THE CONFIDENT BODY PODCAST - Brain-based strategies and self-compassion practices to unlock your full potential

Why personality tests can explain a lot, but they are not your identity.

Have you ever known exactly what you were supposed to do and done the opposite thing anyway? You know the plan. You know you should rest instead of reaching for a snack. And somehow you end up in the pantry anyway.

In this episode, I sit down with life coach Kelly Tibbitts for a podcast swap. Kelly is an expert in the Enneagram and human design, and we talk about why knowing what to do and actually doing it are two completely different jobs.

Kelly used something as simple as a grocery cart in a parking lot to explain why two people can look at the same task and have a completely different, deeply held opinion about the right way to handle it. Once you hear it, you'll probably recognize yourself or someone you love immediately.

We also get into people pleasing, perfectionism, and a simple tool for feeling a feeling instead of eating over it.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why knowing what to do and doing it can feel like two different jobs

How people pleasing quietly shows up around food

A simple three step tool for feeling a feeling instead of eating it

Why perfectionism is really about safety, not about getting things right

How guilt-free rest can be a real weight loss tool

Key Takeaway

Your patterns make sense. The way you're wired explains why you reach for food, why you push through instead of resting, and why rest can feel impossible to give yourself. None of that means something is wrong with you. Once you understand your own wiring, you can trade judgment for grace. And underneath the wiring, underneath the patterns, the part of you that already knows who she is has been there the whole time.

Listen If You've Ever Thought…

"Why do I know what to do and still not do it?"

"I feel guilty every time I actually rest."

"Why does she handle this so differently than I do?"

"Am I a perfectionist, or is something else going on?"

 

Learn More About Kelly Tibbitts

Website
https://kellytibbitts.com

Live a Vibrant Life Podcast: 
https://coachkellytibbitts.buzzsprout.com/

Instagram: 
https://www.instagram.com/kelly_tibbitts/

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.

 

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

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

 

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

Who Are You Really Hiding From? 

Have you ever eaten something completely alone? In your car, in a closet, with the door locked, just so nobody would see. And then made sure there was no evidence left behind.

If that's you, I want you to know you are so not alone. In this episode, I'm joined by Amber Abila, a binge eating coach and host of the Become a Confident Eater podcast. Amber spent years in her own cycle of restriction and bingeing before she found her way out, and now she helps women understand what their body has actually been trying to tell them this whole time.

We talk about why certain foods feel impossible to resist, why even "eating a little healthier" can backfire, and the real reason so many of us hide what we eat. This isn't about willpower. It's about understanding your own body again.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why your brain treats some cravings like an emergency

How restriction can quietly set off a binge, even when it doesn't look extreme

Why food companies can make a flavor without the nutrition that flavor used to promise

The real reason so many women eat in secret

A few small ways to start trusting your hunger again

Key Takeaway

Binge eating is not a character flaw and it is not a willpower problem. It's a habit your brain built to respond to restriction and to a food system that learned how to imitate nutrition without delivering it. The secrecy that comes with it doesn't protect you from judgment. It just means you're the only one judging. The work isn't punishing your body into behaving. It's learning to trust it again.

Listen If You've Ever Thought…

"Why can't I just be normal around food?"

"I'm so tired of thinking about food all the time."

"I ate that completely alone so no one would know."

"Something must be wrong with me."

"I know what to do, so why can't I just do it?"

 

Learn More About Amber Abila

Get instant access to Amber’s guided audio to “Stop a Binge Before it Starts” ⁠HERE⁠!
https://www.theconfidenteater.org/urge-guest

Podcast: 
https://www.theconfidenteater.org/podcast

Instagram: 
https://www.instagram.com/theconfidenteater_/

Youtube: 
https://www.youtube.com/@amberabila

Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/amber.abila.77/

Free Support Group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/532434625387487/?mibextid=c7yyfP

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.

 

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

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

 

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

You get home from vacation. You step on the scale. The number is up, and just like that, your whole summer of hard work feels like it disappeared.

A little voice starts talking. What if you just stopped trying so hard? What if you let the healthy stuff slide and went back to how things used to be?

