Pause Nutrition

Pause Nutrition Pause Nutrition is a women's health nutrition consultancy based in Shell Cove, NSW.

The practice is run by specialist dietitian Kara Roberts who helps women through an intuitive eating approach to make sustainable nutrition and lifestyle changes. My passion for empowering women to take control of their health stems from my own personal journey. From struggling with body image as a child to finding confidence through evidence-based nutrition and intuitive eating, I know how powerf

ul the right support can be. Whether it's navigating the complexities of perimenopause, managing a healthier relationship with food, nutrition to support your mental health or more complex support for your metabolic health, I offer personalised, evidence-based support that sees you as the expert of YOUR body.

04/09/2026

When we start to speak in absolutes and certainty in women's health, we fail the women that absorb these messages.

And I've seen the damage first hand:
- Clients coming to me with gut issues due to excessively high protein diets
- Clients with elevated cholesterol levels because they've been told carbs are the enemy and keto diets will solve their problems
- Ladies who feel shame for taking GLP-1s or frustrated that they took them and it's not had the effects they were promised.

Our brains prefer certainty, and the algorithm knows it. That's why we see far more polarized views on these platforms, and it's understandable that people crave simple solutions or distrust medical professionals if they've been stigmatized or had their concerns minimized.

AND that doesn't change the fact that women deserve honest, evidence-based, and compassionate care.

We are complex beings who often require complex, wholistic approaches to finding our best path to health.

Let's stop telling women they need a one size fits all approach. That hormones are 'good'or 'bad', that there's a 'right' way to eat.

Rant over.

I'd love to know: what are you sick of being told you should or shouldn't do to improve your health? And if you have PMDD, what's helped you

02/09/2026

I've stopped regularly posting on Instagram recently and here's what happened:

Nothing.

Except I got about 3-4hrs of my life back every week.

And work is busier than ever.

Here's why I'm not interested in "going viral':

🪝I don't like using 'catchy hooks'
🍇 I can't get across nutrition science or how to treat disordered eating in 3 seconds'

and I sure as sh*t don't lie to people.

What I DO 'sell' is uncomfortable truths:

- Weight loss is hard and requires a lot of work
- Changing your eating requires changing your psychology (because behaviour doesn't change if your beliefs and thinking stay the same)
- Your body may never look the way you want it to and there is both grief and freedom in learning to truly accept that
- Nutrition is nuanced - what works for you won't work for someone else.

The viral influencer gets big throughput (lots of people buy in) but when the inticing offer turns out to be another diet plan in disguise, their clients land right back where they started. Likely feeling like they've failed (again).

When I work with clients, change isn't always fast and it's often messy, but it works. And this is why when women find me, it's usually through a recommendation, not a 'lose your belly fat by eating these 3 foods' bullocks.

I'd still love you to follow and share this so I can reqch more midlife women who want to understand why they feel stuck with their weight or food.
. . Just don't expect a post every day 😉

Taking antibiotics after having my son led to a lot of gut issues for me after having my son. I struggled with constipat...
20/08/2026

Taking antibiotics after having my son led to a lot of gut issues for me after having my son. I struggled with constipated, bloating, and farts that could clear a room.

This is where the algorithm might try and push you a probiotics to 'fix' the problem, but here is what actually works:

1. Dietary fiber diversity
A recent study by Ramkissoon et al (2026)
Showed that prebiotic inulin-type fructans restored microbiome diversity and enhanced butyrate and valerate production (outperforming probiotics which delayed diversity recovery)

2. Fermented foods
Fermented foods introduce live microorganisms, bioactive peptides, and short-chain fatty acids that can transiently modulate the gut microbiome and support barrier function after antibiotic disruption (Leeuwendaal et al 2022; Park et al 2025; Dividing et al 2019)

What have you found helps your gut health after antibiotics?

Follow along for more no BS nutrition advice.

Book a free discovery call to start battling your daily bloat!

This may (or may not) surprise you, but . . . I suck at drinking water. Unless I'm exercising, it just does not appeal t...
11/08/2026

This may (or may not) surprise you, but . . . I suck at drinking water. Unless I'm exercising, it just does not appeal to me and goven im also currently breastfeeding, hydration is currently a part time job for me!

