Project Weight Loss

Fina Perez
  • 5.0 (12)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

Your best life is just one project away. The Project Weight Loss Podcast is where you will learn the tools and skills to change what is weighing you down, lose weight and above all, improve your quality of life. This reinvention of your life could have a tremendous ripple effect in all you do and everyone you touch. To learn more and work with us visit https://projectweightloss.org. 

  1. 2h ago

    Eyes on Your Plate, Eyes on Your Lane

    Send us Fan Mail This week I want to talk about something I've been sitting with: eyes on your plate, eyes on your lane.  I was actually writing these notes when I found out Dolly Parton had passed away, and it sent me into a whole reflection on boundaries — how easy it is to want to fix people, to give unsolicited advice about their food, their choices, their life, even when we mean well.  I'm sharing what almost thirty years in leadership, addiction training, and life coaching have taught me about staying in your own lane, what real support looks like when someone you love is struggling with serious addiction, and why doing the wellness work for yourself is the most powerful thing you can offer someone else. If you've ever gotten advice nobody asked for — or caught yourself giving it — this episode is for you.   Citations ●     Dolly Parton tribute reference — NPR, "Dolly Parton, one of country music's most singular performers, has died at age 80" (Aug. 25, 2026) — https://www.npr.org/2026/08/25/nx-s1-3650175/dolly-parton-obituary   ●     Additional source — The Washington Post, "Dolly Parton, country music singer and cultural icon, dies at 80" (Aug. 25, 2026) — https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2026/08/25/dolly-parton-country-music-singer-cultural-icon-dies-80/   ●     Film references mentioned: Steel Magnolias (1989) and 9 to 5 (1980)   ●     Weight stigma & unsolicited comments about food or weight — Rebecca M. Puhl, PhD (UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health), "Weight Stigma and Barriers to Effective Obesity Care," Gastroenterology Clinics of North America (2023) — https://uconnruddcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2909/2023/05/2023-Puhl-Gastroeneterol-Clin-N-Am.pdf   ●     Supporting research — Levinson, J. A., et al., "A Systematic Review of Weight Stigma and Disordered Eating Cognitions and Behaviors," Body Image (2024) — https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11180546/   ●     Psychological reactance (why unsolicited advice can backfire) — Brehm, J. W., A Theory of Psychological Reactance, New York: Academic Press (1966) — https://search.worldcat.org/title/A-theory-of-psychological-reactance/oclc/565301131   ●     Self-determination theory / autonomy and lasting behavior change — Ng, J. Y. Y., Ntoumanis, N., Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C., Deci, E. L., Ryan, R. M., Duda, J. L., & Williams, G. C., "Self-Determination Theory Applied to Health Contexts: A Meta-Analysis," Perspectives on Psychological Science (2012) — https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1745691612447309   ●     Closing vignette ("the two monks and the river") — traditionally titled "Muddy Road," attributed to Zen teachers Tanzan and Ekido, retold in Paul Reps & Nyogen Senzaki, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings (1957) — https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/488121-14-muddy-road-tanzan-and-ekido-were-once-traveling-together Let’s go, let’s get it done. Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

