If you've ever felt like every diet you've tried was the wrong tool for the job, this episode is for you. You knew deep down it was probably going to let you down again. But you tried it anyway. Because what else were you going to do?

This week's episode is unapologetically nerdy. It's May the 4th, which means it's Star Wars Day. And here's the wild part. The more I worked on this episode, the more I realized Star Wars actually holds the key to weight loss success. I'm not even kidding.

I walk you through six lessons from the saga that change the way you think about food, your body, and the version of you you've been waiting to become. By the end, you'll see why the help you've been searching for has been the wrong help, why your inner critic has been wearing your own face, and why the Force you used to wish was real has been inside you the whole time.

Whether you're a Star Wars superfan or you think Wookiees are a discontinued Girl Scout cookie (they're not, but honestly that would be cool), this episode is for you. The lightsabers are just the costume. The hero's journey is the story of every woman who has ever tried to lose weight.

• Why the help you keep searching for from diets and gurus is asking the wrong question
• The Yoda lesson that the entire first part of my book LIGHT is built on
• Why "I'll try harder Monday" is the trap, not the solution, and what to do instead
• How to recognize when you're fighting yourself instead of fighting your habits
• The difference between the fear path and the love path in weight loss
• A simple practice for trusting your body again, even when the cookies are right there at 9pm

The wisdom, the trust, the Force, the Light, all of it has been inside you the whole time. You don't need a better diet. You need a better relationship with yourself. The work isn't acquiring more rules. It's letting go of the ones that have never served you and remembering what was true when you were six years old and wanted to be a Jedi.

• "I'll be good today."
• "If I had a bad meal, the day is ruined."
• "Maybe THIS diet is the one that finally works."
• "I should already know better by now."
• "Why can't I just stick to it?"
• "Help me, xyz program. You're my only hope."

Enjoy This Episode?

Subscribe to The Confident Body Podcast so you never miss an episode. Every week I talk about the mental and emotional side of weight loss that diets never touch. Things like self-trust around food, breaking free from diet rules, emotional eating, and building a relationship with your body that actually lasts.

If this episode resonated with you, it would mean so much if you left a review. It helps other women find the show and feel a little less alone in this.

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

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

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

Last week I told you my story. This week I want to talk about yours.

Because whether you have been losing weight and feel strangely anxious about it, or you have been stuck and doing things in secret you would never do in the daylight, I think the same belief is running in the background. And once you see it, so much of the struggle starts to make a different kind of sense.

This episode is for two women. The one hanging on by her fingernails as the weight comes off. And the one in the CVS parking lot who does not fully understand why she keeps ending up there. Both of them are dealing with the same thing underneath. And this episode names it.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• Why weight loss can feel dangerous even when it is working
• How the belief "it's not safe to be fully me" shows up differently depending on where you are in your journey
• Why secret eating is not a discipline problem and what it actually is
• Why you cannot lose your way into feeling worthy, and what actually changes the verdict
• The brain science behind why trying harder keeps backfiring
• How to start building safety one small honest choice at a time

Key Takeaway

You are not doing it wrong. You are covered. And there is a very big difference between those two things. The woman underneath the hiding, the patterns, and the protection has been there the whole time. The sun has been shining. This episode is about starting to let her out.

Listen If You've Ever Thought...

• "Why do I feel more anxious the more weight I lose?"
• "I keep eating in secret and I don't fully understand why."
• "I just want to feel normal around food."
• "I'll finally feel okay about myself when I reach my goal weight."
• "I know what I want to do. Why can't I just do it?"

Enjoy This Episode?

Subscribe to The Confident Body Podcast so you never miss an episode. Every week I talk about the mental and emotional side of weight loss that diets never touch. Things like self-trust around food, breaking free from diet rules, emotional eating, and building a relationship with your body that actually lasts.

If this one landed somewhere real for you, it would mean so much if you left a review. It helps other women find the show and feel a little less alone in this.

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 felt like you've been holding back a part of yourself? Like there's a version of you that keeps almost showing up fully, and then something pulls you back.

You get a little smaller. A little more careful. A little more acceptable.

This episode is different from anything I've shared before. It's personal. It's honest.

I'm taking you inside a trip to California that turned into something much bigger than a work event. Through a coaching session in front of twelve people, a three hour kitchen table conversation with a Jewish rabbi, and a string of signs that were impossible to ignore, I came home with a declaration I've been afraid to make.

I'm done hiding. And I want to know if you are too.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• What the "crime of outshining" is and why it might be running quietly in the background of your life
• Why a moment at a childhood birthday party shaped decades of playing small
• What a rabbi said about my book that stopped me in my tracks
• Why the light you're looking for has been inside you all along
• What it means to choose life, choose light, every single day

Key Takeaway

The safest thing you can possibly be is who God made you to be. Not the smaller, more acceptable, more careful version. The whole thing. This episode is me saying that out loud for the first time, and inviting you to consider where you might be doing the same thing I was.

Listen If You've Ever Thought...

• "I feel like I've been holding something back but I don't know what."
• "I'm afraid if I show up too fully, people will think I'm too much."
• "Why does being seen feel so scary, even when things are going well?"
• "I've been waiting for permission to just be myself."
• "I know there's more in me. I just don't know how to let it out."

Part 2 is coming next week. And it gets very specific about how all of this shows up in your weight loss. You won't want to miss it.

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