If you're exhausted from being all in for two weeks and then all out for two more and want to find some steady middle ground, then this episode is for you.

Do you ever feel like you're always restarting your weight loss? One week you're all in, doing everything right, and a few weeks later you're worn out and back to old habits. The weight creeps back and it feels like you're right back at zero.

If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. We're talking about why weight loss brings out all-or-nothing thinking, even in women who are flexible and easygoing in every other part of their life. The second a cookie shows up, it can feel like it's broccoli or bust.

We're also talking about something a lot of my clients say. "I just want to be done thinking about this." I get why you'd want that. But that mindset can actually keep you stuck. There's a better way to think about it, one that feels a lot more freeing.

• Why all-or-nothing thinking shows up so much around food and weight loss
• The real reason you feel like you have to start over after one off day
• Why wanting to be "done" with weight loss can work against you
• A mindset shift that helps you stay steady through busy or hard seasons
• Simple ways to track your wins that actually stick

One off day does not erase your progress. You are not starting over, you are picking up where you left off. Real change happens in the messy weeks, not just the perfect ones.

• "I blew it, might as well start over Monday."
• "I just want to be done thinking about food."
• "Why is this the one area where I can't just relax?"
• "I feel like I'm back at zero again."

Want More?

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to subscribe to The Confident Body Podcast. Every week we talk about the mental and emotional side of weight loss, the part that diets never cover.

We cover things like sustainable weight loss, emotional eating, self-trust around food, and how to break free from diet rules that have never worked long term. Because the goal isn't just to lose the weight. It's to become someone who knows how to keep it off and feel good while doing it.

Leave a review if this episode helped you. It only takes thirty seconds and it helps other women find the show.

Get the book my new book LIGHT: The New Psychology of Weight Loss

Check out my new Substack page! You’ll get bonus articles, inspiration, and wisdom. Plus some extra goodies I’ve got rolled up my sleeve.

Check it out at: https://substack.com/@coachlizziemerritt

PS: Ever had that moment when you just WANT it?

Your brain doesn’t care if you’re hungry. It just tastes SO good and you just want it.

If that’s you, then download the guide I JUST WANT IT. IT TASTES SO GOOD at:

confidentbody.coach/wantit

Also, check out my first book: You Are A Miracle

"I want to go for my goal and lose weight but...

"This isn't the right season." "I should focus on my health first." "Once things calm down at work."

In this episode, I'm talking about the four sneaky ways fear shows up and tries to pass itself off as good judgment. I share the story of a thermostat quietly running in the background of your brain, keeping you exactly as small as it thinks is safe. And I walk through the same four step process my own coach used with me when I got nervous before speaking to a crowd of five hundred people.

This one goes deep on why staying stuck can feel so much safer than growing, even when growing is what you actually want.

• Why your brain hands you a "reasonable" excuse instead of just admitting you're scared
• The four fear patterns behind almost every stuck moment (thank you, Gay Hendricks)
• A simple four step process for moving through fear instead of around it
• Why trying to force your feelings to settle usually makes things worse
• What it means to stop handing fear the pen on your own story

Fear rarely shows up announcing itself. It shows up sounding like common sense. But underneath almost every "not right now," there's an old, understandable reason your brain thinks staying small keeps you safe. You don't have to argue with that voice or wait for it to disappear. You just have to stop handing it the pen every time it asks for it.

• "I'll start when things settle down."
• "Maybe this just isn't the right time for me."
• "Why do I always talk myself out of things I actually want?"
• "I know what to do, so why can't I just do it?"

Quote credits:

Quote from A Return to Love — Marianne Williamson (1992)

Want More?

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to subscribe to The Confident Body Podcast. Every week we talk about the mental and emotional side of weight loss, the part that diets never cover.

We cover things like sustainable weight loss, emotional eating, self-trust around food, and how to break free from diet rules that have never worked long term. Because the goal isn't just to lose the weight. It's to become someone who knows how to keep it off and feel good while doing it.

Leave a review if this episode helped you. It only takes thirty seconds and it helps other women find the show.

Get the book my new book LIGHT: The New Psychology of Weight Loss

Check out my new Substack page! You’ll get bonus articles, inspiration, and wisdom. Plus some extra goodies I’ve got rolled up my sleeve.

Check it out at: https://substack.com/@coachlizziemerritt

PS: Ever had that moment when you just WANT it?

Your brain doesn’t care if you’re hungry. It just tastes SO good and you just want it.

If that’s you, then download the guide I JUST WANT IT. IT TASTES SO GOOD at:

confidentbody.coach/wantit

Also, check out my first book: You Are A Miracle

If you’ve ever thought "I'll do that when I've lost the weight." or "Who am I to think my voice matters?" then this episode is for YOU.

This is episode #200! Happy birthday Confident Body podcast!

When I started this podcast, I almost didn't. I wanted a co-host because I didn't think I could carry a whole show by myself. I was scared I'd run out of things to say. (Guess that wasn’t an issue.) Even though I was scared, I started messy, and I kept going.