  2. Aug 27

    The No-Willpower Guide to Ending Night Eating

    Send us Fan Mail Project Weight Loss, LLC  ·  @fina.projectweightloss  ·  projectweightloss.org   Ever finish dinner, close the kitchen, and somehow still end up back at the fridge an hour later?  In this episode, we get honest about night eating — starting with a surprisingly personal family story about where this habit actually began, before digging into five gentle, research-backed strategies (pulled from real peer-reviewed studies, not influencer hacks) to help you feel steady in your evenings, no shame required. Plus, a little fun on the side: the new hobby keeping this host moving on busy weeks — teaching herself line dancing.  Quote of the week: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” — James Clear, Atomic Habits Leidy, H.J. et al. Higher-protein breakfast reduces appetite and evening cravings in breakfast-skipping teens. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition / Obesity. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000291652305462X Impact of breakfast skipping compared with dinner skipping on energy balance and metabolic risk. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002916522049085 Unfavorable mealtime and meal skipping linked to circadian syndrome, NHANES 2005–2016. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11173982/ An updated review of night eating syndrome, including irregular daytime eating as a contributing pattern. Current Obesity Reports. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9713091/ Randomized trial of planning tools to reduce unhealthy snacking. PLOS ONE. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0209863 Randomized controlled trial of implementation intentions for changing snacking behavior and BMI. Appetite. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666325003629 Vujović, N. et al. (2022). Late eating increases hunger and lowers the fullness hormone leptin. Cell Metabolism. https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(22)00397-7 Newman, E., O'Connor, D.B. & Conner, M. Cortisol reactivity and distress-induced emotional eating. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22999262/ Between- and within-person effects of stress on emotional eating in women: a 49-day longitudinal study. Psychological Medicine. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medicine/article/between-and-withinperson-effects-of-stress-on-emotional-eating-in-women-a-longitudinal-study-over-49-days/209D0BC668D45472D4612838FF68D706 Perceived stress and sleep quality associated with emotional eating in university students. Nutrients (2024). https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/18/15/2434 The time-stamped effects of screen exposure on food intake in adults: a meta-analysis. Appetite (2024). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666324006500 Eating while distracted: a systematic review and meta-analysis of concurrent and later energy intake. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41999952/ Eating while watching TV linked to higher intake of ultra-processed food in adolescents: a longitudinal study. Frontiers in Public Health (2024). https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1423383/full Two decades of mindfulness-based interventions for binge eating: a systematic review and meta-analysis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34399197/ Sala, M. et al. (2020). Mindfulness and eating disorder psychopathology: a meta-analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/eat.23247 Let’s go, let’s get it done. Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

  3. Aug 20

    Fear-Less: Braver Than the Fear

    Send us Fan Mail I've stood in front of a thousand people on a livestream and thought, what were you thinking, Fi? Sit yourself down. If you've ever felt that same drop in your stomach — before a flight, a hard conversation, a moment in the spotlight — you know exactly the feeling I mean. Your brain convinces you the worst is about to happen, and no amount of logic seems to shut it up.  This isn't a five-step fix, and I'm not here to hand you a formula — some things are bigger than that. By the end of this episode, I don't think you'll be asking how to get rid of your fear anymore, because honestly, that was never really the point. Stick around for a piece of brain research that surprised even me, and a quote at the end I want you sitting with all week long. Press play, give me twenty minutes, and let's talk about what's actually waiting for you on the other side of your fear. Quote of the Week "Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear." — Ambrose Redmoon Citations Dartmouth College research on amygdala function, published in Nature Communications (2025) — the amygdala functions less like a primitive alarm bell and more like a mediator weighing competing responses. Referenced in-episode for context only, not as medical guidance.Williamson, Marianne. A Return to Love (1992). Quote referenced in-episode: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure..."Quote of the week attributed to Ambrose Redmoon (pen name of James Neil Hollingworth).Let’s go, let’s get it done. Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

