Why Her Weight Loss Seems Easier

Ever feel like everyone else drops weight with a snap while you grind for every centimetre? This week on the podcast, I dig into the real reasons midlife weight loss can look easier for other women and map out a kinder, smarter path that actually works for a changing body. As hormones shift through perimenopause and menopause, insulin sensitivity, muscle mass and stress responses change the rules, so two women doing the same things can see wildly different results. We break down what’s really happening—rising cortisol, low-grade inflammation, gut imbalances—and how each one can quietly stall progress even when you’re eating well and moving often.

We talk through the leverage points you can control. Strength training becomes non-negotiable for preserving muscle and lifting your basal metabolic rate. Protein timing and fibre-rich whole foods help stabilise blood sugar and appetite. Practical stress strategies—breathwork, short walks, sleep boundaries—dampen cortisol’s impact. We also spotlight gut health: regularity, the estrobolome’s role in oestrogen metabolism, and why chronic constipation or diarrhoea is a signal to act, not a quirk to ignore. Small, consistent shifts across these areas compound into energy, better sleep and a body that feels like yours again.

Finally, we explain why personalised support beats willpower. Coaching provides clarity, accountability and course correction that rigid, one-size-fits-all plans lack—especially after 40. If comparison has you stuck, try my simple journaling prompts to spot your most important next step and replace self-criticism with curiosity. Ready to trade comparison for a plan that fits your life? Follow the show, share this episode with a friend who needs it, and leave a quick review to help more women find evidence-based support.

Are you a woman feeling stressed, flat and experiencing the challenges of perimenopause or menopause?

It’s time to reclaim your youthful energy, radiance and self-assurance (and your ideal weight).

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Here's how I can support you -

1. Hit your health and wellbeing goals this year, balance your hormones and lose weight with your own personalised protocol, based on your body's biochemistry. Sounds awesome right!! Book a free 30 minute Peri Weight Loss Assessment with me so we can discuss your health and wellbeing goals and also see how I might be able to support you. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Book your call here. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Transcript

