It’s not your fault — and you are not powerless.

If food noise, craving, grazing, emotional eating, night-time eating or “I’ll just finish it” patterns keep running the show, it does not mean you are weak, broken or lacking willpower.

In Attentive Weight Management, we begin from a different understanding. Many patterns of overeating are learned habits that have been conditioned, reinforced and repeated over time. These patterns may have been shaped by stress, emotion, reward, appetite signals, environment, repetition and the brain’s learned prediction that food will provide relief, comfort, reward or escape. That means these patterns are not character flaws. And because they have been learned, they can also be noticed, understood and gradually updated.

Course curriculum

The AWM Habit Update Program An 8-week live online program to help you understand and begin updating food noise, craving, dopamine drive and automatic eating patterns — without shame, restriction or trying harder. Founding Community Cohort Price: $397 AUD .

  1. Week 1 — When the Habit Has Been Activated

  2. Week 2 — Awareness Before Change

  3. Week 3 — Regulation When Needed

  4. Week 4 — Direct Experience Is the Teacher

  5. Week 5 — Food Noise, Wanting and Dopamine Drive

  6. Week 6 — Expected Versus Actual Outcome

About this course

  • $397.00
  • This special first-round price is available for members of this community as we launch the first live version of the AWM Habit Update Program
  • This course will be held online via Zoom from 7:00pm to 8:30pm
  • Course starts Thursday the 28th of May and runs for 8 consecutive weeks. Concludes Thursday the 16th of July

An overview of your 8 week journey

What the process looks like in more detail:

Week 1 — When the Habit Has Been Activated

You will be introduced to the AWM model and the idea that overeating is often habit-based, not character-based.

We will explore how food noise, craving, grazing, emotional eating, plate-clearing or automatic eating may be signs that a learned habit has been activated.

Mindset shift:
“This is not a character problem.”

Week 2 — Awareness Before Change

You will learn how to notice the habit without immediately trying to stop it.

The aim is not control yet. The aim is recognition.

Mindset shift:
“I can notice the habit.”

Week 3 — Regulation When Needed

You will learn simple regulation practices to help steady the body and nervous system when the urge feels strong.

This may include warm mindfulness, grounding, softening, pursed-lip breathing and settling practices.

Mindset shift:
“I can steady myself when needed.”

Week 4 — Direct Experience Is the Teacher

You will be introduced to mindful eating as a learning exercise, not a performance exercise.

We will explore taste, wanting, liking, satisfaction, fullness, urgency and automaticity.

Mindset shift:
“I can learn from direct experience.”

Week 5 — Food Noise, Wanting and Dopamine Drive

You will learn to distinguish between hunger, wanting, liking, dopamine drive, habit momentum and emotional need.

This week helps you understand why food can feel so compelling, urgent or hard to ignore, even when you are not physically hungry.

Dopamine drive will be introduced as the brain’s learned pull toward food because it predicts relief, reward, comfort or a shift in state.

Mindset shift:
“Food noise and dopamine drive are not personal failures. They may be signs that a learned reward pattern has been activated.”

Week 6 — Expected Versus Actual Outcome

This is the heart of habit updating.

You will learn to ask:

“What did the habit promise me?”
“What actually happened?”

This reflection helps you begin to see the difference between what the habit predicts and what the experience actually delivers.

Mindset shift:
“I can learn from what actually happens.”

Week 7 — Updating the Pattern

You will begin designing small experiments that help create new learning.

These may include pausing before eating, eating with attention, stopping and checking, reflecting after eating, or returning after a messy moment.

Mindset shift:
“I can practise new learning experiences.”

Week 8 — Self-Agency and Continuing Practice

We will consolidate the method and help you create a continuing practice plan.

The final message is:

“It’s not my fault that this pattern was learned — and I am not powerless. I can notice. I can steady. I can learn. I can update the pattern.”

Mindset shift:
“I can continue with self-agency.”



What's Included?

  • 8 weekly live online sessions

    Each session runs for 90 minutes and includes:

    A: a short settling or mindfulness practice B: clear teaching on the week’s topic, C: guided reflection or experiential practice D: discussion and integration, E: one small home practice for the week.

  • A practical AWM learning pathway

    Each week builds on the last so you are not overwhelmed with information.

    You are guided step by step through a repeatable method. The aim is not perfection. The aim is learning.

  • Founding cohort participation

    $300 value

    As part of this first live community cohort, you will also have the opportunity to provide feedback and help shape the future version of the program. This founding price recognises that you are helping refine the first live version of the AWM Habit Update Program before it is offered more widely. Future courses will range from $697 - $997. You will also be learning alongside others who may also be tired of blaming themselves and ready for a kinder, more effective way to understand eating behaviour.

Who this program is for:

This program may be suitable for you if you:

  • experience food noise or repeated thoughts about food,

  • experience dopamine drive — that urgent pull toward food, even when you are not physically hungry,

  • eat for comfort, relief, reward or escape,

  • keep trying to control your eating but feel exhausted by the effort,

  • feel shame, frustration or confusion around your eating patterns,

  • want a non-restrictive, compassionate and practical way forward,

What makes this different?

What makes this different?

Most people have been taught to respond to overeating with more control.

Try harder.
Be stricter.
Start again Monday.
Remove the food.
Follow the plan.
Be more disciplined.

AWM takes a different approach.

Instead of treating craving, food noise, dopamine drive or overeating as signs of failure, AWM helps you recognise them as possible signs that a learned eating habit has been activated.

From there, you learn to pause, steady yourself if needed, pay attention to what is actually happening, and reflect on what the habit promised versus what actually occurred.

This turns eating moments into learning moments.

Over time, repeated learning experiences can help old patterns begin to update.

What you are really investing in.

You are not simply paying for 8 weekly sessions.

You are investing in a new way of understanding and working with the eating patterns that have felt confusing, frustrating or automatic. You will learn a repeatable method that you can continue using beyond the program: 1: Notice the habit. 2: Steady if needed. 3: Pay attention with curiosity and non-judgement. 4: Reflect on what actually happened. 5: Practise again. 6: Rebuild self-agency. This is how old patterns begin to update — not through shame or restriction, but through repeated learning experiences.

A note from Dr Lyn

For many people, the most painful part of overeating is not only the eating itself. It is the belief that they should know better, try harder or be more disciplined. The AWM Habit Update Program begins from a different understanding. It’s not your fault that these patterns were learned. Food noise, craving, dopamine drive and automatic eating may be signs that an old eating habit has been activated. These moments are not evidence that you are broken. They may be the beginning of awareness. This program will help you practise noticing, steadying, learning from direct experience and gently updating the pattern over time. You do not need to do this perfectly. You simply need to begin noticing with warmth, curiosity and care.

Dr Lyn McCormack

Dr Lyn cares deeply about helping her clients navigate the confusion around weight management. She holds the title of Dr because she completed a PhD program that investigated the relationship between an individual’s predisposition to eat uncontrollably and their capacity to change their behaviour. www.drlynmccormack.com

Join the Founding Community Cohort

If you are ready to stop blaming yourself and begin understanding the eating patterns that keep running the show, I warmly invite you to join the first live community cohort of the AWM Habit Update Program. Enrol now and begin learning a new way forward.