My girlfriend has been experimenting with different lifestyle changes lately, which I think is not only amazing, but an important element in growth. I would like to support her through all these changes the best I can. For example, a few months ago she decided she wanted to experiment with vegetarianism/veganism and started by cutting out red meat from her diet. Wanting to be supportive, I also cut out red meat and helped her research more into health aspects, food sources, etc. This has strengthened our bond and helped us both learn more about dietary restrictions and requirements.
Lately, her new thing is minimalism. I think this is great and always try to encourage her as I am somewhat of a minimalist at heart. She started out by donating old clothes she hasn't worn in a while, as well as objects she hardly uses. However, my concern is lately she has been using words like "have to." For example, "I'm a minimalist now so I have to get rid of this." When I ask why she got rid of something, she'll say "Well, I'm a minimalist now." She started donating sentimental objects from her childhood because she felt she "had" to in order to comply with the minimalistic lifestyle. I know how much these things meant to her, and I know she didn't really want to give them away, but she felt she had no choice.
This is where the problem lies. I want to be supportive, but I also want her to be happy. I've tried explaining to her that being a minimalist doesn't necessarily require getting rid of all your belongings, just trying to cut down on buying less than necessary things. Just like how we didn't go 100% vegan and cut every animal product out of our diet, we don't have to get rid of everything we own. She seemed to understand, but without modifying her behavior.
I'm not bothered by her decisions per se, I'm just worried she will regret these actions later on. Just to be clear, I'm not trying to make her stop being minimalistic or anything, and for example if she went vegan I'd 100% support her. I'm trying to let her know she doesn't have to get rid of this stuff, especially when I see the sadness in her eyes after doing so. I don't know, maybe I'm the one with the problem and being a bad boyfriend. Maybe I should just be more supportive of her doing these things no matter what.
How can I maintain being supportive while convincing her she doesn't have to get rid of all her belongings? I totally support the idea of what she's doing and want to encourage further branching outs, but don't want her to be consumed by it and feel she has to do anything, especially when she doesn't want to do it.