Tag: diet culture

girl with long brown hair, smiling, green and gold background, Makayla Carpenter: An Empowered Voice

Makayla Carpenter: An Empowered Voice

This week, I’d like to introduce you to Makayla Carpenter, a nutrition and life coach who is not only empowered herself, but also helps others to take control too!

Makayla specializes in empowering people to overcome restrictive dieting and emotional eating through healing their relationship with food. Having come from a past of an unhealthy relationship with food and knowing how much it impacts peoples’ lives, Makayla is now very passionate about helping others create a healthy relationship with food.

She was kind enough to share some of her story with me to share with all of you.

What was your ‘Ever After’ moment? (The moment that changed everything)

My aha moment was when I realized how much deeper my unhealthy relationship with food was: it was never just about the food, it was about how I was viewing myself, the world and how food fit into this. I was not focusing on taking care of myself and the relationship with food I had reflected this. Recognizing this and coming from a place of curiosity and compassion was like changing as I started to unlearn the unhelpful thoughts and beliefs I had developed up until that point.

What is a challenge that you have faced and how did you overcome it? What did you learn along the way?

I struggled with eating disorders as a teenager, followed by depression, struggles with yoyo dieting and binge eating, plus just feeling very low in confidence and self esteem. I learned that I had to make the decision to do things differently, I had to reach a point where I was ready to address the underlying issues and not just focus on the surface level stuff. I learned that we can completely change our mindset through unlearning and starting to really question the beliefs that we are holding onto. This has changed my life and the trajectory of it.

What is a practical strategy or tool that you have found most effective for achieving success and/or personal growth?

Getting curious and taking a moment before we react. When we are able to pause and just become present to listen to our thoughts, we can learn so much and start shifting so much too.

How do you deal with self-doubt and limiting beliefs? What practices have you found helpful for building self-confidence?

By writing them out. If I find myself pulling back or not feeling great, I write out my thoughts/ feelings and problem solve them, create more helpful thoughts. I have done this alot and find that now I automatically do it, but a pen and paper always helps! Reminding myself that we only have one life and I want to enjoy it and helps others do the same – this is one example of a helpful belief that helps me push through fears or thoughts that may come up.

What advice do you have for staying resilient in the face of adversity? How do you maintain a growth mindset and learn from failures?

Remember why you are doing what you are doing, when things don’t go to plan get curious about what went wrong and what you could learn from it. I just remind myself these things, and regularly check in with my thoughts.

What are some common misconceptions people have about your area of expertise, and what would you like people to know?

When it comes to creating a healthy relationship with food it is about so much more than just the food. It is so important that you address the underlying causes of your struggles with food. Having more compassion and curiosity towards yourself is such an important step in the journey of healing your relationship with food.

How can we connect with you?

Website: Makaylacarpenter.com

Facebook group – Freedom from restrictive dieting and emotional eating.

Business page – Makayla Carpenter Nutrition and Life Coach


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