Meredith MacKenzie on figuring out how to reconcile being a high achiever and also new mom

My conversation with Meredith covered her drive as a high achiever and she completely opened up about her fertility challenges, and the current questions she is asking herself as she finishes her maternity leave, juggles her doctorate, decides what to do about her return to work, and considerations for family planning.

As you can tell, we covered a LOT in this episode. Highly recommend listening as this post just won’t do it justice!

So who is Meredith MacKenzie?

Meredith is a Counsellor and Founder of Parallel Wellness. Her team provides mental health therapy services to individuals, couples and families throughout British Columbia. Meredith is also a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia and first-time mom to a one-year-old. Meredith supports women in overcoming years of dieting, poor body image and binge eating and emotional eating, so they can reconnect with their body's true needs and find freedom from food and diet culture. Chat with her about her upcoming group program launching February 8, 2023!

Trigger Warning:

Topics such as disordered eating, infertility and pregnancy/infant loss do come up in this episode. Please do what you need to do to take care of your mental health, and skip this post/episode if those topics just won’t jive with you today.

Big takeaways from this episode with Meredith.

1. Advice on how to support someone going through fertility challenges:

Don’t try to fix it. Don’t try to sugarcoat it. Don’t pretend like you understand what they specifically are going through. What you can do? Sit in the pain with them. Walk through the pain with them. And just be there.

2. How to get through a really tough time where you don’t feel in control of the outcome:

Find rituals that build you up like talking things through with trusted allies or going for daily walks. Meredith also calls a spade a spade: sometimes you just need to get through it and “survive”. Love that perspective in a culture where we’re always looking to “thrive”.

3. Summoning the bravery required to rethink the path forward:

There’s no silver bullet to “finding” bravery, but you can recognize that it is a brave choice to go against your initial path. The current path, the boxes you were set to check…they’re actually the easy path forward. The hard, or brave, path is the one where you reevaluate what is actually best for you and your family.

4. How to reconnect with your body's true needs, finding freedom from food and diet culture:

Especially for women, Meredith has seen real magic in group programs. She says there is something special that happens when a group of women come together to talk about this stuff, and share so vulnerably.

More from Meredith:

To connect with Meredith MacKenzie on Instagram click here.

To watch her YouTube videos click here.

To chat with Meredith about her upcoming group program (starting Feb. 8, 2023) One Body to Love, click here.