Never Diet Again with Max Lowery
Tired of losing weight only to gain it back? Sick of feeling out of control around food? Welcome to The Never Diet Again Podcast Weight Loss Coach - Max Lowery. If you’re a woman over 40 who’s tried every diet, struggled with cravings, or felt stuck in an endless cycle of overeating and guilt—this podcast is for you. Max shares real, no-BS strategies to help you lose weight without restrictive diets, punishing workouts, or obsessing over every bite.
Each episode dives deep into what actually works for lasting fat loss—so you can stop dieting for good, regain control, and feel confident in your body again.
Ready to break free? Hit play and let’s get started.
Never Diet Again with Max Lowery
The #1 Reason Women Over 40 Don’t Succeed at Weight Loss
Why do smart, successful women over 40 feel out of control with food—even after trying every diet, workout, and mindset hack?
In this solo episode, Max Lowery uncovers the real reason so many women stay stuck in the weight loss struggle—and it has nothing to do with food, hormones, or willpower.
Through the powerful concept of the “anti-vision,” Max guides you to confront the internal battles, emotional disconnection, and self-sabotage that keep you stuck.
This episode explores:
- The truth about why change feels so hard (and what to do about it)
- Why minimizing your pain keeps you locked in the same cycle
- How emotional leverage—not another plan—is the key to lasting change
- A raw, real-life “anti-vision” shared by a client (it hits hard)
- How to stop coasting and reclaim the version of you who’s been buried
If you’ve ever felt like you’re living on autopilot, silently suffering behind success, this conversation will shift everything.
Anti-Vision Worksheet:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p01-vP4ytuyRcmbhzJbgHpawZbj5Zw76CUqNU_Om7zk/edit?usp=sharing
Watch my The Cravings & Fat-Burning Masterclass: https://www.neverdietagain.uk/register-podcast
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/max.lowery/
Book a Food Freedom Breakthrough Call: https://calendly.com/maxlowerycoaching/food-freedom-breakthrough-call
In the last 12 years, I've had over 5,000 one-on-one conversations with women over 40 about their weight and in that same time frame, I've actually helped 1,200 women successfully lose weight and keep it off. These women are smart and successful in other areas of their life, but when it comes to their relationship with food and weight loss, they feel stuck and out of control. In today's episode, I'm going to share with you the number one reason that women over 40 stay stuck. What's going to surprise you is that it has nothing to do with food, hormones or the menopause. How do you create a life that allows you to lose weight, eat the foods that you love and sustain the results? Over the last 10 years, I've helped thousands of people do exactly that. I'm Max Lowry. I'm an author, personal trainer and weight loss coach. In this podcast, I'm going to share my top tips and tricks from within my one-on-one coaching program. It's my goal to give you the tools and understanding so that you never diet again. But before I share you what it is, I want to share a story.
Speaker 1:Last week, I had a conversation with a woman in her 50s. She was successful, intelligent, motivated, but stuck in a cycle of emotional eating and self-sabotage. And I asked her a very important question what happens if nothing changes? She paused and then said I won't be here. My health is already a concern. And then she laughed. And that laugh told me everything. It was a defense mechanism, because if she actually felt the weight of that statement, the fear, the regret, the pain, it would be overwhelming. So instead she did what so many other women do she minimized it. She disconnected other women do. She minimized it, she disconnected, she told herself it's not that bad. This is what I see every single day. Women normalize their pain. They tell themselves everyone gains weight in their 40s. It's not that bad. I'll get back on track soon, but here's the truth Change only happens when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the fear of changing. If you disconnect from that pain, if you numb it with busyness, alcohol, food or denial, then the fear of change will always win, which will keep you stuck exactly where you are. This is why so many women struggle for years, because they've learned to cope instead of to change. And there's something else that stops women from changing they disconnect from what's really at stake. Because another question I ask is how will your life improve if you lost the weight for good, never dieted again and finally felt free. And do you know what some of them say? They say not much will change.
Speaker 1:I still have the same job, the same kids and the same partner. But then later on in the conversation they'll also tell me I dread social events because nothing fits. I argue with my partner because I'm so uncomfortable in myself. I snap at my children because I'm running on low confidence and low energy. I haven't been in family photos for years. I avoid the mirror, I avoid intimacy and I avoid putting myself forward at work. And there's me sitting there thinking how can you tell me nothing would change when everything already has?
