Love Life And Lose Weight

Heather Beardsley

Love Life And Lose Weight is a podcast that teaches you sustainable weight loss through changing your habits and beliefs around food. You CAN lose weight eating the foods you love without feeling restricted or rebellious. I'm your host, advanced certified weight and life coach, Heather Beardsley. I've helped hundreds of women figure out how to lose weight and create a life they love and now I'm sharing those insights with you.

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Top 10 Love Life And Lose Weight Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Love Life And Lose Weight episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Love Life And Lose Weight for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Love Life And Lose Weight episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

60: Fifteen Good Responses To Urges To Overeat

Love Life And Lose Weight

09/17/24 • 26 min

Success in changing habits around food relies on having tools ready to respond when you have an urge to eat outside of being hungry or already having eaten enough food. In today's episode, I give you fifteen good responses to practice and have at the ready when you find yourself having an urge to overeat.
Using these will help you redirect how you think in those moments to help you respond differently AND help it feel easier to choose to not overeat.

Here is the list of fifteen good responses for when you have an urge to overeat.

This will taste even better when I'm hungry again.
It tastes so good AND overeating won't allow me to enjoy this any more than I already have.
If I stop at enough, I'll be able to have it again the next time I'm hungry, which will be sooner than if I overeat now...PLUS I'll be proud of myself.
I’ve already decided on this issue.
If I say yes to eating more right now what am I saying no to?
This is my chance to practice a new habit.
I want it, but I also want to (lose weight this week).
I will meet the discomfort of stopping now, or I will meet the discomfort of my overeat when I fill out a discovery sheet tomorrow. Either way, it’s uncomfortable.
Of course, it tastes good. If I put it away now I get to enjoy it again tomorrow.
Yes, it tastes good, but so does going to bed knowing I've had my own back today.
Food can’t make me feel better, only my thoughts can do that.
What do I really need right now to feel better? Am I tired, stressed, overworked, or need to give myself a break?
Can I acknowledge my needs beyond what food can give me right now?
The price of learning how to change habits is my willingness to be uncomfortable for a while.
I won’t always feel this way about stopping the more I practice this skill.

Your Coach homework this week is to PRACTICE and REHEARSE thinking these so they are fresh in your mind when the urge to overeat happens. Then, practice using them, and see how your typical responses to urges to overeat might change.
For a downloadable PDF copy of these responses, comment 'LIST' this episode 60 instagram post and I'll DM you the link.

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Visit me @thriveinmidlife on Instagram and comment SUBSCRIBE to get your FREE gift and join the VIP list. Or, comment with your ah-ha's, takeaways, homework, and/or questions from this episode, and let’s keep the conversation going.
Want to work with me? CLICK HERE to find out how.
Audio engineering by Young Cub Audio.

63: How To Shrink The F-it/Distracted Cycles That Interrupt Weight Loss

Love Life And Lose Weight

10/22/24 • 16 min

In this episode, Advanced Certified Weight and Life Coach, Heather Beardsley revisits the concept of anti-fragile weight loss and delves into the "fuck-it/distracted cycle"—a common pattern where life's disruptions cause you to lose focus on the new habits. This episode focuses on how to shrink that cycle and regain your sense of agency when life gets messy.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

What the "fuck it distracted cycle" is and why it happens
Why these cycles are completely normal and how to recognize when you're in one
How to avoid using these cycles as evidence of failure and instead see them as growth opportunities
Simple strategies to regain control, even during chaotic times, like jotting down a quick food plan or drinking water
How small intentional actions can help you refocus and stay committed to your weight loss goals
The power of asking yourself, “How do I win the moment I’m in?” to shift your mindset in challenging times

Key Takeaways:

Everyone experiences cycles of distraction and chaos—it's part of life.
The key to success is minimizing the time spent in the "fuck it distracted cycle" and refocusing with small, doable actions.
These cycles do not signal failure; they are a chance to practice resilience and self-compassion.
Heather encourages listeners to let go of self-judgment and focus on what they can control in the present moment.

Homework:
Create a list of small, simple ways to make the next best decision when you're in the "fuck it distracted cycle." Start with things like making a quick food plan or hydrating. Focus on what you can do right now, rather than worrying about what went wrong before.

