Dr. Streicher’s Inside Information: Menopause, Midlife, and More S4 Ep186: Reframing the Obesity Conversation with Dr. Robyn Pashby
Oct 2, 2025
55:25
"The psychological aspects of having obesity are rarely recognized. The psychological burden that people carry outweighs the adipose tissue.”
Robyn Pashby PhD
This episode is a must-listen for anyone struggling with obesity, or who knows someone with obesity, or a healthcare clinician who has patients with obesity.
The complex biology of why some folks have excess weight is just beginning to be fully understood. Having obesity is a complex interplay of biology and psychology, and it is time to stop framing obesity as a personal failure. The solution is not as simple as “Eat less, move more”.
Dr. Robyn Pashby is a health psychologist with expertise in the impact of obesity on mental health and the impact of mental health on obesity. Today, she is joining me for a discussion on why we need to reframe the obesity conversation and how to do it.
- The training of a clinical health psychologist with expertise in obesity
- The language of obesity as a chronic disease
- The impact of repeated traumatic experiences and shame
- Why “dieting” is not obesity treatment
- Changing the internal narrative of “food noise” versus “shame noise”
- Why an underwear upgrade is important
- Sexual issues related to having obesity
- Why telehealth obesity drugs can be problematic
- What a scale represents to someone with obesity
- Getting weighed in the doctor’s office- do you need to?
- What to say to someone who has lost a lot of weight
- How to respond to someone who asks about your weight
- How to get emotional support when being treated for obesity
- The New Food Fight book
Atlantic Panel Weight, What?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzGaetHGnSY
What We Carry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jP9puLTXNM
BOOK: The New Food Fight
https://a.co/d/fpoanrC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzGaetHGnSY
What We Carry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jP9puLTXNM
BOOK: The New Food Fight
https://a.co/d/fpoanrC
Obesity Action Coalition (OAC)
https://www.obesityaction.org/
https://www.obesityaction.org/
Your Weight Matters free regional conventions
https://www.yourweightmatters.com/
https://www.yourweightmatters.com/
Lauren Streicher MD, is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, the founding medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause, and a Senior Research Fellow of The Kinsey Institute, Indiana University. She is a certified menopause practitioner of The Menopause Society.
Dr. Streicher is the medical correspondent for Chicago’s top-rated news program, the WGN Morning News, and has been seen on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR, Dr. Radio, Nightline, Fox and Friends, The Steve Harvey Show, CBS This Morning, ABC News Now, NBCNightlyNews,20/20, and World News Tonight. She is an expert source for many magazines and serves on the medical advisory board of The Kinsey Institute, Self Magazine, and Prevention Magazine. She writes a regular column for The Ethel by AARP and Prevention Magazine.
LINKS
- Subscribe To Dr. Streicher’s Substack
- Information About the COME AGAIN Podcast
- Dr. Streicher’s CV and additional bio information
- To Find a Menopause Clinician and Other Resources
- Glossary Of Medical Terminology
Books by Lauren Streicher, MD
- Slip Sliding Away: Turning Back the Clock on Your Vagina-A gynecologist’s guide to eliminating post-menopause dryness and pain
- Hot Flash Hell: A Gynecologist's Guide to Turning Down the Heat
- Sex Rx- Hormones, Health, and Your Best Sex Ever
- The Essential Guide to Hysterectomy
Dr. Streicher’s Inside Information podcast is for education and information and is not intended to replace medical advice from your personal healthcare clinician. Dr. Streicher disclaims liability for any medical outcomes that may occur because of applying methods suggested or discussed in this podcast.