All Episodes

May 20, 2025 16 mins

Send Ashlee a text!

In today’s episode, I’m sharing something special with you - this is the first episode I recorded over a year ago, and I’ve finally decided to share it with you.

As a dietitian for over a decade, my mission is to help women break free from diet culture and stop letting the scale control their self-worth. This episode is all about shifting how we think about food, our bodies, and what really matters.

In this episode, we dive into:

  • Why the scale doesn’t define your worth
  • How to focus on what makes you feel good (instead of obsessing over weight)
  • The truth about why perfection is never required
  • Why society’s “weight loss = happiness” myth is hurting you
  • Your inherent worth has nothing to do with your size
  • Building habits that stick - without guilt, shame, or restriction

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, leave a review, and subscribe.

Your support means the world to me. Let’s keep the conversation going over at whyeatwise.com.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello there and welcome to another episode of
Step Off the Scale.
Today I wanted to sharesomething with you that I
created a little over a year ago.
You see, this podcast has beenon my mind for a long time and
last year I recorded the firstepisode and I called it just

(00:22):
like raw and unedited.
It was just me riffing and Idid not really put it out into
the world.
I kind of kept it and I sat onthis podcast idea for a year
before actually doing it.
So I wanted to share it withyou today.
And if anybody is out therefeeling like you know you've

(00:43):
been thinking about doingsomething, you've been thinking
of forming a new habit orcreating something new, whatever
it may be, and you haven't doneit yet, just know that you're
not alone and there's alwaysgoing to be a time where you can
do it and you can make ithappen, and it's going to be the
right time, and I truly believethat now is the right time for

(01:06):
my podcast to be here and be inyour ears.
So, without further ado, hereis the very first episode, raw
and unedited.
Welcome to Step Off the Scale,the podcast where we are
redefining health and happinessbeyond the numbers.
I am your host, Ashley Wright,a dietician for over a decade,

(01:29):
mom of two and craft beer lover.
Together, we'll say goodbye torestrictive diets and learn
simple strategies to help youactually enjoy your food again
without guilt.
Now let's dive in together.
Now, let's dive in together.
Hi, my name is Ashley Wright.
I am a dietitian, nutritioncoach, mom of two, wife of

(01:56):
Taylor and a mom to a little furbaby named Porter.
And this is the very firstepisode of Step Off the Scale.
This podcast is meant to helpwomen all over the world step
away from the scale rather thanon it.
Over my years as a dietitian, Ihave seen so many women

(02:21):
mentally worn down from years ofdieting.
And that's exactly what it isYou're mentally worn down over
it.
Just so tired of hearing, youknow, advice after advice on oh
do this, oh do that, or thisworked for this person, this
worked for this person.
What the heck should I do?
And you know?

(02:42):
Or putting foods on the goodand the bad list and making us
feel guilty or shameful for thethings that we choose to eat in
our lives, and I am a firmbeliever that you know we have
to eat for the rest of our livesright.
So we don't want it to be amiserable process whatsoever.
And I'm on a mission to getwomen away from diet culture and

(03:04):
to embrace their bodies, toembrace their self-worth, to
know that they are worth morethan that number on the scale.
That is the most importantthing to me in my lifetime to
make sure that I'm getting outinto the world.
So I am recording this firstpodcast episode very rough and
tumble, I guess, would be theword for it Um, kind of just

(03:28):
like all right.
So give you a visual.
I'm sitting in my office rightnow.
My hair is a bit of a wreck,I'm in an older t-shirt with
some kind of stain on it andthere's currently a unmade bed
behind me.
It's like a day bed we have inmy office and I can see like the
pillows and the sheets bunchedup behind me and I was sitting

(03:50):
down at my desk to do somewriting.
I'm working on a blog post thatI want to put out for my
business and I kept feeling thislike pull, like don't write
this right now, don't do thisright now, this is not what
you're supposed to do right now.
And I was listening to a talkfrom one of my, uh, I guess I

(04:14):
would call her one of myspiritual idols.
Her name is Gabby Bernstein.
If you haven't heard of her,read her books, listen to her
podcast.
She's awesome, and she wastalking about when you're a
business owner.
It's not about we tend to makeit too much about ourselves, you
know, instead of making itabout the people that we serve,

(04:36):
and I want it to be about you,the people that I'm serving and
so I had this feeling in my gutthat said, ashley, just go into
your podcast recording softwareyou bought what, like five
months ago at this point, thatyou haven't used and record a
dang podcast episode as you are.