Join the Conversation:

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65: Embracing Change: How to Let Go and Move Forward

Love Life And Lose Weight

11/19/24 • 40 min

In Episode 65, I’m talking about embracing change—a fitting theme as we head into the end of the year and think about a new year of possibilities. Here’s what's covered:

Why We Resist Change: Our brains are wired for safety and routine, so when faced with change, the amygdala (our fear center) often triggers anxiety. This is a natural response, and understanding it can help us navigate transitions without judgment.
Reframing Change as Growth: Resisting change is normal, but growth often comes from discomfort. Looking back, we usually see that the challenging moments brought us the most progress. I reference Carol Dweck’s "Growth Mindset" to illustrate how embracing uncertainty can foster resilience.
Strategies for Managing Change: To support a growth mindset, I suggest:
- Becoming aware of your thoughts around change
- Practicing self-forgiveness and forgiveness of others
- Using mindfulness to stay present
- Setting intentional goals and using smart time management to focus on what you can control
Homework:
- Identify and reframe any negative thoughts around change.
- Set personal intentions for the future and make actionable plans.
- Try a self-forgiveness exercise to let go of lingering guilt.

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56: Active Listening

Love Life And Lose Weight

07/23/24 • 36 min

Human beings have the unique ability to think, feel, take action, and listen intentionally by using the prefrontal cortex part of our brain rather than do all of those things automatically or reactively.
Being curious and aware of 'how' you listen to and then interpret what you hear can completely change how you see yourself and how you view and understand others.

Without intentional listening, our past experiences and expectations will always be filtering and shaping the way we interpret what we hear in our self talk and what we hear from others. This can be a significant obstacle in weight loss, as our automatic, habitual thoughts and beliefs about food and our behaviors can prevent us from making meaningful changes. [00:15:17]

By actively listening and questioning our beliefs, we can gain a deeper understanding of the underlying issues driving our behaviors, such as overeating. [00:19:51]

Intentional listening means developing the habit of not believing everything our brain tells us. Considering alternative perspectives, separating facts from our automatic interpretations and then choosing the meaning we want to give to our experiences is a powerful tool for breaking free from unhelpful patterns and creating lasting change. [00:19:59]

If we want to work on active listening, it's important to balance those efforts with regular periods of mental rest like meditation daily or even serveral times a day. [00:30:51]
Intentional listening is a great way to reclaim your life, your beliefs, and your perspective of yourself and others as your own. To be truly free requires listening actively, using discernment, and then choosing what to think in response in a way that that serves you and the person you want to be. [00:34:12]

Coach Homework assignment:
1. Has there ever been a time in your life when you thought what you heard was a wrong interpretation and that had big consequences?
2. Has there ever been a time in your life when someone misunderstood what you were trying to say and that had consequences? [00:34:46]

Deeply listening to other people without your own agenda or old beliefs filtering what you hear can give you a deeper. truer understanding of yourself and why you do what you do. Once you are aware of your behaviors, you have a shot at being able to change them. Active or intentional listening can give you that, and it's something you can work at every day in little ways with your self-talk and how you communicate with the important people in your life. [00:36:18]

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69: Setting Integrative Weight Goals For 2025

Love Life And Lose Weight

01/07/25 • 33 min

In this episode, I’m encouraging you to set smarter, more effective weight goals for 2025 by focusing on body composition—not just the number on the scale. You’ll learn why traditional weight loss strategies, especially for women over 40, can leave you weaker and less metabolically healthy. You'll learn how to use a smart scale like InBody to accurately track your changes in body fat and skeletal muscle. you'll also learn why this data is critical for setting realistic, sustainable goals that set you up for long term vibrant health.

You’ll hear me debunk the myth that you can’t build muscle while losing fat. For those of you who are new to strength training—especially if you’re overweight or have been inactive—this can be a game-changer for you this year. We’ll also dive into how tracking different data on smart scales can be more motivating and enjoyable than chasing a number on an old fashioned scale.

To make these changes actionable, you'll learn how to create personalized health goals using a smart scale. Plus, I provide practical strategies for how to be successful losing fat and reatining or gaining skeletal muscle mass.

Your Coach Homework:

After listening, commit to reviewing your body composition data by finding an in-body scale near you.
Set individualized weight and fitness goals for 2025 based on the insights from your InBody or other smart scale readout and your takeaways from this episode.
Commit to weighing in monthly using a Smart Scale and note your progress. Analyze trends to make data-driven adjustments.
Focus on prioritizing protein at every meal and ensure you’re strength training at least three times a week.

I'll be supporting you all year to stay accountable to your intergrative weight goals! If you’re ready to take your progress to the next level, join my VIP subscriber email list by visiting https://hbeardsley.com/subscribe find out how. Let’s make 2025 the year you achieve your healthiest, strongest self!

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62: Letting Go of Shoulds - How To Build a Life That’s Yours

Love Life And Lose Weight

10/08/24 • 42 min

In episode 62, you'll explore the concept of "should" thinking—those thoughts that stem from societal expectations and external pressures—and how they impact not just your food choices but other areas of your life, like relationships and self-care. By recognizing and reframing these "should" thoughts, you'll be able to move away from outside ideas of how you 'should' live your life that can create chronic feelings of guilt and frustration toward a mindset that allows for more freedom and the self-fulfillment that comes from living a self-directed life.

