Below Her Surface

In this solo episode, Lily explains why understanding your physiology is the missing piece when you’re not seeing results with fat loss or body composition, and why the answer usually isn’t a new diet or another challenge.

This conversation looks at what calorie calculators, wearables and willpower can’t show you. Lily draws on the blood work she reviews in discovery calls to explain how years of dieting, underfuelling and stress can make your metabolism more efficient at storing fat. She also explains why working with your own markers, rather than comparing yourself to anyone else, is what creates results that last.

In this episode, Lily explores:

• Why the calculator gets it wrong: how predictive equations based on height and weight can miss your dieting history and metabolic adaptation• The plateau myth: why a stalled scale can have many causes, including water, glycogen and sodium, rather than a body that’s broken or working against you• Blood work and wearables: what blood work shows over months compared with what wearables show in trends, and why they work best together• Insulin and fat loss: how elevated insulin can influence fat storage and cravings, and why it’s worth considering when setting training intensity• Why high intensity can backfire: how glucose-dependent training can leave you fatigued and stuck in a binge cycle• Thyroid and insulin: why a Hashimoto’s protocol may need to look at insulin alongside thyroid markers• Cortisol, high and low: what a DUTCH test and a blood test each show, their limits, and why low cortisol isn’t a sign you’re “chilled out”• Prolactin: the often-untested hormone linked to your cycle, mood, libido, testosterone and weight• Gaining weight in a deficit: why a deficit on paper may not be a deficit for your physiology, and when eating more is the right move

A body that loses weight but can’t hold it isn’t the result you want. A resilient body is.

Connect with Lily

Instagram: ⁠@lilycook⁠

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Disclaimer

Below Her Surface is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individual medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Any discussion of blood markers, hormone testing, calorie intake or training approaches is general in nature and should be interpreted alongside your full health history by a qualified professional. Always consult your GP or a qualified health professional before changing your nutrition, supplementation, training or medication. This includes changes to medication for thyroid conditions such as Hashimoto’s. If you have a history of disordered eating, please seek support from a qualified professional before starting any nutrition or weight-loss program.

In this solo episode, Lily dives into her own experience with burnout: a debilitating back injury, two weeks of vertigo, months of 4 to 5 hours sleep, and blood work that showed her thyroid and hormones had flatlined.

This conversation pulls back the curtain on what happens when a clinician who builds strategy around physiology ignores her own. Lily connects her experience to what she sees in women who have spent years in a calorie deficit, overtraining and under fuelling, and explains why the answer is smarter, more strategic programming rather than more intensity.

In this episode, Lily explores:

• Burnout as a physiological event: why your hormones down regulate to force recovery, not because your body is working against you
• What her blood work showed: a flatlined hormone panel, a suppressed thyroid and a lengthening cycle driven by under-fuelling and stress
• Calorie deficit = nutrient deficit: why chronic under-eating burns through the minerals your thyroid and hormones depend on
• Strength training after burnout: starting with one full-body session a week, building to two, and using an upper/lower split when injured or fatigued
• Why high intensity is the wrong move: what happens when your blood work says no and you push through anyway
• Supplementation strategy: why low markers like ferritin, vitamin D and iodine need higher starting doses before scaling back, plus the role of magnesium and omega-3s
• Sleep as the non-negotiable: why poor recovery stalls body composition even when training, calories and supplements are on point
• Carbohydrates at night: how evening carbs can help blunt cortisol for sleep, if you don't have an insulin issue
• Chronic dieting as burnout: why 10 to 15 years of dieting is its own form of burnout, and why the first 2 to 3 weeks of doing less is your evidence to keep going

A body built to be resilient is the one that gets you through the hard seasons without undoing your results.

Connect with Lily

Instagram: @lilycook

Apply to work with Lily

Disclaimer

Below Her Surface is for educational and informational purposes only and is not a substitute for individual medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This episode includes Lily's personal experience with burnout, injury and illness. That experience, and any supplements, dosages or training approaches discussed, reflect her individual circumstances and clinical oversight and should not be applied without guidance. Always consult a qualified health professional before changing your nutrition, supplementation, training or medication, and speak to your GP if you are experiencing persistent pain, dizziness, fatigue or symptoms of burnout. If you are struggling with your mental health, please reach out to a trusted professional or a support service in your area.

