Body-Led By Design

Episode 162: The Math that Never Adds Up


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If you’re a high-achieving woman who has tracked calories, macros, steps, or “done everything right” and still doesn’t feel good in your body, this episode is for you.

In this conversation, I break down why intelligent, capable women stay stuck in the numbers game and why tracking often becomes a way to feel safe, not a solution that creates real change. This episode comes directly from a powerful coaching conversation with a client who realized that knowing what to do isn’t the same as knowing how to take care of herself.

We talk about diet culture’s broken promises, nervous system safety, and what it actually means to feel at home in your body again, especially in midlife. This isn’t about abandoning structure. It’s about moving from control and outsourcing to trust, embodiment, and sustainable self-leadership.


What You’ll Learn in This Episode

  • Why calorie counting, macro tracking, and strict rules feel safe but rarely lead to lasting change
  • The difference between knowing what to do and embodying how to care for yourself
  • How perfectionism and data become tools for nervous system safety
  • Why traditional diet approaches stop working in midlife and perimenopause
  • How outsourcing your body to numbers, scales, and rules erodes trust over time
  • What it looks like to rebuild a reciprocal relationship with your body
  • Why weight loss isn’t the starting point — and never was
  • How nervous system attunement replaces the scale as your primary feedback tool
  • What true freedom in your body actually feels like


Key Takeaways
Tracking isn’t inherently bad. The problem is when tracking becomes a way to override your body instead of listen to it.

Your body isn’t rebelling against you. It’s responding to years of being ignored, rushed, restricted, and overridden.

Real change happens when you stop making food, water, movement, or protocols the priority — and start making yourself the priority.

Trust with your body is built the same way trust is built in any relationship: through consistency, responsiveness, and listening.


Who This Episode Is For

  • Women who feel stuck in cycles of weight gain and loss
  • High-functioning women who are tired of micromanaging their bodies
  • Women over 35 noticing that “healthy habits” don’t work the same anymore
  • Anyone who feels disconnected from their body and wants to feel steady again
  • Entrepreneurs who want their energy, hormones, and nervous system to support their life, not fight it


Resources Mentioned

Midlife Reset Masterclass
A live class for women doing all the “right” things but still not feeling right in their bodies.

Register here:
👉 https://mindfullywell.com/midlife

Work With Me
Learn more about private and group coaching options and schedule a conversation to see if it’s the right fit.
👉 https://mindfullywell.com/work-with-me


Final Thought

You don’t need more rules.
You don’t need more tracking.
You don’t need another protocol telling you what to do.

You need to stop outsourcing your body — and start rebuilding trust with it.

That’s where everything shifts.

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Body-Led By DesignBy Melissa Eich