In this episode, I break down the five elements of a great nervous system regulation toolkit for food and weight stress.

I walk through the five elements: understanding where food and body stress actually comes from, building basic emotional competency, learning embodied regulation (the heart of the work), working with the thought patterns underneath — in the right order — and navigating the real-life triggers that set it all off.

This episode is the framework behind a course I'm building to help women move through food and weight stress using their nervous system, not more willpower. Subscribe to the Wait.What? newsletter (below) to be first to know when it opens.

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A newsletter for women who don't want to lose another year fighting their body and their food: https://emmawright.co.nz/waitwhat/

[This episode is part of the Weight-Neutral Health Care In Aotearoa NZ Series]

This week I'm talking with Andrea Palmer, a Wellington-based dietitian, about weight-neutral family feeding — what it actually looks like and why that's harder than it sounds in a culture obsessed with kids' weight.

In this episode:

• What family-style feeding is, why the parent's job stops at what/when/where, and how removing the moral hierarchy between foods changes the whole dynamic at the table
• Why restricting a bigger kid's food usually backfires — and why pressuring a smaller kid to eat more does too
• How to handle a GP who suggests weight loss for your child, including a question that exposes the bias behind that advice
• Why yo-yo dieting costs kids and how never restricting a child sets them up for a steadier relationship with food for life

As Andrea put it: whether it's fear of weight gain, fear of sugar, or fear of "bad" food, fear has no place attached to something as basic as eating — and taking it off the table is the whole point.

About Andrea Palmer: Andrea has been a dietitian since 2007 and has practised from a weight-neutral perspective for most of her career. Based in Wellington, she supports families — including her own — in feeding their kids without making weight the focus, drawing on her own experience raising a selective eater.

Connect with Andrea: https://foodhabits.co.nz/

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch: https://www.intuitiveeating.org/
• The Satter Division of Responsibility in Feeding by Ellyn Satter: https://www.ellynsatterinstitute.org/how-to-feed/division-of-responsibility/

Loved this episode? Subscribe to Wait.What? to stay in the loop: https://emmawright.co.nz/waitwhat/

[This episode is part of the Weight-Neutral Health Care In Aotearoa NZ Series]

This week I'm talking with Dr. Meg Vardy, founding chair of JourneyED, about why taking weight off the table is central to eating disorder peer support, and what it actually means to rebuild trust with your own body. In this episode:

• What peer support actually is, how it's different from clinical treatment and recovery coaching, and why "fixing" or diagnosing isn't the job
• Why a weight-neutral approach to peer support matters, and how eating disorders that don't fit the "underweight" stereotype get missed
• The U-shaped relationship between weight and health, why BMI doesn't hold up, and how framing obesity as a disease creates its own harm
• Why moralising food and bodies (even well-meaning tools like Health Star Ratings) keeps people stuck

On rebuilding trust with your body: "My body is for me, my body is safe, and my body is home." Meg's words on what it's taken to get there — and why it's still very much an ongoing practice, not a switch you flip.

About Meg Vardy: Meg grew up in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) and now lives in Ōtepoti (Dunedin) with her whānau. She has a background as an academic researcher, including time in London researching psilocybin-assisted treatment for anorexia (recently published). Meg has lived experience of anorexia and is the founding chair of JourneyED, Aotearoa New Zealand's eating disorder peer support organisation.

Connect with JourneyED: Website [link]

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Unshrinking by Kate Manne: https://www.katemanne.net/unshrinking.html
• Mrs D is not on a Diet: https://www.unitybooks.co.nz/products/mrs-d-is-not-on-a-diet
• Bite Back by Genevieve Mora: https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/bite-back-9781776950447
• Body Confident by Emma Wright: https://www.harpercollins.co.nz/9781775542421/body-confident/

Loved this episode? Subscribe to Wait.What? to stay in the loop: https://emmawright.co.nz/waitwhat/

Part of the Weight Neutral Health Care in Aotearoa NZ.

Therapist Nicole Gaviria, founder of Binge Free Bestie, talks about her binge eating disorder, why bariatric surgery didn't fix it, and the three real triggers behind binge eating.

We unpack why the number on the scale was never the actual problem, and Nicole walks through the three triggers she sees behind binge eating in the women she works with: physical restriction, mental restriction (diet rules and food morality), and a dysregulated nervous system. We also get into a GLP-1s — not from a pro- or anti-drug stance, but what happens to food noise, body image, and eating disorder risk when the injectable stops working and the underlying relationship with food is not addressed.

This is a raw, unedited conversation, as all Talking with Emma episodes are.

ABOUT NICOLE GAVIRIA

Nicole Gaviria is a registered counsellor based in Christchurch, New Zealand, and the founder of Binge Free Bestie, where she works with women on binge and emotional eating using a weight-neutral, anti-diet approach. She also hosts her own podcast and runs a 90-day program called The Breakup, focused on breaking up with diet culture and binge eating.

