Why Dieting Makes You Tired (and Often Backfires) with Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson
The Energy Blueprint Podcast
Ari Whitten
4.6 • 781 Ratings
🗓️ 8 May 2026
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | But meanwhile, they're storing toxins. |
| 0:02.0 | And that's what these fat cells do, right? |
| 0:05.0 | They store toxins. |
| 0:06.0 | They're the storage dumps, the landfills of the body. |
| 0:10.0 | And so when you lose weight, those fat cells release their fat, |
| 0:14.0 | but they also release toxins into your bloodstream. |
| 0:17.0 | So you've now got this steady stream of toxins coming into your bloodstream, |
| 0:21.9 | and that's exhausting. |
| 0:22.9 | Hey everyone. I am here again with Dr. Susan Pierce Thompson, who is one of my closest friends, |
| 0:30.9 | and it is my pleasure and honor to introduce you to her. So we have a special interview plan for today. It's going to be an interview |
| 0:39.9 | and also kind of a discussion because I asked her to come on to talk about energy, which is |
| 0:45.1 | kind of an unusual thing. Her expertise is really in the realm of weight loss and helping |
| 0:49.7 | people to achieve sustainable weight loss. But she's made a number of really fascinating |
| 0:54.6 | observations around energy fluctuations during the weight loss period and we've had a |
| 1:00.3 | bunch of really fascinating conversations on the subject so I wanted to bring |
| 1:04.0 | her on so that we could have this conversation and just get all this info out |
| 1:07.6 | for everyone so welcome Susan thank you for being here, Ari. Great to be here with you. |
| 1:12.6 | Yeah. So can you just talk a little about your background? |
| 1:16.6 | And, you know, I know that you're a professor in, and you have a PhD and brain |
| 1:21.6 | in cognitive sciences. You've taught a number of different courses in university and colleges. |
| 1:26.6 | And can you just talk a little bit about |
| 1:29.2 | that I mean kind of your educational background and scholarly background and now you're in the realm |
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