In a culture where women are constantly told to be smaller, quieter, and “not too much”, Suzie Petropoulos is giving them permission to take up space, eat well, lift heavy, and enjoy every bite.

“I want women to enjoy food again,” she says. “And I want them to know it’s not about being skinny. It’s about feeling good in your skin and loving how you got there.”

“I used to have a meltdown every time I picked out an outfit,” Suzie admits, her candour cutting through like a breath of fresh air.

“Now I’m 10 kilos lighter, I work out just two to three times a week, and I still enjoy chocolate and ice cream every night.”

It’s the kind of transformation that feels too good to be true. But for Suzie, it’s not a dream. It’s the foundation of Databite, the coaching business she co-founded with her partner to help women lose weight without losing their joy, sanity, or cultural identity.

A qualified nutritionist and former primary school teacher, she’s also someone who’s lived through the frustration of doing “all the right things” and still not getting results.

“I tried keto, HIIT, intermittent fasting… nothing was sustainable,” she recalls. “It wasn’t until I stopped punishing my body and started understanding it that everything changed.”

Growing up in a Greek household, food wasn’t just nourishment for Petropoulos. It was love, ritual, and celebration.

“Both my parents were born in Greece. My dad in Peristeri, Athens, and my mum in Serres,” Suzie tells Neos Kosmos.

“Until my Yiayia passed in 2019, she lived with us. I still remember coming home from school and seeing her rolling out pita dough on the kitchen bench with that rhythmic patience only a Greek grandmother has.”

But like many women from Mediterranean families, Suzie also inherited something less joyful, the unspoken pressure to “look a certain way.”

“There’s so much generosity in our culture, but also a lot of body image pressure. I saw the fad diets, the shame around eating carbs, the fear of gaining weight. It’s not always spoken but it’s there. And it sticks.”

Data over deprivation

That tension between cultural richness and modern body ideals is exactly what Suzie and her partner Rich set out to solve when they launched Databite, a nutrition and lifestyle coaching program rooted in “metabolic mastery,” not restriction.

Rather than pushing calorie-counting apps or bootcamps, Petropoulos and her partner want to teach women how to fuel their bodies, understand their hormones, and stop fearing food.

“Most diets don’t consider female biology,” Suzie explains.

“We do. We look at the data, hormone cycles, stress response, energy needs and we teach women how to eat in a way that supports them long term.”

That means no cutting out carbs. No guilt for enjoying dessert. And no pressure to be at the gym every day.

“Consistency beats intensity,” she says. “Three workouts a week is enough if your nutrition is dialled in.”

From teacher to coach

Suzie’s background wasn’t always in health. She spent years as a primary school teacher before making the leap.

“I loved teaching,” she says. “But I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was meant to help people in a different way.”

It was meeting her now-husband and long-time coach Rich, that sparked the transition.

“He introduced me to the science behind sustainable results. I realised I’d been giving 110 per cent effort in all the wrong places.”

Suzie started coaching friends for free, just to prove to herself she could get results. She did, and started sharing those transformations on social media.

“We were working after hours, scraping rent, tutoring kids online… and then six months later, we both quit our jobs and went all-in on Databite.”

“Looking back, it was the best decision we’ve ever made, though I did cry most days in the beginning,” she laughs.

“You are best equipped to help the person you once were.”

At the heart of Suzie’s approach is deep compassion, forged through her own struggle with binge/restrict cycles and the confusion of doing everything “right” and seeing nothing change.

“I’d wake up every morning telling myself ‘Today I’ll be good’ and end the day feeling like I failed.”

After a lot of trial and error, she realised that it wasn’t willpower she lacked, it was education.

“That’s what’s missing in mainstream fitness,” she says. “It’s all ‘calories in vs calories out’ but no one teaches women how to work with their bodies, their hormones, their lives.”

Databite combines science with psychology. Each client gets a personalised macro plan, habit tracking support, and weekly coaching calls that focus on mindset, food literacy, and emotional resilience.

“Weight loss is never just about the food,” Suzie says. “It’s about what we believe we’re worth.”

