Most people think weight loss is simple: eat less, move more, push through the fatigue.

But what if that approach is exactly why so many diets fail?

Today, I'm joined by Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson, a PhD in brain and cognitive sciences who studies the neuroscience of eating behavior and long-term weight loss. According to Dr. Susan, fatigue during dieting is a short-term feeling that should ease over time…with the right approach.

When you cut calories, your body doesn't just burn fat and carry on. It responds. Metabolism slows, energy drops, and hormones shift in ways that are normal but may make you feel tired.

However, Dr. Susan's work challenges the idea that dieting has to mean constant hunger and fatigue. According to her data, hunger actually drops to very low levels when the right strategy is in place.

Her approach is different. She believes sustainable results don't come from pushing harder. They come from working with your biology in ways that reduce fatigue, stabilize appetite, and support long-term adherence.

In this episode, Dr. Susan and I break down why dieting so often leads to rebound weight gain and what to do instead.

(This episode was initially released in May 2017)

Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar taught the most popular course ever at Harvard and is one of the world's top happiness experts. He defines happiness not as temporary pleasure (like going to the beach or eating ice cream), but as "whole person well-being," captured in his SPIRE framework: Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Relational, and Emotional.

One of the most powerful studies Dr. Ben-Shahar shares is about janitors, nurses, and doctors working in the same hospitals doing identical work…yet some saw their work as a "job" (something they had to do for a paycheck), others as a "career" (focused on climbing the organizational hierarchy), and others as a "calling" (meaningful work that matters). The janitors who saw their work as facilitating patient healing were happier and performed better than doctors who saw their work as just a job.

Surprisingly, research shows there is NO connection between IQ and happiness. But there IS a strong connection between using your intelligence (being curious, asking questions, and lifelong learning) and happiness. Curious people are not just happier and more successful, they also live longer!

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Alan Christianson, a board-certified naturopathic endocrinologist and the founding president of the Endocrine Association of Naturopathic Physicians and the American College of Thyroidology. We'll discuss his new book, the Hormone Healing Cookbook, and specific foods for resolving pesky symptoms driven by hormonal changes in midlife.