Hello everyone,
Here we are! 2026 has officially started!
You know I like to talk a lot about behaviour change in January, and this year I am bringing you an interview with Dr Rosie Webster, the person who first taught me about behaviour change in 2021.
PS: The videos I upload here are available as podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or on YouTube. If you prefer reading, I have summarised the conversation below.
If you have PCOS and feel stuck in cycles of motivation, burnout, and starting over, this episode is for you. We break down why common advice doesn’t work, why weight loss is such a frustrating goal, and how behavioural science can help you build habits that actually support your hormones, health, and long-term life. You’ll leave with a clearer way to think about habits, health, and January resets and a framework you can actually apply to your own life. We answer the following:
Why does motivation fade so quickly when we try to change our habits, especially around weight and lifestyle?
Why doesn’t “just trying harder” work when it comes to weight loss and behaviour change?
How should someone approach lifestyle change in a way that’s realistic and sustainable, rather than all-or-nothing?
What role do our environment and daily context play in why weight-related changes feel so hard to stick to?
Why does focusing on weight loss often backfire, and what should people focus on instead?
How can someone use a fresh start (like January) to actually set up changes that last long term?
Rosie has a PhD in Health Psychology and is a behavioural science consultant and health coach, specialising in how people make and sustain health behaviour change. The perfect person to speak to in January, as we are considering making changes to our lifestyle for PCOS.
If you’d like to get even deeper on the topic, Roise is doing a 7-day free email course called Resolutions Reframed. You can sign up here: www.reframehealth.uk/resolutions-reframed. Otherwise, she is also available on Instagram.
Over to Rosie:
Why is everyone starting fresh in January?
There’s a reason January feels like such a decisive “reset” moment, and it isn’t just cultural, it’s psychological. Research on what’s called the fresh start effect shows that when we hit moments that feel like a new beginning (January, a birthday, even a Monday), we get a temporary spike in motivation. It feels like a clean slate. Past mistakes feel further away, and we feel more optimistic about who we can become.
That motivation is real — but it’s also short-lived. The problem isn’t that people feel motivated in January. The problem is that we expect that motivation to carry us indefinitely, without changing anything else around it.
Why do we run out of motivation?
Most people approach lifestyle change by riding that initial motivation high. They decide they’re going to exercise more, eat differently, or completely overhaul their routine — often all at once. What’s usually missing is any real thought about how those changes fit into their actual life, or what happens when motivation drops, which it inevitably does.
From a behavioural science perspective, behaviour isn’t driven by motivation alone. It’s driven by a combination of motivation, capability, and opportunity. If any one of those is missing, change becomes very hard to sustain. This is the COM-B model.
What is the COM-B model and why is it the only way to change behaviour?
Behaviour is driven by Capability, Opportunity, and Motivation.
Capability
Can I realistically do this?
Do I have the knowledge or skills?
Am I mentally overloaded or exhausted?
Do I know how to do this safely?
Sometimes the blocker isn’t laziness — it’s overwhelm.
Opportunity
Does my environment support this?
Is it physically easy to do?
Does my social environment help or hinder me?
Is it convenient, accessible, and realistic?
If something requires constant friction, it’s unlikely to stick.
Motivation
Do I want to do this — not just feel like I should?
“I should do this” is weak motivation
“I want this because it matters to me” is far stronger
When people struggle, it’s rarely because they “lack willpower”. It’s usually because one of these pieces hasn’t been properly thought through.A
An example
Let’s say I want to strength train twice a week.
Capability:
If I don’t know how to lift weights safely, or I feel intimidated, that’s a real barrier.
Opportunity:
If the gym is 20 minutes away, no one I know goes, and it doesn’t fit my schedule — that’s another barrier.
Motivation:
If I’m doing it because my doctor said I should, that motivation will fade.
If I’m doing it because I want to feel strong, independent, and confident as I age — that’s much more powerful.
The key is balancing all three, not forcing one.
Our environment
One thing I think we massively underestimate is how much our environment shapes our behaviour. We live in a world that constantly nudges us towards convenience, food availability, and inactivity. Against that backdrop, we’re often told that our health outcomes are purely about personal responsibility.
When behaviour change doesn’t stick, people tend to blame themselves. But the reality is that many of the forces acting on our behaviour are completely outside our control. Recognising that doesn’t mean giving up — it means being kinder to ourselves and more realistic about what change actually requires.
Rather than asking, “Why can’t I stick to this?”, a more helpful question is, “Given the life and environment I actually have, what’s realistic for me right now?”
Why chasing weight loss usually doesn’t end well
This is where my perspective can sometimes feel uncomfortable, especially for people who’ve been told for years that weight loss is the solution to their health problems.
In most cases, I don’t recommend pursuing weight loss as the primary goal. That’s not because weight never changes — it often does — but because focusing on weight tends to push people into restriction, extremes, and a constant battle with their own body.
When people try to lose weight, they often have to eat less while feeling hungrier, exercise more while feeling more tired, and ignore signals from their body that something isn’t sustainable. Biologically, the body responds by increasing hunger hormones and slowing metabolism, because it’s trying to protect you. That’s why weight loss so often leads to weight regain. It’s not a lack of discipline — it’s physiology.
Instead, I encourage people to focus on behaviours they actually have some control over: how they eat, how they move, how they care for their body day to day. Those changes improve health regardless of whether weight changes, and they’re far more likely to last.
Why All-or-Nothing changes rarely work
Extreme approaches — cutting out entire food groups, rigid rules, dramatic overhauls — can feel appealing because they’re clear. You know exactly what you’re allowed to do and what you’re not. But clarity doesn’t equal sustainability.
What works better, almost every time, is making smaller changes and building on them gradually. Changes that feel good in your body. Changes that don’t require you to constantly fight yourself. Over time, those small shifts add up — not just physically, but in how you relate to your health.
Why change feels so hard
Our brains are designed to rely on habits because habits save energy. Changing behaviour requires conscious effort and self-regulation, and that’s tiring. When that effort runs out, we default back to what’s familiar — not because we’re lazy, but because it’s efficient.
That’s why I often say that when people “fall off the wagon,” it’s because the wagon was never built to last in the first place. The solution isn’t more willpower. It’s better planning, better design, and more compassion.
How to use January in a way that actually helps
January motivation can be incredibly useful — but not if it’s spent trying to do everything at once. I’d much rather see people use that energy to slow down and do the groundwork properly.
That means reflecting on what truly matters to you, what kind of life you want to support, and which behaviours help or hinder that. From there, you can start identifying small, meaningful changes that feel supportive rather than punishing.
It also means making plans that can flex. Life is unpredictable. If one approach doesn’t work on a given day, the goal doesn’t disappear — you just find another way to meet it.
A final thought
Lasting change doesn’t come from forcing yourself into a new identity overnight. It comes from understanding yourself better, designing for the life you actually live, and choosing changes that feel good enough to keep doing.
That’s where real sustainability lives.
Thank you so much to everyone for tuning in.
See you in 2 weeks!
Francesca