Welcome And Theme

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hi, I'm Susie Garden and this is the Ageless and Autumn Podcast. I'm an age-defying naturopath and clinical nutritionist and I'm here to bust myths around women's health and ageing so that you can be ageless and autumn in your 40s, 50s, and beyond. The Ageless and Awesome Podcast is dedicated to helping women through perimenopause and menopause with great health, a positive mindset, and outrageous confidence. Hit subscribe or follow now and let's get started. Hello, gorgeous one, and welcome to this week's episode of the Ageless and Awesome Podcast. I'm Susie Garden, your host, perimenopause naturopath, and weight loss nutritionist. And this week I wanted to explore something that I hear quite a bit uh from clients when they're first deciding whether or not to work with me. And it often comes down to something you've probably heard called comparisonitis, right? And so today's episode is about why weight loss can feel like it's easier for other women. It's easier for everybody else, but it's different for me. And I want to talk a little bit about that, and also about how some women are doing things differently. But this comparisonitis can be really, really uncomfortable. And I I just wanted to kind of explore that a little bit with you today. So you know what it's like. I mean, social media probably is the biggest kind of component of this because we're exposed to it so much. But there's also, you know, the school gates, gym conversations, catching up with friends, maybe meeting people that you don't know that well, and just seeing, you know, oh wow, she's already lost weight. She's so disciplined, must be nice to make it to that. It's so easy to lose weight because it's really hard for me. And, you know, if that thought has crossed your mind, you're human, my gosh, you know, we're we're just exposed to so much of people's, I guess, highlight reels. And a lot of people don't talk openly about what's really going on for them. So let's first talk about why comparison can be really misleading. And I guess one of the main reasons for this, actually, I've got a whole bunch of them, but you know, the thing is you never see what's going on with other people's hormone levels, what's going on with other people's stress load, their sleep quality, their medical history, their relationships with food, you know, their their past history with, you know, diets, etc. You know, I always, when I say diets, I've got my inverted commas going on. Um, but the thing is, two women eating the same food can have completely different responses. And I do see women that often come to see me that are eating really healthy foods, and they're going to the gym, and they're not seeing the results that they should be seeing, and yet they see other women around them that are able to maintain, you know, all of the things that they love about their bodies. And this is the thing, you don't see what's going on with other people. So you just assume if things aren't working for you, there is something wrong with you. But that's really not necessarily the case. And comparisonitis or comparison generally is incredibly misleading. Because we, as you know, there's so much change going on with women, particularly with hormones, at this time of life in peri- and post-menopause. Um, but the stress is another big component, and you may see people that look like they have a really stressful existence, but their perception of their stress may be quite low compared to another person that might be experiencing the same stress or if that makes sense. And that comes down to your ability to manage it, your history with stress, your perception. That's why, you know, whenever I talk about stress, I talk about stress perception, not what's actually going on, but your perception of it. Because some people can really deal with a lot and it's not going to have the same stress response, the same cortisol rise, the same adrenaline as another person. So comparison is really misleading because we are all different people. We all have different things going on. And two women eating the same food can have completely different responses. And other things that can be different, and these are some of the actual real differences that really matter, is things like insulin sensitivity, particularly when we're in our 40s, and definitely as we get over 50, our body's ability to um utilize insulin can change quite dramatically. And we call this, you know, we can we have these things called insulin sensitivity, and that's when the body is working quite well and responds well to insulin, and then we have insulin resistance, which starts happening when we get over 50, really, sometimes in our 40s, um, where your body's ability to utilize insulin isn't as good. And so we have to produce more of it. And insulin has many roles, one of them is fat storage. So if you're in not particularly insulin sensitive, or that's changing for you, you may not be aware of this, by the way, um, but it can lead to things like fatigue, so that can make you feel less like making an effort to cook, for example, or to move your body, but also just internally you can start putting on weight, and you're like, I don't know why that's happening because I'm doing all the things I've normally done. One of the other things that's different is our muscle mass. I noticed a dramatic reduction in my muscle mass in my 40s. It was quite a shock. I did not expect that. I've never been someone that's loved exercising, and I really had to start doing weight training in my 40s because it was such a noticeable difference for me. And our muscle mass, once we start losing that, and again, it's a natural part of the process of getting older, is that our muscle mass starts to reduce. And when this happens, it also reduces what we call our basal metabolic rate. So our ability to burn energy at rest. When you have more muscle mass, generally you're going to be able to burn more energy at rest, which makes it a little easier to maintain a healthy weight. Um, there are so many other benefits that go with maintaining our muscle mass when it comes to things like bone health and uh reducing our risk of falling when we get older and all of that, but I won't go into that today because I'm really just focusing on this comparison. So, yeah, if you're someone that has quite a decent muscle mass, if you work hard on that, then you may find that it is a little easier for you to maintain a healthy weight. Other differences that matter are our cortisol levels, and this is where the stress management comes in or the stress resilience comes in. So we know that with the hormonal fluctuations that happen in perimenopause, that this can impact our cortisol levels, so estrogen in particular, and cortisol are closely linked. And so when a lot of women find that when they get into perimenopause, their ability to manage the same stress ores that they had in their life, whether that's work, family, financial, etc., that they used to just be able to manage, that sometimes they can get very overwhelmed with the same amount of stress. And this is a completely normal thing that happens. But when our cortisol levels are rising, because we're more stressed, that is another block at a weight loss. So that can be a factor. And you're thinking, wow, I'm just doing all the things I normally did, but I'm putting on weight. Sometimes that it's because of cortisol, because of stress. Another uh factor that again, it's not present on the surface. So again, comparing yourself to another person is not helpful when it comes to this, is inflammation in the body. And if you're a longtime listener, you would have heard me talking about inflammation a lot over the years. Inflammation is the root cause of pretty much any medical or mental health condition. And the majority of us have some inflammation going on in our bodies because it's just a part of daily life and the things that we're exposed to, and the stress and what's in our food, etc. So, and and again, with the reduction in estrogen in particular, it has quite an anti-inflammatory effect. So, as that estrogen is dropping, our inflammation goes up, and that is a blocker to weight loss. So, managing