BRONWYN’S BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT
One of Australia's Most Popular Podcasts with Hundreds of 5 Star Reviews
Grab your FREE Ebook copy now!
Have you struggled to lose weight and keep it off?
Start your journey to boost metabolism and transform your body into a fat-burning powerhouse.
Episode 269:
Show Notes
In this episode, Dr Mary is joined by special guest Bronwyn, who shares her honest and relatable journey of making health changes in the midst of life’s inevitable challenges. The episode is designed to reassure and support listeners, showing that meaningful health progress is possible even when life is hectic and imperfect.
About Our Guest
Bronwyn began her Real Life Medicine journey in October 2024 after years of yo-yo dieting, perimenopause, and feeling weighed down by over 20 kg. Nine months on, she’s lighter, more energetic, and thriving at 55—riding her bike to work, teaching yoga, and braving cold ocean dips. Her transformation has inspired her family, friends, and colleagues, and she’s deeply grateful for the support of Dr Mary and Dr Lucy.
Key points
- Central topic: Managing health and weight in real, messy life circumstances—especially the quest for work–life balance.
- Story flow: From an honest life update → gentle exploration of mindset and habits → validating the difficulty and sharing practical ways to move forward when life feels overwhelming.
- Atmosphere: Warm, supportive, non-judgemental, and relatable throughout.
- Authenticity: Both Dr Mary and Bronwyn highlight real-life challenges, debunking the myth that you need perfect circumstances or a stable schedule to focus on health.
- Sustainable health habits: Emphasis on small, consistent actions—meal planning, bedtime cues, and basic stress management—that are achievable even in unpredictable times.
- Mindset & compassion: Bronwyn’s story and Dr Mary’s reflections show the importance of self-compassion and realistic expectations. The message is to avoid all-or-nothing thinking, adapt habits to what’s possible today, and embrace imperfection.
- Encouragement, not pressure: The conversation gently celebrates progress in context, showing that a busy life is not a barrier to change.
- Story arc & takeaways: Bronwyn’s narrative is an ongoing journey, not a simple “success story.” Dr Mary encourages listeners to reflect on their own balance, start with manageable habits, and check in regularly. The episode closes with Bronwyn remaining part of the community, signalling continued support rather than a one-off conversation.
Episode 269:
Transcript
Dr Mary Barson (0:04) Hello, my lovely friends. I am Dr Mary Barson.
Dr Lucy Burns (0:09) And I'm Dr Lucy Burns. We are doctors and weight management and metabolic health experts.
Both (0:16) And this is the Real Health and Weight Loss podcast!
Dr Mary Barson (0:21) Welcome, welcome, lovely friend! Dr Mary here, and today I am thrilled to be joined by an inspiring member of our fabulous community, Bronwyn Johnstone. Bronwyn has been with Real Life Medicine for a short while now and has experienced the most wonderful transformation in her health. She started off doing our four-week program, then decided she wanted to dive in a bit more and did our 12-week program, and now she is part of our lovely Momentum membership. Bronwyn has transformed her health in many fantastic ways, and she's going to tell us more about her story today. Bronwyn is on injectable weight loss medications and has found that the combination of appropriate lifestyle changes, the right nutritional advice, combined with those medications, has really amplified their effect. She’s been focusing on the all-important aspects of her health and wellness beyond just what we eat, including stress management and sleep. She has reclaimed her energy and vitality and apparently gets lots of fantastic compliments everywhere she goes, with people telling her that she looks so great. We've got the old Bronwyn back! So, I am thrilled to invite Bronwyn to share her story with us today. Bronwyn, thank you so much for joining us. You are one of our beautiful, valued community members, and I would love it if you could tell our fabulous listeners a bit about yourself and share with us your fabulous, inspiring story.
Bronwyn Johnstone (02:09) Thank you. I am a mum of three — they're grown-up boys now — a wife to a very busy but retired husband, and still working. I work in a fertility clinic as a nurse. So, yeah, life can be a little chaotic and crazy at times, but I'm just trying to get that work-life balance, and yeah.
Dr Mary Barson (02:34) That's elusive, that work-life balance, isn't it? Yes.
Bronwyn Johnstone (02:38) It is, it is. I feel like I'm starting to master it a little bit, but yeah.
Dr Mary Barson (02:44) You and I can chat more after this; you can give me some tips for sure. I would love to know more about your health journey, your weight, what you have done in the past, and what led you to Real Life Medicine because you did our 12-week program recently. I'd just love to know more about your story and the journey that you had because I think your journey is both inspiring and very relatable.
