Before Dieting... | Uncovering Eating Patterns and Weight Cycles

Bronwyn Fletcher
  • 4.5 (2)
  • FITNESS

Before Dieting… is the podcast that explores the eight types of eating and the hidden food stories behind persistent weight cycles and diet frustration. Hosted by Bronwyn Fletcher, a systems thinker, this show reveals the eating patterns that keep you stuck and uncovers the real causes behind your weight struggles. If you’re tired of dieting without success, discover a new perspective that goes beyond calories and willpower to help you break free from the endless cycle of weight loss and regain.

  1. 2 DAYS AGO

    Midlife weight gain: The Role of Trust in Weight Regain

    Maggie’s story doesn’t start with food. It starts with trust. In this episode, you’ll hear how a lifetime of dieting and weight regain can sit on top of something far less visible; a loss of trust that began long before any diet was introduced. Maggie has built a highly controlled way of eating. On paper, it works. In reality, it leaves her unsatisfied and caught in a predictable pattern of relief eating. This episode moves beyond food choices and looks at the structure underneath them. How family conditions shape eating, how emotional needs become tied to food, and why control cannot replace trust. There is a clear shift here: from trying to fix eating, to understanding the system that produces it. Key Takeaways Weight regain linked to trust, not willpowerRelief eating follows a predictable internal sequenceControl structures can stabilise eating but cannot resolve itEarly family conditions shape long-term eating patterns Read the full blog here: https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/post/why-diets-fail-the-role-of-trust-in-weight-regain-maggie-s-story If this resonates, start with the Weight Ecosystem diagnostic. https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/diagnostics/weight-ecosystem-diagnostic Please subscribe to this Podcast and leave a rating, so other women can find it. If you know any other woman who is struggling with weight regain, please pass this on. If you know a woman who needs this, please share it with her. Any Questions: hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au OR Connect with me on: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwynfletcheratweightingforhappiness/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/beforedieting.podcast/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587755296729 #weightregain, #emotioneating, #overeating, #foodrules, #eatingsystem, #womenshealth, #weightlossafter40, #dieting, #psychologyofeating, #midlifewomen

    11 min

  2. 5 MAY

    Weight regain isn’t solved with better eating habits

    If you’ve been trying to fix your weight with better habits, this episode explains why that approach keeps failing. Last week, we introduced the idea that systems are not habits. This week, we go deeper. Because once you understand that your eating is a system, not a set of individual behaviours, a more important question emerges: Why does your weight keep returning, even when your goal is to change it? The answer is confronting. Your eating system has its own goal. And it’s not weight loss. In this episode, we break down: why habits only ever touch the surface of a much deeper structurewhy fast weight loss creates system backlash and weight regainwhy “low and slow” is the only approach that works with your system, not against itand why the scale is the least useful measure of progress when you’re trying to change a system You’ll also hear Denise’s story, a woman who spent decades losing and regaining weight and what changed when she stopped trying to get weight loss “over with quickly” and started working with her eating system instead. This episode will change how you think about: better eating habitsweight cyclingyo-yo dietingand why diets fail Key Takeaways 1️⃣ Your eating system has its own goal It is designed to maintain balance, not to lose weight. 2️⃣ Fast dieting creates backlash Big, sudden changes trigger hunger, slow metabolism, and lead to weight regain and overshoot. 3️⃣ Habits don’t change systems They can support change, but they don’t alter the structure driving your eating. 4️⃣ Low and slow is the only sustainable pathway Small, consistent changes allow the system to adapt without fighting back. 🔗 Blog Post: Systems not habits are driving your weight regain https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/post/systems-not-habits-are-driving-your-weight-regain Please leave a review so other women can find the podcast. And if you know a woman who needs to hear this information, please pass on the link. If you have any questions, you can email me at: hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au OR connect with me via: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwynfletcheratweightingforhappiness/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/beforedieting.podcast/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587755296729 #weightregain, #emotioneating, #overeating, #foodrules, #eatingsystem, #womenshealth, #weightlossafter40, #dieting, #psychologyofeating, #midlifewomen

