When Nutrition Becomes a Stage for Perfectionism

When Nutrition Becomes a Stage for Perfectionism

She’s not just tracking macros.
She’s measuring her worth.

Underneath the spreadsheet of protein goals and meal prep containers…
…lives a quiet fear of failure.

And the thing is — she doesn’t look disordered.
She looks disciplined.

She looks like someone who "has it together."

But in the spaces I hold for women — the truth gets safer to speak.

"If I don’t hit my targets, I feel like I’ve failed."
"I’m scared to eat without logging it first."
"If I’m not perfect, what’s the point?"

This is perfectionism in disguise.
And nutrition has simply become the stage.

Perfectionism isn't about high standards.

It’s about fear of being not enough.

It shows up in clean eating.
In meticulous tracking.
In obsessing over “messing it up.”

And what makes it sneaky is that it's often praised.

People will compliment your discipline.
Your consistency.
Your willpower.

But they don’t see the mental gymnastics behind it.

They don’t see the guilt that creeps in when dinner doesn’t go to plan.
The internal punishment when your protein is 10g short.
The voice that whispers, "You failed again."

This isn’t about food.
It’s about safety, control, and self-worth.

Perfectionism thrives when we believe:

• Our value is based on output

• Our body must be fixed

• Our feelings are inconvenient

• Our control is the only thing keeping chaos away

So we try to get it all right.

We cling to numbers.
We push for results.
We avoid anything that feels messy.

But healing isn’t neat.
And neither is being human.

What does this have to do with nutrition?

Everything.

Because the relationship you have with food mirrors the relationship you have with yourself.

If there’s no room for softness, flexibility, or error —
there’s no room for being you.

Nutrition becomes another performance.
Another way to earn approval.
Another metric of how well you’re doing at life.

So how do we shift?

We pause.

We notice the rules — and ask who wrote them.
We stop confusing consistency with control.
We allow food to nourish us, not validate us.

And we begin to practice something far more radical than perfection:

Compassion.

Because progress doesn’t come from punishing yourself into change.
It comes from feeling safe enough to choose something different.

You don’t need to be perfect to be healthy.
You need to be present.
Attuned.
Kind.

Nutrition should never feel like a tightrope.
Let it feel like home.

Kindness always,
Didi