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

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Jan 13, 2026

Sohee Carpenter, a sports scientist and PhD with a personal journey through eating disorders, brings her expertise to discuss the intersection of psychology and food habits. She unpacks the myth that willpower alone leads to diet success, emphasizing instead the importance of designing effortless, healthy habits. Sohee challenges common fitness beliefs, such as the need for heavy lifting, and shares evidence-based strategies like 'habit stacking' to promote sustainable change. Her insights highlight that mental health and minor adjustments pave the way for long-term success.

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INSIGHT

Why Nutrition Is Harder Than Exercise

Nutrition is harder than exercise because eating decisions occur all day while exercise is time-bound.
Habits reduce cognitive load and beat willpower for long-term behavior change.

ADVICE

Remove Barriers, Don't Add Restriction

Remove pain points and obstacles to make healthy choices easier instead of increasing restriction.
Use small environmental changes to lower friction and preserve willpower for habit formation.

ADVICE

Add, Don't Restrict

Use 'add, don't restrict': keep favorite foods but add protein and veggies to displace calories.
Prioritize gentle nutrition choices rather than banning foods to avoid deprivation-triggered binges.

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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.

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Find Sohee Carpenter at:

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- Youtube: @SoheeFit

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Disclaimer: The Dr. Gabrielle Lyon Podcast and YouTube are for general information purposes only and do not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast, YouTube, or materials linked from this podcast or YouTube is at the user's own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professional for any such conditions. This episode includes paid sponsorships.