    9 min

  3. 28 APR

    Systems Are Not Habits: Why Weight Regain Keeps Happening

    Understand your recurring weight by starting with Your Weight Ecosystem diagnostic. ✅ SHOW NOTES When women say ‘I just need better eating habits,’ it sounds logical. But what if that assumption is the problem? In this episode, Bronwyn challenges one of the most widely accepted ideas in weight loss: that habits are the solution. Because when it comes to weight regain, habits don’t fail. They’re just being used at the wrong level. This episode introduces a critical shift: from habits → to rulesfrom behaviour → to systems You’ll hear why what looks like a ‘bad habit’ is often a rule-driven response inside a larger eating system, and why trying to fix those behaviours one by one creates cognitive overload, not lasting change. This episode also introduces key characteristics of systems, including why they return to balance, why weight regain is predictable, and why cause and effect are often misunderstood. If you’ve ever felt like your eating runs on autopilot and doesn’t match your intentions, this episode will explain why. Key Takeaways What women call ‘habits’ are often rules driving behaviourEating is a system, not a collection of isolated actionsSystems seek balance, this is why weight regain happensHabit stacking creates cognitive overload, not lasting change If this episode has changed how you think about your eating, the next step is to see your own system clearly. Start with the Your Weight Ecosystem diagnostic. https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/weight-ecosystem-diagnostic This is where you move from guessing to understanding. 🖥️ Read the Blog Systems are not Habits: https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/post/why-weight-regain-keeps-happening 🙌 Please leave a review so other women can find the podcast. And if you know a woman who needs to hear this information, please pass on the link. 📝If you have any questions, you can email me at: hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au #weightregain #eatingsystem #foodrules #reliefeating #overeating #midlifewomen #dietcycle #beforedieting #weightcycling #whyDietsFail

    11 min

  4. 21 APR

    Body Fat and Weight Regain: What Your Eating System Is Really Doing

    In this episode, Bronwyn challenges one of the most entrenched beliefs in weight loss: that body fat is simply the result of overeating. Instead, she introduces a systems thinking perspective that reframes body fat as functional. Not passive. Not accidental. But part of an eating system that may be solving problems in ways that are rarely examined. Drawing on real case examples, this episode explores how body fat can act as protection, postponement, paradox, or projection. Each one revealing that what looks like a weight problem can be a weight benefit. If you’ve experienced weight regain, this episode will reframe how you think about body fat. And it will do it without blame or shame. Key Takeaways Body fat is not always a by-product of an eating system. In many cases, it plays a role within an eating system that serves a purpose. When body fat has a function, removing it without understanding that function leads to weight cycling. Lasting change requires understanding what body fat has been doing for you, not just trying to remove it. If you would like a copy of The Four P’s of Body Fat, email me at hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au and I will send you a copy. Links & Resources Read the Blog: Body Fat and Weight Regain: What Your Eating System Is Really Doing Connect with me on: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwynfletcheratweightingforhappiness/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beforedieting.podcast/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587755296729 Please leave a review so other women can find the podcast. And if you know a woman who needs to hear this information, please pass on the link.

    14 min

  5. 14 APR

    Why Weight Keeps Coming Back: The Hidden Problem with Simple Stories

    Most women can explain their weight problem in a sentence. ‘I’m an emotional eater.’ ‘I’ve got a sweet tooth.’ ‘I just need more discipline.’ These explanations feel true. But they’re often only telling part of the story. In this episode, we look at the difference between the facts of your weight and the story you’ve built around it. Because when complex eating patterns are reduced to simple explanations, the thinking stops, and so does the search for answers. This builds directly on Access and Agency, showing how early conditions shape behaviour, and how those behaviours later get compressed into one-line stories that don’t fully explain what’s happening. If you’ve ever felt like you know what to do but can’t seem to hold it, this episode will help you understand why. Key Takeaways Simple stories often describe behaviour but don’t explain itThe story you tell shapes what you notice and the solutions you trySeparating facts from story opens up deeper understanding and new solutions Blog: Why Weight Keeps Coming Back: The Hidden Problem with Simple Stories Please leave a review so other women can find the podcast. And if you know a woman who needs to hear this information useful, please pass on the link. If you have any questions, you can email me at hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au #weightregain #eatingsystem #emotioneating #foodrules #reliefeating #overeating #weightcycling #midlifewomen #psychologyofeating #beforedieting

    10 min

  6. 10 APR

    Childhood Food Agency: When you weren’t allowed to choose.

    Childhood Food Agency: When you weren’t allowed to choose. Episode overview Most women assume that as adults they should know what ‘enough’ food looks like. But portion confidence, stopping cues, and self-trust don’t appear automatically. They’re built through early experiences of choice, permission, and authority at the table. In this episode we explore Agency: who decided what and how much you ate and how those early meal dynamics can shape adult patterns like dieting dependence, private overeating, and fear of judgement. This episode continues the paired theme with Access, because these two factors often work together to build the blueprint for lifelong eating. In this episode, you’ll learn • What food agency actually means (and what it doesn’t) • Why food confidence is often a developmental skill, not a motivation issue • Why eating differently in front of others is a protective response • How secrecy becomes a substitute for choice Key takeaways • Agency is authority at meals is for choice, portion sizing and stopping • Private overeating is often the system restoring autonomy • The dinner table taught rules that still shape eating today If agency was limited in your early life, dieting won’t solve the root issue; it only temporarily overrides it. The Weighting for Happiness Project helps you investigate your specific blueprint and diagnose the true drivers behind weight regain, so lasting change becomes possible. If agency was limited in your early life, dieting won’t solve the root issue; it only temporarily overrides it. The Weighting for Happiness Project helps you investigate your specific blueprint and diagnose the true drivers behind weight regain, so lasting change becomes possible. Please leave a review or rate the Podcast so other women can find it. Download my FREE e-book "Why Diets Work Until They Don't" using the link below: https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/e-book-request-form And if you know a woman who would benefit from hearing this information, please pass on the link to this Podcast or the e-book. You can leave me a message at: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwynfletcheratweightingforhappiness/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/beforedieting.podcast/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587755296729 OR directly email me any questions to hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au See my website for the Latest updates on Before Dieting... Episode 38 web page https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/podep38 Cheers Bronwyn #weightregain #emotioneating #reliefeating #comforteating #overeating #foodrules #eatingsystem #womenshealth #midlifewomen #dieting #weightlossafter40 #dietcycle #menopauseweightgain #psychologyofeating #beforedieting #8eatingtypes

