298. Why Wholeness Beats “Being Good” with Elise Loehnen

Today Elise Loehnen returns to Insatiable for a much-needed reminder that you don’t have to be good. And in fact, focusing on being “good” or “nice” might perpetuate your battle with food and leave you feeling deeply unfulfilled. In this conversation, we unpack what it means to be whole, why it’s fine if some people don’t like you, and how to stop seeking external approval. We also tap into how the stories we tell about goodness impact our relationship to food and our body (including what the deepest layer of body image is really about). Tune in for a huge permission slip to rest and replenish — even when you’d rather push through (and learn how this supports staying on track with your food). And stick around until the end for a great reframe for envy! We discuss: How your desire to be “good” shows up in your daily life Ways to unhook from external validation The shadow & why it matters in midlife, health included Rejecting the “sin” of sloth & learning to rest MAHA and why it’s not selfish yet essential to tend to your inner life during political turmoil Envy as a GPS for your soul More about our guest: Elise Loehnen Fissmer is a writer and editor living in Los Angeles with her husband, Rob , and their sons, Max and Sam. She is the host of *Pulling the Thread * where she interviews cultural luminaries on the big questions of the day. While she’s co-written 12 books, including five New York Times Best Sellers, her first book under her own name, *On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and the Price Women Pay to Be Good * (Dial Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House), was also an instant New York Times bestseller. Previously, she was the chief content officer of goop, where she co-hosted The goop Podcast and The goop Lab on Netflix, and led the brand’s content strategy and programming, including the launch of a magazine with Condé Nast and a book imprint. Connect with Elise: Preorder Elise’s new workbook Choosing Wholeness Over Goodness: A Process for Reclaiming Your Full Self Get Elise’s book On Our Best Behavior Listen to Elise’s podcast Pulling the Thread Follow Elise on Instagram @EliseLoehnen Mentioned in this episode: Why Am I Eating This Now? — Get the free masterclass and earlybird pricing here Rethinking Food Guilt, Gluttony, and “Goodness” with Elise Loehnen Women’s Bodies, Envy, and Scarcity with Elise Loehnen (Part 2) Send me (Ali) a text message. Make sure to check out Ali’s new website trucewithfood.com , and take the new Find Your Food Stage assessment !