Thrive Beyond Size

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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Michelle starts by naming the experience so many listeners know well: the panicky, out-of-control feeling around “forbidden” foods that seems to prove you’re an addict. She traces where that story came from—the early 2000s brain-scan headlines—and why “lights up the reward pathways” doesn’t equal addiction (music, hugs, laughter, and puppy greetings light them up, too). From there, she walks through what the evidence does show:

• Dopamine ≠ addiction: Dopamine is about motivation and learning (“That was satisfying; remember that”), not proof of a hijacked brain. Drug-induced dopamine spikes are extreme and rewiring; food-related responses are moderate and self-limiting.
• What the rat studies actually found: Binge-like behavior appears when access to sugar is restricted and then reintroduced; with free access, intake levels out. In humans, dieting and moralizing foods replicate this deprivation-binge pattern.
• Addiction criteria don’t fit food: Medical addiction involves tolerance, withdrawal syndromes, persistent use despite harm, and inability to cut down. Systematic reviews report that foods don’t meet those criteria. Food is also essential—abstinence-based models don’t translate.

Michelle then maps the very human reasons it feels like addiction:

• Restriction & deprivation (physical and mental) create scarcity, obsession, and urgency.
• Emotional reliance on food as a primary coping tool can look compulsive—but it’s coping, not character failure.
• Learned urgency/“last-supper” eating when a food is allowed only during a “slip.”

She also names the harm of the addiction label: added shame, escalation to stricter restriction (which worsens the cycle), and attention pulled away from the real drivers—diet mentality, unmet needs, and nervous-system dysregulation.

From there, the episode offers a compassionate, evidence-aligned path forward:

• Lift the ban with unconditional permission to eat (expect an initial “pendulum swing”; it settles as scarcity fades).
• Practice food neutrality (take the moral charge out of foods).
• Pursue satisfaction so you can actually register “enough.”
• Support your nervous system (capacity first; choice follows).
• Add coping tools beyond food (connection, creativity, movement, rest).
• Reframe the story: from “I’m addicted” to “Restriction is making me feel out of control; my body is protecting me.”

If this episode helped, follow/subscribe so you don’t miss the rest of the series. Share it with a friend who’s stuck in the “sugar is my addiction” loop, and leave a quick review—it helps more people find Thrive Beyond Size.

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Today’s episode kicks off a four-week series Michelle recorded before heading to Morocco—so your feed stays nourished while she’s away. She starts by naming a trap many of us fell into this month: believing that if we just grit our teeth and push harder, everything will fall into place. That belief is intoxicating because it promises control, but in practice it leaves us exhausted, irritable, and convinced the problem is our character—rather than our capacity.

We zoom out to the bigger picture: how diet culture, fitness culture, and hustle culture all glorify discipline. Michelle shares how this showed up for her (from “no eating after 7 p.m.” to six-day workout rules) and how the inevitable pendulum swing—restriction, then rebellion—fed shame and eroded confidence beyond food into work, relationships, and daily life.

From there, she breaks down the science in plain language. Willpower functions like a battery: decisions, stress, and energy output drain it across the day, which is why 9 p.m. cookies feel harder to navigate than 9 a.m. ones. More importantly, when your nervous system is in survival mode (hello, big emotions, illness, or an ER shift full of high-stakes calls), your “chimp brain” is focused on keeping you alive, not on helping you stick to a plan. Trying to muscle through from that state isn’t a character flaw—it’s biology working exactly as designed.

The middle of the episode gets wonderfully practical. Michelle contrasts rigid rules with living rhythms—sleep, meals, movement—that bend without breaking. She shares how choosing “audio only” last week (skipping the usual YouTube/blog/Substack blitz) honoured her capacity and kept the podcast streak alive. You’ll also hear how she and Rob set up systems and a supportive environment (like regular fridge/pantry resets) so the path of least resistance becomes the nourishing one.

We close with five shifts to try this week, framed as invitations rather than prescriptions: meet yourself with compassionate curiosity (“What’s making this hard right now?”), tend your nervous system before you task-master yourself, build flexible rhythms instead of brittle rules, let your environment do the heavy lifting, and practise self-trust—listening in and responding—so behaviour change feels collaborative, not combative.

• Why “just try harder” is a broken strategy for long-term change, even when it briefly “works.”
• How decision fatigue and stress physiology deplete willpower across the day.
• Why your brain prioritizes safety over discipline when you’re overwhelmed—and how to work with that, not against it.
• The difference between rules and rhythms, and how rhythms reduce all-or-nothing thinking.
• Five concrete ways to replace willpower with trust-based support.