The episode equips you with tools to become more aware of how "should" thinking affects your behavior and provides strategies to shift toward more empowering, self-directed thoughts. By the end of this episode, you'll gain clarity on how to let go of restrictive internal dialogue and replace it with affirming thoughts that support your values and internal preferences. You CAN feel confident about building a lifestyle that aligns with your values, free from external pressures and expectations, ugrade your internal world, and live a more meaningful life.
The episode includes homework to help you put these concepts into action. This week, you'll track your "should" thoughts by keeping a journal for a week, reflecting on where these thoughts come from, and identifying whether they are driven by external or internal sources. Next, you'll change up the 'shoulds' by practicing reframing these thoughts into empowering statements, such as "I choose to" or "I'm curious about," you'll start to build more self-directed intuitive habits of thinking and doing.

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61: How To Break Free From Restrictive Diet Mentality

Love Life And Lose Weight

09/23/24 • 31 min

A common recurring theme I see with my clients is a struggle to break free from diet mentality. Restrictive diet mentality is the belief that there are "right" and "wrong" foods you 'should' eat in order to lose weight or maintain your weight.
When use restrictive diet mentality to lose/maintain weight, what happens is you prioritize choosing those virtuous foods above your own internal tastes and preferences. When we ask ourselves to consistently eat virtuous foods over what we prefer to eat, we experience scarcity thinking. There is manager you telling you all of the things you should be eating and then there is the part of you wants what she wants. This pits inner and outer selves against each other; and what we see is the dynamic of 'being good' for a while, which is always followed by 'being bad, overeating, feeling out of control, and self judging. We can participate in restrictive deit mentality for decades, even though we all know this approach is flawed, as evidenced by people we know who eat "unvirtuous" foods yet maintain a healthy weight.
How do I know when my clients are grappling with diet mentality? One sign is that they make a food plan, but then don't end up following it consistently. Another sign is a resistance/fear of putting the bad/unvirtuous foods on their plan; even though they might be eating those foods daily without permission. A third sign is using shaming/judging self talk to increase compliance with virtuous choices. This disconnect between planned and actual eating is a key indicator you might be stuck in restrictive diet mentality.

Your coach homework for this week is to take a look at your food planning from the previous seven days and identify any foods they overate. Plan for those foods intentionally this week, by practicing enjoying them with permission and following your hunger and fullness cues. The goal is to create emotional satisfaction in the experience of eating those foods with permission and safety; which tells the brain the way to lose weight sustainably, for life, is to tune into your own choices internal cues for answering the questions of what, when, and how much to eat.

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Why I Hate Snacking As A Verb

Love Life And Lose Weight

05/30/23 • 15 min

In this episode, I explain snacking as a habit that I often see gets in the way of weight loss
A snacking habit is often the solution to a very calorie restricted approach to weight loss where we feel hungry all the time. We hold on to snacking as our savior from feeling super restricted and hungry all the time.
When you change from restrictive calorie counting to intuitive eating; what changes is that you are now eating to a neutral place where you are are no longer creating overt chronic hunger, and you are responding appropriately to hunger by eating. So, the snacking habit is often no longer needed.
There is no place in which eating when you aren’t hungry fits within intuitive eating.
Snacking as a verb can quickly become a crutch that supports limited thinking about how you can’t handle hunger, or hunger is a problem, or how you ‘need’ a crutch of snacks to ‘make it through’ to the next meal. These stories can feel limiting, foster distrust between your body and your actions, and make weight loss feel harder and take longer than it has to.
Coach Homework:
Think about the relationship that you DO want with snacking both as a noun and a verb.
1. Does the habit of snacking make sense for you given how you are eating?
2. If you want to keep certain snack foods as part of what you choose to eat, how do you plan to incorporate them specifically? You can plan for some portion of your meal to be snack foods, and/or you can plan for an entire meal that consists of snack foods.
3. Look at your data, how many ‘snacks’ are you eating in a week’s time? How many of those were eaten without physical hunger present?
4. Do you think removing snacking as a verb could help you in your weight results? If yes, what is the easiest action you could take to reduce snacking when not hungry?
Just remember that any food eaten without physical hunger present is a form of overeating; and overeating will always be in the way of weight loss or weight maintenance.
What do you think? Visit me @thriveinmidlife on Instagram on the episode 35 post and comment with your ah-ha's, takeaways, homework, and/or questions from this episode, and let’s keep the conversation going.

Join the VIP subscriber list to be the first to learn about my upcoming book release this summer.