Speaker 1:Even if the external things in your life don't change, your internal world is already suffering and your internal world affects everything. It's the only thing that you have. That is your reality, your confidence, your energy, your mood. It's how you show up as a partner, a parent and a leader. It's how much joy you let yourself feel. It's how much life you let yourself live.
Speaker 1:There's a quote in Buddhism which emphasizes this point. It says we don't see the world as it is. We see the world as we are. And if the you at the center of your life is depleted, ashamed or stuck in a body that doesn't feel like yours, then this is going to affect everything, and when that shifts, your entire life feels different, even if nothing external has changed. And that's why this work matters. This is why I am so passionate about what I do. This is not just about losing weight. It's about reclaiming your internal world, your mental health, your happiness and your mood. So the number one reason women don't get the results they say they want is because they don't actually want what they say they want. And what I mean by this is that it's essentially a battle going on inside of them, a battle between two versions of themselves. One version wants the change. She wants the freedom from food. She wants confidence, energy and peace. She wants to feel proud of her body and her choices. But the other version is scared. She wants comfort, she wants to stay safe. She wants to avoid change and avoid pain, risk and failure.
Speaker 1:There's a famous parable from Native American wisdom that explains this perfectly. It's called the two wolves. An elder tells his grandson there's a fight going on inside of me. It's a fight between two wolves. One is full of anger, shame, guilt, fear and self-doubt, but the other wolf is full of joy, peace, love, confidence and courage. And the grandson asks which wolf will win? And the elder replies the one you feed.
Speaker 1:So here's what feeding the wrong wolf looks like. It's telling yourself you're fine. Telling yourself it's not that bad, telling yourself this is normal, this is just the menopause. Telling yourself you'll deal with this later. It's avoiding the mirror, avoiding photos, pouring another glass of wine because you've had a hard day. It's distracting yourself with work. It's minimizing what's really going on. But every time you do that, you are feeding the fear, you're reinforcing the version of you that stays stuck. But the good news you can choose differently. You can start feeding the right wolf and when you do, everything changes. This isn't just a nice story. This is actually basic behavioral change science.
Speaker 1:There's a famous motivation experiment with mice that backs this up. Researchers tied a spring around the tail of a mouse. They then placed cheese in front of the mouse something the mouse wanted and desired and the mouse went towards that cheese. They essentially measured the speed and the strength of the mouse. Then, in the second trial, they added the scent of cat urine behind the mouse, something the mouse feared. And what happened when they measured the mouse's speed and strength, it ran faster and pulled three to four times harder because of fear. So pleasure pulls, but pain pushes three to four times harder.
Speaker 1:Most people try to motivate themselves by picturing success the flat stomach, the smaller dress size, the photo where they finally feel proud. But that's not enough, because if you spent years minimizing the pain that you're in and downplaying it, then chasing a better future won't hit hard enough to drive change and, to be honest, most people don't even believe it's possible to achieve great things anyway. Really quick one for me. Guys, I don't run ads on this podcast and I do aim to give you as many high value tips and tricks as I can for free. All I ask in return is that you help me spread the word. That way I can help as many people as I can to never die again. The way to do that is to rate, review and share this podcast. A review will only take 30 seconds, but it would mean the world to me. But, more importantly, it could help change the life of someone else.
Speaker 1:So you need to get emotionally connected to what happens if nothing changes. That's why we give our clients what we call the anti-vision worksheet. It's the future. You don't want to live the version of you five or 10 years from now, who's still stuck in the same cycle. It's not about scaring yourself. It's about being honest with yourself, because pain creates clarity, pain wakes you up, and when you connect deeply to both the pain of staying the same and the vision of the person you want to become, that's when everything changes. It's the emotional leverage you need to break the cycle.
Speaker 1:So I'm going to share a real anti-vision from one of our clients, but before I read this out, I want to give you some context. So we give this exercise to our clients when they start coasting and yes, even with all the support, all the guidance, all our experience and all the accountability, they still coast because that old wolf, the old version of themselves, creeps back in. The one that skips meals, self-sabotages, minimizes and says they deserve this comes back in full force and it has to be stamped out immediately. So we get them to write their anti-vision. It's not enjoyable, it's not easy and it can often be quite emotional, but it's one of the most powerful things that they do with us, because when you're face-to face with the truth of what staying stuck really costs you, you stop messing around. I'll link the worksheet below this episode if you want to do it yourself. So here's an example of what a real anti-vision worksheet sounds like. One of our clients has given us permission to share this anonymously. The first question we ask in the worksheet is what are the consequences in the next three to six months, if nothing changes? What would your life look and feel like? This is what she said.