In this episode of Below Her Surface, Lily sits down with Matilda Brown, co-founder of Good Farm Shop, Australia's first regenerative and organic ready meal delivery service. What started as a Covid-lockdown cow share on her parents' farm has grown into a kitchen in Brookvale producing hand-cooked meals from regeneratively farmed ingredients, delivered to your door.

This conversation pulls back the curtain on where food actually comes from before it reaches your plate and why that starting point matters more than most people realise. Matilda and Lily cut through the packaged food marketing, the $10 meal economics, and the gap between what the wellness space talks about and what ends up in most people's fridges.

In this episode, Lily and Matilda explore:

The three farming systems: what separates industrial, conventional, and regenerative farming, why glyphosate and synthetic fertilisers are the norm, and what no chemical inputs actually means for the food you eat

Soil health and carbon sequestration: why regenerative farming prioritises the ground beneath the animal, and why that has a direct line to the nutrient density of the food

The $10 ready meal problem: why price point is the most honest indicator of ingredient quality, and what has to be compromised to hit it

The cow share origin: how a family farm, a Covid lockdown, and a lot of leftover chuck mince accidentally became a business

The mobile abattoir: how Good Farm Shop bypasses commercial processing and what that means for animal welfare and provenance

From vegan to regenerative: Matilda's personal relationship with food, how seven years of veganism ended with a slow-cooked lamb, and why ethical sourcing was the answer she didn't know existed

Building a food business from scratch: markets, Waitrose inspiration, a Brookvale kitchen, and a team of 13

For the woman who wants to eat well and actually understand where her food comes from.

Find Matilda Brown & The Good Farm Shop:

Website: thegoodfarmshop.com

Instagram: @thegoodfarm.shop

Connect with Lily

Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @lilycook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apply to work with Lily⁠⁠⁠⁠

Clinical Disclaimer:

This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The content shared by Lily Cook and guests reflects general education and personal experience, not a clinical consultation. Always consult a qualified healthcare practitioner before making changes to your health protocol.

This episode contains a personal discussion of disordered eating including restrictive eating and bulimia. If any of this resonates with you or someone you know, support is available.

In this episode of Below Her Surface, Lily sits down with Adrian Adams, naturopath and functional medicine practitioner at Fugen Health, for a return conversation that goes deeper into the clinical mechanisms behind hormonal skin conditions.

This conversation pulls back the curtain on what the skin is actually communicating when it breaks out, holds congestion, or shifts in texture and oiliness. Lily and Adrian move past the topical, the serums, the retinols, the dietary generalisations and go into the specific pathways: how elevated insulin drives androgen output, how a constipated bowel recirculates oestrogen, and why women who have addressed their PCOS markers still find their skin lagging behind.

In this episode, Lily and Adrian explore:

• Skin as an internal report card: why what presents on the surface is always a downstream signal of something systemic, and how to read it

• Hyperinsulinemia and the androgen cascade: how elevated insulin changes cellular output in the ovary, drives testosterone, elevates sebum production, and creates the conditions for cystic acne

• Desquamation dysfunction: why acne is not just an oil problem, how skin cell shedding becomes dysregulated, and what vitamin A deficiency has to do with Roaccutane

• The gut-skin axis: how dysbiosis and constipation create a toxin recirculation loop that worsens insulin resistance and drives androgen excess back through the system

• Foods that dysregulate skin cell turnover: the specific proteins in dairy, gluten, and peanuts that mimic growth factors and accelerate the conditions for blocked pores

• Oestrogen detoxification via the bowel: why fibre, bowel motility, and stool frequency are non-negotiable in hormonal skin clearance

• Women's bowel biology: why women are structurally more prone to constipation, how the premenstrual bowel slowdown compounds the problem, and what to do about it

• Vitamin A supplementation: when high-dose retinol is appropriate, what serum retinol testing looks like, and the two contraindications that matter

For the woman who has been told her skin is hormonal and handed a topical cream. There is a protocol below the surface.

Adrian Adams

Instagram:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠@fugenhealth

Website: ⁠⁠www.fugenhealth.com.au

Connect with Lily

Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ @lilycook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apply to work with Lily⁠⁠⁠

Clinical Disclaimer:

This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The content shared by Lily Cook and guests reflects general education and professional experience, not a clinical consultation. Always consult a qualified healthcare practitioner before making changes to your health protocol, particularly regarding supplementation.

