Are you struggling with perfectionism in your health? Disordered and obsessive eating isn’t solely related to diagnoses like anorexia and bulimia anymore. A growing number of women are finding they have increased stress and anxiety when they’re obsessing over the healthy food they’re eating and rigidly following an exercise routine. This used to be the mindset of my guest, Rachel Benight, a dietitian who works with women to help them reach their health goals without perfectionism running the show.

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DITCHING PERFECTIONISM

The thing to realize about diet and exercise is that what works for one person might not work for the next. Keto, vegan, low-carb, gluten-free, whatever it is, if it works great for you, that’s wonderful! But just because it’s working for you does not mean that it’s going to work for someone else. 

Rachel joins us today to talk about the mistakes that women are making when they’re working on their health and body goals. The big ones? Under-eating and overexercising.

When it comes to diet, we’re both of the mind that perfectionism, restriction, and obsession are not necessary or beneficial for good health. Unless you have a medical reason for not eating something (like Celiac Disease, for example) there shouldn’t be any food that’s permanently and completely off your plate. And if you do have a necessary dietary restriction, you should focus on all the goodness you can have, rather than what you can’t.

Many women come to Rachel saying that they can’t eat something because it makes them feel bad, but when they’re on holiday they can eat whatever they want. She explains how stress has an effect on our digestion and how that could be the reason for your upset stomach at home. Rachel also shares how often we should be exercising every week in order to stay in line with our goals.

We also talk about how we both incorporate our Christian faith into our functional nutrition practices and find that doing so helps us connect better with our clients. As one of my business mentoring clients, Rachel explains how she had a plan for starting her own business, but fear was holding her back. We worked together to help her step through her fear to start her business earlier than planned.

Do you find yourself getting stuck in perfectionism, restriction, or obsession when it comes to your food and fitness routine? How have you overcome that challenge to live a more mentally and emotionally healthy life? Let us know in the comments below! 

 

Got a question you’d love to hear me answer on the show? Leave me a voice message here!

 

In This Episode

• How you can have increased stress and anxiety when you’re trying to follow healthy eating, especially when you become obsessed with these ways of eating
• How to ditch perfectionism in your health
• Why diet and exercise isn’t a “one size fits all” for each person
• What mistakes women are making to accomplish their health and body composition goals
• How often you should exercise each week
• Why you should focus on the things you can have rather than the things you can’t
• How your level of stress can impact how you feel after you eat a meal
• What happens when you incorporate your faith into your functional nutrition practice
• How you can step through your fear to do the thing that scares you

 

Quotes

“A lot of women, especially if they’re still in their reproductive years and exercising at high intensities, are significantly undereating carbs.” (19:34)

“Just because it works for you doesn’t mean that it’s going to work for every other person on the face of the earth and for everyone to follow blindly these recommendations without questioning how it’s working for them.” (23:12)

“Waiting for the perfect moment to make a change or expecting to see the full path ahead of you when you’re going on a health journey and waiting until that happens – you’re never going to experience that. You have to take steps before you actually see the path.” (57:31)

 

Links

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