In this week’s episode of Thrive Beyond Size, Michelle takes you to a tiny table in Canmore, Alberta, where a seven-course chef’s tasting menu becomes so much more than “just dinner.” After choosing the vegan “gatherer” menu, she’s guided through each course like a story—learning where the ingredients came from, how the flavors and textures play together, and what each dish is designed to awaken. Somewhere between the foraged mushrooms and a pot pie-level craving for something creamy and warm, Michelle realizes how present she feels: quiet mind, soft body, senses sharpened. From there, she unpacks why our senses aren’t decorative when it comes to eating—they’re biologically woven into digestion, satisfaction, and safety. She breaks down sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste as core parts of attuned eating, explores how diet culture has taught us to fear pleasure, and explains why satisfaction is a biological need, not an indulgence. Finally, she invites you to experiment with one meal this week where you let all five senses guide you, not as a performance, but as a way of coming home to your body.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Michelle’s seven-course tasting menu experience in Canmore and how it unexpectedly woke something up inside her
• How sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste are all biologically tied into digestion and satisfaction
• Why beautifully plated food, enticing smells, and even the clink of cutlery can change how nourished you feel
• The role of texture and temperature in attuned eating (and how “creamy and hot and smooth” led her straight to halibut pot pie)
• How diet culture makes pleasure suspicious and teaches us to distrust foods that taste “too good”
• Why satisfaction is a biological need and how lack of satisfaction fuels feeling out of control around food
• What happens in your body when you shift into “rest and digest” and eat from a place of nervous system safety
• A simple experiment you can try with one meal this week to engage all five senses and notice what softens and what awakens

If you try this five-senses experiment with a meal, Michelle would love to hear how it goes. You can connect with her on Instagram @wayzahealth or by email at [email protected].

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If you’re tired to your bones, craving soup and bread, and wondering why you can’t seem to keep up with… well, anything right now, you’re not alone. In this episode, Michelle shares her own recent crash into winter exhaustion (including a 12-hour sleep after Black Friday) and walks you through what’s actually happening in your body and nervous system at this time of year. She explains how shorter days, less light, and constant holiday demands set the stage for both physical hibernation and emotional burnout—and how diet culture swoops in to sell you control, discipline, and “New Year, New You” just when you’re most vulnerable. Instead of seeing winter as a problem to solve, Michelle offers practical ways to honour your body’s need for rest, comfort, and gentler rhythms, so you can move through this season with more compassion and less self-blame.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

Why winter fatigue is normal, not a moral failing
How reduced daylight affects melatonin, serotonin, circadian rhythms, mood, and motivation—and why your body naturally shifts into energy conservation mode.

Comfort food cravings as protection, not a problem
Why those longings for soups, stews, bread, and “soul food” are your body’s way of seeking warmth, stability, and nervous-system soothing.

The winter + burnout combo that fuels diet culture
How emotional labour, family dynamics, holiday busyness, and end-of-year reflection create peak burnout—and make quick-fix body plans feel extra tempting.

The burnout-to-diet-culture pipeline
Why exhaustion makes us cling to rules, plans, and “resets,” and how to pause and ask: Is this actually care, or is this control?

Gentle structures instead of rigid rules
Ideas for soft “anchor points” like warm breakfasts, a few minutes of daylight, earlier bedtimes, and other rhythms that support you without demanding a full-body transformation.

Getting curious about cravings
How to ask what your cravings are offering—comfort, warmth, connection, pleasure—and ways to meet those needs with food and non-food nourishment.

Letting yourself rest without earning it
A reminder that rest is not a reward for productivity; it’s part of the natural winter rhythm your body is designed for.

Michelle’s personal winter rituals
From Indian takeout and daily baths to a tech-free “cocoon” room with records and candles, Michelle shares how she’s been giving herself permission to slow down and just be.

If you’re craving permission to stop fighting your winter body and start listening to it, this episode is your invitation to exhale. Winter is not a test you’re failing. It’s a season your body is already navigating—with wisdom you can learn to trust.