Two hundred episodes later, I want to talk about something that goes way beyond the scale. Because somewhere in all the tracking and the trying and the starting over, a lot of us forget to ask the bigger question. What is all this weight loss actually FOR?

This episode is about the parts of your life you've put on hold while you wait to feel ready. The trip. The class. The creative thing. The relationship. The version of you that's been waiting in the wings for "someday."

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why weight loss was always meant to be a doorway, not a waiting room
• How to spot the ways you might be putting your real life on hold without even noticing
• Why your gifts are not yours to sit on
• What it means to let your "music" out, even when you don't feel ready
• Who you might impact when show up imperfectly

Key Takeaway

You don't have to finish losing weight before you start living. Your gifts, your voice, your particular way of showing up in the world, are needed right now, not on the other side of some number on a scale. Ready isn't a feeling that shows up. It's a decision you get to make today.

Listen If You've Ever Thought…

• "I'll do that when I've lost the weight."
• "Who am I to think my voice matters?"
• "I'm doing all the right things but I still feel stuck."
• "I keep waiting to feel ready."

Music and quote credits:

"Be the Light" — Reesh Seely, 2025 (Carolina Sky Records)

Quote from A Return to Love — Marianne Williamson (1992)

Want More?

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to subscribe to The Confident Body Podcast. Every week we talk about the mental and emotional side of weight loss, the part that diets never cover.

We cover things like sustainable weight loss, emotional eating, self-trust around food, and how to break free from diet rules that have never worked long term. Because the goal isn't just to lose the weight. It's to become someone who knows how to keep it off and feel good while doing it.

Leave a review if this episode helped you. It only takes thirty seconds and it helps other women find the show.

Get the book my new book LIGHT: The New Psychology of Weight Loss

Check out my new Substack page! You’ll get bonus articles, inspiration, and wisdom. Plus some extra goodies I’ve got rolled up my sleeve.

Check it out at: https://substack.com/@coachlizziemerritt

PS: Ever had that moment when you just WANT it?

Your brain doesn’t care if you’re hungry. It just tastes SO good and you just want it.

If that’s you, then download the guide I JUST WANT IT. IT TASTES SO GOOD at:

confidentbody.coach/wantit

Also, check out my first book: You Are A Miracle

Have you ever looked at an old picture of yourself and thought, wow, I looked amazing? And then you remembered that back then, you didn't feel good about yourself at all. You were on a diet then too. You were sure something needed to change.

That gap between how you looked and how you felt is what this episode is about. So many of us have hit a goal weight, or gotten close to one, and found out the peace we were promised never showed up. We just kept going, chasing the same feeling, sure that the next ten pounds would finally deliver it.

This episode comes from a real conversation I had with a client who found an old journal from when she was in her twenties. She weighed less than she does now. And she felt exactly as not enough as she does today. Same feeling, decades apart.

We get into why that happens, and what it actually takes to feel different this time, not just look different.

What you'll learn in this episode:

• Why chasing a goal you've never actually defined keeps your brain searching forever
• What your heart already knows before your head can catch up
• A simple daily practice that helps you notice you're already enough, no proof required
• Why "worthy" and "enough" were never things you were supposed to find outside yourself

Key takeaway:

You can hit a goal weight and still feel exactly the way you did before you started. That's not a willpower problem. It's a sign that the target you were chasing was never clearly defined in the first place. The steadiness you're looking for isn't waiting for you somewhere out there. It's something you already carry, and this episode is about learning to trust it instead of keep searching for it.

Listen if you've ever thought:

• "I finally lost the weight and I still don't feel any different."
• "Why do I still feel the same way I did years ago?"
• "I don't even know what would make me feel like enough."
• "I keep chasing a feeling I can't quite name."

Want More?

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to subscribe to The Confident Body Podcast. Every week we talk about the mental and emotional side of weight loss, the part that diets never cover.

We cover things like sustainable weight loss, emotional eating, self-trust around food, and how to break free from diet rules that have never worked long term. Because the goal isn't just to lose the weight. It's to become someone who knows how to keep it off and feel good while doing it.

Leave a review if this episode helped you. It only takes thirty seconds and it helps other women find the show.

Get the book my new book LIGHT: The New Psychology of Weight Loss

Check out my new Substack page! You’ll get bonus articles, inspiration, and wisdom. Plus some extra goodies I’ve got rolled up my sleeve.

Check it out at: https://substack.com/@coachlizziemerritt

PS: Ever had that moment when you just WANT it?

Your brain doesn’t care if you’re hungry. It just tastes SO good and you just want it.

If that’s you, then download the guide I JUST WANT IT. IT TASTES SO GOOD at:

confidentbody.coach/wantit

Also, check out my first book: You Are A Miracle

Why personality tests can explain a lot, but they are not your identity.

