Thrive Beyond Size

What happens when the movement you love starts to feel like something you have to do?

In this off-the-cuff episode, recorded from a rainy picnic table while camping, I reflect on a week of intense hiking that pushed me—physically and emotionally. Hiking is my favorite kind of movement. It usually brings me peace, joy, and deep connection to myself and the world around me. But on this trip, something shifted. I started to notice the “shoulds” creeping in. The pressure to push harder, to keep up, to prove something—even when my body was asking me to slow down.

This experience led me to a powerful realization: even joyful movement can turn into burnout if we’re not paying attention. And often, it happens quietly. A hike you love becomes a test of endurance. A goal rooted in excitement becomes a measure of your worth. And before you know it, movement stops feeling like freedom and starts to feel like a burden.

In this episode, I explore:

• The fine line between joyful movement and exercise obligation
• How to recognize when your fitness goals are fueling you—and when they’re draining you
• The ways diet culture sneaks into movement, even in healing spaces
• Why listening to your body is the strongest move you can make
• How to reframe fitness goals so they align with joy, not guilt

I also share a few honest questions I’ve been asking myself—and invite you to do the same—so you can reconnect with movement in a way that supports your body and your well-being, not your inner critic.

Whether you’re a hiker, a walker, a gym-goer, or someone still trying to repair your relationship with movement, this episode will help you pause, reflect, and move forward with more intention and more trust.

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Today’s episode is a little shorter than usual, but it dives deep—literally—into the body. Michelle shares what she’s been learning about two often-overlooked players in our physical and emotional well-being: the fascia and the psoas muscle.

Though rarely discussed in traditional medical training, these structures play a crucial role in how our bodies hold onto stress and trauma, and why safety in the body is so essential for healing.

You’ll learn:

• What fascia is and why it’s more than just “wrapping” for your muscles
• How chronic stress and trauma affect fascia—making it tight, sticky, and dehydrated
• What the psoas muscle is, and why it’s known as the “muscle of the soul”
• How the psoas connects to your nervous system and responds to perceived threat
• Why aggressive stretching can backfire, and how gentle invitations to release are more effective
• The connection between physical bracing and emotional coping patterns like emotional eating and dissociation
• How breath, somatic movement, and even rolling a dog toy along your arm can begin to shift things

This isn’t a how-to guide, and it’s not coming from a place of expertise—but rather a curious and compassionate beginning into a new layer of embodiment work.

💬 Michelle also shares her own story of tears rising during yoga, of mistakenly “going to war” with her body, and of learning to trust the body’s timeline.

📣 Connect with Michelle:
Website: https://wayzahealth.com
Email: [email protected]
Substack: Rebellious Nourishment
Instagram: @wayzahealth

🎧 If this episode stirred something in you,    would love to hear your thoughts. Have you worked with your fascia or psoas? Do you have resources to share? Reach out and join the conversation.

Thanks for listening—and remember, your body may not need fixing. It may simply need to be held.

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We’ve all heard the statistic: 95% of diets fail.
But what about the 5% that don’t?
What’s really going on when someone does lose weight and keep it off?

In this episode, I share a personal conversation with my husband, Rob, that sparked a deeper dive into what “success” in diet culture actually looks like—and whether the elusive 5% is something we should be striving for at all. From relentless control and genetic privilege to disordered eating that’s socially rewarded, we unpack the complex truths behind long-term weight loss and ask the bigger, more important questions:

At what cost? And is it worth it?

We also explore the impact of weight loss medications and whether they truly change the game—or simply reinforce an old one.

If you’ve ever clung to the hope of being the exception, this episode will offer both validation and a new perspective on what it means to reclaim your body—and your life.

• Where the 95% diet failure statistic comes from (and what it actually means)
• Why some people do maintain long-term weight loss—and the steep costs involved
• How genetics and life circumstances shape outcomes more than willpower ever could
• Why disordered eating is often disguised as “healthy habits”
• What weight loss drugs like GLP-1 agonists do (and don’t) change
• How redefining “success” can lead to true peace with food and your body

It’s not your fault.
You’re not broken.
And there’s another way forward—one rooted in trust, nourishment, and freedom.

🖥 Learn more at wayzahealth.com
📸 Follow along on Instagram @wayzahealth
🎧 Want to go deeper? Check out my course, Nourish Yourself: Body+Mind, and explore coaching options at Wayza Health

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We all have days (or weeks… or seasons) where everything feels like it’s falling apart—when you’re exhausted, overwhelmed, and have nothing left to give. So what do you do on those days? In this episode, Michelle shares a deeply personal story about a tough Friday night and the small, nourishing decision that changed everything. It’s a story about tuning in, honoring your needs, and reconnecting with your body in the simplest of ways.