  4. Aug 13

    Temperance: Homer Figured Out Self-Control 3,000 Years Before We Did

    Send us Fan Mail The One Virtue That Makes All the Others Work Did you catch The Odyssey in theaters? I went with my daughter and my honey a couple weeks ago, and Christopher Nolan's version got me thinking about one scene in particular — Odysseus, tied to the mast of his own ship, choosing to hear the Sirens' song without letting it destroy him. That single choice is one of the oldest stories we have about self-control, and it's where I want to take you this week: temperance. Not the Prohibition-era, no-fun version — the real one, one of the four cardinal virtues, sitting right alongside courage, justice, and wisdom. This episode is the Siren Song of Your Cravings (And How to Outsmart It) In this episode I speak to where temperance actually comes from (hint: it's Latin for "the right amount, not too much, not too little"), why discretion and discipline live inside it, and how building my own "mast" — the pantry I don't stock, the friend I text before the hard moment, the lunch I pack before I even leave the house — beats white-knuckle willpower every time. I bring the Maesters, in Homer, the Stoics, Ryan Holiday, and Jud Brewer to make my case. In this episode of Sirens, Cravings, and the Art of Saying No   Quote of the Week "Temperance puts wood on the fire, meal in the barrel, flour in the tub, money in the purse, credit in the country, contentment in the house, clothes on the back, and vigor in the body." — Benjamin Franklin Citations ·       Homer, The Odyssey (epic poem, source for the Sirens/mast story I talk about) ·       The Odyssey (2026 film), directed by Christopher Nolan, starring Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Tom Holland ·       Cicero, on translating the Greek sōphrosynē into Latin temperantia ·       C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity (Book III, Ch. 2, "The Cardinal Virtues") ·       Marcus Aurelius, Meditations ·       Ryan Holiday, Discipline Is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control ·       Dr. Judson Brewer, research on craving loops (trigger–behavior–reward) ·       Dwight D. Eisenhower, on freedom and self-discipline ·       Benjamin Franklin, writings on the 13 virtues Let’s go, let’s get it done. Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

  5. Aug 6

    The #1 Predictor of Whether Your Relationship Survives

    Send us Fan Mail There's one small habit — noticed decades ago by researchers watching married couples through a one-way mirror — that predicts, with startling accuracy, whether a relationship lasts or falls apart. It's not about how often you fight.  It's not about compatibility. It's about a handful of tiny, easy-to-miss moments every single day — and whether you show up for them. This week, we're breaking down the research behind it, what it looks like in real life, and one simple habit you can start today. Quote of the week: "Good relationships keep us happier, healthier, and help us live longer." — Dr. Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development Citations: ·       Gottman, J. (research from The Love Lab, University of Washington); Gottman, J. & DeClaire, J., The Relationship Cure; Gottman, J., The Love Prescription ·       Waldinger, R., The Good Life: Lessons from the World's Longest Scientific Study of Happiness; Harvard Study of Adult Development (adultdevelopmentstudy.org) Let’s go, let’s get it done. Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

  6. Jul 30

    Strength Maester: Cheryl Strayed

    Send us Fan Mail She hiked over a thousand miles alone with a backpack too heavy for her body, no real experience, and a grief she didn't know what else to do with — and somehow, that walk became one of the most honest books ever written about coming back to yourself. This week I'm talking about Maester Cheryl Strayed: author of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things, the voice behind the anonymous "Dear Sugar" column, and one of the people who taught me that healing isn't about waiting until you feel ready. I'm digging into her story, the lessons that have stuck with me the longest, and why her particular brand of honesty — no self-pity, no fake positivity — is exactly the medicine so many of us need right now. Grab your headphones, hit play, and let's go. Quote of the Week "I knew that if I allowed fear to overtake me, my journey was doomed. Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me." — Cheryl Strayed, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Alfred A. Knopf, 2012) Citations Cheryl Strayed, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Alfred A. Knopf, 2012)Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar (Vintage Books, 2012)cherylstrayed.com — official author websiteLiterary Arts — official author biographyWikipedia, "Cheryl Strayed" (cross-referenced with The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, Vanity Fair, Deadline, and Publishers Weekly)Wikipedia, "Brian Lindstrom"The Hollywood Reporter, "Brian Lindstrom Dead: Doc Filmmaker and Cheryl Strayed Husband" (May 2026)Parade, "Cheryl Strayed Shares Her Husband, Brian Lindstrom, Has Died" (May 2026)The Wrap, "'Wild' Author Cheryl Strayed Mourns Death of Husband Brian Lindstrom: 'We're Utterly Bereft'" (May 2026) — source of Strayed's own tribute language quoted in this episodeFeatured books: Torch (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006)Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail (Alfred A. Knopf, 2012)Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar (Vintage Books, 2012)Brave Enough (Alfred A. Knopf, 2015)Who this episode is for: anyone into memoir and personal growth podcasts, hikers and outdoor adventurers looking for their next trail read, fans of Wild and Tiny Beautiful Things, and listeners working through grief, big life transitions, or the fear of starting something hard. Loved this episode? Share it with a friend who needs a little courage this week, and subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. Disclaimer: This episode is for informational and inspirational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice. Let’s go, let’s get it done. Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