Greek roots, modern twists

Suzie doesn’t believe you should have to choose between your culture and your health. In fact, she argues that Greek food when embraced wisely is a perfect foundation for metabolic health.

“Greek cuisine is naturally built around lean proteins, herbs, fibre, good fats. You don’t have to give up the food you love. You just have to understand it.”

Her Instagram is full of reimagined classics: low-carb spanakopita, high-protein tzatziki bowls, macro-friendly souvlaki with lemony chicken thigh and fibre-rich wraps.

“I still love a good baklava,” she says. “But now I balance it. And I teach others to do the same.”

She hopes to release a Greek-inspired recipe ebook soon based on “village-style flavours that love your metabolism back.”

Her top three pantry staples? Oregano, olive oil and feta. “We put rigani on everything in this house!”

Mindset over motivation

For Suzie, no transformation is sustainable without mindset work. Especially for women juggling careers, children, and the pressure to “have it all together.”

“If you don’t believe you can succeed, you’ll sabotage before you even begin,” she says.

“So many women come to us saying, ‘Maybe I can lose 3kg… but I’ll never feel good again.’ We help them challenge that story.”

“You can acknowledge that it’s harder for you, whether because you have more stress, less time, a different body… and still ask, ‘What can I do with what I’ve got?'”

That shift, from self-blame to self-leadership, is what she says creates the “magic.”

Real women, real results

Over 1,200 Australian women have worked with her, many losing between 5 to 30kg, but the real transformations go beyond the scale.

“We’ve had mums step back into the photo after years of hiding,” Suzie says.

“We’ve helped women get off medication, rebuild confidence, and pass healthy habits on to their kids.”

One Greek-Australian client told Suzie she’d be amazed if she could lose even 3kg after decades of failure.

“She lost that in two weeks,” Suzie smiles. “Then went on to lose 13kg and she’s kept it off while still enjoying her culture and family meals.”

That’s what Suzie calls “generational health”. Teaching one woman how to love her body, and watching that ripple out to her daughters, siblings, community.

Reclaiming joy, food, and self-trust with easy, healthy recipes

1. Chicken souvlaki

Ingredients:

– 5ml olive oil

– 150g chicken thigh (fat trimmed)

– 200g low-carb potato

– 50g tomato/lettuce/red onion

– 40g tzatziki

– Souvlaki wrap (use Greek brand 65g ones)

– What makes this dish is a very generous seasoning of paprika, garlic powder, oregano and salt. Rub that seasoning into the chicken well.

Method:

1. Prep the chicken – trim all visible fat, season, rub and cook in pan or air fryer until golden and cooked through.

2. Peel and slice potatoes. Lightly spray with olive oil and season with salt. Airfry until golden and crisp.

3. Prep tomato, onion and lettuce whilst everything is cooking

4. Warm the pita in a pan

5. Assemble the souvlaki and enjoy. You’ll have some extra chips and chicken on the side.

Yoghurt and raspberry sweet bowl

“This entire dessert bowl is only 242 calories. High protein, sweet and actually satisfying, unlike a calorie dense dessert you only get two bites of… leaving you hungrier!” says Suzie.

“It’s perfect for satisfying sweet cravings without blowing your deficit. I eat this at night every week while dieting… truuuuusttt(sic) me, it hits the spot. Also, relax – dessert in supposed to contain sugar. When eating a very healthy, balanced diet sugar ca come in, in moderation.”

Ingredients:

– Raspberry lite jelly (200g)

– Vanilla protein yoghurt (160g)

– Custard (100g)

– One meringue nest (10g)

Cals: 242. Macros: P 20g | F 3.8g | C 30g

Method:

1. Make the jelly with filtered water, let it set in the fridge

2. Add the vanilla protein yoghurt on top of the set jelly, as a layer with a spoon

3. Add the custard on top of the yoghurt layer

4. Break the meringue nest and use some crumbs on top

5. Garnish with fresh raspberries

Baklava protein bites

Walnuts, cinnamon, honey, and oats with whey protein

Zucchini fritters with feta

Baked instead of fried, high in fibre and flavour

Avgolemono soup with quinoa

A twist on tradition for stable blood sugar

Greek yogurt tiramisu

Layers of cocoa, coffee, and cream