The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Show

Willpower vs. Systems: Why Your Diet Fails & How to Fix Your Relationship w/ Food | Sohee Carpenter

13 Jan 2026

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Pre-Order The Forever Strong PLAYBOOK and receive exclusive bonuses: https://drgabriellelyon.com/playbook/ Want ad-free episodes, exclusives and access to community Q&As? Subscribe to Forever Strong Insider: https://foreverstrong.supercast.com In this episode, Dr. Gabrielle Lyon is joined by Sohee Carpenter, PhD, to explore the complex intersection of psychology, eating behavior, and resistance training. Dr. Carpenter shares her personal journey from struggling with eating disorders to becoming a leading expert in sports science, offering a unique perspective on why high achievers often struggle with diet adherence. They dive deep into the science of behavior change, emphasizing that willpower is a finite resource and that true success lies in building automatic, cognitively effortless habits. Dr. Carpenter debunks common fitness myths, including the necessity of "lifting heavy" and the supposed ineffectiveness of circuit training, while providing practical strategies like "habit stacking" and "designing for laziness" to help listeners navigate their own health journeys. Chapter Markers - 0:00 - Intro: The finite nature of exercise vs. the 24/7 challenge of nutrition. - 1:22 - Meet Sohee Carpenter, PhD: Her academic journey from Stanford Biology to a PhD in Sports Science. - 4:33 - Personal Struggles: Overcoming anorexia, bulimia, and long-term binge eating. - 5:41 - Cultural Pressures: Growing up with the beauty standards of Korea vs. the US. - 8:38 - The Fitness Hobbyist: Discovering weights and the "clean eating" trap in 2011. - 13:10 - The Career Pivot: Choosing Psychology and Fitness over Medical School. - 17:52 - The Binge-Restrict Cycle: Why trying "harder" and being stricter backfires. - 21:54 - Defining RMR: Understanding Resting Metabolic Rate as your caloric floor. - 29:26 - Binge Eating Triggers: Emotion regulation and poor stress coping mechanisms. - 33:10 - The Freedom of No "Food Noise": Intuitive eating as a learned skill. - 36:08 - Gentle Nutrition: The "Add, Don’t Restrict" mindset. - 38:46 - The Willpower Battery: Why habits are superior to brute force discipline. - 45:47 - Habits and Environment: How to "Design for Laziness". - 50:00 - Habit Stacking: Pairing new behaviors with existing daily rituals. - 55:04 - Last Chance Syndrome: The logic of a binge and the "all or nothing" mentality. - 1:00:13 - Cognitive Distortions: Catastrophizing and the "bird's eye view" reframe. - 1:04:36 - Dichotomous Thinking: Why black-and-white mindsets lead to binging. - 1:06:48 - Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation: Finding a "why" that lasts. - 1:12:34 - Identity Change: Perceiving yourself as the person you want to become. - 1:14:27 - Resistance Training for Women: Determining the ideal frequency and style. - 1:19:16 - National Muscle Health Month: Elevating muscle as a pillar of health. - 1:21:39 - The "Heavy Lifting" Myth: Using rep ranges and reps in reserve (RIR). - 1:26:13 - The Circuit Training Study: Similar muscle gains in 25 minutes less time. - 1:29:44 - Training Fasted: Dispelling misconceptions for women’s metabolic health. - 1:30:57 - Running while Pregnant: Staying capable and medically cleared. - 1:33:34 - Final Takeaways: Incremental change and a holistic view of health. Thank you to our sponsors: Four Sigmatic - Go to http://foursigmatic.com/gabrielle for a free bag of their dark roast ground coffee (just pay for shipping & handling).Cozy Earth - Go to https://www.cozyearth.com/DRLYON for up to 20% off! Our Place - Visit

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