Website: https://bingefreebestie.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bingefreebestie/

Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/0hNizRK1dJAfy52fq9odV5?si=846ea7959d7b4e43

The Break Up: https://checkout.bingefreebestie.com/the-break-up

If this episode resonated with you, please like and share it. For more from Talking with Emma in your inbox, subscribe to the Wait.What? newsletter at https://emmawright.co.nz/waitwhat/

[This episode is part of the Weight-Neutral Health Care In Aotearoa NZ Series]

This week I'm talking with journalist and author Niki Bezzant about paying attention to what our bodies actually need in midlife, vs chasing numbers on the scale.

In this episode:

• Why Niki spent years internalising the idea that thinness equals goodness — and why she no longer believes that
• The diet industry's business model, and why it depends on you not succeeding
• Why midlife body changes can feel like waking up in a stranger's body — and why that's not a personal failing
• How to reframe health as a lifelong practice instead of an event with a finish line

On perfection vs. consistency:
"I felt like I'd done a half-assed that workout" — until Niki realised showing up, even imperfectly, was the win. We talk about why consistency beats intensity every time.

About Niki Bezzant:
Niki is a New Zealand-based writer, journalist and author who has built a reputation for translating complex health and science jargon into easy-to-understand information for everyone over more than 20 years. A trusted advocate and sought-after speaker on menopause, perimenopause and midlife, Niki is passionate about women’s health, especially empowering midlife women to become vibrant, kick-ass old ladies. She now spends much of her time on menopause education and awareness in workplaces and communities.

Connect with Niki:

Website for books and speaking equires: nikibezzant.com

Instagram: @nikibezzant

Loved this episode? Subscribe to Wait.What? to stay in the loop: https://emmawright.co.nz/waitwhat/

In this episode, I look at that sneaky ingrained belief that if we just try harder — eat better food, be more disciplined, stick to the plan — we’ll finally feel better. But the issue isn’t a lack of willpower or time management. It’s a culture that taught us to fight our bodies instead of working with them.

I share the story of a client who broke this cycle and introduce you to one of my core self-coaching tools: “Work with your body, not on it.” It’s a small but radical shift that can change everything.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why trying harder keeps you fighting yourself and feeling exhausted
• The reason willpower isn't the problem
• What happens when we stop controlling and start collaborating with our bodies
• A practical self-coaching technique to begin today

Joining my Wait.What? newsletter:
A newsletter for proactive women who are done with fighting their body and their food: https://emmawright.co.nz/waitwhat/

Curious about working together?
I’m currently taking 1:1 clients. Book a consultation where we'll create and individualized plan for you to stop trying harder and be more effective. Whether we work together or not, you'll know your next steps.

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In this episode we talk about Harriet Moir's Eat Damn Sausage show and why it's such a great way for women to reject beauty standards and find empowerment.

We talk about

• Challenging Body Standards:
• The Influence of Patriarchy
• The Power of Storytelling
• Practicing Body Acceptance
• Role Modeling for Future Generations

We look at Harriet's professional work beyond her comedy. She discusses her podcast, "Tell Me Moir," which covers serious topics like divorce and relationship property, and her Women's Empowerment Experience Retreats.

Connect with Harriet here: https://www.instagram.com/harrietmoirentertainermc/

On Sundays, I look at one health trend, idea, premise I used to believe without question, how it affected me and what I think now. Subscribe to Wait.What here: https://emmawright.co.nz/waitwhat/

Is food noise loud in your head? In this episode, I break down what food noise actually is, why your brain produces it, and why using a GLP-1 is a mask, not a fix. If you or someone you love is weighing up a weight loss drug, this gives you the fuller picture before you decide.

Please note: I say the number of Intuitive Eating Studies is around 190. I mean to say 100.

I walk through the three phases your body goes through to end food noise without medication.

I also look at a broad overview of what the data says happens when people stop taking GLP-1s, and why researchers like Ragen Chastain, Angela Meadows, and Louise Adams argue these drugs follow a similar pattern to all intentional weight loss effort — they are not the exception the marketing claims.

Sources referenced in this episode:

• Chastain, R., Meadows, A., & Adams, L. (2026). GLP-1 Medications for Weight-Loss: A Triumph of Marketing Over Patient Care. Fat Studies.
• Mann, T., et al. (2007). Medicare's search for effective obesity treatments: Diets are not the answer. American Psychologist.
• Tribole, E., & Resch, E. — Intuitive Eating research overview, intuitiveeating.org (over 100 studies to date)

If you're tired of the weight cycling rollercoaster and want to get more of my work, subscribe to my newsletter, Wait, What? https://emmawright.co.nz/waitwhat/