The Psychology of Weight Loss: How to Stop Starting Over

The Monday “restart” spiral ends here. In this week's episode I dig into the real reasons consistency feels harder after 40 and why motivation alone won’t carry you through perimenopause and menopause. From shifting hormones and sleep disruptions to higher cortisol and years of diet fatigue, I unpack the biology and psychology that make old methods fail - and the practical changes that finally stick.

You’ll learn why perfection is the enemy of progress and how black-and-white thinking quietly derails results. I break down the comfort zone loop that fuels self-sabotage, especially when big goals feel overwhelming or your identity is tied to a number on the scale. Then, of course, some solutions you can use today: regulate your nervous system with simple daily habits, fuel your body so hunger stops driving cravings, and use small, sustainable goals that hold on busy, low-energy days. I also talk about the power of accountability - the kind that guides, supports and keeps you on track when life gets 'lifey'.

If you’re ready to trade willpower for systems and build a plan that works with your hormones, this conversation offers a grounded path forward. Subscribe, share with a friend who keeps starting over, and leave a review to help more women find practical support. Want personalised help? Book the free Peri Weight loss assessment via the link below and start January with your plan locked in.

Send me a text!

Are you a woman feeling stressed, flat and experiencing the challenges of perimenopause or menopause?

It’s time to reclaim your youthful energy, radiance and self-assurance (and your ideal weight).

I’m here to help with my proven method.

Here's how I can support you -

1. Hit your health and wellbeing goals this year, balance your hormones and lose weight with your own personalised protocol, based on your body's biochemistry. Sounds awesome right!! Book a free 30 minute Peri Weight Loss Assessment with me so we can discuss your health and wellbeing goals and also see how I might be able to support you. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Book your call here. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and
Autumn Podcast.
I'm an age-defying naturopathand clinical nutritionist and
I'm here to bust myths aroundwomen's health and ageing so
that you can be ageless andautumn in your 40s, 50s, and
beyond.

(00:20):
The Ageless and Awesome Podcastis dedicated to helping women
through perimenopause andmenopause with great health, a
positive mindset, and outrageousconfidence.
Hit subscribe or follow now andlet's get started.
Hello, gorgeous one, and welcometo this week's episode of the
Ageless and Awesome Podcast.

(00:42):
I'm Susie Garden, Perimenopausenaturopath, weight loss
nutritionist, and just helpingwomen reclaim their energy,
confidence, metabolism, andsense of self is my absolute joy
in life, in my work.
And today I'm diving into atopic that I know so many women

(01:02):
struggle with.
And it's, I like to call it thepsychology, I guess, of weight
loss and how to stop startingover.
If you've ever said things like,why do I keep falling off the
wagon?
Why can't I stay consistent?
Why do I do well for a few daysand then bang, I sabotage
myself, particularly at thistime of year.

(01:23):
Why do I always end up startingagain next Monday?
If you're one of those people,then this episode is absolutely
for you.
Because here's the truth weightloss is not just about food.
It's not just about calories,and it's definitely not about
willpower.
It is about your patterns, yourbeliefs, your nervous system,

(01:48):
your hormones, your relationshipwith yourself, and many other
things.
And today I'm gonna unpack thereal reasons you find yourself
having to start over and startover.
And I'm gonna teach you how tobreak the cycle for good.
So let's get into it.

(02:08):
So, firstly, I want to talkabout why women over 40 in
particular can struggle withconsistency.
So, before we get into mindset,let's acknowledge something
important.
Your biology changes after 40.
We know this, our hormoneschange, and so does your

(02:28):
relationship with motivation.
One of the most common things Ihear on periweight loss
assessment calls with peoplelooking to uh learn more about
the GLOBE protocol, looking tosort of get started on a health
journey, is that they saythey're so unmotivated.
They lack energy, but they'realso so unmotivated.
And this they're two separatethings.

(02:51):
And this is the thing women inperimenopause and postmenopause
can experience fluctuatingenergy, mood shifts, sleep
disruption, increasedsensitivity to stress.
You're just not able to copewith it as well anymore for some
women, changes in dopamine andmotivation, higher cortisol, and

(03:13):
lower resilience.
In particular, that cansometimes be to, I'm gonna say,
dieting in inverted commas.
You guys, if you're a long-termlistener, you know I hate that
word.
Um uh, because you know, reallywhat I'm all about is change and
lifestyle change and long-termsolutions rather than doing a

(03:33):
diet for a particular period oftime.
So if you've been judgingyourself and being unkind to
yourself because you're notmotivated, beating yourself up,
please stop.
Please stop because what youthink is a lack of discipline
can be a stressed nervoussystem, unstable blood sugar,

(03:54):
hormonal fluctuations, emotionaloverwhelm, exhaustion, and years
of dieting fatigue.
Most of the women that come anduh have a chat to me about my
program have tried all of thethings.
Some of them have worked well,some of them have not.
But then there's this absolutefatigue about thinking and