    7 min

  7. 10 APR

    Why Diets Fail-Childhood Food Access and the Eating System.

    Podcast Episode 37 - Show Notes​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 shape 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. ​Access: 🙋🏻‍♀️who decided when you weren't allowed to eat. ​In this episode, you’ll learn: 1️⃣ How focusing on reducing on current weight prevents you discovering the root cause of repeating weight patterns 2️⃣ The difference between access and agency (and why both matter) 3️⃣How restricted access builds survival strategies around food 4️⃣Why 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. ​​​​​​​ The Weighting for Happiness Project helps you investigate your specific blueprint and diagnose the true drivers behind weight regain, so lasting change becomes possible. Please leave a review or rate the Podcast so other women can find it. Download my FREE e-book Why diet's work until they don't or use the link https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/e-book-request-form And if you know a woman who would benefit from hearing this information, please pass on the link to this Podcast or the e-book. You can leave me a message at: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwynfletcheratweightingforhappiness/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/beforedieting.podcast/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587755296729 OR directly email me any questions to hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au See my website for the Latest updates on Before Dieting... Episode 37 web page https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/podep37 #weightregain #emotioneating #reliefeating #comforteating #overeating #foodrules #eatingsystem #womenshealth #midlifewomen #dieting #weightlossafter40 #dietcycle #menopauseweightgain #psychologyofeating #beforedieting #8eatingtypes

    9 min

  8. 10 APR

    How Childhood Food Rules Drive Weight Regain

    How Childhood Food Rules Drive Weight Regain ✅ Katherine wasn’t allowed to eat between meals. ✅ Fiona wasn’t allowed to ask for food at all. ✅ Different families. ✅ Different rules. ✅ Same result - both girls lived with hunger, and both learned to solve it in secret. In this episode I explain how food rules learned in childhood become part of an eating system that keeps running decades later, even when the original problem is gone. If you’ve ever wondered why, you overeat when you’re not hungry, why dieting works for a while and then stops, or why food feels like relief instead of nourishment, this episode will make sense of it. This is part of the Ten Women’s Food Stories series. Key takeaways Most eating patterns start long before dieting begins The rules driving your eating today often come from your origin family, not from adulthood. 1️⃣ Most eating patterns start long before dieting begins The rules driving your eating today often come from your origin family, not from adulthood. 2️⃣ When food rules don’t meet a child’s needs, the child adapts Sneaking food, hiding food, eating fast, eating alone — these are solutions, not failures. 3️⃣ Those solutions become part of an eating system Once your brain learns that food prevents hunger, fear, or discomfort, it keeps using the same strategy. 4️⃣ Weight regain makes sense when the system underneath hasn’t changed The Weighting for Happiness Project helps you investigate your specific blueprint and diagnose the true drivers behind weight regain, so lasting change becomes possible. Please leave a review or rate the Podcast so other women can find it. Download my FREE e-book "Why Diets Work Until They Don't" using the link below: https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/e-book-request-form And if you know a woman who would benefit from hearing this information, please pass on the link to this Podcast or the e-book. You can leave me a message at: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronwynfletcheratweightingforhappiness/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/beforedieting.podcast/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61587755296729 OR directly email me any questions to hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au hello@weightingforhappiness.com.au See my website for the Latest updates on Before Dieting... https://www.weightingforhappiness.com.au/podep36 Cheers Bronwyn

    9 min
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4.5
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About

Before Dieting… is the podcast that explores the eight types of eating and the hidden food stories behind persistent weight cycles and diet frustration. Hosted by Bronwyn Fletcher, a systems thinker, this show reveals the eating patterns that keep you stuck and uncovers the real causes behind your weight struggles. If you’re tired of dieting without success, discover a new perspective that goes beyond calories and willpower to help you break free from the endless cycle of weight loss and regain.

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