Have you ever known exactly what you were supposed to do and done the opposite thing anyway? You know the plan. You know you should rest instead of reaching for a snack. And somehow you end up in the pantry anyway.

In this episode, I sit down with life coach Kelly Tibbitts for a podcast swap. Kelly is an expert in the Enneagram and human design, and we talk about why knowing what to do and actually doing it are two completely different jobs.

Kelly used something as simple as a grocery cart in a parking lot to explain why two people can look at the same task and have a completely different, deeply held opinion about the right way to handle it. Once you hear it, you'll probably recognize yourself or someone you love immediately.

We also get into people pleasing, perfectionism, and a simple tool for feeling a feeling instead of eating over it.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why knowing what to do and doing it can feel like two different jobs
• How people pleasing quietly shows up around food
• A simple three step tool for feeling a feeling instead of eating it
• Why perfectionism is really about safety, not about getting things right
• How guilt-free rest can be a real weight loss tool

Key Takeaway

Your patterns make sense. The way you're wired explains why you reach for food, why you push through instead of resting, and why rest can feel impossible to give yourself. None of that means something is wrong with you. Once you understand your own wiring, you can trade judgment for grace. And underneath the wiring, underneath the patterns, the part of you that already knows who she is has been there the whole time.

Listen If You've Ever Thought…

• "Why do I know what to do and still not do it?"
• "I feel guilty every time I actually rest."
• "Why does she handle this so differently than I do?"
• "Am I a perfectionist, or is something else going on?"

Learn More About Kelly Tibbitts

• Website
  • https://kellytibbitts.com
• Live a Vibrant Life Podcast:
  • https://coachkellytibbitts.buzzsprout.com/
• Instagram:
  • https://www.instagram.com/kelly_tibbitts/

Want More?

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to subscribe to The Confident Body Podcast. Every week we talk about the mental and emotional side of weight loss, the part that diets never cover.

We cover things like sustainable weight loss, emotional eating, self-trust around food, and how to break free from diet rules that have never worked long term. Because the goal isn't just to lose the weight. It's to become someone who knows how to keep it off and feel good while doing it.

Leave a review if this episode helped you. It only takes thirty seconds and it helps other women find the show.

Get the book my new book LIGHT: The New Psychology of Weight Loss

Check out my new Substack page! You’ll get bonus articles, inspiration, and wisdom. Plus some extra goodies I’ve got rolled up my sleeve.

Check it out at: https://substack.com/@coachlizziemerritt

PS: Ever had that moment when you just WANT it?

Your brain doesn’t care if you’re hungry. It just tastes SO good and you just want it.

If that’s you, then download the guide I JUST WANT IT. IT TASTES SO GOOD at:

confidentbody.coach/wantit

Also, check out my first book: You Are A Miracle

You get home from vacation. You step on the scale. The number is up, and just like that, your whole summer of hard work feels like it disappeared.

A little voice starts talking. What if you just stopped trying so hard? What if you let the healthy stuff slide and went back to how things used to be?

In this episode, I talk about that voice. Where it comes from, and why the "easy" life you remember might not have been as easy as you think. I also share some surprising brain science about memory, and why the past version of you that you keep comparing yourself to is not as accurate as it feels.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why your brain edits old memories every time you think about them
• Why "Old You" probably was not as carefree as you remember
• The real reason healthy habits start to feel exhausting
• A simple way to think about habits that takes the drama out of them
• One small shift that helps you stop quitting on yourself

Key Takeaway

You are not tired of healthy living. You are tired of the story you have wrapped around it. Once you stop putting your food choices on trial every single day, weight loss stops feeling like a performance and starts feeling like just another part of your normal life. The version of you that you think you miss was never as free as you remember. She was looking for exactly what you are building right now.

Listen If You've Ever Thought...

• "I just want to go back to not caring so much."
• "I worked so hard and it all came undone in one week."
• "Why does this have to be so exhausting?"
• "Maybe I should just give up and start over later."

Want More?

If this episode resonated with you, I'd love for you to subscribe to The Confident Body Podcast. Every week we talk about the mental and emotional side of weight loss, the part that diets never cover.

We cover things like sustainable weight loss, emotional eating, self-trust around food, and how to break free from diet rules that have never worked long term. Because the goal isn't just to lose the weight. It's to become someone who knows how to keep it off and feel good while doing it.

Leave a review if this episode helped you. It only takes thirty seconds and it helps other women find the show.

Get the book my new book LIGHT: The New Psychology of Weight Loss

Check out my new Substack page! You’ll get bonus articles, inspiration, and wisdom. Plus some extra goodies I’ve got rolled up my sleeve.

Check it out at: https://substack.com/@coachlizziemerritt

PS: Ever had that moment when you just WANT it?

Your brain doesn’t care if you’re hungry. It just tastes SO good and you just want it.

If that’s you, then download the guide I JUST WANT IT. IT TASTES SO GOOD at:

confidentbody.coach/wantit

Also, check out my first book: You Are A Miracle