Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Pearson.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
From age 13 to 33 I spent a lot of my time disliking my body and believing I wasn’t enough the way I was. I don’t think that’s unusual, unfortunately. I was living a set a beliefs handed down to me from family, friends, and our society. I grew up a dancer and my interest turned quickly to cooking so it seemed natural that I’d follow a career path rooted in food and nutrition.
When I first started health coaching I was creating meal plans for my clients because this is what they told me they needed in order to succeed. I would pull the best recipes and make the most beautiful plans with photos and grocery lists. It seemed great at first! Then I’d follow up and my clients weren’t following through on the exact thing they said they wanted which means they weren’t getting results. I couldn’t force them to do things of course, so what was the issue?
I realized something was missing so I dug deeper and I learned that the biggest piece of the puzzle had nothing to do with meal plans or even the food. What needed to shift was not the number on the scale but their mindset and their core beliefs about their own body and food. All the while I was on my own journey of embracing body and food neutrality. It was just a huge aha “moment” that took a couple of years to solidify.
Actions are valuable but if you’re taking action from a place of frustration, guilt, or shame then you’re going to stay in an unhealthy loop. Essentially that’s what diet culture teaches people and if diets worked then we would all be done dieting by now. When I really understood this to my core I knew I had to pivot in my coaching and help people get out of diet culture. It is so mentally and physically taxing, especially when people are dieting for decades. Now, I help clients learn how to reconnect to their own authority and self-trust first and foremost. When you know how to tap into feeling empowered and worthy you begin to show up for yourself in a way that actually creates the results and life you want.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are always struggles but this is why being a Certified Life Coach comes in handy. I get to coach myself or get coached by my business partner or coach friends when my brain tells me terrible things like, “I’m not successful enough” or any of the thousands of self-defeating thoughts I might experience that week. Most people think you start a business and then it becomes gradually successful until you’ve finally “made-it.” That’s not really how it works. There are ups and downs and plenty of learning curves. The biggest obstacle by far has always been my own mind. Self-doubt is worse than any tech failure or business chore I’ve come across so far. I am constantly working on managing my mind so I can keep showing up for my business with the respect it deserves.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Path Nutrition?
Path Nutrition offers Life Coaching and Nutrition Therapy for people looking break free from diet culture once and for all. We empower you to learn what nourishes you, remove confusion about nutrition, and help you build a healthy relationship with your body and food. Together, we will prioritize your mental and physical well-being. Learn more by listening to our podcast, “Weight a Minute” wherever you get your podcasts.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
We hope that body and food neutrality become the norm and that weird restrictive diets go away for good. We definitely see it shifting in that direction but it could take 5-10 years before we can really see that. We hope that more people understand that their mental health is a priority and our coaching and therapy services will pivot towards new needs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://pathnutrition.com
- Instagram: @path_nutrition
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pathnutrition
Image Credits
Erin Jones of Prana Portraits
