In this episode I dive into one of the most pervasive and exhausting beliefs I see in my coaching practice: the idea that your body is a problem that needs to be fixed.

Even for those of us who reject diet culture or adopt intuitive eating, this belief often runs deep and unconsciously influences how we perceive ourselves.

I explore the systems of belief that reinforce the "fix-it" mentality—from diet culture and patriarchy to wellness culture and emotional avoidance.

Plus, I share a client story that beautifully illustrates what it looks like to break free from this cycle. If you're ready to get relief from feeling like you're always falling short and start approaching your health and wellbeing in a more productive way, this one's for you.

Timeline Summary

[1:28] - Unpacking the deeply ingrained belief that your body is a problem to fix
[5:11] - The fantasy of a "fixed" body and why it keeps us stuck
[8:45] - A client story: shifting from self-fixing to self-care without drama
[12:22] - How diet culture, patriarchy, and wellness culture fuel body shame
[17:36] - The emotional roots of the fix-it cycle and why action often comes from avoidance
[22:50] - How self-compassion breaks the cycle and fosters genuine confidence
[26:10] - A next step to bring clarity: The Midlife Body Image Self-Assessment + Audio Guide

Links & Resources:
🎧 Download the Midlife Body Image Assessment + audio guide. It helps you see what’s really driving your food and body noise — and what to do to get relief.

Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking private clients. Book a no-cost consultation where we’ll talk about your goals and see if I’m the right coach to support you.

Closing Thoughts:
If this episode gave you that “oh-my-god-it’s-not-just-me” feeling, share it. Text it to a friend. Post it in your group chat. And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the show — it helps this work reach more women who are ready to quiet their internal narratives and feel more calm and confident in themselves.

Let’s stay connected:
🌐 Emma's Website
📬 Join the Talking with Emma newsletter
📱 Follow on Instagram, and LinkedIn

If your mind feels like a battlefield between “I hate diet culture” and “I wish I felt better in my body,” this episode is for you.

Emma shares a heartfelt invitation to her FREE online masterclass —
How to Stop Food and Body Noise Without Giving Up on Health

Monday 18 August | 7:30–8:30 PM NZT | Online (recording available)

This isn’t another plan, protocol, or reset.

It’s a practical session where you’ll learn:

- Why your brain gets stuck in food/body battles
- A simple, effective tool to quiet the noise
- How to take action from care — not control

You’ll walk away with the ability to quieten down the noise when it gets louder than you want it to. The relief!

Register here (it's free)

If you’re tired of swinging between trying really hard and giving up entirely, if you’re worn out by the idea that more discipline is the answer — this episode will feel like a breath of fresh air.

In this episode, I unpack one of the most common (and most damaging) myths midlife women carry: that they’re the problem. That if they could just get more willpower, they’d finally be able to eat better, move more, and feel good in their skin. Spoiler alert: You’re not the problem. You’re smart. You’re capable. You’re also a human being — not a machine in need of better programming. What you need isn’t more force. It’s more respect.

I’ll introduce you to the 3Rs — a practical, powerful tool that helps you move from self-criticism to self-respect. This isn’t another health plan. This is how we actually make health habits stick — with care, not control.

Timeline Summary:

[1:18] - The seductive lie of willpower — and why it’s not working
[4:44] - The hidden cultural conditioning behind “sticking to the plan”
[8:32] - Why control feels safe — but leaves us exhausted
[12:15] - Sarah’s story: from burnout to sustainable change
[18:47] - Step 1: Recognise — see your thoughts for what they are
[23:20] - Step 2: Respect — listen to the need underneath the pattern
[28:30] - Step 3: Rechoose — act from care, not coercion
[32:10] - Why this work is simple — but not easy (and totally worth it)

Links & Resources:
🎧 Download the Midlife Body Image Assessment + audio guide. It helps you see what’s really driving your food and body noise — and what to do to get relief.

Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking private clients. Book a no-cost consultation where we’ll talk about your goals and see if I’m the right coach to support you.

Closing Thoughts:
If this episode gave you that “oh-my-god-it’s-not-just-me” feeling, share it. Text it to a friend. Post it in your group chat. And don’t forget to follow, rate, and review the show — it helps this work reach more women who are ready to quiet their internal narratives and feel more calm and confident in themselves.

