Thrive Beyond Size Michelle Tubman

CW: Talk about weight loss and experienced medical weight stigma, use of the terms obese and obesity

Welcome to today’s episode, everyone, where we address a topic that’s not easy for us to talk about. We’re talking about weight stigma in the healthcare system. Why does weight stigma exist in our healthcare system? How does it show up and who does it show up for? What are the side effects of this stigma on us as individuals but also as a society? To tackle these difficult questions, Dr. Stephanie Hart, a family physician who runs a niche practice in sexual medicine, has joined me to talk frankly about her own personal experiences as a fat patient inside the healthcare system. These experiences are what drew her to take a deeper interest in medical weight stigma and how to combat it at an educational level.

Hello there everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. I’m sure many of you have read the title of this episode and asked “Why is Michelle having a conversation about money on a podcast entitled Thrive Beyond Size?” At first glance it doesn’t seem to fit, I know. But here’s the reason why: there are a lot of similarities between our relationship with food and our relationship with money. In past times when I thought I was doing “really good” with food, I was spending money like crazy because that dopamine hit needed to come from somewhere. So to heal our relationship with our whole selves - food, weight, work, money - I’ve invited financial planner and founder of Mindset & Money, Linda Grizely, to talk with me today.

Friends, I’m excited to share this episode with you all because it’s on a subject I’ve been struggling with recently. We’re going to talk about movement. My relationship with movement has gone up and down, if you’ve been listening to this podcast from the beginning, and part of the struggle is that there’s part of me that still connects exercise to weight loss and that makes it feel a bit like punishment. So I keep researching movement and one of the people I’ve met who has been wonderful at helping and coaching me through this disconnect is my guest today: Kim Hagle. Kim is a size-inclusive fitness specialist, a non-diet nutritionist, and a body image coach who founded Radiant Vitality Wellness. She and her company offer weight neutral fitness training and transformational coaching and she also hosts the Power in Motion podcast on which I’ve been a guest! I’m so glad you get to meet her today, she is amazing.

I’m happy you’re all here to join me in a deep dive on a topic that comes up a lot on this podcast and in my coaching programs. That topic is embodiment. People these days are trying to understand the importance of alignment, of making decisions for themselves and their bodies, and there’s a spiritual need associated with it. That’s why this topic comes up so much. So to talk about embodiment, to explain what it is, why it’s important and how to do it, I’ve invited Jen Aks to the podcast. Jen Aks is an embodiment coach, workshop facilitator, and founder of The Power of Gesture™. The Power of Gesture™helps regulate your nervous system which leads to a sense of inner calm and clarity. I want that for myself! I want that for all of you! So we’re going to have Jen talk us through how to achieve that.

CW: Talk about eating disorders, bulimia, binge eating disorder, restricted eating, purging

I’m so glad to be back in front of the microphone with you all because I recorded so many episodes before going on an African vacation that I feel I haven’t reached out in a very long time! It feels good to connect again. I had a wonderful trip and you’ll hear a little more about it in this episode. My guest today is Helen Bennett. She’s a certified health and addiction recovery coach who specializes in helping people break free from compulsive eating and is the founder of BulimiaFreedom.com. Helen and I have just an amazing, honest, beautiful conversation about disordered eating, the feelings and challenges that come with it, and how a peaceful relationship with food can be reclaimed.

CW: Discussion on sex, sexuality, and fatphobia

Friends, I hope you were able to join me last week for part one of this conversation with my guest Angela Corry. Angela is a clinical and sexual health educator, an expert in fatphobia and sex, and last week we talked about body image and fatphobia and how perceptions have changed throughout history. Fatphobia is very pervasive in our society and it shows up everywhere, especially in areas of sexuality and pleasure. This second episode with Angela really focuses on pleasure. It’s our right, in whatever body, as a human, to experience pleasure on every level, including sexually. But why don’t those of us in bigger bodies often feel comfortable experiencing or seeking pleasure? And how can we change that?