In this episode of Below Her Surface, Lily sits down with Karena Elchaar, lymphatic drainage therapist and beauty therapist, founder of Upfront Glow, to pull apart one of the most misrepresented treatments in the women's wellness space.

This conversation moves beyond the before-and-after aesthetics that dominate lymphatic content online. Lily and Karena cut through the marketing noise, the "get skinny" promises, the deep-pressure myths, the one-treatment fixes and reframe lymphatic drainage for what it actually is: a filtration and immune support system that, when chronically sluggish, shows up as bloating, fluid retention, fatigue, and gut dysfunction. The kind of symptoms women are told are just hormonal, just stress, just how their body is.

In this episode, Lily and Karena explore:

• The lymphatic system as filtration, not aesthetics: why your lymph nodes, vessels, and ducts are doing far more than reducing puffiness, and what happens when the system stalls

• Deep pressure versus true lymphatic drainage: why the lymphatic system is superficial in the body, and why harder pressure is passing straight through it

• The "not regular" gut pattern: why so many women presenting with chronic bloating and constipation are missing the lymphatic piece entirely

• Oestrogen, PCOS, and fluid retention: how excess oestrogen accumulation shows up in the lymphatic system and what to look for

• Movement as a lymphatic pump: why the system has no heart driving it, and which daily movements (walking, rebounding, deep breathing, calf raises) actually shift fluid

• The root cause question: why coming every two weeks without addressing why you're inflamed is a treatment strategy, not a solution

• How to vet a practitioner: why "lymphatic drainage" is unregulated, what qualifications to look for, and the red flags that signal someone's had a two-day course

This episode is for the woman who has tried everything on the surface and is ready to look at what's actually backing her up below it.

Karena Elchaar

Instagram:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@bronteglow⁠

Website: ⁠Bronte Glow⁠

Connect with Lily

Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠ @lilycook⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠Apply to work with Lily⁠⁠

Clinical Disclaimer:

This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The content shared by Lily Cook and guests reflects general education and professional experience, not a clinical consultation. Always consult a qualified healthcare practitioner before making changes to your health protocol.

In this episode of Below Her Surface, Lily sits down with Claire Luckman, accredited Naturopath and Nutritionist with close to a decade in clinical practice, trained under the Metaphysical Wellness model and now working with women online in Australia and internationally.

This conversation cuts through the noise on three of the most mismanaged conditions in women's health. Claire and Lily pull back the curtain on why Hashimoto's keeps getting worse despite clean eating, why PMDD and ADHD are far more tangled than either diagnosis suggests, and why the blanket reach for progesterone, natural or pharmaceutical, can actively make things worse before it makes them better.

In this episode, Lily and Claire explore:

• Hashimoto's and autoimmunity why prevalence is rising, what's actually triggering genetic expression, and why autoimmune thyroid dominates Claire's weekly caseload

• Gluten and thyroid inflammation the molecular reason gluten adds fuel to an active antibody fire, not just the clinical rationale

• Dairy, casein and neuroinflammation how casomorphines drive opioid-like brain responses, and why this matters for ADHD and ASD as much as Hashimoto's

• PMDD and the ADHD crossover the research linking both diagnoses, and why the second half of the cycle can be debilitating when they co-exist

• Serotonin and oestrogen through the cycle why follicular phase feels functional and luteal phase derails, mapped mechanistically

• Oestrogen metabolism vs oestrogen levels why a serum oestrogen result tells you almost nothing about dominance, clearance, or what's driving the imbalance

• DUTCH testing over blood snapshots when hormone metabolite profiling changes clinical strategy entirely, and when it doesn't need to come first

• Fasting, cortisol and thyroid why the intermittent fasting evidence base was built on men, and what it does to women already running on stress hormones

• Advocating within the Medicare system how to ask for thorough testing without antagonising your GP, and why women are still being dismissed in 2026

North star: the most complex cases have a pattern, and it starts with a proper map, not a protocol borrowed from someone else's biology.

Claire Luckman

Instagram:⁠ ⁠⁠@claireluckman_naturopath

Connect with Lily

Instagram:⁠⁠⁠ @lilycook⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠Apply to work with Lily⁠⁠

Disclaimer:

The content shared in this episode is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your diet, supplementation, or health protocol.