Bronwyn Johnstone (03:15) Thank you. Yeah, well, I didn't really have difficulty with weight when I was younger. I just did what I wanted when I wanted—busy, I was really doing lots of running around on the wards as a nurse. But then maybe a little bit of weight crept on, and there were things like Weight Watchers that you went along to, which, yeah, I'd lose a little bit of weight and then it would come back on. So probably over the years, I've dabbled in a few different things, lost weight, put weight back on—a bit of a yo-yo dieter, actually. And I guess maybe a couple of years ago, I just thought, wow, this has got to a stage where I'm—I don't feel comfortable. I wasn't feeling comfortable in my own skin anymore; I just didn't have any energy. I thought maybe I'm perimenopausal—I'm 55 now—but maybe, you know, it's menopause. But I didn't really feel like getting up and doing much. All my family were active, and yeah, I just felt a little bit despondent, I guess. So I was seeing the GP for some HRT medications, and she suggested trying some injectables, which I did, and yeah, I had some good results. Then things were tricky there, and I wasn't able to get them, and I kind of put weight back on, going back on them. But I just got to a point where things weren't really moving, and I just, by chance, saw that one of my doctors at my clinic posted something on his social media, and it just mentioned the two of you. I thought, oh, that looks interesting—I'll have a little dive in deeper and have a little read. I thought that sounds really good because I have done low-carb before and it's been really beneficial to me. But I think the things that I hadn't really been doing were looking after the other side of my health, you know, looking after that emotional side, and yeah, so that was missing. I've downloaded all your things for the four weeks and had some hypnosis and tried some of those things, and I thought, okay, there's some things changing—that's good. And I thought, okay, let's dive in a bit deeper and do 12 weeks. I was very happy because all of a sudden, where I'd kind of been sitting on my weight just started disappearing. It was very easy, actually—I wasn't finding it difficult. I love food, so I felt like I've still been able to eat a lot of things that I really enjoy eating. I'm a bit of a meaty veggie girl, so yeah, I've never been big on a lot of fruit, but yeah, this just ticks lots of boxes.
Dr Mary Barson (06:03) Fantastic! There was the emotional side of your health and wellness journey that you needed more help with. So, what do you think was holding you back from that emotional mindset point of view? Could you tease that out a little bit more and tell us a little bit more about it?
Bronwyn Johnstone (06:18) I guess when you're looking at the emotional side, it's kind of delving in a little bit deeper, and sometimes you don't really want to go there, you know. It’s getting to some grittier stuff, so that can be hard, you know, when you're starting to look into some of those things and being a bit more honest and being accountable.
Dr Mary Barson (06:40) Yes, yeah, it can, it can. As I say, it can suck a little bit, you know. Our emotional well-being and our emotional health is such a huge piece of the health and wellness puzzle. It's a huge piece of the weight loss puzzle as well. Like, if we were to focus on weight loss, it's enormous because our emotions govern our actions to an enormous degree. Could you maybe talk a little bit more about what shifted for you? It could be emotionally but also physically—what were the changes that you felt before the 12-week program, after the 12-week program, and during? What changed for you? What was helpful?
Bronwyn Johnstone (07:20) What was helpful? I think I was doing a little bit of a lot of things. I was making sure I was getting—I've been having some regular massages and things like that to just, yeah, when work’s really tough, I’m putting that time to myself to look after myself a lot more. I started doing yoga, and I’m now—I now find myself training to be a yoga teacher. Yeah, I never thought I would do that. I'm still nursing, but, you know, I wanted to get in a bit deeper. So, yeah, I think doing some of that, a little bit more mindful practice, and that’s where I really love waking up some and putting one of you yourselves on and listening, not having to think too much, and listening to that when I’m waking up or as I’m going to sleep—that it’s about the hypnosis. Hypnosis, yes, yeah, yeah. I was trying to do some gym, but I was getting really hard, so I’ve just been hopping on my bike actually and riding into work. So I’m outside, I’m getting fresh air, I’m getting exercise. It’s an electric bike, but I still get, you know, half an hour, 40 minutes there and back, switch off, you know, at the end of work. And it’s all those little things that are, I think, adding up. It’s lots of little things. And I’ve stopped beating myself up about stuff. I’m not really worried—like, friends made some beautiful sourdough bread, and it smelled lovely, and I had some, and it was great. I enjoyed it, but that’s okay. It’s not going to be something that I am doing regularly. But I’m also not, you know, probably previously I thought, okay, I’ve got it, that’s it, I stuffed up, that hasn’t worked.