(04:16):
overthinking about what you'reeating and how much to eat, and
when should you eat, and shouldyou do fasting, should you do
keto?
Should you do paleo?
Should you do carnivore?
You know, um, these old toolsthat perhaps you used in your
20s and 30s no longer work.
Your brain chemistry isdifferent, your life load is
different, your hormones aredifferent, and here's the

(04:38):
kicker.
Trying harder is not thesolution.
Trying differently, doingsomething differently and
personalized is.
So let's talk about the all ornothing trap.
This is one of the biggestpsychological patterns keeping
women stuck.
It's called black and whitethinking or all or nothing

(05:01):
thinking.
It sounds like, oh, well, I blewit today, so I'll start again
tomorrow.
Um, I wasn't perfect today, sowhat's the point?
If I can't do it 100%, I won'tdo it at all.
And this is diet cultureconditioning.
For decades, we've been taughtthat success is perfection, when
in reality, perfection is theenemy of consistency.

(05:24):
I'm gonna say that again.
Perfection is the enemy ofconsistency.

And here's a truth bomb (05:29):
it's not the bad days, and again, bad
days in inverted commas thatderail you.
It's the belief that you failed.
It's the belief.
Women in my programs don't getperfect results because they're
perfect.
They get results because theylearn how to keep going even

(05:51):
when things aren't perfect.
A bad meal doesn't ruin yourprogress.
A bad week doesn't ruin yourprogress.
Stopping is what ruins progress.
I want to talk about thesabotage cycle.
So self-sabotage, the pattern ofdoing well and then undermining

(06:13):
your own progress.
And this can happen when yourgoals feel too big.
And I see this a lot in womenthat have bigger weight loss
goals.
So generally, women uh that areover 100 kilos can really
struggle to when they startgetting close to that 100 kilo
mark and can startself-sabotaging because they're

(06:36):
so, I guess, identified in a waywith the the being over 100 that
they feel like, oh, who am I ifI'm under that?
Who am I if I reach my goalweight?
Um, so if the goal feels too bigor you're identifying a lot with
with your weight, uh that canreally uh develop a
self-sabotage pattern.

(06:57):
If you feel overwhelmed, ifyou've created rules that are
just too rigid, if you'reexhausted, if you don't feel
supported, if you're usingwillpower instead of structure,
that's a really important one.
If you don't trust yourself tosucceed, if you don't trust the
process.
The thing is, your brain lovesfamiliarity.

(07:19):
Remember, the brain is wired forsurvival and safety.
The brain loves familiarity, itmakes us feel safe.
Even if it's a habit you don'tlike, um, if it's a habit that's
built in, your brain loves thatfamiliarity.
And this is called the comfortzone loop.
Success feels unfamiliar.

(07:41):
Unfamiliar feels unsafe.
So your brain nudges you back toold habits.
This is not personal failure.
This is not necessarilysomething you have control over.
This is just simply how ournervous system works.
Okay.
So what breaks this sabotage?
It's not shame, it's not guilt,it's not beating yourself up,

(08:06):
not the negative self-talk, it'snot starting over on Monday.
What breaks the sabotage isstructure, is safety,
self-compassion, a plan you canactually follow, accountability,
community, coaching.
In other words, you needsupport, not more willpower.

(08:30):
So many women tell me I justneed to get motivated again.
But here's the truth motivationis a feeling.
Feelings generally tend to betemporary.
You cannot build a long-termresult on a short-term feeling.
And we see this a lot at NewYear.
The New Year's resolution is aclassic example of this.

(08:54):
What you actually need ratherthan a feeling, what you
actually need is a system.
You need habits, you needstructure, accountability, clear
expectations, and a personalizedplan is ideal.
Motivation might get you startedagain.
New year, might get you started,but only systems keep you going.

(09:17):
And that's exactly why womeninside the Globe Protocol get
such incredible results.
They stop relying on motivationand learn to rely on a structure
and a system that ispersonalized to them as an
individual.
So, how do we stop this?
How do we stop this startingover?
Let's get into some practicalsteps.

(09:39):
Here's how you can break thecycle for good.
Let's look at the goal for astart.
I mentioned before some people,if they have a big, say, weight
loss goal, it can feeloverwhelming.
It can feel scary.
So let's shrink the goal.
Let's shrink the goal so smallthat you can't fail.

(10:02):
Most women, if left to their owndevices, will set goals that
require perfect energy, perfecthormones, perfect mood, perfect
everything, being the good girl,right?
But you're a human and let's youknow, a sustainable goal is one
that you can hit on busy days.
It's a goal that you can hit onlow energy days, on stressful

(10:25):
days, those days where yourhormones are all over the place.
That roller coaster.
Consistency beats intensity.
Small wins compound.
So that's probably my number onepiece of advice.
Number two, regulate yournervous system.
You cannot make good fooddecisions when your body is in

(10:46):
fight or flight mode.
So simple daily habits help, andthat's why I focus a lot.
Stress resilience is one of thekey pillars in the GLO protocol,
and it's just simple dailyhabits like slow breathing.
A five-minute body scan, forexample, could be a good form of
a meditation just to ground you.

