Ep. 562 “It’s Not a Willpower Problem” – Why Women’s Bodies Resist Weight Loss in Midlife with Ashley Koff, RD

Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Menopause, and Science for Women 35+

Cynthia Thurlow

Nutrition, Alternative Health, Life Sciences, Science, Health & Fitness

4.7 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2026

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today, I had the honor of connecting with Ashley Koff. She is a leading voice in personalized nutrition and the founder of the Better Nutrition Program. With over 25 years of experience and the groundbreaking GLP-1 Optimization System to her name, she’s helped redefine how we approach sustainable weight health. In our conversation, we dive into how her book reframes the concept of healthy weight. We explore integrative perspectives on digestive health and GLP-1s, why many women blame themselves when they struggle to lose weight, and how Ashley’s framework helps them remove that self-blame. We also discuss issues surrounding info-besity and the “less is more” approach, natural ways to support appetite regulation and satiety signaling, key areas of digestive health, and the importance of detoxification. Ashley also shares the red flags she sees in women who are undernourishing themselves or over-fasting, things to consider when you want to stop taking GLP-1s, and her opinions on new drug therapies. Join us for today’s thought-provoking and insightful conversation around metabolic health and weight-loss resistance for women in middle age, perimenopause, and menopause. IN THIS EPISODE, YOU WILL LEARN: The interconnection that exists between digestion, hormones, and metabolic signaling How the hormonal fluctuation that occurs in perimenopause disrupts women's digestion What drives satiety? How GLP-1 medications simply amplify, extend, or mimic an existing communication loop within the body rather than creating new pathways Why do women blame themselves when they cannot lose weight? How info-besity blocks the body from doing what it is naturally designed to do Why detoxification is essential for supporting natural digestive and metabolic processes The red flags that indicate undernourishment or over-fasting in women What you need to think about before stopping GLP-1s Bio: Ashley Koff, RD, is the USA Today bestselling author of⁠ Your Best Shot⁠ (HarperOne) and founder of⁠ The Better Nutrition Program⁠ (BNP). An acclaimed weight-health expert and practitioner for more than 25 years, Koff is leading a transformative movement in personalized nutrition, turning “better, not perfect” choices into practical, sustainable strategies that deliver real outcomes. Your Best Shot introduces weight-health hormones (GLP-1, GIP, CCK, PYY) as the regulators of weight health, offering the first-ever assessment of their function and a personalized optimization system—shot or not. A trusted expert featured across major media and a sought-after educator for health professionals, Ashley has been recognized as one of CNN’s Top 100 Health Makers and featured in InStyle as “Hollywood’s Leading Dietitian.” Connect with Cynthia Thurlow Follow on ⁠X⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠ & ⁠LinkedIn⁠ Check out Cynthia’s ⁠website⁠ Submit your questions to ⁠support@cynthiathurlow.com⁠ Join other like-minded women in a supportive, nurturing community:⁠ The Midlife Pause/Cynthia Thurlow⁠ Cynthia’s⁠ Menopause Gut Book⁠ is on presale now! Cynthia’s⁠ Intermittent Fasting Transformation⁠ Book ⁠The Midlife Pause Supplement Line⁠ Connect with Ashley Koff ⁠The Better Nutrition Program⁠ On ⁠Instagram⁠ and⁠ Substack⁠ On other social media: @Ashley Koff

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Everyday Wellness Podcast.
0:04.0	I'm your host, Nurse Practitioner Cynthia Thurlow.
0:07.0	This podcast is designed to educate, empower, and inspire you to achieve your health and wellness goals.
0:13.0	My goal and intent is to provide you with the best content and conversations from leaders in the health and wellness industry each week and impact
0:22.0	over a million lives. Today I had the honor with connecting with friend and colleague
0:32.5	Ashley Koff. She's a leading voice in personalized nutrition and is the founder of the better nutrition
0:38.3	program with over 25 years of experience and the groundbreaking GLP1 optimization system to her name.
0:45.6	She's helped redefine how we approach sustainable lasting weight health. Today we spoke about
0:52.5	how her book reframes weight health is a systems issue rather than a
0:57.4	willpower issue, integrated perspectives on digestive health and GLP-1s, why many women feel
1:04.3	blamed by themselves when weight loss doesn't work, and how her framework helps remove that
1:10.3	self-blame, the issues surrounding
1:12.6	infobesity, and the less is more movement, effective ways to naturally support appetite
1:18.4	regulation and satiety signaling, key areas of digestive health and why detoxification support
1:24.7	is so important, red flags that she sees for women that are undernourishing
1:29.2	their bodies or over fasting. What you need to think about if you are going to stop utilizing
1:36.2	GLP1s. And last but not least, new drug therapies and Ashley's opinions, this is one of these
1:42.8	really insightful, thoughtful conversations around
1:46.0	not only metabolic health, but weight loss resistance and women in perimenopause and menopause.
1:56.3	Ashley, such a pleasure to finally be connected to you. I think we were laughing in the pre-call about the fact that every time I show up in an event, you're there too. So we should be friends. And I'm so glad you're here to be able to spread your expertise and really dive into your new book, your best shot. Thank you so much. And likewise, and I feel like this is the peanut butter to the jelly of your conversation.
2:19.6	You know, I think where you've been and I followed your work and certainly where your new book in April is,
2:24.0	it's just so important for us to understand that the gut isn't an afterthought and that the body's an ecosystem and how hormones work.
	...

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