This episode is an invitation to explore the concept of bare minimums—the tiny but powerful practices that keep you tethered to your values, even when your capacity is low. It’s not about doing everything “right.” It’s about staying in relationship with your body, gently and consistently, especially when life is hard.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• A vulnerable story of choosing presence over collapse
• How Michelle reframed “bare minimums” from her weight loss coaching days
• Why these small acts are not failure, fallback, or shame-based
• Examples of practical bare minimums you can use on your own journey
• A powerful reframe for staying connected on hard days
• Reflection questions to help you define your own bare minimums

Whether you’re in a tough season or simply want to build resilience for the next one, this episode is a loving reminder that your smallest effort still counts—and might actually be the most meaningful thing you do.

✨ Resources & Links:

Explore self-paced courses at Wayza Health

Follow Michelle on Instagram: @wayzahealth

Contact Michelle directly: [email protected]

Share the episode or leave a review—it means the world!

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Summer is often seen as the season of joy—sunshine, connection, spontaneity, and play. But for many, it also brings body image triggers, food anxiety, and pressure to do summer "right." In this reflective solo episode, Michelle unpacks the paradox of summer: how it can be both a healing balm and a battleground.

You'll hear:

• Why summer can feel more intuitive and nourishing—but also more vulnerable
• How body image struggles and food fears can intensify in the warmer months
• What it means to expand when you’ve spent years trying to shrink
• The difference between winter rest and summer rest—and how to honor both
• Practical ways to support yourself through summer with body trust and self-compassion
• A gentle journal prompt to help you align with the season’s energy

Whether you’re loving summer or struggling with it (or both), this episode invites you to meet yourself exactly where you are.

✨ Journal Prompt:
Where am I being invited to expand this season—and where might I need softness or pause instead?

Mentioned in this episode:
🌿 Nourish Yourself: Body+Mind course – click here to learn more
📩 Want to get Michelle’s weekly newsletter? Email her at [email protected]

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This week on Thrive Beyond Size, Michelle shares a powerful story of envisioning her future self—a vibrant, joyful, fat elder woman—and the unexpected emotional release that followed. But what started as a profound moment of body acceptance was quickly disrupted by a trip to TikTok that served up a harsh reminder of the world we’re still living in.

What Michelle saw was a spectrum of extremes:
🔹 Reel after reel celebrating weight loss, scale numbers, and GLP-1 injections
🔹 Defiant “What I Eat in a Day” videos where rebellion replaced nourishment
🔹 Performances of control vs. performances of resistance—with little true peace in sight

In this deeply personal and reflective episode, Michelle explores:

• Why both extremes on social media—weight loss obsession and anti-diet overcorrection—can be harmful
• The emotional toll this content can take, especially if you're in the messy middle of healing
• How the diet mentality sneaks back in through your feed, even when you’ve done the work
• Why real healing is quiet, nuanced, and doesn’t make for viral content
• How intuitive eating invites you to stop performing and start listening inward

You'll also learn practical, compassionate strategies for protecting your healing while navigating social media:
✨ How to curate your feed like your mental health depends on it
✨ Ways to recognize when you’ve been triggered—and how to respond
✨ Tools for reconnecting with your body and creating boundaries with content
✨ A reminder that you are not alone in the messy middle

“The most radical thing you can do in a world obsessed with food and body performance… is to eat, live, and exist without needing to prove a damn thing.”

Join the conversation: Have you ever felt derailed by social media content while doing healing work? Michelle would love to hear your story—reach out and share your experience.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend who’s also trying to find peace beyond the extremes.

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This week on Thrive Beyond Size, we’re lightening things up with a more personal, vulnerable episode. Michelle shares how her intuitive eating journey unexpectedly led her into the world of tarot cards, moon rituals, crystals, and meditation—and why she now embraces practices she once would’ve rolled her eyes at.

Far from being flighty or irrational, these “woo woo” practices helped her anchor into her body, slow down, and reconnect with a part of herself that had been buried beneath the hustle of medicine, productivity, and diet culture.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The surprising story of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer tarot deck that started it all
• Why slowing down was the most powerful shift in Michelle’s healing
• How intuitive eating helped her reclaim a sense of spirituality and play
• The feedback loop between spiritual connection and body trust
• Specific practices Michelle uses to stay grounded in her body (yes, including Reiki for her dog!)

Whether you’re curious about spiritual practices or simply want a fresh perspective on what healing can look like, this episode invites you to explore what might be waiting in the space you create when you slow down.

Reflection prompts at the end to help you connect with your own intuition
Join the conversation: What’s your version of “woo woo that works”? Let me know! Email Michelle at [email protected]

Check out Dr Tubman's signature course, Nourish Yourself: Body+Mind: https://wayzahealth.com/nourish-yourself-body-mind/

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In this follow-up to last week’s conversation about trauma and weight, Dr. Michelle Tubman explores a crucial truth that doesn’t get talked about enough: you can’t listen to a body you don’t feel safe in.

While intuitive eating is often positioned as the antidote to food struggles, it’s not always the right starting point—especially for those navigating trauma, chronic stress, or deep disconnection from their bodies. If you've ever tried intuitive eating and felt like it just didn’t work for you, this episode will help you understand why that might be—and why it’s not your fault.

