Before Dieting...

Bronwyn Fletcher

Before Dieting… is the podcast that finally makes sense of why weight is so hard to lose, no matter how many diets you’ve tried. Hosted by Bronwyn Fletcher, a systems thinker who has spoken with more than a thousand women stuck in the same frustrating cycle. This show will turn everything you thought you knew about weight on its head. If you’ve ever started the day eating healthy but finished it inhaling chocolate and hiding the wrappers, this is where you’ll find the reasons. Using systems thinking, Bronwyn gets to the causes behind the causes, so you can stop chasing temporary fixes and finally break the cycle that dieting never will. Here you won’t be told that food is the enemy, or that dieting is the only answer. Instead, you’ll discover that your weight story runs far deeper than calories or willpower. Every episode unpacks the hidden food stories and invisible eating systems that determine your relationship with food. These are the stories and systems that keep recycling the same weight outcomes. This is not a diet podcast; it’s a major reframe of how you gain weight in the first place. Because when you uncover the system that drives your eating, those ‘illogical’ food choices will make perfect sense. Here’s where lasting weight solutions start, Before Dieting…

  1. 6 DAYS AGO

    Childhood Food Access: When you weren’t allowed to eat.

    The real drivers of weight gain start in childhood, long before dieting ever entered the picture. In this episode we explore Childhood Food Access. This is the autonomy you had (or didn’t have) to obtaining food outside regular meals, and how it shapes lifelong patterns like urgency eating, secrecy, and scarcity thinking. This isn’t about blame. It’s about understanding. Because you can’t change what you can’t see. In this episode, you’ll learn ✔️ How focusing on reducing on current weight prevents you discovering the root cause of repeating weight patterns ✔️ The difference between access and agency (and why both matter) ✔️ How restricted access builds survival strategies around food ✔️ Why secret eating isn’t a moral failure, it’s a system response Key takeaways 💚 Food access is about permission and autonomy 💚 Many adult eating patterns were once childhood solutions 💚 Shame blocks the information you need to change your weight permanently If this episode has connected dots, you’ve never connected before, you’re ready for deeper investigation. The Weighting for Happiness Project was purpose-built to help you track your patterns, decode your food rules, and map the system that causes weight regain. This way change becomes possible without relying on willpower. Head on over to www.weightingforhappiness.com.au to join the project. Thanks Bronwyn

    7 min

  2. 13 JAN

    The 8 types of eating and their impact on your weight

    Most women with a long history of dieting and weight regain end up trapped in binary thinking: good food vs bad food, dieting vs overeating. It’s simple, but it’s also the reason the cycle keeps repeating. In this episode, I introduce a systems-thinking model that breaks the binary: the Eight Types of Eating. It’s not a diet. It’s a map that helps you see what’s really driving eating, especially under pressure. 4 Key Takeaways 1) Binary thinking blocks change When eating gets reduced to dieting vs overeating, you lose the detail that creates options for change. 2) Diets only target part of the system Most diets focus on baseline meals, but they miss other types of eating that carry the real load. 3) Secondary eating is underestimated Invisible bites and ‘extras’ often don’t register as eating, but they add up quickly. 4) Relief eating is regulation Relief eating isn’t comfort eating. It’s automatic regulation, where the body eats until internal pressure settles. Call to action Go to the Weighting for Happiness Project website to download the visual model of The Eight Types of Eating. Then ask yourself: Which eating type contributes most to your weight gain?

    13 min

  3. 6 JAN

    What diets won't solve

    Summary: In this episode, you’ll meet Amy, a woman who’s spent over half her life trying to lose weight. Using systems thinking, we explore how her relationship with food was shaped by childhood experiences, family dynamics, and unspoken rules about appetite and body size. From stolen snacks to over-catered freedom, Amy’s story shows why long-term weight issues are never just about food. What You’ll Learn: Why Amy’s weight struggle didn’t start with dietingHow childhood rules around food shaped her adult patternsThe emotional logic behind overeatingWhy understanding your backstory is essential to lasting changeWhat systems thinking reveals that diets missKey Quote: “Without realising it, I’ve been performing the ‘fat people are jolly’ act... Every time I laughed, I was abandoning myself.” If you’ve tried every diet but are still stuck, this episode shows what to do next. Get started by downloading our Free E-Book at Weighting For Happiness Please subscribe and leave a review so other women can find this Podcast.

    6 min

  4. 16/12/2025

    Emotional Literacy: The Second Essential Skill for Breaking the Weight-Regain Cycle

    Emotional Literacy: The Second Essential Skill for Breaking the Weight-Regain Cycle that connects you with your body In this episode of Before Dieting, I continue with part two on the essential skills women need when they’re stuck in a repeating weight pattern. Last week’s episode explored the role of investigative journaling, how it slows you down, brings you back to yourself, and creates a space for honest enquiry about your weight. This week focuses on the second essential skill: emotional literacy. Many women caught in recurring weight gain feel disconnected from their bodies and unsure about what they’re actually feeling. Emotions can swing quickly, from hyper-alertness to numbness to over-the-top reactions, making it almost impossible to understand how emotions drive eating. Bronwyn explains how emotional literacy helps you identify and name emotions accurately, and why these matter for weight. When you can distinguish frustration from irritation or anger, you stop treating them as the same signal and food stops becoming the generic answer. Other topics covered include: • why emotional numbness is a survival strategy • how numbness blocks fullness cues and drives relief eating • how journal writing and emotional literacy work together • why “stress” and “anxiety” are not emotions • a simple three-step starting point for women who feel emotionally shut down I close with key takeaways and a reminder that emotional literacy is a skill that grows with practice, and every small step reconnects you to your body. If you’d like more information head over to https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au or email me hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au

    6 min

  5. 09/12/2025

    The Bridge Between Insight and Change

    When women struggle with recurring weight patterns, it’s rarely because they don’t know enough about weight loss. The real challenge is making sense of what’s happening behind the eating, the patterns, the rules, and the emotions that shape decisions long before food is involved. In today’s episode, we look at how journal writing becomes the bridge between uncovering your Eating System and understanding how it operates in your everyday life. This isn’t about keeping a diary. It’s about having a simple, practical tool that turns vague impressions into clear, useful insight. You’ll hear how writing helps you: • understand what your Eating System is actually doing • reconnect with your body when numbness or hypervigilance has become normal • explore questions and patterns you can’t access in your head • create clarity you can act on To get started, sign up for our 5-week email Journal Writing Course at www.weightingforhappiness.com.au. It’s a practical starter program with targeted prompts written specifically for women in the weight-regain cycle and goes far beyond ordinary journaling.