In this episode, I talk about that voice. Where it comes from, and why the "easy" life you remember might not have been as easy as you think. I also share some surprising brain science about memory, and why the past version of you that you keep comparing yourself to is not as accurate as it feels.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why your brain edits old memories every time you think about them

Why "Old You" probably was not as carefree as you remember

The real reason healthy habits start to feel exhausting

A simple way to think about habits that takes the drama out of them

One small shift that helps you stop quitting on yourself

Key Takeaway

You are not tired of healthy living. You are tired of the story you have wrapped around it. Once you stop putting your food choices on trial every single day, weight loss stops feeling like a performance and starts feeling like just another part of your normal life. The version of you that you think you miss was never as free as you remember. She was looking for exactly what you are building right now.

Listen If You've Ever Thought...

"I just want to go back to not caring so much."

"I worked so hard and it all came undone in one week."

"Why does this have to be so exhausting?"

"Maybe I should just give up and start over later."

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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

The answer to “When will I ever figure this out?”

Have you ever felt like you are one rule away from finally getting this right? Like the secret is out there somewhere, and you just have not found it yet.

I felt that way for eighteen years about a book called The Alchemist. I read it once and did not get it at all. Then I picked it up again on a long drive last week, and it hit me completely differently this time.

This episode is about that search. The one we are all doing every day, standing in the pantry, staring at the snack drawer, trying on jeans that feel a little tight. We keep asking, what am I missing? But there is a different question waiting right underneath that one.

I will also tell you what a shepherd boy, a desert, and a burning bush have to do with your nine fifteen trip to the kitchen. Stick with me. It gets a little weird, and then it makes a lot of sense.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why your brain keeps hunting for "the one rule" that will finally fix everything

The difference between asking "what's the secret?" and asking "what's already here?"

A simple shift to try next time you are standing in the pantry

What an old story about a shepherd boy can teach you about trusting yourself

Why the search itself might matter more than the answer you think you need

Key Takeaway

You are not missing some hidden formula. The secret you are looking for is not in the next book, the next plan, or the next expert. It has been with you the whole time. The work is learning to pause long enough to see it.

Listen If You've Ever Thought…

"I just need to find the right plan and I'll finally get this."

"Why haven't I figured this out yet?"

"I keep waiting for the one thing that's going to make this stick."

"I feel like I'm always missing something everyone else already knows."

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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

If you've ever done everything right and still couldn't silence the voice saying "This will never work"  this one's for you.

 

You're doing everything right. You're eating better, moving more, making choices you feel good about. And then out of nowhere, the old thoughts show up.

"This will never work." "I always mess this up." "I never make real progress."

And some part of you just lets them in.

If that sounds familiar, this episode is for you. Because the problem isn't your willpower, your plan, or your consistency. The problem is the mental playlist your brain keeps playing on repeat and the fact that nobody told you that you're the one holding the remote.

In this episode, I'm talking about one of the biggest things I see hold women back from sustainable weight loss: not the food, not the exercise, not even the stress. It's the old thought patterns that feel like truth but are really just habit. And habits can change.

This isn't about positive thinking or pretending things are better than they are. It's about something much simpler. You don't wait for your favorite song to come on before you change the station. You change it first. The music follows.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

Why your brain keeps playing the same old negative thoughts (and why it's not a character flaw)

What staying on the old mental station is actually costing you and it's not what you think

Why thinking better thoughts matters even if the scale never moves

The science behind why new thoughts feel awkward at first and how long it takes for them to become automatic

One simple action step to start changing your weight loss mindset this week

Key Takeaway
The thoughts you think are the material your life is built from. If you spend your days in a mind that's unkind to you, that is your life  regardless of what the scale says. You deserve to live in a better mind than that. Today. Not at goal weight. Today. Buddhists knew it, Shakespeare knew it, Paul writing in Romans knew it and this episode is about why it's time to stop forgetting it.

Listen If You've Ever Thought...

"I know what to do, so why can't I just do it?"

"I have a good week and then I undo all my progress"

"I don't understand why I can't stop thinking this way about myself"

"I'm tired of starting over every Monday"

"What's the point if I always end up back here anyway?"

 

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.

 

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

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

 

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