Using my knowledge of behavior change science and habit formation, here is what I'm doing to avoid turning into a dusty prune:

• I Keep glasses of water at locations I frequent around the house (bedside table, bathroom sink, work desk)
• I aim small and try to have regular small glasses (big bottles feel too overwhelming and you get less 'wins')
• I dont just rely on water for fluid intake. I focus on having lots of different fruit and veg as well as other sources of fluid like tea, coffee and fizzy water with fresh lemon or lime.

What do you do to help avoid getting dehydrated?

Follow along for more nutrition info minus the hype.

04/08/2026

Menopause does NOT cause a rapid decline in muscle mass and here is why it's important you know this:

Because the symptoms of menopause and the life stress we are taking on in midlife DOES make it harder to manage weight and weight WILL be preferentially put on around our mid section which can feel deeply uncomfortable.

But believing it's all due to your hormones only takes the power out of your hands.

Here's what the science shows:

- large cohort studies associate menopause with a decline in lean mass BUT recent critical reviews and specific longitudinal analyses argue that the drop is modest, primarily driven by chronological aging or physical inactivity
- some studies have reported no independent, statistically significant total reduction in lean body mass when controlling for lifestyle factors.

- Many studies use dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to measure lean body mass rather than true skeletal muscle mass; lean mass includes water.

- Regular resistance training effectively prevents or reverses muscle tissue decline regardless of menopausal status.

- Adequate dietary protein intake alongside adequate energy intake preserves muscle protein synthesis during midlife.

Share this with your midlife ladies so we can fight the meno nonsense.



26/07/2026

Do you find yourself getting frustrated that you seem to eat a lot in the afternoon or evening?

Do you use negative self-talk like "Why can't I be more disciplined?" Or "I wish I didn't eat so much"?

This is a common pattern I see in my clients and what is commonly the cause has NOTHING to do with willpower or 'greediness' and everything to do with the fact that they simply are not fueling enough earlier in the day.

Share this with your friends or family who use this negative language about themselves. I hope it helps 💜

Hit 'follow' for nutrition advice aimed at women in midlife minus the hype and BS.

12/07/2026

Would you like a free in depth nutrition consultation completely FREE of charge?

No marketing gimmicks attached.

I have a brilliant final year dietetics student on placement with me and I'd love to let her help some of you ladies with my support.

I would sit in on the appointment (can be carried out online or in person in Shell Cove) and still oversee all reccomendations so you get the same care with no expense to you.

If you would like to nab an appointment before they go - send me a DM with what you are looking for support with and I'll get back to you asap.

First come first serve!

Share with a mate who might like to take up this offer too!

10/07/2026

Welcome to my new regular Insta rant: sh*t women are told is true that absolutely is not 🎉

Do you need to skip coffee thing because it will 'wreck your hormones'? NO!!!

Here is what the research actually shows:
- Studies of acute coffee intake show mixed cortisol responses and some short-term insulin effects, but longer-term human data more often show neutral or favorable associations with insulin resistance and adiposity (Gavrieli et al. 2011; MacKenzie et al 2007; Liu et al 2026)

- Caffeinated coffee can raise cortisol acutely in healthy men, but one small trial in healthy women found cortisol fell after black coffee, so the acute cortisol response is mixed (Gavrieli et al. 2011; Yusni 2022)

- Human and animal studies have linked coffee or coffee components with lower fat mass, visceral fat, or adiposity (Alperet et al 2019)

Send this to a friend who is at risk of missing out on their favourite morning brew! ☕️

Follow along for more in my new series dispelling nutrition nonsense directed at women

Face to face dietetic appointments now available at Shell Cove Family Health! 🥳Book via pausenutrition.au (click on 'fac...
03/07/2026

Face to face dietetic appointments now available at Shell Cove Family Health! 🥳

Book via pausenutrition.au (click on 'face to face consults) on my appointments page

02/07/2026

I really mean it when I say I love my job and here's why:

I often help women find the answers to their struggles with food that they weren't even aware they were battling.

- Constant thoughts about food 💭
- Second-guessing whether they should be hungry or not 🤔
- Berating themselves if it wasn't 'healthy' enough - Promising themselves they'll be better tomorrow . . . 🤞

So when a client says 'I'm not thinking about food at all' it creates such a huge shift. The critiquing drops away, and a whole new sense of freedom opens up.

Because freedom with food isn't about having enough willpower, it's not needing it at all.

Want to know how I could support you to quit the diet rollercoaster, get your energy back, and finally feel freedom with food again?

Book a free discovery call at pausenutrition.au 📞

Address

Shellharbour, NSW
2529

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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