(04:56):
So that is what I'm doing, andI'm here talking to you right
now.
Whoever is listening to this, Iam talking to you, so I wanted
to share just kind of a littlebit about my story with you, and
I also wanted to sharesomething about a book that I am

(05:16):
reading called Worthy.
So I want to share a little bitabout that book and about a
couple of things that I thinkwould be helpful for you if you
are on the journey to rebuildinga healthy, positive
relationship with food, which isreally the most important thing
that we all need to be doing,not jumping on diet after diet.

(05:38):
Trust me, it never lasts in thelong run.
It doesn't.
I've been doing this for almost15 years and I have seen
countless people just jump fromthing to thing and wonder why it
never works.
Well, it doesn't work becauseit's not something you can keep
up with for the rest of yourlife.

(05:58):
You still need to enjoy yourfood.
You still need to be able to goon vacations and enjoy your
holidays and go out to eat anddo all the things that you love
to do and not feel guilty orshameful about it in the least.
And there's a way to do that.
I promise you and I have helpedmy clients to do that, and that

(06:19):
is what I'm so passionate about.
I want you to be a real humanbeing and live your life, enjoy
your food and still be a healthyversion of yourself.
That is the most importantthing.
Focus on supporting your body,focused on being a healthier
version of you.
Focus on the things that makeyou feel good.
That is the bottom line.
What makes you feel good?

(06:39):
What makes you feel better,instead of being like, oh, got
to lose weight, got to loseweight, got to lose weight over
time.
That just like berates ourbrain and it makes us feel like
shit, basically.
So instead of being like, oh, Igot to get to this certain
weight, or oh, oh gosh, thescale went up half a pound this
morning, well, no, you didn'tgain half a pound of fat
overnight.
First of all, it doesn't happen.

(07:00):
You probably had more sodiumyesterday or you drank a half a
bottle of water or something.
Don't fuss over that at all.
But I think so many of us thinkwe kind of let our weight define
us.
I've had several people overthe years who have come to see
me and I'm like oh, how's yourday going?
How are you doing today?

(07:21):
You know making the small talkin the beginning of a
conversation, right, and they'relike well, I'll tell you after
I get on the scale.
Please don't be one of thosepeople.
Do not do that.
Don't let that number on thescale define you at all.
That has nothing to do with whoyou are as a person.
It has nothing to do with yoursoul and your energy and your
beauty.
It has nothing to do with it,and I know that societal norms

(07:45):
and things that we see make usthink that.
But the people that really loveyou and that really care about
you.
They don't give a shit whatyour weight is.
They don't.
They truly, truly don't.
You know, we have to see peoplefor who they are and focusing
so much on weight is just it'smentally freaking, draining, and

(08:06):
I'm tired of it mentallydraining you.
So that's why I'm here recordingthis podcast episode right now,
just hanging out by my unfoldedyou know sheets and hanging out
in my office, and I was lettingmy little bit of
perfectionistism I know don'treally want to say the word I

(08:28):
was letting it hold me back fromstarting this podcast.
I was thinking I have to getthe right intro music and have
the right script written out tointroduce the podcast to you,
and I needed to have all thesethings just so before I put it
out into the world.
And, honestly, that's a bunchof bullshit.
I don't need to do any of that.
Yes, I will work on that andthose are things I want to do,

(08:49):
but at the end of the day, Idon't need to do that in order
to tell you the things that areon my heart, to tell you to help
you improve your life.
So I just want to share alittle bit about myself with you
.
So, like I said, I'm AshleyWright, if you didn't hear me in
the very beginning, and I amcurrently 38 years old.

(09:14):
I have two daughters, hope andCharlie, and they are the light
of my life, and this is they'rea big reason why I'm doing this
work, because I want the nextgeneration of women to have so
much more empowerment over theirbodies and their food choices.
Um, I have a wonderful husband,taylor, who supports me so much
in this business, and I have awonderful family and an older

(09:36):
brother who I love dearly.
Um, and a mom who's my bestfriend and, uh, they all have
just shown me so much love inthis process of putting myself
out into the world to share mymessage with you all, so I got
to give a shout out to them too.
And I've been working as adietitian for 13 years.

