Part 2: Michelle Petties on Body Trust, Emotional Healing, and Life After Diet Culture

In Part 2, Michelle Petties returns with G-Rex and Dirty Skittles to talk about body trust, self-care, fear-based eating, and what it really means to live after diet culture. This conversation is honest, practical, and full of reminders that healing does not require perfection — it requires support, awareness, and the courage to keep getting back up.

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Sh!t That Goes On In Our Heads is a 2024 People’s Choice Podcast Award Winner (Best Health), 2024 Women in Podcasting Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), 2026 Podcast Tonight Award Winner (Best Mental Health Podcast), and 2026 NYC Podcast Award Audience Choice Winner (Best Hosts), with over 4.5 million downloads and listened to in over 160 countries.

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Mental Health Quote

“Once you learn how to trust your body, your voice, and your choices, you do not have to crawl back into the old story.” — Inspired by Michelle Petties

Episode Description

In Part 2 of this two-part episode, Michelle Petties takes the conversation deeper into body trust, emotional healing, self-care, and life after diet culture. G-Rex opens up about her type 2 diabetes diagnosis, the fear that came with it, and the changes she made to support her health. Dirty Skittles shares something many people silently carry: the fear of gaining weight back and losing the version of yourself you worked so hard to become.

Michelle meets that fear with compassion, lived experience, and no-nonsense wisdom. She explains why transformation is not about white-knuckling your way through cravings. It is about belief, writing, visualization, affirmations, community, and learning to listen when your body says, “This does not work for me anymore.”

The conversation also delves into grocery-store triggers, food packaging, advertising, social pressure, and why self-care is not selfish. Michelle reminds us that people are not failing because they are weak. They are often trying to heal in a world that keeps pushing them back toward old habits.

She also shares powerful lessons about falling down, getting back up, and learning to trust yourself the way a child trusts that walking is possible. It is not about never messing up again. It is about knowing you can recover, reset, and keep choosing the life and body you want to live in.

Keywords: Michelle Petties, body trust, emotional healing, diet culture recovery, food addiction recovery, emotional eating, self-care, food freedom, weight regain anxiety, body image healing, mindful eating, self-compassion, mental health recovery, trauma healing, personal transformation

Meet Our Guest — Michelle Petties

Michelle Petties is a TEDx speaker, author, Food Story coach, and experiential eating expert whose work helps people answer the question, “What are you really hungry for?” Through speaking, coaching, writing, and her online community, Michelle supports people in moving away from shame-based dieting and toward sustainable, compassionate transformation.

Website: https://LeavingLarge.com
Website: https://MichellePetties.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iambrandnewnow/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Iambrandnewnow
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@iambrandnewnow
X: https://x.com/iambrandnewnow
Email: [email protected]
Media/Booking Email: [email protected]

Key Takeaways

• Self-care is not selfish. Ignoring your own health can cost you and the people who love you.
• Fear of gaining weight back is real, but it does not have to control your choices.
• Writing, affirmations, visualization, and community can help reinforce a new identity.
• Grocery stores, packaging, and advertising are designed to trigger impulse decisions.
• Falling down does not make you a failure. It means you are learning a new way to live.
• Body trust grows when we stop confusing emotion, desire, and actual hunger.

Actionable Items

• When fear shows up, write this down: “What am I afraid will happen, and what support do I need right now?”
• Practice Michelle’s pause before eating: “Is this hunger, or is this the desire to eat?”
• Pick one self-care habit this week — water, sleep, writing, or rest — and treat it like a non-negotiable appointment.

References Mentioned

Leaving Large – The Stories of a Food Addict by Michelle Petties
https://LeavingLarge.com

Michelle Petties’ Food Story work
https://MichellePetties.com

Michelle Petties YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/@iambrandnewnow

Important Chapters

• 00:00:00 — Welcome to Part 2
  G-Rex introduces Part 2 of Michelle Petties’ conversation and brings listeners back to the show's mental health mission.
• 00:00:40 — G-Rex Shares Her Type 2 Diabetes Wake-Up Call
  G-Rex talks about being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, taking Metformin, working with a nutritionist, and changing her relationship with food.
• 00:04:09 — Michelle Explains Why We Are Pushed Into the Trap
  Michelle talks about food marketing, diet advice, and why people are not given enough tools to fight daily messaging around food.
• 00:06:36 — Grocery Stores, Packaging, and Food Triggers
  The group discusses how even “healthy” areas in stores are surrounded by temptation, labels, and emotional triggers.
• 00:10:16 — Self-Care Is Not Selfish
  Michelle reframes self-care as necessary and explains why neglecting ourselves affects the people who depend on us.
• 00:12:02 — Dirty Skittles Shares Her Fear of Gaining Weight Back
  Dirty Skittles opens up about holding on tightly to her new version of herself and worrying that old patterns could return.
• 00:12:16 — Visualization, Affirmations, and Writing
  Michelle explains how invisible work can rewire the brain and help create long-term transformation.
• 00:14:23 — The Caterpillar and the Child Learning to Walk
  Michelle shares powerful metaphors for transformation, belief, and getting back up after setbacks.
• 00:21:27 — Hunger vs. Desire to Eat
  Michelle explains the difference between real hunger and eating out of emotion, pleasure, or conditioning.
• 00:28:50 — Advice to Her Younger Self
  Michelle says she would tell her younger self to listen to her grandmother, especially around rest, water, food, and wisdom.
• 00:30:22 — The Hardest Lesson
  Michelle shares that staying focused, choosing one thing, and remaining present are ongoing lessons in her life.
• 00:31:53 — Anxiety Theme Song and Favorite Words
  Michelle talks about control, overwhelm, her favorite word “perfect,” and why she cannot stand the phrase “it is what it is.”
• 00:34:16 — How to Find Michelle
  Michelle shares where listeners can connect with her, buy her book, and join her community.

Closing CTA

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#MentalHealthPodcast #MentalHealthAwareness #Grex #DirtySkittles #Podmatch #MichellePetties #BodyTrust #DietCultureRecovery #FoodFreedom #EmotionalHealing #FoodAddictionRecovery #MindfulEating #SelfCareMatters #EmotionalEatingRecovery #BodyImageHealing #WeightLossMindset #MentalHealthRecovery #SelfCompassion #LeavingLarge #WomenAndWellness

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