Dr Mary Barson (09:08) Yeah, but now you've got more mindset skills that help you focus on your progress and not necessarily your perfection. And I love that — like, you are focusing on the things that you can control because you’re a nurse. Work is busy, work can often be stressful, and often, particularly — I know about the healthcare world — I’m sure this is the case in so many industries out there, but in the healthcare world, we can't control that external stress. We can't control the demands that are placed on us. We can't control that we have to do more than we can reasonably do with the resources available. We have to sit in that space all the time, and it makes us vulnerable to burnout. But I find — and this is something we teach in the 12 weeks — that if you can focus on what you can control, those little moments can add up to huge changes, and it can be really protective over time.
Bronwyn Johnstone (10:02) Absolutely. And even yesterday, before I went to work, I was just listening to one of the hypnosis sessions, and I had a little focus that, you know, it didn't matter what was going to be happening—it’ll be okay. And that was a really useful way to start the day because it wasn’t the best day—technology issues and stuff—but actually having had that little bit of the mindset in the morning really got me through the day. I didn’t find that my anxiety levels, where I probably normally would be sitting, were there. And, you know, hypnosis and a bit of mindfulness, cycling—I don’t know—I had all my food ready to go, so I didn’t have to worry about that. It was good, you know. I had good things to eat; I wasn’t just kind of grabbing some shitty stuff.
Dr Mary Barson (10:56) Because the shitty stuff is everywhere, isn’t it?
Bronwyn Johnstone (10:57) It is everywhere.
Dr Mary Barson (11:03) Yes. Could you tell us more about how you’ve noticed the changes in how you feel physically as you’ve been on this journey? You did the four-week body rebalance first, then you joined us for our 12-week program earlier in the year, which is amazing, and now you’re one of our beautiful Momentum members. It’s just wonderful to have you. Physically tell us what’s changed in how you feel and how you're sort of moving through life.
Bronwyn Johnstone (11:25) I feel like I'm moving with a lot more ease, even in my physical movement. Things are enjoyable. I feel like I've got a little spring in my step. To me, I was, you know, for a long time, I used to love bushwalking. I hadn’t been doing a lot of it because my knees were really sore—my golf bushwalking—but now I've worked out how much weight I've lost: it's over a 20-kilo pack, and that's a lot of weight to be carrying around. No wonder my knees were sore, no wonder all my joints ached, and it was hard to get around. I've dropped that backpack off, and I'm not carrying it around anymore. It's so good. It's kind of where I think, you know, I kind of keep thinking, “Bronwyn, you've got rid of a whole backpack that you're carrying around.”
Dr Mary Barson (12:13) I love that—you got rid of a whole backpack—absolutely. Having carried a 20-kilo backpack, I absolutely know what you're talking about. Yes, or lugging around my 17-kilo toddler, yeah.
Bronwyn Johnstone (12:27) When you put it down, you feel light—you’re floating. Yeah, that's right, yeah.
Dr Mary Barson (12:33) How about your energy levels? Have you noticed any changes there?
Bronwyn Johnstone (12:36) Uh-huh. Definitely, my energy levels are great. I'm up early in the morning—I’m usually up early in the morning anyway. I've always been an early bird, and I do go to bed quite early as well. We have a group of friends that swim cold and we dip all the way through winter.
Dr Mary Barson (13:00) So good for you.
Bronwyn Johnstone (13:01) Still doing that. Great. I used to, you know, if I grabbed something from the local shop near work—like a chicken burger or something, or a sandwich or whatever—by about three or four o’clock, I would just get in this slump and I couldn’t really focus. I feel a lot more mental clarity now. Even at work, I feel like I’m more efficient with what I’m doing. I’m not kind of going around in circles with things so much. It has had a big impact on so many places for me—physically, emotionally, and mental clarity as well. I find the type of eating I’m doing means I’m a lot clearer. I feel a lot clearer.
Dr Mary Barson (13:49) It’s wonderful that you’ve had all these wonderful changes and you’ve created this beautiful health and wellness pattern for yourself. So, it’s not just stuff that you’ve done with us—it’s stuff that you’re doing on your own. What would be your advice for all the women out there? It’s such a common story: women who are perimenopausal or menopausal, suffering with some weight gain, poor energy, life is busy, life is hard. What would be your advice to these people?
