How perfectionism destroys your relationship with food

Jul 29, 2023 | Podcast

3 bottles with sliced lemon and sliced orange fruits

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, people will think I let 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 incredibly 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-achievement 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.”

“I believe that women learning how to be comfortable being themselves in this world is activism.”

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. 

Finally, we explore 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 Holloway helps women recover from perfectionism by breathing
Iona is tough as old boots but soft like a marshmallow. She helps women recover from perfectionism by breathing.

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’s 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.

Resources:

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

Purchase Iona’s best-selling book – Ghost: Why Perfect Women Shrink

From Bookshop.org: Iona Holloway woke up one day and knew she could never go on another diet. She was willing to sacrifice her “perfect body” if it meant she felt whole-not lost, ashamed, and hopeless. She became her own guide on the hard journey of coming home to herself.”

Watch the video on the Savor Food and Body YouTube Channel

Have a better relationship with food. Download the Thrive Guide

Get on the waitlist for SAVOR Group Counseling. The next session starts in October 2023.

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