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Overeating: The Dream Stealer

Love Life And Lose Weight

11/22/22 • 42 min

In this episode, you're going to learn a perspective on overeating that will help you no longer want to overeat, which will make weight loss so much easier for you.
Overeating is a normal human experience. Overeating can also be a learned habit and or a learned strategy that gives us a reward.

Power thoughts to think:

I no longer want to overeat
I'm learning how to love not overeating

Coach Homework: Write down the reasons why you do not want to stop overeating. What do I need to be willing to give up? In what ways might it not be as hard as I think it will be?
The difference between how so-called normal eaters overeat and those who want to lose weight often think about overeating is in how they think about it.
Overeating is a fuel overflow problem. Give yourself permission to unlearn the habit of overeating without making having the habit mean anything negative about you.
How to become aware of when to stop eating for the right amount for you. You can use Hara Hachi Bu or develop an awareness of when you are no longer hungry (the clarifying bite) and then experiment with a certain number of bites after that and see what result it gives you.
The magic formula for weight loss. Keep your overeats to 2 or 3 or overeats per week maximum. Plan them on purpose. Keep track of your overeats. Make sure you are planning to eat the food you really want to eat in order to be willing to eat a little bit less.

Come by @thriveinmidlife on Instagram and leave a comment on the episode #8 post with your thoughts, questions, ah-has, or takeaways from the episode.
Start calling overeating the dream stealer that it is. Treat it the same way as changing any habit. What if you are just mistaken when you think eating less will be hard? Start being the expert authority about how much is the right amount for you to eat by experimenting. Resolve to meet any other needs that you've been solving with food in other, more direct ways.

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68: The Power of Reflection - Learning from 2024 Without Self-Criticism

Love Life And Lose Weight

12/31/24 • 30 min

In Episode 68 of *Love Life and Lose Weight*, we explore the transformative power of reflecting on your weight journey—without judgment. If you've ever struggled to assess your progress or felt stuck in a cycle of frustration, this episode is for you. You'll discover how a thoughtful, data-driven review of your past year can unlock valuable insights and set the stage for meaningful, personalized goals in 2025. This reflective approach empowers you to see the bigger picture and focus on what truly works for you.
**Uncover the Patterns in Your Weight Journey**
Many people fear looking back at their progress because it feels too tied to self-criticism. This episode shifts that perspective, showing how the scale, body composition changes, and your habits tell a more nuanced story than numbers alone. By identifying patterns—such as vacation habits, work stress, or restrictive eating cycles—you'll learn how to pinpoint what’s working and what might need adjusting. Reflection allows you to move past surface-level judgments and dig deeper into the "why" behind your journey.
**Practical Tools for Meaningful Progress**
This episode is a working session designed to set you up for success. You'll gather your weight data from the past year, note significant events, and analyze patterns without judgment. The goal? To identify your wins and challenges, then use that knowledge to create tailored strategies for the year ahead. By embracing self-compassion, you’ll replace self-criticism with actionable insights that drive real change.
**Coach Homework to Get Started**
1. Write down your weight for each month in 2024 (or up to 18 months).
2. Reflect on the events, habits, or circumstances that influenced your weight each month—without judgment.
3. Identify patterns of success and challenges. Where did you make progress? What areas need improvement?
4. Use this reflection to set specific, achievable goals for 2025, focusing on strategies that have worked well.
Approach this exercise with self-compassion, celebrating your progress while acknowledging areas for growth.
**To be invited to special quarterly coaching calls in 2025, join the VIP subscriber email list by visiting https://hbeardsley.com/subscribe .

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FAQ

How many episodes does Love Life And Lose Weight have?

Love Life And Lose Weight currently has 69 episodes available.

What topics does Love Life And Lose Weight cover?

The podcast is about Health & Fitness, Weight, Alternative Health, Midlife, Intuitive Eating, Mental Health, Podcasts, Habits and Coach.

What is the most popular episode on Love Life And Lose Weight?

The episode title '53: How To Escape Reactive & Automatic Eating Habits' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Love Life And Lose Weight?

The average episode length on Love Life And Lose Weight is 31 minutes.

How often are episodes of Love Life And Lose Weight released?

Episodes of Love Life And Lose Weight are typically released every 7 days.

When was the first episode of Love Life And Lose Weight?

The first episode of Love Life And Lose Weight was released on Sep 26, 2022.

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Love Life And Lose Weight

Heather Beardsley

Top 10 Love Life And Lose Weight Episodes

FAQ

How many episodes does Love Life And Lose Weight have?

What topics does Love Life And Lose Weight cover?

What is the most popular episode on Love Life And Lose Weight?

What is the average episode length on Love Life And Lose Weight?

How often are episodes of Love Life And Lose Weight released?

When was the first episode of Love Life And Lose Weight?

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