211: Perfectionism and Healthy Eating

Nourishing Women Podcast

I recently shared a post on perfectionism and the unhealthy obsession with eating healthy and it resonated with SO many of you, so I wanted to share more in depth in today’s episode.

In the post I shared, that I’m not sure I’ve ever worked with a client that’s had orthorexia and didn’t also seriously struggle with perfectionism, people pleasing and fear of lack of control.

I also know this too deeply from my own personal experience. My desire to be the “perfect” dietitian made me *attempt* to perfect my eating habits more and more until I got to a point where everything I ate made me anxious. When you dive into the clean eating world you can almost always find something “wrong” with what you’re eating.

I share this because perfectionism is at the root of why your desires to live a healthy lifestyle have become obsessive and dogmatic, reaching the point of disordered behaviors. I also share because the same issue that gets us in to this mess, it also what tends to prevent us from seeking healing and/or asking for help to recover.

If you too struggle with the desire to be perfect and perfect your eating habits (the breeding ground of orthorexia) I want you to know that part of this process, the healing part, is going to BE MESSY.

It’s A OKAY if for a period of time your eating habits look far from what you think is “healthy” to give yourself the time and space to heal and loosen the grips of your unhealthy obsession with eating healthy.

Your body is resilient. I promise it can handle if you don’t eat what you think is enough veggies (or sub in whatever food you’re fearful of NOT consuming) for a period of time.

As I shared in my post, The messy parts are where are the magic happens. So if you end of eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches instead of kale salads with every trendy superfood possible, I promise you’ll be okay. I promise you can trust your body. I promise the messy parts lead to your goals of food freedom and flexibility.

In today’s podcast episode I share why it’s critical to work through perfectionism, how it shows up not only in our healing journeys but also in the health and wellness world, and how to work towards imperfect actions. Remember, self love can also come with self awareness, and these imperfect actions are how you’ll move towards that gray area of health and wellness.

Are you ready to move on from food and wellness obsession and instead towards food flexibility, food freedom and intuitive eating? Then my free workshop, the Food Obsession to Food Flexibility Workshop, was created just for you!

The Food Obsession to Food Flexibility Workshop will be held THIS week with three dates available to sign up: Thursday, October 15th at 12:30pm and 6:30pm and Saturday, October 17th at 10am EST.

Use the code NOURISH for 10% off your first Primally Pure order, get your dry skin products ready for the winter! I’m personally obsessed right now with the body brush, body butter and beauty cream.

My online course on intuitive eating, Permission Stage Playbook, is currently closed for enrollment but you can join the waitlist by clicking here. Enrollment re-opens later in fall!

Resources for you:

• Learn more about our services at Nourishing Minds Nutrition. Read testimonials from our amazing clients here.
• Join our FREE support group for like-minded women, the Nourishing Women Community. Live Q&As are hosted every week.

Let’s hang out! Connect with Victoria and the staff at NMN:

• Victoria’s Instagram
• Victoria’s Website
• Nourishing Minds Nutrition Instagram
• Nourishing Minds Nutrition website