Episode 8 - Deconstructing Diet Culture’s Grip: Ditching Diet Mentality, The Path to Healing Hunger, Appetite, Hormones And Headspace Beyond Bariatric Surgery & GLP-1s.
What if the tool that quiets your hunger doesn’t teach you how to handle your appetite? What if the very solutions we're turning to for weight loss are actually masking deeper emotional wounds?
Dr. Kristin Lloyd and Coach Frances Vogel make a clear distinction: hunger is physiological; appetite is psychological. GLP-1s and bariatric surgery can legitimately lower hunger and quiet part of “food noise,” but they don’t teach emotion regulation, somatic/nervous-system skills, or stress management.
In this episode, Kristin and Frances dive deep into the dark side of diet mentality, revealing how medical solutions for weight loss like GLP-1s and bariatric surgery can quiet hunger yet gloss over the deeper drivers of appetite: unresolved trauma, anxiety/ADHD, body-image wounds, and diet culture’s Trojan Horse, ‘thinness’.
In this eye-opening conversation, Dr. Lloyd shares her vulnerable journey through bariatric surgery, discovering that weight loss wasn't the magic cure she expected. The discussion explores how "food noise"—a complex mix of hormones, emotions, and environmental triggers—drives our relationship with eating, and why society's obsession with thinness creates more harm than healing.
The speakers challenge the diet industry's grip on our minds, explaining how genetic factors, stress responses, and neurodiversity all play crucial roles in our food behaviors. They warn against the "honeymoon phase" of weight-loss interventions and emphasize the critical need for psychological screening and therapy alongside any medical treatment.
From understanding "reverse body dysmorphia" after surgery to recognizing how early shame shapes our relationship with food, this episode offers a compassionate roadmap for breaking free from punitive diet cycles and embracing bio-individual nutrition approaches.
This episode highlights the importance of pairing medical tools with self-regulation so you don’t get stuck in diet mentality or fall into all-or-nothing spirals. With the right support, skills, and strategies, you’ll have what you need to thrive well beyond the ‘honeymoon period.
Ready to transform your relationship with food and your body?
Listen now to discover why lasting change requires addressing the mind and the body, not just the scale.
Expanded Show Notes
Diet culture says “eat less.” Your body says “feed me.” Your mind says “fix this feeling.” Different problems; different tools.
In this candid conversation, Dr. Kristin Lloyd and Coach Frances Vogel clarify a crucial truth:
* Hunger = physiological need (energy deficit, hormones, circadian rhythm).
* Appetite = psychological drive (emotions, thoughts, conditioning, environment, reward).
GLP-1s and bariatric surgery can reduce hunger and quiet the biological portion of “food noise.” That’s real help. But food noise isn’t only biology—it also includes appetite drivers: anxiety, ADHD patterns, stress responses, learned coping, and environmental cues. Medical tools don’t teach emotion regulation, somatic/nervous-system skills, or identity-level mindset—and without those, people often hit the post-intervention honeymoon crash, swap coping (transfer addictions), or white-knuckle their way back into shame cycles.
Dr. Lloyd shares vulnerable moments from her own bariatric journey and the realization that weight loss didn’t resolve anxiety or self-soothing. Together, she and Frances map the sustainable path: use medical tools for hunger; train regulation skills for appetite. Build strength, prioritize protein, sleep, and stress skills; recalibrate body image (reverse body dysmorphia is common); and design a bio-individual plan that fits your brain and your life.
Covered in this Episode
* Food noise = hunger (biology) + appetite (psychology). Treat the right thing with the right tool.
* Regulation > willpower: Interoception, somatic resets, and emotional skills for stress-eating moments.
* The honeymoon trap: Appetite drops ≠ coping cured. How to prevent regain and transfer addictions.
* Neurodiversity & stress: Why ADHD/anxiety change cues, routines, and reward—and how to adapt your plan.
* Body image recalibration: Navigating reverse body dysmorphia after rapid change.
* Identity over rules: From punitive dieting to process—strength, protein, sleep, mood, compassion.
Chapters
00:00:01 - Diet Mentality
00:02:26 - Trauma and Obesity Connection
00:05:01 - Diet Mentality and GLP-1s
00:14:01 - Mindset Shift Around Food Choices
00:18:04 - Genetics and Carb Sensitivity
00:20:02 - Diet Mentality and Tracking Patterns
00:23:30 - Transitions, Anxiety, and Dieting
00:25:58 - Weight Set Point and Body Image
00:28:45 - Puberty, Body Image, and Diet Mentality
00:30:13 - Diet Mentality and Body Image
00:34:26 - Acceptance During Perimenopause
00:36:50 - Diet Mentality and Body Acceptance
00:42:43 - Inner Work for Body Acceptance
00:44:46 - Bariatric Tools and Diet Mentality
00:47:49 - Healthy Relationship with Food
00:49:33 - Diet Mentality vs Compassionate Health
Key Takeaways
* Tools, not cures. GLP-1s and bariatric surgery can lower physiological hunger and quiet the biological slice of food noise—but they don’t resolve root drivers like trauma, anxiety, ADHD, or entrenched emotional-eating patterns. Pair medical tools with therapy and somatic/nervous-system work.
* Beware the honeymoon trap. The early appetite drop can mask unresolved coping. When the honeymoon fades, old patterns resurface. Plan for this: build regulation skills, strength training, protein habits, and support before the dip.
* Hunger ≠ appetite. Treat the right problem. Hunger is physical (energy need); appetite is psychological (emotion, reward, environment). Use food/protein/sleep for hunger; use emotion regulation, stress tools, and boundaries for appetite.
* Lasting change is paired care + personalization. Sustainable results come from compassionate, integrated care (medical + psychological) plus bio-individual nutrition and simple tracking (protein, timing, sleep, stress) to spot your levers—not one-size-fits-all rules.
* Identity over rules, skills over willpower. Ditch all-or-nothing. Train an identity of “strong, regulated, well-rested” and practice skills that keep you steady (interoception, urge surfing, somatic regulation skills). That’s how you prevent transfer addictions and post-intervention backslides.
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