Connect with Michelle:

Instagram: @wayzahealth

Email: [email protected]

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If you’ve ever looked up and realized it’s 4 p.m. and you haven’t eaten, or found yourself grabbing whatever’s around because you’re exhausted, foggy, and starving, this episode is for you. Michelle shares candidly about her current season of “chaotic eating” — coming home from Morocco, navigating perimenopause, disrupted routines, and a fridge that doesn’t quite match what her body can tolerate anymore. Together, you’ll explore how chaotic eating develops, why it can be so hard to shift out of, and how to gently rebuild regular, intuitive rhythms with food using compassion, structure without control, and small, doable steps.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• What “chaotic eating” is (and what it isn’t)
• How overwork, decision fatigue, travel, and changing seasons quietly disrupt eating patterns
• The role of perimenopause/menopause in shifting appetite, digestion, and food preferences
• Why chaotic eating is not a failure of willpower or a sign you’re “bad” at intuitive eating
• How your body quickly adapts to irregular eating and why that makes hunger/fullness cues harder to hear
• The trap of turning “fixing your eating” into another perfectionist project
• Gentle ways to rebuild rhythm with food (without strict rules or meal plans)
• The idea of “bridge foods” that help you move from chaos to nourishment
• Using predictability and a few go-to meals to reduce decision fatigue
• Simple questions to ask instead of “Am I hungry enough?” when cues feel unreliable
• Eating before you’re hangry as a way to re-train hunger and fullness signals
• Making your environment work for you — creating a home “grab-and-go shelf”
• Letting your eating be imperfect while you navigate a very lifey season

If you’re in a chaotic eating season right now, you are not alone and you’re not doing it wrong — your body is asking for support, steadiness, and gentleness.

Michelle would love to hear your experiences with chaotic eating and how you’re finding your way back to a more attuned relationship with food and your body. Reach out on Instagram or Facebook @wayzahealth, or email [email protected]

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Today, Michelle dives into why she has chosen to remove the words obse and ob*sity from her vocabulary—both as a physician and as a coach—and why she believes it’s time for all of us to question the language we’ve been handed about bodies. Starting from a Facebook scroll that sparked a wave of anger, she unpacks the history behind the term, including insights from Dr. Sabrina Strings’ Fearing the Black Body, the role of BMI in medicalizing body size, and the very real ways weight stigma harms health. Michelle shares how hearing or using this word changes the energy in the room, the systemic discrimination it quietly justifies, and what becomes possible when we let go of pathologizing language and focus instead on actual well-being.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Why the words obse and obsity don’t just describe bodies—they pathologize them
• The racist history of fatphobia and how it shaped our modern “ob*sity epidemic” narrative
• How BMI became the primary definition of “ob*sity” despite being a poor measure of health
• The many ways weight stigma directly harms health, independent of body size
• How the label “ob*se” blames individuals for complex, systemic and biological factors
• The ways this term is used to deny care, justify lower-quality treatment, and exclude people from opportunities
• Why centering weight derails conversations about actual health behaviours, trauma, nervous system regulation, and quality of life
• Alternatives to weight-based labels and how Michelle now talks about bodies in her medical and coaching work
• Reflection questions to help you notice how this word has shaped your view of your own body and others’

If this episode brings up big feelings or “aha” moments for you, Michelle would love to hear from you—and invites you to share this conversation with someone who has been harmed by weight stigma or is wrestling with the language of health.

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In this warm, story-driven episode, Michelle shares how winter soup cravings led her to dust off the cookbooks she once boxed up on a coach’s orders to eliminate all “food porn.” She traces where the term came from, how restriction made food imagery feel dangerous, and what changed when she shifted to body trust. From Moroccan lentil soup to her grandmother’s church recipe books, Michelle makes the case that pleasure isn’t the enemy of health—restriction is—and that food can be inspiration, connection, and care.

You’ll hear about:

• The real origins of the term “food porn” and how diet culture twisted it into a warning label
• Why restriction (physical and mental) supercharges cravings and turns images into “triggers”
• The goal of food neutrality and how it restores genuine choice
• Pleasure as a health practice (hello, rest-and-digest), including the value of visual pleasure
• Reframing food imagery as food art / food joy / food inspiration
• Simple ways to re-engage safely: dust off a cookbook, watch a favorite cooking show, plan one cozy meal
• A personal story about reconnecting with family through old church cookbooks

Reflection prompt:
When you flip through a cookbook or see photos of delicious food, what comes up—curiosity and inspiration, or guilt and anxiety? What’s one small way you could invite food pleasure back in this week?