    13 min

  6. 02/12/2025

    The Four Stages of Change (And Why Fast Results Never Last)

    ✅ Most women think weight change is about discipline, motivation or the right diet plan. While these help, there’s more to it. In this week’s episode of Before Dieting, I answer a question from Michelle about the four stages of change in the Weighting for Happiness® Project and why permanent change doesn’t come from forcing behaviour. Women are trained to expect speed and short-term results. But recurring weight patterns don’t begin in a week, and they don’t change in a week. They change when women uncover the system that has been driving their eating for years. There is a predictable sequence women move through when real change is happening: Awareness → Insight → Realisation → Knowing. These stages explain why diets only produce temporary results and why women who have struggled for decades often say, ‘I finally understand what’s been driving my weight.’ When women uncover their Eating System: clarity replaces confusionconscious choice replaces willpower andeating stops being controlled by the system so sensible diet plans can work If you work with women in weight-related care or nutrition, this episode gives you an insider’s view of what systems change really looks like. 🎧 Listen to the episode: The Four Stages of Change (7minutes)  🔗 Download the FREE 4 Stages Cheat Sheet at Free Resource and if you have any questions, you can email me at bronwyn@weightingforhappiness.com.au

    8 min

  7. 25/11/2025

    Yo-yo dieting is not a failure of willpower

    Yo-yo dieting explained - and it's not a failure of willpower I've included a resource links at the end of these notes that enables you to map out your dieting model. In this episode, I explore why diets so often begin with intense hope, fueled by marketing and outside influences.  The classic Yo-yo dieting cycle.   Understand how your body's unconscious survival system interprets dietary restriction as starvation, often overpowering conscious willpower and forcing diet abandonment. Learn why abandoning a diet isn't a personal failure, but instead is a predictable outcome driven by your biology. Discover the phenomenon of weight "overshoot," where post-diet weight regain often exceeds the starting point because of slowed metabolism and increased fat storage Hear why "low and slow" is key to lasting weight changes and how learning from past cycles, rather than forgetting them, can help break the pattern. Key takeaway:  Sustainable progress requires working with your body's system, not trying to override it. Consulting a qualified dietician may help set up an approach that works in harmony with your biology. Resource Links Visit the resources page for a copy of the Diet Hope and Abandonment Cycle diagram and explore the Weight and Dieting History Program for deeper insights. Free download Yo-yo dieting explained Read my Blog Post about how Yo-Yo dieting is explained through the Diet Hope and Abandonment Cycle Any questions you'd like me to answer in future podcasts, please email me hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au

    6 min

  8. 22/11/2025

    Relief Eating: The type of eating no one talks about

    In this episode of Before Dieting, I answer a question from listener Karla about relief eating. An eating pattern many women have but almost no one is comfortable talking about. Relief eating is often mistaken for “bingeing”, but it’s something very different. You’ll learn how relief eating works inside your Eating System, why it appears suddenly, why it feels automatic, and why it’s one of the biggest contributors to weight regain. We walk through the three stages, so you can start recognising your own patterns with curiosity instead of shame. 🎧 WHY YOU SHOULD LISTEN If you’ve ever wondered how you can start the day with a green smoothie and end it inhaling a block of chocolate, this episode finally explains why in simple, honest terms. It does this without blame or shame, and gives you a reframe on autopilot eating you’ve never been given before. ⭐ KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Relief eating isn’t bingeing The word binge isn’t helpful and carries judgement. Relief eating is a system response, not a personal failure. 2. Relief eating begins with an emotional disturbance It starts with hungering, a body-level disturbance that signals emotional imbalance. 3. The system takes over During the eating phase, the behaviour feels automatic because your Eating System is trying to stabilise you. 4. Relief eating can be avoided By recognising the signs of hungering non-food solutions can be employed.

    12 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Before Dieting… is the podcast that finally makes sense of why weight is so hard to lose, no matter how many diets you’ve tried. Hosted by Bronwyn Fletcher, a systems thinker who has spoken with more than a thousand women stuck in the same frustrating cycle. This show will turn everything you thought you knew about weight on its head. If you’ve ever started the day eating healthy but finished it inhaling chocolate and hiding the wrappers, this is where you’ll find the reasons. Using systems thinking, Bronwyn gets to the causes behind the causes, so you can stop chasing temporary fixes and finally break the cycle that dieting never will. Here you won’t be told that food is the enemy, or that dieting is the only answer. Instead, you’ll discover that your weight story runs far deeper than calories or willpower. Every episode unpacks the hidden food stories and invisible eating systems that determine your relationship with food. These are the stories and systems that keep recycling the same weight outcomes. This is not a diet podcast; it’s a major reframe of how you gain weight in the first place. Because when you uncover the system that drives your eating, those ‘illogical’ food choices will make perfect sense. Here’s where lasting weight solutions start, Before Dieting…

Information

  • Creator
    Bronwyn Fletcher
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Before Dieting...