Part 2 (Ep. 223): The Myth of Food Addiction — a science-grounded rethink of why certain foods feel so charged.

Part 3 (Ep. 224): The Myth that Thin = Healthy — what the evidence actually shows, and how stigma harms health.

Part 4 (Ep. 225): The Myth of Control — why gripping tighter creates rebellion, and what trust makes possible.

Michelle references her “chimp brain” shorthand for the survival-focused part of the brain and the idea of willpower as a finite battery—both used here as accessible metaphors to explain stress physiology and decision fatigue.

Programs & support from Michelle: Nourish Yourself: Body+Mind

If this episode helped you rethink willpower, follow/subscribe so you don’t miss the rest of the series. Share it with a friend who’s stuck in the “try harder” loop, and if you have a minute, leave a quick rating or review—it helps more people find Thrive Beyond Size.

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September arrives with crisp air, new planners, and the quiet promise of a fresh start. But for many of us, that “reset” can quickly morph into all-or-nothing rules, shame, and overwhelm. In this candid episode, Michelle shares how she slid into the September Reset trap after a joyful, fulfilling summer—and how a quarterly planning day helped her course-correct back to care, not control.

You’ll hear:

• A personal story about swapping a summer of fulfilment for an overloaded September to-do list—and what snapped her out of it
• Why the reset mindset is so tempting (hello, back-to-school conditioning + fall marketing)
• How diet culture disguises control as discipline and “getting back on track”
• The real cost of resets: shame cycles, rigidity, ignoring your body’s cues
• A gentler approach: recalibration and rhythm
• The morning question: “What do I need to be happy today?”
• Examples that feel like care (earlier bedtimes, simple soups, evening walks) rather than rules
• Moving from starting over to honouring what you’ve already built

If this episode resonated, share it with a friend who’s feeling the September pressure.

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September is here, and while Michelle may be nursing the last of a cold, she couldn’t wait to hop on the mic and give you a look at what’s ahead for the fall and beyond.

Here’s what’s coming up inside Wayza Health:

The Nourished & Free Giveaway (Sept 15 – Oct 10): 25 incredible contributors in the anti-diet and weight-inclusive space have come together to offer free gifts—from intuitive eating resources to joyful movement guides, from style and photography coaching to parenting support. Everyone who participates also gets Michelle’s brand-new course, The Self-Trust Lab, completely free.

Trauma Release Practicum: In October, Michelle will be taking on free practice clients as part of her trauma release training—a chance to explore how unresolved memories and emotions may be holding you back.

Nervous System & Stress Work: Building on the Self-Trust Lab, Michelle will begin offering one-on-one and group support for stress regulation, helping you move out of fight/flight/freeze and into a place where body trust and intuitive eating can thrive.

Future Courses (2026 and beyond):

A self-paced stress course

A perimenopause & menopause course

An intuitive eating approach to type 2 diabetes

Body Trust Certification & Workshops: Michelle is now a certified Body Trust Practitioner! She’ll be offering in-depth workshops and retreats in the new year to help others experience the same transformation she has.

Monthly Workshops (starting late fall): Covering a wide range of topics including emotions, stress, perimenopause, chronic illness, and navigating diet culture in the age of GLP-1 medications.

And of course, throughout it all, Michelle will continue supporting students in her signature course, Nourish Yourself: Body + Mind.

✨ Stay connected by signing up for Michelle’s newsletter at wayzahealth.com, and don’t miss your chance to join the Nourished & Free Giveaway launching September 15th!

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This week, I share a story from a girls’ weekend in Winnipeg that turned into a life lesson. On one of the hottest days—over 32°C—my two med-school besties and I tackled a 10-hectare corn maze themed around Manitoba musicians. Fun quickly became frustration: dead ends, wrong turns, backtracking, and blazing sun. Eventually we found a corner and walked the outer perimeter to exit. It wasn’t giving up. It was acknowledging our limits and choosing what mattered: connection, joy, and the rest of our day—like making time for that field of sunflowers (soul medicine!) and the Nordic-spa evening we’d planned.

Inside the maze was the metaphor: not every obstacle requires pushing harder. Sometimes the wise move is to pause, get the bigger picture (hello, overlook platform we skipped!), pivot, and redirect your energy to what you value most.