  7. Jul 23

    Maester Athletes — What Messi, Mbappé, and Yamal Can Teach Us

    Send us Fan Mail This week I'm breaking format for a special Maester Athletes episode, built around this year's World Cup 2026 of soccer.  I tell the story behind the photo that went viral right before the match — Lionel Messi bathing a baby at a charity event almost two decades ago, a baby who grew up to be Lamine Yamal, the very player who faced him on the pitch. I dig into why I never doubted that photo was real (it's all about who you trust as a news source), why the hug between Messi and Yamal after the final is the most Project Weight Loss moment of the entire tournament, and what Kylian Mbappé's Golden Boot run — plus his answer about "collective spirit" in his Wall Street Journal interview — can teach us about discipline, joy, and showing up for our own goals without blame or shame. I also walk through the real research behind why some people stick to their goals and others don't: Gollwitzer and Sheeran's 94-study meta-analysis on implementation intentions, a British Journal of Health Psychology study on exercise follow-through, and why motivation and information alone are never enough without a plan and regular self-monitoring. If you're working your own Project Weight Loss — on your body, your relationships, or your work in the world — this episode gives you the if-then framework to get back up fast when you slip, the way these athletes do. Share it with someone who needs to hear it this week, and don't forget to write down your own if-then plan. Quote of the Week:  "To never stop dreaming, it's something free. Of course you have to work. Of course you have to do, like you said, sacrifice. But the most important thing is you have to dream. You can be young, you can be old, you can be whatever you want, but everybody can dream. And that's something free, and that's something that gives you the power and the patience to do the things after." — Kylian Mbappé Citations & Links: ·       Kylian Mbappé, "Kylian Mbappé Knows He's Too Competitive," The Wall Street Journal / WSJ. Magazine, Sept. 6, 2022 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHKnvLgG7HA ·       Kylian Mbappé's 2018 World Cup bonus donation to Premiers de Cordée, Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kylian_Mbapp%C3%A9 ·       Gollwitzer, P. M., & Sheeran, P. (2006). Implementation intentions and goal achievement: A meta-analysis of effects and processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 69–119. ·       The exercise study citation: Milne, Orbell & Sheeran (2002), British Journal of Health Psychology 7(2), 163–184 (the 91% follow-through study). ·       A source for the $1.1B offer: Forbes, July 2023, reporting Mbappé turned down a Saudi club (Al Hilal) offer, per L'Équipe — matches what you described as "widely reported." Let’s go, let’s get it done. Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

  8. Jul 16

    Updated: The World Cup, and a Thousand and One Places to See

    Send us Fan Mail This week, with the World Cup finals in full swing and my last team, France, still standing, I'm taking my podcast audience on a trip through 101 "so to speak" places I've loved and a few I'm still chasing — from watching monarch butterflies blanket the forests of Michoacán by the millions, to the light-and-shadow "descending serpent" that slides down the Kukulkan Pyramid at Chichén Itzá every equinox, to leaving a piece of my late sister's memory at the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, to a total stranger's kindness outside the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam; I open up about the sister who raised me and first showed me the world, walking the Camino de Santiago, and why I believe you don't need a passport to practice the same curiosity, humility, and connection travel gives you — you can find it in your own neighbor, your own hometown, even a stadium watch party.    Quote of the Week:   It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength. -Maya Angelou  Episode 69: 3 Simple Strategies to Lose Weight or Stay Your Course While Traveling  Let’s go, let’s get it done. Get more information at: http://projectweightloss.org

See All (226)

5
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

Your best life is just one project away. The Project Weight Loss Podcast is where you will learn the tools and skills to change what is weighing you down, lose weight and above all, improve your quality of life. This reinvention of your life could have a tremendous ripple effect in all you do and everyone you touch. To learn more and work with us visit https://projectweightloss.org. 

Information

  • Creator
    Fina Perez
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    226
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Project Weight Loss
  • Show Website
    Project Weight Loss

You Might Also Like