Stay connected:
Subscribe to Michelle’s newsletter at wayzahealth.com and come say hi on Instagram to share what’s inspiring your winter cooking.

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This week I’m getting honest about the messy middle: the place where body wisdom and mindset stories crash into each other. From returning to studio yoga after a 30-year hiatus (hello, vulnerability) to walking on pre-shift days and lifting with a trainer, I explore how fear, ego, and perfectionism can masquerade as “listening to my body.” I unpack the “chimp brain” vs. true body cues, why validation and avoidance both pull us off-center, and how I’m practicing a kinder, clearer check-in before I move. If you’re learning to balance challenge with care — and effort with ease — this one’s for you.

In this episode:

• A pivotal yoga memory that shaped how I felt in my body — and why I avoided studios for years
• Joining a 6-week yoga “invitation,” taking modifications without shame, and then catching ego on the mat the very next class
• Walking on workdays: when “take it easy” is care… and when it’s fear of discomfort talking
• Strength training with a trainer: trusting coaching cues, distinguishing pain from effort, and letting go of past-me PRs
• The “chimp brain” vs. body wisdom: loud/urgent/emotional signals versus quiet/consistent cues
• Four reflection questions to discern mindset noise from body truth:
• Is this coming from care or from fear?
• Am I trying to prove something or connect?
• What does safety feel like in my body right now?
• If I fully trusted my body, what would I choose?
• Redefining success in movement: alignment over metrics (effort and ease can coexist)
• Rest as nourishment: part of the rhythm, not a failure or a pause you have to “earn”

Try this before you move:
Ask yourself: What energy do I have today? What would feel supportive? What would feel satisfying? How can I honor both effort and ease?

If this episode resonated, share it with a friend who’s learning to listen to her body, too. And for more support with body trust, intuitive movement, and gentle rest, you’ll find resources at wayzahealth.com.

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This week’s episode is an honest reflection on the language of diet culture — and how even the most well-intentioned words can carry hidden judgment. Michelle shares how a listener’s feedback prompted her to look more closely at her own phrasing, unpack the emotions underneath it, and re-examine what “neutral language” really means on the intuitive eating and body trust journey. You’ll walk away with new awareness, practical language swaps, and a reminder that this work is about progress, not perfection.

In this episode:

• How one listener’s email sparked a powerful realization about language and shame
• Why terms like “junk food,” “clean eating,” and “cheat day” reinforce moral judgment
• What it really means when we say we’ve been “good,” “bad,” or are “getting back on track”
• Practical, compassionate alternatives for describing food and body experiences
• How words both reflect and shape our beliefs about health and worth
• A simple three-question pause to bring curiosity and awareness to your language
• Why awareness—not perfection—is the goal when unlearning diet-culture language

If you’re practicing intuitive eating or working to rebuild body trust, this episode will help you choose words that reflect compassion, connection, and care—one gentle sentence at a time.

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Michelle is back from Morocco with sand in her shoes, stories in her heart, and a body that reminded her (loudly!) what it needs. In this reflective episode, she shares the surprising ways travel challenged her progress with food, body image, and self-care—and the simple, grace-filled practices she’s using to land softly back home.

• When growth meets real life: Why stepping out of routine reveals how far you’ve come—and where you’re still tender.
• Joyful movement has limits: 200 km walked, 400 flights of stairs, desert heat, sore feet—and the lesson to plan rest on active trips.
• Food satisfaction matters: Loving the olives and fresh figs, struggling with bread-heavy meals and late dinners, and using gentle nutrition to re-stabilize at home.
• Old fears, new tools: Navigating moments of food scarcity and anxiety in the Sahara with grounding and self-talk.
• Body image in the wild: Feeling jealousy beside a conventionally “perfect” traveler, then touching deep gratitude for a face and body that tell a well-lived story.
• Sleep + perimenopause: “Penance mattresses,” heat, and night sweats—how fatigue can nudge us toward quick-energy foods.
• Water awareness: From hauling bottles in the desert to barely sipping at home—why she’s rebuilding the hydration habit.
• Morning routine = nervous system medicine: The cost of losing meditation, energy work, and slow starts—and how she’s reinstating them.
• Bringing it home: Practical reintegration plans—more soul-walks outdoors (with terrain-smart footwear), winter water time (lane swimming or aquafit), easy joyful meals, a fresh water bottle, and daily gratitude for a body that’s carried so much.

