#364: Rozanna Purcell on The Problem With Diet Culture, Discorded Eating and Creating A Positive Relationship with Yourself!

Today on the podcast:

Roz Purcell is a blogger and number one bestselling author.

She began blogging at naturalbornfeeder.com in 2013 to document her love of cooking and share her recipes.

Roz puts out incredible content on her social channels all around food, hiking, and wellness in general.

Today’s podcast is a great conversation with an absolutely wonderful person.

Episode Outline

03:21 Rozanna’s introduction into health and wellness and her food philosophy
06:50 Her recovery from disordered eating and an eating disorder and the lessons she learnt about herself on the road to recovery
09:44 How therapy helped her with her guilt/shame cycle around food and the importance of self-awareness
13:31 What she wished she had known when starting her health, fitness, and wellness journey first
15:53 The importance of protecting your environment and setting up clear boundaries
22:28 Why you need to work on your mind above all else and advice she’d offer herself if she could go back to her earlier years
27:26 Hiking, being present and how that can become its own mediation for her
39:30 Why setting long-lasting healthy habits starts and ends with you

There is so much noise, outright misinformation, and corporate greed out there that makes a beginner’s health, fitness, and wellness journey incredibly difficult. Ultimately, while it’s crucial to listen to a professional, you need to listen to your own body when making choices such as which foods to eat (or not eat) and whether or not you need to go on a diet. Beware of diet culture and make it a point to protect your environment, especially social media.
Mainstream media likes to pit people against each other. Many women (and men) therefore grow up feeling that they need to compete with others like themselves in order to succeed, and that is just not true. A feeling of competition is great for motivation, but treat it as camaraderie, not as a roadblock to overcome at all costs. Regardless of your industry and no matter what society tells you, there is room for everyone to grow and succeed.
In the health and wellness space, we’ve all been in the situation where we’re just waiting for someone to tell us what to do, to take us by the hand and spell out the path for us. However, if we want to make real progress, start thinking about what you want and what makes you feel good. Don’t try to emulate someone else’s lifestyle or go on an endless search for that magical five-step process for a quick fix. If you want to create lasting habits, you need to enjoy what you do and what you eat.

Food is a huge part of our life. We shouldn’t see it as “good” or “bad”, or something that we should be guilty or not guilty of. It’s just something that is fundamental and should be enjoyed where it can be.
I’m a big preacher for the fact that you’re in control of your own social media. So, don’t follow people that make you feel like shit or won’t aid your journey.
There is no need to be competitive with other women. No matter what society tells you, there is room for all women to grow and succeed.
Diet culture will absolutely mess you up. It will wreck your body. It will wreck your head. You can eat well. You can train well. But if you don’t have a healthy mind, none of that matters. None of it.