Let’s stay connected:
🌐 Emma's Website
📬 Join the Talking with Emma newsletter
📱 Follow on Instagram, and LinkedIn

If you've recently put on weight and found yourself spiralling — even though you know diets don't work — this episode is for you.

In today’s conversation, we talk about what to do when your body changes and panic sets in. When the old food and body thoughts are loud. When you feel ashamed for even caring, but can't stop thinking about it.

You’ll hear the story of a smart, capable midlife woman who said, "I hate that I care about this so much. I feel like I should know better."
And we unpack exactly why that reaction makes perfect sense — and how you can start feeling calmer, more grounded, and more in charge of your response.

We’re not talking about body love or body positivity.
We’re talking about something more powerful: self-respect, even in the hard moments.

In this episode, I share a 4-step self-coaching tool to help you:

• Understand why you feel unsettled after gaining weight (even if you're anti-diet)
• Soothe the shame and reactivity without falling back into control tactics
• Choose a kind, respectful response — without needing to fake confidence
• Create physical comfort to support emotional calm

This episode will help you stop abandoning yourself — and start staying with yourself — when your body changes.

🎧 Listen now to learn:

• Why shame after weight gain isn’t personal failure — it’s cultural conditioning
• How to work with your brain’s autopilot, instead of against it
• What to do with those harsh thoughts about your changing body
• Why comfort (yes, including good underwear) is a powerful first step toward calm

Mentioned in this episode:
📥 Want to go deeper? Download the Midlife Body Image Assessment — it’s the next step in understanding what’s really going on beneath your food and body struggles so you can stop obsessing about food and start feeling more easy in your body.

Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking 1:1 clients. Book a no-cost consultation where we’ll talk about your goals and see if I’m the right coach to support you.

If this episode helped you feel seen…
Subscribe or follow the show so you don’t miss the next coaching episode.
And if someone you love is tired of always trying to “get it right,” send them this. It might change their story.

Let’s stay connected:
🌐 Emma's Website
📬 Join the Talking with Emma newsletter
📱 Follow on Instagram, and LinkedIn

You don’t have to feel good about your body to treat it with care.

This episode is for you if you’ve ever said:

• “I’ll buy new clothes once I’ve lost weight.”
• “I'll go out with friends when I feel like I've got myself sorted."
• “I have to do the workout, even though I'm really tired.”

If you’ve been waiting until you like your body before treating it with care — I want to offer you something different.

Today’s coaching tool is:

You don’t need to love your body to respect it.

We explore:

• Why body love isn’t always helpful — or even necessary
• How to treat yourself with dignity, even when the thoughts are loud
• A four-step practice called Body Respect on a Tuesday
• Why respect often leads to peace, while striving for love can keep you stuck

Mentioned in this episode:
📥 Want to go deeper? Download the Midlife Body Image Assessment — it’s the next step in understanding what’s really going on beneath your food and body struggles so you can stop obsessing about food and start feeling more easy in your body.

Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking 1:1 clients. Book a no-cost consultation where we’ll talk about your goals and see if I’m the right coach to support you.

If this episode helped you feel seen…
Subscribe or follow the show so you don’t miss the next coaching episode.
And if someone you love is tired of always trying to “get it right,” send them this. It might change their story.

Let’s stay connected:
🌐 Emma's Website
📬 Join the Talking with Emma newsletter
📱 Follow on Instagram, and LinkedIn

Episode 9: Don’t Gaslight Yourself: You’re Not Imagining the Struggle

Welcome to Talking with Emma — a podcast for smart, capable women who are tired of feeling like their body is the one part of life they still haven’t figured out.

I’m Emma Wright — body image coach, author, and someone who knows how hard it can be to have a body.

In this episode, we build on last week’s coaching tool — thoughts are not facts — by exploring something just as important:

You’re not making it up.

That pressure to be thinner? The way people in bigger bodies are treated differently at work, at the gym, in the doctor’s office, even by your friends?

That’s not all in your head.

You might have come to believe those messages, but you didn’t invent them.
They’re cultural beliefs. They’re everywhere.