Speaker 1:In three months I'll still be waking up tired, dragging myself out of bed, staring at a wardrobe of further clothes that don't fit and feeling the same dull sense of shame I feel every single morning. I'll keep skipping breakfast, telling myself I'm being good, but then, binging, by four o'clock, I'll be standing in the kitchen alone eating toast, chocolate, whatever I can find, just to feel something. I'll cancel another dinner, avoid another mirror, buy the same oversized black top again because it hides everything. At work I'll smile, I'll deliver, but inside I feel like a fraud. I avoid presentations. I don't speak up in meetings anymore. I don't want eyes on me. I want to feel invisible because I'm terrified of being seen. At home I'll keep snapping at the children, not because they've done anything wrong, but because I'm running on fumes. I'll argue with my partner again, not about anything real, just the simmering resentment of me not feeling good in my own skin, and the critical inner voice will be louder than ever. You've let yourself go. You said you'd fix this again. You're the problem. I'll go to bed exhausted, promising myself I'll start again on Monday, but of course I never will. Pretty hard hitting.
Speaker 1:The second question we ask is what are the long-term impacts? The next five to 10 years, what's going to happen to your body, mind, relationships and identity? And this is what she said. I'll gain more weight, maybe 10, 20, 30 pounds. My knees will hurt more. My digestion will get worse. My health will suffer. Maybe I'll get diagnosed with something.
Speaker 1:This time. I'll dread and avoid holidays because I can't face being seen in a swimsuit, the anxiety that I would feel having to go to weddings, birthdays or photos. I'll start shrinking from life completely. My daughter will watch me do this to myself. She'll see me avoid food in public but binge at night. She'll learn that love and shame and food are all tangled up, just like I did for my mum. My partner will stop trying to connect. Maybe he already has Intimacy non-existent. I hate how I look, I hate how I feel I don't want to be touched. I'll stop dreaming, stop planning and stop hoping. I'll tell myself it's just getting older, that this is just how it is, but deep down I'll know it didn't have to be this way.
Speaker 1:Next question we ask what's the real cost of continuing like this? What are you sacrificing by staying the same? She said the confidence to show up as myself, the energy to enjoy my own life, the peace of mind that comes from being in control, the memories I won't make with my children because I didn't want to be in a photo, the career opportunities I'll never go for because I don't believe I deserve them. The version of me I was supposed to become. And now I'm becoming a woman I don't even recognize, exhausted, checked out, ashamed, living on autopilot, feeling like a burden to myself and the people that I love.
Speaker 1:And finally, we asked them who else pays the price? And she said my children. They see a mom who doesn't like herself. They see me hiding, apologizing for my body or for my needs and for everything. My partner he gets the leftovers, the resentment, the stress, the distance. He doesn't get the fun, alive, confident version of me. That's because she's gone and I don't know where she went. And if I stay like this, I'll leave a legacy of regret, not because I failed, but because I never truly tried.
Speaker 1:So look, I know this is pretty hard hitting and confronting, but that's exactly the point, because we can't change what we're not willing to face. And most women spend years, even decades, avoiding this truth, minimizing it, normalizing it, telling themselves it's not that bad. But when you finally see the real cost of staying the same, that's when something shifts. That's when change becomes necessary, not optional. It's not just some woo-woo exercise. This is grounded in real behavioral change science. So stop telling yourself it will get better when work slows down or the kids get older. That's the trap. That's how years go by, that's how you wake up one day and don't recognize yourself.
Speaker 1:This isn't about food. It's about your emotional regulation, your mindset and your identity. You don't have to restrict and deprive yourself to do this. You don't have to cut out the foods that you love. You don't have to live in the gym. You can have it all the weight loss, the confidence and the freedom. But it's going to take a different approach, an honest one, one that addresses the root cause of the problem, one that rewires your mindset and identity. This isn't about chasing quick fixes. This is about becoming the version of you who never has to start again. So if you're ready to stop coasting, ready to stop minimizing and ready to finally reclaim your health, your confidence and your life, then complete. The anti-vision worksheet is linked below. If you want an extra layer of accountability, send it to us. Our email address is hello at neverdietagainuk. Thanks for listening today. I'll see you on the next one.