If you've ever gotten to a goal and still felt like something was missing, you're not doing it wrong. You're just only halfway there. And nobody told you that was coming.

In this episode, I talk about why reaching your goal weight is only the first half of the weight loss journey. The second half is just as important. And the good news? You don't have to wait until you get there to start.

This one is also for women on GLP-1 medications. The medication can change your body fast. But your brain needs a different kind of work to catch up. We're going to talk about that too.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why your brain keeps running the old story even after the weight comes off
• The science behind why identity lags behind behavior
• What the "second half" of the weight loss journey actually is
• Why feeling good about yourself can feel dangerous, and where that comes from
• How to start closing the gap between who you've become and who you believe you are

Key Takeaway

Getting to goal weight is the first half of the climb. Believing you're the person you've become is the second half. And you don't have to wait for the summit to start. Your brain can learn to tell a new story. But it won't do it on its own. You have to direct it on purpose, and this episode shows you how.

Listen If You've Ever Thought…

• "I did all the work. Why doesn't it feel real yet?"
• "I look in the mirror and still see the old me."
• "Feeling good about myself feels like bragging."
• "I'm afraid to believe it in case I lose it."
• "I got there and something still feels missing."
• "I'm on a GLP-1 and losing weight, but I don't feel any different inside."

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.

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

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

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

Have you ever found yourself eating something and realized you don't quite remember deciding to eat it? Your hand is just there, the food is halfway gone, and somehow you're eating it and judging yourself for it at the same time. You paid full price for half the experience.

What if the reason you can't stop isn't about willpower at all? What if the problem is that you're not actually tasting what you're eating?

In this episode, we're talking about two kinds of hunger that look exactly the same from the outside but are asking for completely different things. One is moving toward something. One is moving away. And once you can tell them apart, something quietly shifts.

We also get into some genuinely fascinating science — including what one Columbia neuroscientist discovered that flips everything the diet industry has ever told you about pleasure and food completely on its head.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why your first bite is the most powerful moment of any meal (and why most of us miss it entirely)
• What Dr. Dana Small's research says about pleasure, processed food, and why satisfaction might actually be the strategy
• The difference between the hunger that wants to arrive and the hunger that wants to escape
• Why desire is not the enemy — and what it's actually pointing toward
• How 30 seconds before a meal can shift how much you eat and how satisfied you feel
• Why the peace you're looking for in the pantry at 9pm is already inside you

Key Takeaway

The reason you can't stop once you start usually has nothing to do with the food. It has to do with which hunger is doing the asking. When you're moving toward genuine pleasure and you're actually present for it, your body knows when it's had enough. It always has. It just needs you to be in the room long enough to hear it.

Listen If You've Ever Thought...

• "I wasn't even that hungry. I don't know why I kept eating."
• "I eat it and feel guilty the whole time and somehow still want more."
• "Nothing in the fridge sounds good but I keep opening it anyway."
• "I just want five minutes where my brain stops."
• "Why can't I just be normal around food?"

Subscribe to The Confident Body Podcast

If this episode made you stop and think, there's a lot more where that came from. The Confident Body Podcast is for women who are done fighting themselves around food and ready to understand what's actually going on underneath. We talk about emotional eating, self-trust, breaking free from diet rules, and building sustainable weight loss that doesn't require white-knuckling every meal. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode.

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

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

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

It's Never About the Chips

Have you ever reached for a food you told yourself you shouldn't have, then kept eating it because you already blew it? And the whole time, that voice in your head was running a full courtroom trial, presenting evidence, handing down a verdict, and sentencing you to start over Monday?

That's not a willpower problem. That's food morality. And it might be the very thing making it harder to stop.

In this episode, I'm breaking down why labeling food as good or bad doesn't protect you from overeating. It actually fuels it. The shame you feel while eating the chips? That's not the solution. That's the accelerant.

We talk about why your brain circles forbidden food like it's the most important thing in the room, what mental restriction actually looks like (hint: it's not the same as skipping the food), and how to start making choices instead of following rules.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• The difference between physical restriction and mental restriction
• Why labeling food as "bad" makes your brain want it more
• What the science says about dopamine, forbidden food, and the pressure that builds over time
• How the shame spiral actually causes more eating, not less
• What it looks like to remove morality from food without losing all structure
• How to start building real self-trust around food decisions

Key Takeaway

The food isn't the problem. The story you're telling yourself about the food is what creates the spiral, the emotional hangover, and the sense that you just can't be trusted around certain things. When food stops being a verdict on your character and becomes just a choice with outcomes, something quietly shifts. The pressure drops. The beach ball stops launching. And you can finally hear yourself think.

Listen If You've Ever Thought...

• "I already blew it, so I might as well keep going."
• "Why can't I stop once I start?"
• "I have zero self-control around certain foods."
• "I'm so tired of feeling guilty every time I eat something I shouldn't."
• "I know what to eat. So why do I keep doing this?"

Subscribe to The Confident Body Podcast

If this episode hit close to home, there's a lot more where that came from. The Confident Body Podcast is for women who are done fighting themselves at the dinner table and ready for weight loss that actually lasts. We talk about emotional eating, self-trust around food, breaking free from diet rules, and building a relationship with your body that doesn't require white-knuckling your way through every meal. Subscribe so you don't miss an episode.

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

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

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