Dr. Michelle shares:

• Why trauma makes it difficult to “drop into” your body
• What it actually feels like to be unsafe in your body (hint: it might show up as numbness, dissociation, or shutdown)
• The difference between chaotic eating and restricting patterns—and how both can emerge from trauma
• Why trying intuitive eating too soon can feel overwhelming or even backfire
• How “scheduled eating” can be a gentle stepping stone—not a diet, but a bridge to body trust
• What healing the nervous system looks like, and why that work may need to come before food work

She also shares her own story of struggling with intuitive eating in the early days of her healing, and why she’s now training to offer gentle trauma release sessions—a new offering coming this fall, designed to help clients who feel disconnected or unsafe in their bodies begin to rebuild trust and safety from the inside out.

If this episode resonates with you, please share it with someone who needs to hear that it’s not their fault. And if you’re ready to explore body reconnection and trauma healing, stay tuned for more about upcoming trauma release sessions—or reach out to learn more.

Learn more about Dr Tubman at wayzahealth.com.

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This week on Thrive Beyond Size, Michelle dives into a growing narrative in the trauma-informed wellness world: that if you heal your trauma, you’ll lose weight.

While well-meaning, this belief is not only overly simplistic—it’s harmful.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why trauma can influence weight—but doesn’t always
• What the ACEs study really tells us about trauma and health outcomes
• How intergenerational trauma  may shape body size
• Why assuming fatness is always trauma-based reinforces stigma, not healing
• The truth about emotional eating (hint: we all do it!)
• How simply living in a larger body in a fatphobic world can itself be traumatic
• Why searching for trauma to “explain” your body can backfire and deepen shame

And most importantly: you can be deeply healed and still live in a larger body

Michelle reminds us:

“Your body is not your failure. It’s not your fault. And it’s not unfinished business.”

If this episode gave you something to think about—or a little relief—please share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Want to continue the conversation? Email Michelle at [email protected]

Follow along:
🌐 Website: www.wayzahealth.com
📬 Substack: Rebellious Nourishment
 

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In this urgent and deeply moving episode, Michelle sits down with Emma Cloney and Diana Dimmock—two powerful advocates from Lipedema Canada—to talk about the medical condition most clinicians have never even heard of, despite its potential to affect 1 in 9 women.

Together, they dive into:

• What lipedema actually is—and how it differs from lymphedema and obesity
• Why lipedema is painful, progressive, and devastating when left untreated
• The staggering lack of awareness in Canadian medical schools and healthcare systems
• How fatphobia, gender bias, and medical gaslighting keep patients in the dark
• The emotional and financial toll of living with an unrecognized condition
• Practical resources for patients and clinicians
• What needs to change—and how we can all be part of that change

This episode is more than just a discussion—it’s a rallying cry for justice, compassion, and recognition.

Whether you're a clinician, patient, or simply someone who cares about women's health, you don’t want to miss this conversation.

Lipedema Canada – For patient info, clinician resources, advocacy tools & support

Lipedema.org (US-based) – Diagnostic tools and educational materials

Follow @LipedemaCanada on social media for shareable awareness content

Emma Cloney 

Emma Cloney is a Women’s Health Nurse and the Vice President and co-founder of Lipedema Canada / Lipœdème Canada, the national nonprofit association for lipedema dedicated to raising awareness, improving access to care, and advancing research for people living with lipedema—a chronic and often misdiagnosed fat disorder that primarily affects women.

Emma brings over ten years of clinical experience and a deeply personal connection to this work. Diagnosed with lipedema in 2021, she became the first Canadian to receive multiple mobility-preserving surgeries for the condition funded through provincial healthcare—after successfully advocating for policy change in Manitoba. Her experience highlighted the serious gaps in diagnosis, treatment, and public awareness across Canada.

In response, Emma co-founded Lipedema Canada in 2023 alongside a group of passionate patients from across the country. Today, she leads the organization’s clinical outreach and education efforts, working to empower patients and healthcare providers alike. Whether she’s speaking to policymakers, clinicians, or fellow patients, Emma is committed to changing the narrative around lipedema and ensuring that no one faces this condition alone.

Lipedema Canada

Diana Dimmock 

Diana Dimmock is the founder of Accessibility 4 Every Body Consulting, a size-inclusive consulting firm based in Sherwood Park, Alberta. As an advocate, educator, and speaker, Diana is passionate about promoting accessibility and inclusivity for people of all body sizes and abilities. Through her work, she challenges the marginalization of larger bodies and assists organizations in creating more welcoming, inclusive environments. Through her business, Diana offers valuable insights into the intersection of size, ability, and access, making her a powerful voice in the push for equity and inclusion.

Recently diagnosed with lipo-lymphedema, Diana has identified this condition as a long-standing aspect of her health since adolescence. While struggling to seek appropriate medical care and experiencing discrimination based on her body size, Diana became dedicated to ensuring that all individuals receive equitable healthcare. She is deeply committed to self-advocacy and raising awareness with the public and with healthcare professionals about lipedema in Canada. Diana is dedicated to supporting efforts in advocating for improved diagnosis and management strategies for this condition with Lipedema Canada.

https://linktr.ee/accessibility4everybody

Find Diana on LinkedIn here.

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