(09:59):
I have a master's in dieteticsadministration and I am a
certified specialist in obesityand weight management.
I know right, you hear that andyou're like, but you're talking
about not focusing on my weight.
You're a specialist in it.
Yes, I am.
That was something that I did inmy day job that I felt would be

(10:22):
beneficial for me to help mypatients who did want to lose
weight, and I know that's thegoal for a lot of people, and
I'm not saying there's anythingwrong with that goal to lose
weight at all.
And if you're starting toimplement some of the, the
belief systems and the mindsetshifts that go along with
building that betterrelationship with food, weight
loss often follows with that,and that is of course that makes

(10:45):
you feel better, right?
I'm not saying that with that,and that is of course that makes
you feel better, right?
I'm not saying that.
You know, don't ever, you know,think about your weight at all,
but I don't want that to be thething that drives us, if that
makes sense.
So I have the background, I knowthe knowledge, I know all the
things, but on my heart, it'sreally just telling you that you

(11:07):
don't have to be living yourlife to where it just revolves
around every single fooddecision all the time.
The food decisions can geteasier and we can make habits
that last for a lot longer than,like, a couple months.
So there's things that we cando that aren't so weight focused
, that are going to serve you somuch better in the long run,

(11:28):
and that's really what I'mtalking about.
So, um, I've just seen, over mytime as a dietitian, that I've
seen women so emotional, youknow, about their weight and so
emotional about this yo-yodieting, fricking rollercoaster
that doesn't seem to effing end.
And that's really why, in myown business, why Eat Wise I

(11:55):
want women to feel empowered andI want them to feel like they
are more than that number on thescale and that they can live
their life how they want to, ontheir own terms, and feel really
powerful and energetic and feelgood about themselves.
That's really what it boilsdown to.

(12:16):
So one thing that I just wantedto chat about is there's this
book that I'm reading right nowand it's called Worthy.
It's by Jamie Kern Lima readingright now, and it's called
Worthy.
It's by Jamie Kern Lima.
She is the founder of itCosmetics, which she sold to
L'Oreal for $1.2 billion, whichis flipping crazy.
She is like entrepreneurialrole model, for short, but she's

(12:41):
an amazing person and she isall about uplifting women and
showing them their worth.
And I'm going to talk moreabout other topics from her book
and other podcast episodes too,but the one that I just
listened to I have it on printand I have it on audio book, so
I can kind of hybrid read thebook, but she was talking about

(13:03):
not waiting on your weight, andI think that that is so
important.
I think the statement thatcomes up in my mind is I'll be
happy when I'm at this weight,or I'll do the thing I've always
wanted to do when I'm at thisweight, or I'll go after the job

(13:25):
I want when I'm at this weight,and sometimes what happens is
you get to that weight and youdon't feel any better about
doing the thing than you didbefore.
So it's really about buildingour self-worth and being strong
within ourselves more thananything else, so believing that

(13:46):
you are worthy.
Just because you are worthy,you don't have to earn it.
Nobody's got to give it to you.
It's already there, it'salready innate, it's within each
and every one of us, and I'vealways said that if I had a
superpower, it would be to showsomebody how somebody else views
them, like somebody that trulyloves you.

(14:07):
If you could see yourselfthrough their eyes, I think that
would be a really cool thing,because we always see the beauty
in other people and we try tobring that out Right, but we're
so quick to dim our own lightsand to take away our own beauty
that is there from ourselves,Right.
So I think it's just trulyimportant to think about.

(14:27):
You know how you talk toyourself on a daily basis.
You know we are the people wespend the most time with right
Ourselves, so we have to bethinking a little more about how
we're treating ourselves sowell.
This is kind of my short andsweet introduction to the Step
Off the Scale podcast, but Iknew it was something that I

(14:52):
needed to share with you alltoday.
So serve your soul, be a forceof light in the world, don't be
afraid to shine your light andgo after your big dreams.
And I will see you on the verynext episode of Step Off the
Scale.
And if you want to get incontact with me, go ahead and

(15:14):
visit whyeatwisecom.
It's W-H-Y.
Eatwisecom.
You can send me an email.
I would love to hear from you.
I love you.
Thank you for listening andtake care of yourself, and I'll
talk to you very soon.
Thank you so much for spendingyour time with me today on Step

(15:34):
Off the Scale.
I know that life can be crazybusy and I truly appreciate you
taking the time to be here withme today.
And just a quick reminder thatyour worth is not defined by a
number on the scale, and youdon't need to follow restrictive
diet rules to feel good in yourbody.
You deserve to feel freedom,confidence and a life where
eating feels easy again.
If today's episode resonatedwith you, I'd love for you to

(15:57):
subscribe, leave a review orshare it with a friend who needs
to hear it.
Your support means the world tome, and it helps this message
reach more women who are readyto break free from diet culture
and live a happier life in theirown body.
Take good care of yourself andI'll see you next time.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Are You A Charlotte?

Are You A Charlotte?

In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.