnosis: lipedema. But instead of accepting "you'll just have to learn to live with it," I went searching for a solution. And I found one. Lipedema didn't break me – it made me stronger. This is my story.

My personal journey from frustration to freedom

A Teenage Girl Who Hated Her Legs…

I remember it so clearly. As a teenager, I had legs that were different. Thicker. Out of proportion with my upper body. And while my friends could wear anything, I felt trapped in a body that didn’t fit me.

I hated my legs.

The doctor? He gave me compression stockings and advice to eat less salt. “You’re retaining water, nothing to worry about.” No one ever really felt my legs to figure out what was wrong.

I felt misunderstood.
Frustrated.
Alone.

And that feeling… it stayed. For two decades.

Then came my pregnancy’s – and everything got wWorse

During my pregnancies with my two beautiful sons, I began to swell enormously. The pain in my legs became unbearable. I was working as an upholsterer in my own workshop at the time, and we lived above the shop. Those stairs… they seemed endless. My legs felt like concrete blocks. Heavy. Thick. Painful with every step. And still, no one could tell me what was wrong.

Finally a Name: Lipedema

Until I ended up at a physiotherapist after a roller-derby accident. He felt my legs and said: “Something’s wrong. This isn’t just water retention. I think you have a form of edema. Probably lipedema.” For the first time in over 20 years, someone put a name to my symptoms.

Lipedema.

At home, I immediately went online. And everything fell into place. I recognized myself in every symptom. The pain. The disproportion. The feeling that diets didn’t help.

I finally had my answer.

But to my great disappointment…

Online, I read the same story everywhere: “You’ll have to learn to live with it.” Doctors told me there was nothing to be done. That I especially had to be careful not to end up in a wheelchair.

I couldn’t accept that.
I wouldn’t accept that.
There had to be a solution.

The turning point: My first Quadrivas treatment

After weeks of searching, I found posts about a manual therapy here in the Netherlands. The reviews sounded promising, but there was a waiting list. When I finally got an appointment with Alyna for an intake, I was overwhelmed with anticipation. That first treatment? Far from painless. But what I felt afterward…

As I walked back to Amsterdam Central Station, my legs felt half as light. Like I was floating on clouds. My legs had never felt like this before.
I felt immediate relief.

This moment was a turning point in my life.

I decided: Every woman should experience this

It didn’t take long before I realized: this is my future. Every woman with lipedema should be able to experience this relief. Instead of continuing to spend my savings on treatments, I decided to enroll in the four-year Quadrivas Therapist training program. I earned all my diplomas, completed my masters, and in 2017, after ten years, I closed my upholstery business. I opened my practice as a therapist, specialized in lipedema.

From Quadrivas to my Own: Holistic Lipedema Method

In the years that followed, I treated hundreds of women. And with each woman, I learned more.

I began to experiment.
To combine.
To refine.

I saw that massage alone wasn’t enough. That more was needed for real transformation. For lasting relief. For a life where lipedema no longer holds you back. So I began to walk my own path.

I combined different manual techniques, not only focused on the vascular system, but also on the lymphatic system. That made the difference. Women achieved results faster, tissue loosened up, and they needed fewer treatments.

But it didn’t stop there.

I realized: lipedema isn’t just physical. It’s in your head. In your heart. In your daily choices. So I began working with nutrition, movement, and mindset. With visualization. With releasing old traumas. With reducing stress, so the body had space to heal.

That’s how the Holistic Lipedema Method was born.

An approach that addresses lipedema from four directions:

Massage – The golden combination of techniques
Nutrition – A sustainable, anti-inflammatory diet
Movement – The power of moving without overloading your body
Mindset – Unity of body and mind

Body. Mind. Spirit.
One cannot exist without the other.

Lipedema became My Superpower

Look, lipedema has brought me a lot of suffering. Grief. Frustration. Pain. For twenty years. But it also gave me something…

It taught me never to give up. To keep searching. To believe there was a solution, against all the advice and opinions of doctors.

And I found it.
Not in pills or operations, but in a lifestyle that supports my body. A way of living where lipedema no longer has a grip on my daily life.

I can do anything I want.
Nothing holds me back.
Nothing limits me anymore.

This summer, I was hiking in the Swiss mountains with my family. While 10 years ago, I couldn’t even climb the stairs. I have my life back!

Of course, lipedema isn’t gone. It requires constant effort. But through that effort – by embracing that healthy lifestyle – I can make all my dreams come true.

Lipedema became my superpower.

It made me who I am today:

Founder of the Holistic Lipedema Method.
Lipedema Coach.
Trainer.
Speaker at international conferences.

But most importantly? It made me someone who understands what you’re going through.

My Mission: Helping you feel the same

I know what it feels like not to be understood. To be desperate. To think there’s no way out. But I also know what it feels like to experience that relief. To trust your body again. To move without pain again. And that’s exactly why I do what I do.

With so much dedication. So much passion. So much love. I want every woman with lipedema to know: there is a way forward. You don’t have to do this alone. And you deserve a body in which you feel free.

That’s why I created the Holistic Lipedema Method.
That’s why I train other therapists.
That’s why I speak at conferences.
That’s why I share my story, time and again, all over the world.

Not because lipedema is easy. But because you’re worth feeling good.

Ready to discover your Superpower?

If my story touches you…
If you think: “I want this too…”
If you’re ready to take back control over your body and your life…

Then you’re in the right place.

Let’s do this together.

With love,

Rachel Sarah van Beek-Jansen – Founder @ Lipedema Coach
Creator of the Holistic Lipedema Method

About the Holistic Lipedema Method