Why Your Glow Up Keeps Failing and How to Make It Stick with Neuroscience-Backed Habits
By Louise Rumball
Let’s talk about that electric midnight glow-up moment. You know the one. You’re lying in bed, scrolling through Pinterest and TikTok. Productivity hacks. “That girl” routines. Morning matcha, 5am workouts, dry brushing, skincare, hot girl walks. You’re high on dopamine and ideas. Your TikTok saved folder is overflowing.
You feel ready. You feel inspired. New routine. New body. New vibe. This time it’s going to stick. Until it doesn’t.
You wake up and try to follow through. Maybe you even get up with that 6.30am alarm. But by midday, or definitely by the evening, you’ve lost momentum. Maybe you grabbed a coffee on an empty stomach, got sucked into scrolling, or reached for the chocolate. Suddenly you're wondering what went wrong. Again.
Here’s the truth. It’s not that you lack willpower. It’s not that you're lazy. It's that your biology had a biochemical reaction to your glow-up plan.
Why Your Body Rejects Your Glow Up
When you try to change too much too fast, even if it’s a positive change, your brain does not register opportunity. It registers threat. A 2008 study published in the Journal of Endocrinological Investigation (Hill et al.) found that big lifestyle changes can spike cortisol, your primary stress hormone, by up to 80 percent. That is a huge physiological response.
Why does this happen? Because your nervous system is designed to associate the unfamiliar with danger. It is a survival mechanism hardwired into your brain. So when you suddenly overhaul your routine, your brain signals, “This is different. Different is dangerous. Abort mission.”
Cortisol spikes. Your HPA axis activates. Your body shifts into fight, flight, freeze, or fawn mode. Your amygdala, the fear center of your brain, hijacks your ability to think clearly. Logical decision-making becomes harder. Dopamine drops. Motivation disappears. And you default back to what feels familiar, even if it is not good for you.
So that glow-up plan that felt so exciting the night before? It doesn't stick, because your body was never fully on board.
The Change Wasn’t Too Big for You. It Was Too Big for Your Biology.
The problem is not your desire to change. You reading this proves that you are ready. But the pace and pressure of the change is what causes your system to shut down.
Your nervous system thrives on small, familiar, consistent shifts. Neuroscientists call this gradual exposure or neural scaffolding. It is the safest way to build long-term habits that your body and brain can actually sustain.
To create real neuroplasticity, which is your brain's ability to rewire itself, you need to lay down new neural pathways that hold new beliefs. Over time, these begin to fire more frequently than the old ones. But this process only works when your body is calm and regulated. You need energy and safety in the system to change.
If cortisol is high or your nervous system is dysregulated, your body focuses only on survival. It cannot tell the difference between your midnight glow-up plan and an actual threat. To your nervous system, both feel like danger.
So What Actually Works?
Small changes. Safe steps. Slower exposure. A regulated nervous system.
Instead of launching into a seven-step glow-up plan, try starting with one manageable daily ritual. Something simple. Repeatable. Emotionally safe. No pressure. No punishment. Just one science-backed habit that your body can absorb.
This is Why I Created Walking Elevations
As someone running three businesses, living between two continents, and raising five animals, I needed a solution that was simple. Something that fit into my day without becoming another task that stressed me out when I didn’t do it.
Walking was easy to fit in. Morning, lunch, or after work. But I wanted it to be more than just movement. I wanted it to create momentum.
Here’s what the science shows:
Walking lowers cortisol, which reduces stress and inflammation
The left-right rhythm stimulates both hemispheres of your brain, a method used in trauma therapies like EMDR
Walking increases BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor), a growth hormone that boosts learning, motivation, and has even been linked to Alzheimer’s prevention
Then I layered in euphoric music, affirmations, and visualization. That’s when the magic happened. Walking became more than doable. It became transformative. I call them Walking Elevations.
If you're already walking or thinking, “I could definitely do that,” come try one. Walking Elevations are 15 to 30 minute audio sessions that blend subconscious rewiring, EMDR-style stimulation, and feel-good music to turn your daily walk into a reset for your mind and body.
You just put your sneakers on, press play, and let me guide you.
Try your first one with a free 7-day trial of Daily Devotion
Louise x