• Persevere vs. pivot: The difference between “quitting” and choosing wisely.
• Obstacles as teachers: Why detours and dead ends are built into growth.
• Body trust in practice: Honoring limits isn’t weakness; it’s nervous-system care.
• Self-compassion > self-judgment: You can’t make clear choices while calling yourself names.
• Alternate exits exist: When one approach drains you, there are always other paths.

• Normalize setbacks. They’re proof you’re trying, not failing.
• Ask honestly: Is this a wall to push through—or a sign to pivot?
• Zoom out. When you’re lost, step up to the platform and look at the bigger picture.
• Value alignment. Choose the path that serves your true priorities (connection, rest, joy).
• Experiment. If Path A isn’t working, try B, C, or the perimeter—without guilt.

I’d love to hear your story—are you persevering or pivoting?
IG: @wayzahealth • Email: [email protected]

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When I read the headline that Serena Williams is taking a GLP-1 medication — and that her husband is an investor in the very company producing it — it felt like a punch in the gut. Serena has always stood as an icon of strength, unapologetic power, and resistance to the thin ideal. To see her linked with the latest “miracle” weight loss drug is more than disappointing — it’s a reflection of how deep diet culture’s grip really goes.

In this episode, I explore what GLP-1 drugs are, why they’ve become so wildly popular, and the truth behind the hype. More importantly, I unpack what it means when celebrities endorse them — how it normalizes their use, makes them aspirational, and reinforces the idea that even the most powerful women in the world still need to shrink to belong.

We’ll talk about how the pharmaceutical industry and celebrity endorsements capitalize on both our pain and our shame — pain from years of dieting and frustration, and shame from the belief that our bodies are broken and need fixing. These drugs aren’t really selling health; they’re selling thinness, conformity, and the illusion of belonging, all at tremendous cost to our well-being and self-trust.

Along the way, we’ll also touch on how Serena’s body has always been scrutinized through the lenses of race and gender, and why even she isn’t immune to the pressures of a culture determined to shrink us.

This conversation isn’t about blaming one person’s choices, but about looking at the larger system that profits when we feel like we’re not enough. At the end of the day, our bodies are not for sale. They are not commodities. They are vessels for our joy, our love, and our lives. And when we stop buying into the shame, we take back our power.

If this episode resonates with you, I’d love for you to share it with someone who needs the reminder that their body is already enough.

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When we set goals, the focus is usually on what we need to add—more skills, better habits, greater discipline. But real growth often begins with letting go. Just like my backyard maple trees needed pruning before they could flourish, sometimes we need to release old beliefs, habits, and expectations to make space for the wisdom that’s already inside us.

In this episode, I share how the process of letting go can open the door to deeper self-trust and more authentic growth. We’ll explore:

• Why moving forward isn’t always about doing more.
• How negative self-beliefs like “I’m not enough” silently weigh us down.
• The ways old habits and coping strategies can hold us back, even if they once served us.
• The influence of environments and relationships that keep us stuck in shame or diet culture.
• The myth of constant self-improvement—and why your body already holds the wisdom you need.
• How nurturing the quieter, more tender parts of ourselves creates space for true transformation.

When we stop piling on and start pruning away, we create the conditions for real growth to take root.

Learn more about working with Dr. Tubman at wayzahealth.com.

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Coming home from a holiday can be a rude awakening. One minute, you’re sleeping well, moving your body joyfully, soaking up nature, and feeling deeply connected to the people you love. The next, you’re staring down an overflowing inbox, a growing to-do list, and a calendar packed with obligations.

In this week’s episode of Thrive Beyond Size, I share my own experience coming back from 10 days of camping — and how quickly the stress and old habits came rushing back. We’ll explore:

• Why vacations feel so restorative — from slower rhythms and more outdoor time to meaningful connection and permission to rest.
• The pull of old patterns — how environmental cues, habit loops, and cultural pressures push us back into busyness.
• The role of the brain — why familiar routines feel “safer” than new, nourishing ones, even when we want to change.
• Practical ways to bring vacation home — identifying the habits that matter most and finding their smallest, most doable versions for everyday life.

If you’ve ever wished you could bottle up the feeling of vacation and sprinkle it into your daily routine, this episode will give you a starting place. You don’t need to recreate your whole holiday — you just need to carry the parts that matter most into your regular life, and protect them like you would any important commitment.

Resources & Links Mentioned:

Connect with me on Instagram: @wayzahealth

Learn more about my coaching and programs: wayzahealth.com

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