And they’re baked into our healthcare, our fashion industry, our relationships, and our social media feeds.

This episode is about what it means to stop gaslighting yourself in the face of anti-fat bias and body shame.

You’ll learn:

• Why some thoughts feel true even when they’re not
• How to recognise when you’re internalising cultural bias
• A simple self-coaching tool to validate, interrupt, and reclaim your own thinking

Because the world may continue to suggest that bigger bodies are a problem — but that doesn’t mean you have to agree.

You can stop fixing yourself. You can start coming home to your body.

Mentioned in this episode:
📥 Want to go deeper? Download the Midlife Body Image Assessment — it’s the next step in understanding what’s really going on beneath your food and body struggles so you can stop obsessing about food and start feeling more easy in your body.

Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking 1:1 clients. Book a no-cost consultation where we’ll talk about your goals and see if I’m the right coach to support you.

If this episode helped you feel seen…
Subscribe or follow the show so you don’t miss the next coaching episode.
And if someone you love is tired of always trying to “get it right,” send them this. It might change their story.

Let’s stay connected:
🌐 Emma's Website
📬 Join the Talking with Emma newsletter
📱 Follow on Instagram, and LinkedIn

If you’ve ever stood in front of the mirror and spiralled into shame, changed outfits five times before going out, or quietly questioned your worth because of how you look — this episode is for you.

Because your body isn’t a constant worthiness scorecard. And it never was.
What’s causing the struggle isn’t your body — it’s the thoughts you’ve inherited about your body.

In this episode of Talking with Emma, we dig into the invisible, exhausting inner dialogue so many women live with — and begin to separate the facts of your body from the stories you’ve been taught to believe about it. We look at the cost of those unquestioned thoughts, why they’re not your fault, and how to start challenging them with a powerful self-coaching practice.

You’ll learn:

• Why your body isn’t “the problem” — and what is
• The difference between facts and thoughts (and why it matters so much)
• How your internal narrative got shaped — and how to start reshaping it
• A coaching practice to create space between body shame and body neutrality

Mentioned in this episode:
📥 Want to go deeper? Download the Midlife Body Image Assessment — it’s the next step in understanding what’s really going on beneath your food and body struggles so you can stop obsessing about food and start feeling more easy in your body.

Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking 1:1 clients. Book a no-cost consultation where we’ll talk about your goals and see if I’m the right coach to support you.

If this episode helped you feel seen…
Subscribe or follow the show so you don’t miss the next coaching episode.
And if someone you love is tired of always trying to “get it right,” send them this. It might change their story.

Let’s stay connected:
🌐 Emma's Website
📬 Join the Talking with Emma newsletter
📱 Follow on Instagram, and LinkedIn

You’re smart. You’re politically aware of beauty standards. You know diet culture is toxic. And yet.

In this episode of Talking with Emma, we explore one of the most uncomfortable contradictions: How can you be committed to body acceptance… and still long for a smaller body?

We talk about why this desire is not a personal failure — it’s a survival response in a world that rewards thinness and punishes fatness. I share the story of a client navigating this exact tension, and offer a self-coaching tool to help you understand where your weight loss desire really comes from — and what it’s trying to give you.

You’ll learn:

• Why wanting to lose weight doesn’t make you a fraud — it makes you human
  
  
• How grief often hides beneath the fantasy of “being smaller”
  
  
• The questions to ask when you feel stuck between your values and your body image
  
  
• A coaching practice to meet your desire with kindness, not control

Mentioned in this episode:
📥 Want to go deeper? Download the Midlife Body Image Assessment — it’s the next step in understanding what’s really going on beneath your food and body struggles so you can stop obsessing about food and start feeling more easy in your body.

Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking 1:1 clients. Book a no-cost consultation where we’ll talk about your goals and see if I’m the right coach to support you.

If this episode helped you feel seen…
Subscribe or follow the show so you don’t miss the next coaching episode.
And if someone you love is tired of always trying to “get it right,” send them this. It might change their story.

Let’s stay connected:
🌐 Emma's Website
📬 Join the Talking with Emma newsletter
📱 Follow on Instagram, and LinkedIn