In part two of this special series, Lily is rejoined by her mum and clinical naturopath Amanda Haberecht to tackle the second round of community questions, this time focused entirely on the intersection of endometriosis and fertility. Amanda runs Darling Health, a multidisciplinary clinic with a significant endometriosis and fertility caseload, and brings clinical pattern recognition that most women never get access to.

This conversation moves beyond the binary of "endo means infertility" to look at what the data actually says, what specialists disagree on, and which testing pathways shorten a woman's road to answers. Lily and Amanda cut through the noise on surgery, supplementation, oestrogen detoxification, and the mental load of being told everything wrong with you starts and ends with one diagnosis.

In this episode, Lily and Amanda explore:

• The 50% statistic — why half of women presenting to IVF clinics have endometriosis, but only 20 to 30 percent of women with endo will struggle to conceive.
• Why the severity of disease doesn't predict the fertility outcome — and why a woman with widespread endo can have four children while another with stage one struggles for years.
• The seven and a half year diagnosis delay — what's behind it, and why so many women still leave their GP being told "it's just period pain."
• Surgery, IVF, and the specialist tightrope — when laparoscopy helps fertility, when it creates more scar tissue, and how to navigate conflicting advice between an endo surgeon and an IVF doctor.
• AMH and the shorter fertility window — why women with endo should be testing AMH early, what egg freezing decisions look like with this information, and what can actually stabilise the number.
• Omega-3s, NAC, and the supplements with real evidence — including the data on NAC shrinking endometriomas and supporting embryo implantation rates.
• MTHFR, COMT and the oestrogen detox pathway — why every woman with endo who runs a Dutch or endo map test shows blocks, and what that means for protocol design.
• The estrobolome — how the gut and vaginal microbiomes determine how effectively oestrogen is detoxified and cleared.
• When all roads stop leading to endo — why miscarriage, low energy, and conception delays in a woman with endometriosis are sometimes Hashimoto's, methylation issues, or male factor in disguise.

This episode is a grounded, science-led continuation of Part 1, reminding us that an endometriosis diagnosis is the start of the investigation, not the end of the conversation.

Amanda Haberecht

Instagram:⁠ ⁠@darlinghealth_sydney

Connect with Lily

Instagram:⁠⁠ @lilycook⁠⁠

⁠⁠Apply to work with Lily⁠⁠

DisclaimerThe content in this episode is for educational purposes and reflects the clinical experience of the host and guest. It is not a substitute for individualised medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Specific supplements (including NAC and methylated B-vitamins), functional medicine tests (Dutch, endo map, vaginal microbiome panels), and fertility decisions should be discussed with your treating clinician before making any changes.

In this episode of Below Her Surface, Lily sits down with long-time client and friend Ella Iskander: founder of a fast-growing content and marketing agency, and someone who spent the better part of a decade overtraining, undereating, and running on cortisol while her body quietly shut down the systems that matter most.

This conversation moves beyond surface-level wellness and pulls back the curtain on what chronic overtraining and undereating actually does to a woman's hormones and what it takes to reverse it.

In this episode, Lily and Ella explore:

• Not having a cycle and thinking it was fine. Why young women normalise amenorrhoea, when that stopped being okay, and what hitting breaking point actually looked like.
• Fight or flight as a lifestyle. How overtraining, undereating, and chronic stress compounded into a body that couldn't regulate, sleep, or function.
• Twelve years of calorie tracking. What finally broke it, why an overseas trip felt lighter than home, and the relationship between head noise and body composition.
• Why nutrients can't outwork a calorie deficit. The iodine, B12, iron problem: what you're actually doing when you optimise micronutrients on an insufficient base.
• Pre-conception blood work as standard. Why Lily insists on full visibility before conception, and what that process looked like for Ella.
• Pregnancy nutrition myths. What maintenance calories actually look like, why most women aren't hitting them, and why "eating for two" is not the brief.
• Training through pregnancy. Going from five to six sessions a week to four, learning to use rest days, and what recovery actually produces.
• Building a business that moves fast. From corporate media agency to running her own marketing studio and elevated merch label.
• Family and ambition together. Why pregnancy gave Ella more drive, not less, and what she'd say to women who think they have to choose.

The north star: a body that couldn't conceive isn't a broken body. It's one that needed the right protocol, not more willpower.