Bronwyn Johnstone (14:22) Out there, just be a bit more gentle on yourself. So, don’t go hard and fast—it can be. I think that’s probably what I’ve done previously, and then it hasn’t worked; I haven’t been able to stick at it. So, be kind, be gentle to yourself. Try some little things, and, you know, little things grow to be bigger things and more and more—it sort of builds up. So, I wasn’t riding my bike, but parking got really expensive, I couldn’t find a car, and oh, this is another option. And now, even when it’s raining and pouring, I’m on my bike.
Dr Mary Barson (14:57) I love it. So, a new habit wired in you.
Bronwyn Johnstone (14:59) it’s definitely a new habit.
Dr Mary Barson (15:00) Yeah, that’s right. But building small is a great way to do it. You start with small habits, small changes, get those wired in, and then you can build, and then you can build, and then you can build. Change is gonna happen faster than you realise.
Bronwyn Johnstone (15:12) Yes, and all of a sudden, there is lots of things that you’re doing this, or there’s always things that I can be improving on and doing, but, you know, there’s still life to be lived. So that might be next week, or, yeah, there’s often things I think I could be doing in another way, but I’m not getting really tough on myself over those things.
Dr Mary Barson (15:32) That is good, that’s beautiful mindset work that I can see there that has happened for you, which is wonderful. Is there anything else you would like to add?
Bronwyn Johnstone (15:41) I would just say, give it a go, and it doesn’t have to be big stuff. Just start off slowly, and then all of a sudden, just look back and might be a little bit amazed at what’s happened.
Dr Mary Barson (15:55) I think that’s such good advice.
Bronwyn Johnstone (15:57) My friends were talking the other day, and they shared with me something they’ve been talking amongst themselves, and they said, “Oh, it’s so beautiful, we’ve got the—you know,” and I hadn’t realised that I disappeared. That was such a beautiful thing to hear. It was like, ah, and friends saying, “Oh, we’re really inspired by you, what you’re doing is so beautiful.”
Dr Mary Barson (16:19) Isn’t that beautiful? Yes, it is. Oh, you should feel so proud and so happy about that. You’re an inspiration to other people, and that’s beautiful. Thank you. Yeah, and I just love your message that it doesn’t have to be hard, you know — it could be stages, one step at a time. I can see you’re getting emotional, and I’m just—fine. So beautiful human, you’ve done so well and you’ve made so many wonderful changes, and it’s still happening for you. Where to from here, do you reckon? Like, what’s next for you?
Bronwyn Johnstone (17:02) There’s probably a little bit more weight that I’d like to shift, but not too much more. I think that’ll just happen. I’m not getting too concerned about it because that’s—and I think I shared with you maybe a couple of weeks ago when we had a little one-on-one—I’d probably like to get off using injectables because there’s probably capacity for me to. So that’s another little—
Dr Mary Barson (17:30) we haven’t really touched on that, have we? How’s that for you? The aspects of what we do with the low-carb real food and the mindset work has worked in synergy with your injectable weight loss medication — like, the two of them have worked together, and that the 12 weeks — right? Has the food, the mindset changes, the wonderful work that you’ve been doing — improved your energy and your vitality, and the weight loss journey has been supported by the medications, but it’s like being a kind of a powerful synergy between the two.
Bronwyn Johnstone (18:03) Yes. And I guess, you know, just to be injecting something into your body—you might not be feeling as hungry, and you maybe not eating as much. But for me, I didn’t have all the other parts to that picture, and I think that was getting the emotional support. I think it’s that whole package that’s really important. We’re whole human beings, and just to be looking at one part of that—which is, you know, if you’re not feeling hungry anymore—that’s just one part of it. There is the whole of us, and yeah, I feel like this program’s really connected me to that a lot more. So, thank you.
Dr Mary Barson (18:47) Oh, you’re welcome. Beautiful human, and I’m so glad you said that because it is. It’s so important that we see ourselves as whole individuals. You know, we’re not just— we’re not just our mental health or our physical health. We live in our whole body, in our whole life, we live in communities. We need to be looking at every single aspect of our being for us to be whole and well, and that’s what you’ve been doing. It’s amazing.
Bronwyn Johnstone (19:14) Thank you.
Dr Mary Barson (19:15) Wonderful, thank you. Thank you so much for sharing your fabulous story, and I can’t wait to see what is next for you, Bronwyn. I can’t wait. I think it’s going to be wonderful.
Dr Lucy Burns (19:30) The information shared on the Real Health and Weight Loss Podcast, including show notes and links, provides general information only. It is not a substitute, nor is it intended to provide individualised medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, nor can it be construed as such. Please consult your doctor for any medical concerns.
