If you’ve been told that all you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit, I’ve got news that's probably not gonna surprise you: it’s not that simple.
After 15 years in women’s weight loss, I can tell you there are at least eight other factors that matter more than food scales, macro tracking, or obsessing over apps.
In this episode, I walk you through these eight factors, ranked in the order I see them play out in real life, that can make or break your ability to lose fat and keep it off in midlife.
We’ll cover:
- Why “motivations that matter” will carry you further than any bikini-cruise crash diet.
- How decades of diet culture have hardwired Gen X and millennial women for self-sabotage—and what to do about it.
- The truth about beauty, body image, and why you may never feel “beautiful enough.”
- Why fat loss is a skill (not a plan) and how to actually develop it.
- Identity shifts, metabolic hormones, and creating frameworks that fit your life.
- The one non-negotiable if you want results to last: stop quitting.
If you’re ready to stop living from diet to diet and start building a sustainable, confidence-boosting, midlife metabolism, this episode will show you exactly where to focus—beyond the calorie math.
Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction: Why calorie deficit isn’t everything00:20 - Introducing 8 key factors for women’s weight loss00:46 - 1. Motivations That Matter03:32 - 2. Addressing Your Diet Programming (Psychosocial Aspects)12:14 - 3. Addressing Feelings About Body, Beauty, and Worthiness18:01 - 4. Skill Development: Weight loss as a skill22:07 - 5. Identity Shifts: Becoming the person who succeeds27:06 - 6. Hormones: Metabolic and reproductive factors40:02 - 7. Frameworks That Fit Your Life41:44 - 8. Support & Not Quitting: The ultimate factor