Ella Iskander

Instagram:⁠ @ella.iskander

Connect with Lily

Instagram:⁠ @lilycook⁠

⁠Apply to work with Lily⁠

Disclaimer:

The content in this episode is for educational purposes and reflects the clinical experience of the host and guest. It is not a substitute for individualised medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified practitioner before making changes to your nutrition, training, or medication.

In this episode of Below Her Surface, Lily sits down with Rachel Godfrey: strength coach, founder of Chase Life Consulting and The House of Onyx, and a clinician's clinician on female fat loss. After 13 years in the industry working with high-achieving women over 35, Rachel's built a model that refuses to treat the body as separate from the woman living in it.

This conversation moves beyond the fitness industry's "track your calories and try harder" template to interrogate why the same traits that made you successful in your career are now sabotaging your body. Lily and Rachel cut through the noise on identity work, the real mechanics of cravings, and why most women are running a short-term tool against a long-term problem.

In this episode, Lily and Rachel explore:

Why fat loss is an identity problem, not a willpower problem. What changes when you lead with who you want to become rather than what you want to lose.

The high-achiever trap. How perfectionism, completion addiction, over-analysing, and people pleasing accelerate your career and then break your body.

The myth of the "perfect" diet plan. Why personalised macro plans are mostly a story women tell themselves and basic principles get the result.

Tracking calories as a short-term tool. When it earns its place, when it stops working, and why using it to manage long-term behaviour creates perfectionism and disordered patterns.

The 3 PM craving rule. Why afternoon cravings aren't an afternoon problem, and how to read them as a 24-hour signal.

Snacking, grazing, and the constant-eating culture. What's actually driving the obsession with eating every two hours.

GLP-1s in clinical practice. Where they help, where they're overused, and what happens when you pair them with real identity work versus when you don't.

Burnout as the body's verdict on your identity. Rachel's own story of mercury toxicity, adrenal dysfunction, and a torn hamstring as the universe's invoice.

Why "size 12 with abs" exposes what women actually want. How conditioning yourself to play small shows up in the goals you're willing to name out loud.

This episode is a grounded look at what happens when a strength coach and a clinician stop being polite about the gap between what the fitness industry promises and what actually produces a lasting body.

Rachel Godfrey

Instagram: @therachelgodfrey

Connect with Lily

Instagram: @lilycook

Apply to work with Lily

Disclaimer:

The content in this episode is for educational purposes and reflects the clinical experience of the host and guest. It is not a substitute for individualised medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult a qualified practitioner before making changes to your nutrition, training, or medication.

In this episode of Below Her Surface, Lily sits down with her former lecturer, sports nutritionist, and naturopath, Kia Sutherland. With decades of experience working with everyone from elite world athletes to teenagers and women navigating perimenopause, Kia brings a wealth of clinical insight into what it truly takes to support a female body under physical stress.

This conversation moves beyond the "quick fix" to explore the intersection of metabolic health, hormones, and high-performance nutrition. Kia and Lily unpack the common traps women fall into - such as chronic under-fuelling (REDs) and the psychological toll of rigid dieting - and offer a refreshing, science-backed approach to eating for both performance and longevity. In this episode, Lily and Kia explore:

In this episode, Lily and Kia explore:

*The Reality of REDs (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) - Why "overtraining" is often just under-fuelling and how to recover a lost cycle without stopping exercise.

*Endurance Nutrition & Troubleshooting - Navigating the "extra 1%" of performance, from sweat rate testing to managing gastrointestinal distress during a marathon.

*Cyclical Dieting vs. Cyclical Training - Why it’s beneficial to loosen nutritional restrictions in the week before your period while maintaining a consistent strength protocol.

*The Perimenopause Shift - How declining oestrogen and progesterone impact sleep, stress management, and insulin sensitivity.

*The Protein Hyper-Focus - Why most women are under-eating protein and how to use it to support glycemic control and muscle maintenance.

*Alcohol & Metabolic Health in your 40s - The physiological reasons why alcohol becomes harder to process during the menopausal transition.

*Muscle Mass as Longevity - Why holding muscle is the number one predictor of living a long, healthy life and why strength training is vital for bone density.

*Individual Body Types & Beauty Standards - Moving away from "one size fits all" body fat percentages and embracing the genetics you were born with.

This episode is a masterclass in female physiology, providing a grounded guide for any woman wanting to feel "badass" in her training while respecting the complex biological signals of her body.