Before Dieting...

Before Dieting… | Uncovering Eating Patterns and Weight Cycles - is the podcast that explores the eight types of eating and the hidden food stories behind persistent weight cycles and diet frustration. Hosted by Bronwyn Fletcher, a systems thinker, this show reveals the eating patterns that keep you stuck and uncovers the real causes behind your weight struggles. If you’re tired of dieting without success, discover a new perspective that goes beyond calories and willpower to help you break free from the endless cycle of weight loss and regain.

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Latest episodes

30 June 2026

Why Diets Fail - Childhood Food Access and your Eating Blueprint.

Why Diets Fail: Childhood Food Access and the Eating System Many women struggle with emotional eating, overeating, and weight regain even when they know what to eat. This episode explains how childhood food access shapes eating patterns in adulthood and why dieting alone does not change the system underneath. #weightregain #emotioneating #foodrules #overeating #womenshealth #dieting

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09:39

23 June 2026

Eating systems explain a woman's weight regain - Moira's story

Bronwyn Fletcher introduces the concept of the Eating Blueprint and the Eating System it contains. Through the story of Moira, she explores why relief eating often begins long before food appears, the difference between hunger and hungering, and why thresholds may explain overeating more accurately than triggers. If you've ever wondered why eating can seem to take on a life of its own, this episode offers a different way to understand what's happening underneath the surface.

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11:31

16 June 2026

When Junk Food Isn’t the Problem: Sylvie’s weight regain food story

Sylvie spent years blaming herself for eating junk food, especially when she was alone. But when she traced her pattern back to tense childhood dinners and the knot she felt in her stomach, the behaviour took on a different meaning. The sweets had been her way of easing that tension. As an adult, her job recreated the same emotional conditions, and the old pattern returned. Once the story became visible, her eating finally made sense.

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11:50

09 June 2026

The Four Layers Behind Weight Regain

Why is it that some parts of eating seem easy to change while others feel impossible to shift? In this episode, Bronwyn Fletcher introduces the Four Layers Behind Eating Behaviour; Food Rules, Food Stories, Eating Blueprints and Eating Systems. Drawing on conversations with more than a thousand women who have experienced weight regain, she explains why eating is far more complex than calories, discipline and willpower suggest. You'll discover why some behaviours respond to conscious effort, why others operate on autopilot, and how understanding the layer underneath a behaviour can completely change the explanation and the solution. Because when eating behaviour starts making sense, different possibilities for change begin to emerge.

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12:15

02 June 2026

Definitions and Boundaries to solve recurring weight gain

Most explanations for weight regain begin with calories and end with willpower. But what if the boundary around the problem is too small? In this episode Bronwyn explores one of the foundational ideas behind systems thinking: boundaries. She explains how expanding the investigation beyond food revealed patterns, experiences and influences that traditional weight-loss approaches ignore. If you've ever wondered why diets fail to explain recurring weight regain, this episode offers a different way of looking at the problem.

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08:49

26 May 2026

The Hidden Logic of Relief Eating

Relief eating is often treated as a willpower problem, but what if it’s actually part of a larger eating system? In this episode, Bronwyn Fletcher explores the hidden logic beneath relief eating and why diets fail to create lasting change when the underlying system remains untouched. Through the story of Meri, this episode examines weight regain, food rules, secrecy around eating and the role food can play in helping women manage overload, tension and emotional discomfort. This episode introduces the three stages of relief eating and explains why understanding the eating system changes the conversation from blame to diagnostic clarity.

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12:20