u/Purple-Disaster5389

I want to provide a little background about myself. I am a 25 y/o female considering pivoting careers from working in the corporate setting to going back to school to study health sciences and pursue PA school.

Unfortunately, I already received my undergraduate and graduate degree (MBA) in the business realm and I just hate it. I worked a 9-5 and I felt like a robot and I was constantly being shoved to the side and overlooked, but I did A TON of work. In my line of work, we were expected to be available during literally every major holiday. I managed my clients alone (not within my roles responsibilities technically) with an absent manager from the age of 23-25 and received a whopping 1% raise and 0 bonus. My performance reviews were almost always incomplete and they kept moving me to different teams in the name of "company restructure" so it was difficult to have a constant who could advocate for me within management. (I will say I only was given more responsibility and it was made known that the client did not want me removed from their account under any circumstance).

I went from having an absent manager to an extreme micro manager. It was truly a nightmare. As a previous division 1 athlete, I am someone who can withstand a large workload and honestly a difficult boss, but it genuinely put me in a depressive state. I hated waking up. I felt no reward for any of the work I did even though the client raved about my ability to meet their needs/solve their problems. I was never offered any opportunity for advancement. My micromanager also made me feel like everything I did I was guilty until proven innocent. With all that being said, I decided to leave my company with no job lined up (yes I know..in this job market it was a tough decision). I applied to hundreds of jobs and never heard back or was auto rejected. It was so defeating. This is when I started reconsidering my entire career.

Being a previous college athlete, I honestly love women's health and learning about the body. I chose business originally because of the desire to think outside the box, be creative, and solve problems. In both companies I have worked for post grad, I have been given 0 opportunity to explore my strengths, have a mentorship, or opportunity for professional development. I have always found myself studying nutrition or being drawn to understand how the body works. I stumbled across the idea of PA school through a friend who is currently enrolled. The problem is I have 0 pre reqs. I am currently enrolled in bio at the local community college, but I don't know I feel so lost. I guess I am seeing advice from those who have felt similar or made siimilar changes unto their career path. Was it worth it? what advice might you have for someone pursuing PA (I have done research on volunteer hours/clinical hours/etc)? Should I try corporate again? If so, how does one get the connections that I feel like almost everyone has? TYI for any and all advice!

For context, I am a 5'10 female w an athetic build (CW: 156, GW:145) I know 10-12 lbs for some does not seem like a big deal, but my whole identity was being an athlete, fitness, and healthy eating because i truly enjoyed it. Now, I wakeup wishing the day away honestly. I feel like all my workouts are punishment for the weight I have gained because I have been struggling mentally from burnout at a job I don't like, friendship loss, and just feeling overall not much passion in my life. I used to be the one everyone used to ask "how do you look so good?" or "how do you always eat so 'healthy'?". The truth was I was really enjoying finding healthy recipes, I felt like I was doing what I loved (my sport that I no longer play competitively), and I lived with my friends who I felt knew me better than I knew myself. I hate looking at photos of myself, all my clothes fit weird, and I honestly avoid social settings because.of my lack of confidence right now. The problem is that everytime I try to commit to losing the weight I start overeating again/end up gaining more weight. I know about calories/macros, I lift weights/run/prioritize steps but I am just truly exhausted because all I do is overcompensate for all the overeating I do. I guess I am asking for advice on how to overcome this? I meet with an RD, but she just tells me I need to be less hard on myself/give myself the freedom to eat anything (easier said than done). I just want to feel confident in clothes/photos again (honestly I'd be happy just with just losing 5 lbs). In the past, I never tracked calories and I somehow got to my lowest weight,. Now, that seems impossible, but I am tired of trying and failing everyday. It is truly impacting so many facets of my life. I will take ANY advice TYI !!

TLDR: striggling with food noise, weight gain, counting calories triggers overeating tendencies, feeling unconfident, how do I lose some weight/feel less inflamed/more confident without spiraling to overeating and then overexercising?

For context, I am a 5'10 female w an athetic build. I know 10-12 lbs for some does not seem like a big deal, but my whole identity was being an athlete, fitness, and healthy eating because i truly enjoyed it. Now, I wakeup wishing the day away honestly. I feel like all my workouts are punishment for the weight I have gained because I have been struggling mentally from burnout at a job I don't like, friendship loss, and just feeling overall not much passion in my life. I used to be the one everyone used to ask "how do you look so good?" or "how do you always eat so 'healthy'?". The truth was I was really enjoying finding healthy recipes, I felt like I was doing what I loved (my sport that I no longer play competitively), and I lived with my friends who I felt knew me better than I knew myself. I hate looking at photos of myself, all my clothes fit weird, and I honestly avoid social settings because.of my lack of confidence right now. The problem is that everytime I try to commit to losing the weight I start overeating again/end up gaining more weight. I know about calories/macros, I lift weights/run/prioritize steps but I am just truly exhausted because all I do is overcompensate for all the overeating I do. I guess I am asking for advice on how to overcome this? I meet with an RD, but she just tells me I need to be less hard on myself/give myself the freedom to eat anything (easier said than done). I just want to feel confident in clothes/photos again (honestly I'd be happy just with just losing 5 lbs). In the past, I never tracked calories and I somehow got to my lowest weight,. Now, that seems impossible, but I am tired of trying and failing everyday. It is truly impacting so many facets of my life. I will take ANY advice TYI !!

TLDR: struggling with food noise, weight gain, counting calories triggers overeating tendencies, feeling unconfident, how do I lose some weight/feel less inflamed/more confident without spiraling to overeating and then overexercising?