Questions or takeaways from your own travels? Email [email protected] or say hi on Instagram/Facebook @WayzaHealth. If this episode resonated, share it with a friend and leave a review—it helps others find the show.

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This week’s conversation zooms in on what Michelle calls “the myth at the heart of them all”: the belief that control equals peace.

She begins by unpacking why control is so seductive. In a chaotic world, rules around food, body, work, or routines promise certainty, safety, and belonging. But as Michelle illustrates, control is like squeezing water in your hands—the tighter the grip, the more it slips away.

Through stories and science, she explores how this plays out:

• Food rules create pressure, which fuels rebellion and the binge–restrict cycle.
• Rigid movement plans collapse the moment life throws a curveball.
• Hustle culture’s perfect routines crumble under real-world stress, leaving shame and “all-or-nothing” thinking.

Michelle explains the biological and psychological costs: restriction triggers hunger hormones and cravings; stress spikes cortisol and dysregulates mood; autonomy violations ignite inner rebellion. The result? Exhaustion, brittleness, shame, and lost self-trust.

But there’s another way: trust. Michelle shares how shifting from control to trust through intuitive eating and flexible rhythms brought her more stability, joy, and freedom than she ever found in rigid discipline. Trust, she reminds us, is not passivity—it’s active listening and responding with compassion instead of rules.

If this series resonated, make sure you’re subscribed so you won’t miss what’s next. Share this episode with a friend who’s tired of living under rules, and leave a quick rating or review to help others find Thrive Beyond Size.

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Michelle opens by naming the belief so many of us absorbed early: smaller bodies are healthier bodies. She walks through where that belief came from (BMI’s rise to medical dominance in the 1970s, the 1990s “obesity epidemic” framing) and why repetition isn’t truth. BMI was built for population averages, not diagnosis; over time it became a proxy for health that crowded out far more meaningful indicators.

From there, she unpacks the evidence in plain language. Large studies that account for key confounders—cardiorespiratory fitness, nutrition patterns, sleep, socioeconomic status, access to healthcare, and exposure to stigma—show that the apparent link between higher weight and poor health outcomes shrinks or disappears. Michelle discusses meta-analyses, how methodological choices shape conclusions, and why “overweight” ranges often sit at the lowest all-cause mortality risk in U-shaped curves. She also highlights research showing that weight cycling (losing and regaining) is independently harmful, while behaviours like not smoking, moderate alcohol intake, regular movement, and abundant fruit/veg intake improve outcomes regardless of weight.

A major throughline is weight stigma: shorter visits, misattributed symptoms, fewer screenings, delayed diagnoses, and avoidance of care. Stigma drives chronic stress, inflammation, and worse outcomes—and it hurts thinner patients, too, when clinicians assume thin = healthy and fail to screen. Michelle shares stories from the ER and a listener’s letter that shifted her practice away from weight-centric care.

The episode closes with a practical reframe: health is multidimensional—physical, mental, social, spiritual—and no single number (BMI, weight, waist) can capture it. A weight-inclusive approach centres what people can do and access today: nourishment, joyful movement, rest, stress care, connection, and equitable healthcare. Benefits accrue even if the scale never budges.

• How BMI became medicalized—and why it’s a poor stand-in for individual health.
• Why correlation ≠ causation and how confounders change the story on weight and risk.
• Evidence that behaviours and access matter more than body size for long-term outcomes.
• The harms of weight stigma in clinics and beyond (and how it affects all sizes).
• Why intentional weight loss doesn’t produce durable health benefits for most—and how weight cycling increases risk.
• What a weight-inclusive care plan looks like in everyday life.

If this episode helped you rethink health beyond the scale, follow/subscribe so you don’t miss the series finale next week. Share it with a friend who’s felt dismissed in healthcare—and leave a quick rating or review to help others find Thrive Beyond Size.

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