inflammation is a really important part of keeping healthy for a start. Uh, it's a great part of when if you are exercising that your recovery, but also when it comes to managing healthy weight. Um, gut health is another one that, you know, when I first started working in natural health, as you know, I've been a healthcare professional for a very long time, you know, initially as a nurse and then in the pharmaceutical industry, and then now in uh new with nutrition and naturopathy. And it really shocked me when I first started in clinical practice how many women have issues with their gut health that they have never spoken about. I even had a GP who was a client that had had diarrhea for seven years. And when I I was talking to her about it, and she goes, Oh, but that's just normal for me. And I'm like, but it's not really, you know, normal, is it? And she wasn't really happy with me taking that line of questioning. So she went away, did a food journal for me, which included tracking bowel movements. And when I saw her a couple of weeks later, she was like, Oh my gosh, this really isn't normal, is it? So, and I think often we overlook some of these gut health issues because they've become normal for us, normal to be constipated, normal to have diarrhea, normal to have excessive flatulence, normal to have reflux, normal to have bloating. So many women come to me with this and they've it's just normal for them. But it's actually something that needs to be addressed. And it may not be something that they've ever actually discussed with a healthcare practitioner unless, you know, that that old saying, change happens when the pain of change outweighs the pain of staying the same. And I think that happens a lot with gut health issues, is because many women find it embarrassing to talk about some of these things. So unless they're directly asked, they don't bring it up. And I've had so many women that have uh come into my clinic and when I start, you know, I I start at the top, I start at the mouth and I move all of the way through to the bottom. And it's really amazing to me how many women have put up with gut health or sorry, gut symptoms for many, many years and have never thought that that is something they need to address. So that is something that can absolutely make a difference to your ability to maintain a healthy weight. It can make a huge difference also to your experience of perimenopause, particularly if you have actually either either, if you have chronic constipation, then you'll have issues because we have um a part of our microbiome called the estrobolone, which is in really important for estrogen metabolism. So if that's not operating well, then that will exacerbate or increase some of your symptoms in perimenopause. So that's important. And we also want to clear toxins, right? One of the the the I mean, the function of um our bowel in many ways is to get rid of toxins from our body. So if that's not happening, uh, like I've I've literally got a client that's just started working with me. She opens her bowels once a week. So we're working really heavily on that at the moment because until that is sorted out, there's not going to be any weight loss, there's not going to be improvements in health because we're just not, at the moment, she's not able to remove those toxins effectively. So, and I've had many, many clients like that that we can fairly quickly get on top of that. Um, but the other, if it's the other direction and it's more of a diarrhea type, then you're not going to be absorbing your nutrients very well. We need nutrients to build things like our neurotransmitters or our brain chemicals. We need nutrients to build our hormones. We need nutrients for muscle repair and tissue repair and all of the things that go on in the body. So, regardless of which kind of way you're going, if you're chronic diarrhea or chronic constipation, then it needs to be addressed. And please don't be embarrassed addressing this with your healthcare professional because we're used to talking about this sort of stuff all of the time. And particularly for those of us, us like myself that have a special interest in it, I love talking about it because I it just makes such a difference to how you feel on the day-to-day when you get these things sorted out. And generally, it's not that hard to do. You'd be amazed how quickly we can get improvements in gut health issues. Um, and you know, I mentioned all of these things. I'm just going to recap because I kind of went on a bit of a tangent in gut health because I love it so much. But yeah, the differences that matter, things like insulin sensitivity, muscle mass, cortisol levels, inflammation, and gut health, and there are plenty more. But this is why one size fits all plans can fail women after 40, because there are so many little changes going on and big changes and so many differences between us that personalized nutrition in particular is really important. And what I found that is that the people or the women, women and men who succeed long term usually have guidance, accountability, clarity, and course correction, not more willpower, actual professional support. And we know this from research that when you give people the perfect dietary plan, those that get coaching, that have accountability, that have course correction get a way better result than those that are just given their perfect dietary plan and left to their own devices. We know this works. And this is another reason why when you might look at your friends, look at other women, and just go, why is it so easy for them? Often is that they're getting professional support in whatever way that looks, whether that's at the gym, whether that's with their doctor, whether that's with their nutrition, whatever else it is. So that is something to really consider. If you're thinking I need to make changes in 2026, enough is enough, uh, then personalized support is something that I highly recommend that you invest in. And I guess what the other thing the other thing I want to say, if you're tired of comparing yourself, because I know a lot of us are, and wondering what's wrong with you, by the way, there's nothing wrong with you. Um, you just need the right approach for your body, for your individual circumstances. And that's why I love working with women, uh, particularly with personalized nutrition, because it does just get such a great result. So I just wanted to guess to open that conversation today to get you thinking about well, what is going on with me? Why does it feel like it's easier for other people and not for me? What is going on in my body or my life that's making it more challenging for me? And maybe it might be helpful to even take five minutes and just contemplate those questions. Just do maybe a little bit of journaling that, you know, free form, no editing. You may not even look at it again, but sometimes it's helpful just to write it all down. Some of the things that you're thinking, some of the things that you're feeling, some of the things that you're wondering when you're thinking about why is this happening for other women and not for me. So hopefully that's been helpful today. Um, next week I want to talk about what it actually looks like to do this proper properly after 40. So until then, take care. If you have any questions about this episode, you can um DM me at theperimenopause path. You can email me hello at susiegarden.com or book in for a peri weight loss assessment. There's a link in the show notes if you want to actually get face to face with me on the video and we can have a bit of a chat about how I work with women, what's going on with you, and how I might be able to help you. So take care and I will see you next week. Thanks so much for joining me on the Ageless and Awesome Podcast. If you would liked this episode, please make sure you click the little plus button if you're on Apple Podcasts, or the follow button if you're on Spotify, so that you get each new episode delivered to you every single week. If you feel like writing me a five star review, you would absolutely make my day. If you found this episode resonated with you, head over to my Instagram and DM me at the Perimetopause Park. I would love to connect with you.