ADHD, Weight Loss and Identity Why Diets Don’t Work

What if the thing you’ve been trying to fix with another diet or supplement was never really about food?In this episode of Even The Dog Has ADHD, Diana talks with Naomi Holbrook, the Unconventional Weight Loss Coach, about ADHD, weight loss, identity, emotional eating, menopause, and why diets so often miss the real pattern.Naomi shares her own story of growing up feeling different, building a successful corporate career while privately struggling, losing five stone, and realising that changing her body did not automatically change the shame, anxiety, or identity underneath.Together, Diana and Naomi explore food noise, alcohol, late-recognised neurodivergence, perimenopause, burnout, and the moment many women reach when “I’ll do it when I have headspace” actually means “I’m scared of what I might find.” This is a conversation about hidden patterns, not willpower.You’ll leave with a gentler reframe: maybe you are not broken, maybe you have been carrying more than anyone could see.Side QuestAnd if you want to know more about the Beguines that I mentioned in this episode, read on.Women in medieval Europe who began forming independent religious communities from around the late 1100s onwards, particularly across what is now Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Germany. They weren’t nuns and they didn’t take permanent vows. Many supported themselves through teaching, nursing, textile work, and writing, and they created an alternative way of living for women outside marriage or convent life.What struck me most is that the movement lasted for CENTURIES.The last known Beguine, Marcella Pattyn in Belgium, only died in 2013 at the age of 92. So this wasn’t some tiny forgotten medieval anomaly; it was a living tradition that survived for over 800 years.If you want to explore more, some good starting points are:UNESCO Beguinages of FlandersEncyclopaedia Britannica — BeguinesThe Beguines is one of the earliest large-scale networks of economically active and intellectually influential women in European history. Take that in.Show Guest: Naomi Holbrook The Unconventional Weight Loss CoachFollow Naomi on InstagramConnect with Naomi on LinkedInCheck Out Naomi’s WorkBuy Naomi’s BookShow Host: Diana V HayesFollow me on InstagramConnect with me on LinkedIn