57. The One Where You Stop Fighting Your Body

In this final episode of The Fatigue Fixer, Dr. Sarah explores weight bias, internalized weight stigma, body image, self-acceptance, and the emotional exhaustion that can come from constantly trying to change your body.

After nearly three years and 56 episodes, Sarah shares why she’s decided to bring The Fatigue Fixer podcast to a close — and what this decision has taught her about letting go of things that are still “good” when they no longer feel fulfilling.

Fittingly, the conversation circles back to a theme from the very first episode: the clothes in our closets that no longer fit, and the quiet expectation that our bodies should somehow return to an earlier version of themselves.

Sarah explores how the desire to lose weight can become an enormous drain on our mental and emotional energy — and how, for many women, what they truly want isn’t necessarily a smaller body, but freedom from thinking about their weight all the time.

She unpacks the prevalence of weight bias in our culture, families, workplaces, friendships and healthcare system, as well as the harm caused when those beliefs become internalized. Weight stigma doesn’t motivate people toward better health. In fact, it can increase stress, contribute to disordered eating and bingeing, reduce engagement in physical activity, discourage people from seeking healthcare and make sustainable behaviour change even harder.

Ultimately, this episode is an invitation to consider a different path: one built on respect, compassion and the understanding that your body is your home — not a never-ending self-improvement project.

As The Fatigue Fixer comes to an end, Sarah leaves you with one final question:

What might become possible if you stopped spending so much energy fighting yourself?



Key Takeaways:

• Keeping clothes that no longer fit can reinforce the belief that your current body is temporary, unacceptable or something you need to “fix”
• The desire to lose weight can consume a tremendous amount of mental and emotional energy
• Weight bias is deeply embedded in our culture and can come from family members, friends, workplaces, healthcare providers — and eventually ourselves
• Internalized weight stigma can increase stress, contribute to binge eating and disordered eating behaviours, reduce motivation to exercise and negatively affect healthcare-seeking behaviours
• Criticizing your body is not an effective strategy for creating sustainable healthy habits.
• Internalized weight bias may also make maintaining weight loss more difficult
• Self-compassion does not mean giving up on your health. It means pursuing health without making your worth conditional on your body size
• Your body is not a project you need to continually improve. It is the place you get to live your life
• Letting go of the fight with your body may free up energy for the things that matter much more

Additional Episodes You May Enjoy:

EP 1: The One Where Your Pants Don’t Fit
EP 56: The One Where Strong Feels Better Than Skinny with Leslie Robertson
EP 44: The One Where Exercise Stops Feeling So Hard



Dr. Sarah Vadeboncoeur is a Naturopathic Doctor, mom, and fatigue fixer who’s on a mission to help women fix their fatigue and get the health care they deserve. You can find her talking about all things fatigue on Instagram and learn more about her services at drsarahv.ca.

The Fatigue Fixer is produced by Story Studio Network.