How perfectionism destroys your relationship with food

Savor Food and Body Podcast

What is perfectionism costing you after 40? Time, money, relationships, your health. The images you see in the media make flawless perfection look easy. You think, "If I don't strive for perfection, I'll be seen as letting myself go."

For decades, you've tried to be everything for everybody - your family, friends, boss, community, career. You make perfectionism look easy. At least that's what people see on the outside.

After 20, 30, or 40 years of trying to live up to increasingly high standards, you break. Now what?

How do you get on with your life after being a victim of diet-wellness-beauty culture (perfectionism)?

Iona Holloway was the queen of making over-achieving look easy. Naturally gifted in sports, art, and academics, Iona was a real Renaissance woman, but it all came at a cost.

Listen as Iona shares how perfectionism played a critical role in her previous relationship with food and her body.

As we talk about her best-selling book Ghost, why perfect women shrink, Iona reveals what finally tipped her over the edge to get the help she needed and recover from years of binge eating, shame, and paralyzing self-criticism.

Iona explains her definition of inner child work and how she helps people (mostly women) "clear the muck, find the gold, and get on with their lives."

My favorite part of our conversation was talking about this quote from Iona, "I believe that women learning how to be comfortable being themselves in this world is activism."

Iona shares a few tips on how you can be an activist by healing your relationship with food and your body.

We wrapped up the conversation by exploring why it's essential to validate your experiences of being wounded by diet culture and more importantly, how to get on with your life by being an agent of change for generations of women and girls to come.

Iona's work is rooted in her own experiences as a high-functioning but struggling invisible woman. She explains how breath work supported her unconventional recovery from a 20-year battle with an eating disorder and depression.

Something she learned on the long road home: it's never too late to remember who you are. Iona is tough as old boots but soft like a marshmallow. Her ZeroFluff™ breathwork app Soul, intensives, and psychedelic live experiences help you do three things: clear the muck, turn the stone in your chest back into a beating heart, and burn bright (not out) in your life and work.

Get started with Soul: https://soulbreathwork.com/glow

Get show notes and additional resources on my website www.alpinenutrition.org

While you're there, download the free guide The Top 5 Foods for Women Over 40.
If you're ready to break free from dieting without the confusion of how to eat healthy in midlife, get on the waitlist for my small group counseling program.
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