(11:07):
Walking, not needing to flogyourself, just going for a short
walk or a long walk.
Um, grounding yourself, sayingno more often, and reducing
perhaps some of the chaos, likeeven having a clean desk.
I'm looking at my desk at themoment, it is really, really

(11:27):
busy.
Um, and yeah, having a clean anduh tidy, organized environment,
even if you're not consciouslynoticing it, it definitely calms
you down if there is order.
A regulated nervous system givesyou consistent behavior.
Number three, fuel your body,don't starve it.

(11:50):
Like I say all the time, womenneed to be fed.
Most women who are falling offthe wagon when it comes to food
choices, they're not weak,they're hungry.
Undereating can lead tocravings, can lead to
overeating, then it leads toguilt, and then you get that
black and white thinking of, oh,well, I've screwed it up, I

(12:10):
might as well just keep going.
I'll start again next week.
Whereas realistically, whenwe're looking at food for
particularly if we're looking atweight loss specifically, or
actually anything, you you canget back on board the very next
meal.
The very next meal you can startto get back towards your goals.
And you can break the cycle ofgetting hungry by eating enough

(12:35):
protein.
And that's particularly awesomewhen you know the exact amount
of protein that's appropriatefor you and your goals.
Eating regular meals, balancingout blood sugar, and not
skipping breakfast.
That's a big one.
When your body feels safe andfed, your brain stops chasing
quick fixes.

(12:56):
Number four, and this is, Ithink, one of the more important
ones, is using accountability.
Research shows that having acoach or support system
significantly improvesfollow-through.
And I see this all the time,both in the work I do with my
clients, but also I have my owncoach for uh my business.
And having a coach versus nothaving a coach vastly improves

(13:18):
my follow-through.
Vastly when I've got someonegoing, um, excuse me, you said
this was going to be done bynow.
Uh, that makes a huge differenceto my motivation, my ability to
get something done.
And accountability doesn't meansomeone judging you, it means
someone that's guiding you, it'ssupporting you, helping you
adjust, celebrating your wins,keeping you on track when life

(13:42):
gets lifey.
Women are not meant to do hardthings alone, and there is
plenty of support out there foryou if you want it.
Number five, swap perfection forconsistency.
You don't need to be perfect,you just need to keep going.

(14:04):
And a great question to askyourself is what is the next
best choice I can make?
This single mindset shift alonewill stop the constant start
again tomorrow.
Don't start again tomorrow.
It's what is the next bestchoice I can make.
So I guess to sum up, if you'vebeen stuck in a cycle of

(14:28):
starting, stopping, startingagain, stopping, I'll start
again next Monday.
Oh, I've screwed it up today, soI might as well screw it up
tomorrow and start next week orwait till the new year or
whatever.
And that's fine.
That you can do that, you'll getthe same result you've always
got.
But you know, if you've beenstuck in that cycle, just hear

(14:49):
me.
You are not weak, you are notbroken, you are not
undisciplined, you're a womantrying to navigate hormonal
changes, you're trying tonavigate stress, exhaustion,
responsibilities, and outdatedweight loss advice.
The problem is not you.
It really isn't.
It's the approach.

(15:10):
When you have a clear planthat's personalized,
personalized support, nervoussystem strategies,
accountability, and nutritionthat works with your hormones,
then you don't need to startover anymore because you never
really stop.
And if you're ready to break thecycle for good, I would love to
support you.

(15:31):
You can book a free period lossassessment.
I'll explore your symptoms, yourtriggers, your patterns, and
exactly what's holding you back.
And I'll show you how we can fixit.
Uh, the link is in the shownotes.
I'm still taking uh appointmentsfor those all the way up until
the 19th of December.

(15:53):
This is in 2025, in case you'reum listening to this at another
time.
But yeah, if you're wanting tostart something in January, then
now is the time to startplanning that so that you're
starting January with that plan,that personalized approach.
You've got your accountabilitylocked in, you've got your

(16:15):
nervous system strategies mappedout for you.
So book your free periweightloss assessment.
Link is in the show notes.
Um, and I would love to chatwith you.
There's no pressure to sign upto anything on the call.
I simply want to have thatdiscussion.
And I always send you a linkafterwards so you can have got

(16:37):
some time to really think aboutit.
I don't want people on myprogram that are not ready for
it, that are not right for it.
I have an incredible successrate and I want to maintain
that.
So please don't hold backbecause you think, oh, I'm gonna
get all this pressure.
It's not like that at all.
So thanks so much for listeningtoday.
If this episode resonated withyou, please share it with a

(16:58):
friend.
Perhaps a friend that keepsstarting again on Monday.
She'll feel so seen.
Um, and if you haven't already,hit follow so you never miss an
episode.
So until next time, take care,particularly at this time of
year where there is so muchgoing on.
We're on the home stretch nowtill the festive season, the

(17:20):
holidays kind of start.
Um so yeah, take incredible careof you.
Thanks so much for joining me onthe Ageless and Awesome podcast.
If you would like this episode,please make sure you click the
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(17:43):
If you feel like writing me afive star review, you would
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If you found this episoderesonated with you, head over to
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I would love to connect withyou.