You're Not Unmotivated: How Compassion Creates the Fuel that Fear Never Could

Why does motivation disappear the moment you need it most? Why does changing your body feel so urgent… and yet so impossible to sustain?

In this episode of Body Like You, Aimee explores the real fuel behind lasting change—and why most of what we’ve been taught about motivation actually works against us. From dieting in a panic to trying to scare ourselves into better health, she breaks down how fear-based motivation (whether rooted in body shame or future health risks) can spark short-term action but almost always burns out.

Drawing on neuroscience, body image work, and personal experience, Aimee explains why your brain treats body changes as a survival threat—and how that wiring keeps you stuck in cycles of urgency, self-criticism, and starting over. She shares how fear once propelled her own health journey, why it helped at first, and why it ultimately wasn’t enough to support lifelong care.

The episode then introduces a radically different approach: using compassion—not punishment—as the engine for sustainable motivation. Aimee offers a powerful reframe for relating to your body—one that doesn’t require self-hatred, panic, or constant discipline—and invites you to experiment with a new way of listening to what your body actually needs.

If you’re exhausted by extremes, frustrated that “knowing better” hasn’t led to change, or wondering what motivation is supposed to feel like when it actually lasts, this episode opens the door to a more humane—and more effective—path forward.