Diet Culture Rebel Podcast 236. You Can Do Hard, Beautiful Things in the Body You Have Right Now With Dr. Megan Banker
"I think I had to give myself internal permission to say, ‘You don't have to change your body to do this thing. You can just do the thing. You can do the hike, you can do the climb, and you don't have to lose weight or gain a certain ability to be able to do it.’"
We’ve been taught to believe that movement has to be about changing our bodies and pushing ourselves to the limit, but what happens when you strip away the blame and rebuild a relationship with exercise that actually honors your body?
In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Megan Banker to unpack her journey of unlearning diet culture, healing from well-intentioned but harmful messages, and the pivotal hike that shifted how she spoke to herself. We dive into the emotional layers that make movement feel hard, and why your body size isn’t the problem.
This conversation offers a compassionate lens and practical tools to help you reconnect with movement in a way that truly supports and respects you.
✅ What You’ll Learn:
- Why movement can feel so emotional and how to process those feelings without blaming your body
- Practical ways to approach exercise that support your strength and mobility
- How to reframe negative self-talk and start speaking to yourself with kindness and respect
- Why it’s possible (and powerful) to do hard, meaningful things in the body you have right now
- The impact of family and societal conditioning on our relationship with movement, and how to heal from it
- Steps to build a deeper trust in your ability to take care of yourself with movement and nutrition
✨ Connect with Megan:
🔗 Struggling to know when to eat or when to stop isn’t a failure... it could be a byproduct of following diet rules instead of your body's cues. The free Hunger & Fullness Scale Guide helps you ditch the noise and tune back into the cues your body is sending to build trust with your body and food. Get it at DietCultureRebel.com/hungerfullnessscale.
Come back next week for another episode and connect with me over on Instagram at @diet.culture.rebel.
Struggling with food, but not sure where to start?
You don’t have to feel 100% ready to get support. If you're tired of obsessing over food or feeling stuck in the diet cycle, my team of Registered Dietitians is here to help. We offer one-on-one nutrition counseling—and we accept insurance! Spots are limited, so head to https://dietculturerebel.com/insurance to see if we’re covered in your state and learn how to get started.