Women are hearing a lot right now about eating more, building muscle, healing their metabolism, and using GLP-1s for weight loss. But so much of the conversation still skips over what actually matters for women’s bodies, especially in perimenopause and menopause. If you’ve ever tried to nourish yourself more and immediately watched the scale go up, it can feel like your body is broken. It’s not, but your metabolism may need repair before it’s ready for fat loss.

That’s why I wanted to talk with Ashley Fillmore, founder and president of Metabolic Fix. Ashley is a leading expert in sustainable weight and fat loss with over 20 years of experience helping women heal their metabolism, balance their hormones, and change their body composition without staying stuck in chronic dieting. She also brings something I always appreciate, real client data, real lived experience, and a clear-eyed take on the online muscle-building and GLP-1 claims that don’t match what actually happens in women’s bodies.

In this episode of the Truce with Food podcast, I sit down with Ashley to talk about how to use GLP-1s without losing the muscle you need, and why they can support weight loss but can’t replace metabolic repair. We get into her Repair, Rebuild, Results framework, why eating more can feel so scary when your body has adapted to under-eating, and what sustainable fat loss actually requires if you want results that last.

6:27 – Defining metabolism, what the repair phase does, and the impact of hormones on your metabolic health

12:57 – Why you might be stuck even if you’re doing many of the right things

17:25 – How the reverse diet in the repair phase helps your metabolism safely adapt to more calories

25:28 – How long the repair phase lasts, and why Ashley’s took longer than average

32:03 – What happens during the rebuild stage, and why it’s crucial before entering fat loss

36:19 – Debunking media claims and setting realistic expectations about muscle gain

47:02 – Why lean muscle is the body’s currency for longevity, not just an aesthetic bodily upgrade

50:06 – Why GLP-1s should be a supplement, not your primary weight loss strategy

53:22 – The importance of careful GLP-1 microdosing usage and greater metabolic health knowledge among doctors

1:03:19 – Why not all weight loss is a good thing, and the problem with overfocusing on protein alone in your diet

1:06:25 – Ashley’s free tool for estimating a healthy calorie target based on your weight loss goals

Mentioned In How to Use GLP-1s Without Losing the Muscle You Need with Ashley Fillmore

Dr. Stacy Sims

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

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Metabolic Fix Weight Loss Calculator

Cheers to Your Success Podcast

Find Your Food Stage Quiz

"What's wrong with me?" You've probably asked yourself this after another night of eating when you weren't hungry, scrolling when you meant to go to bed, or saying yes to something you had no energy for. The late-night sugar, the people-pleasing, the crashing after weeks of overdoing everything. You're not lazy and you're not broken, but you are asking the wrong question.

The real question is what's happening in your body because so much of what we chalk up to bad habits or weak willpower is actually driven by biology. Your nervous system is keeping you in familiar patterns because familiar feels safe, even when it's not working. Your cortisol is spiking your hunger and blunting your fullness signals, and if you're in perimenopause, all of it hits harder because the hormonal buffer you used to have is disappearing.

In this episode of Truce with Food, I sit down with Amber Romaniuk, an expert in emotional eating, digestive health, and hormonal balance with over 12 years of clinical and lived experience, to discuss the biology behind the behaviors we call self-sabotage. We get into how chronic stress and cortisol reshape your hunger and cravings, why everything from sugar to people-pleasing hits differently in perimenopause, and what it actually looks like to stop fighting your body and start understanding what it's telling you.

7:16 – Why mindset work fails when you ignore your body's role in behavior

9:27 – Why your nervous system keeps you stuck in familiar patterns even when you want to change

15:22 – How cortisol changes your hunger, cravings, and capacity to handle stress

21:55 – Why everything from sugar to stress hits differently in perimenopause and menopause

28:34 – How low progesterone drives people-pleasing, overworking, and chasing the next accomplishment

34:19 – Getting off the addiction to intensity and what to do instead of chasing cheap dopamine

41:17 – Amber's cortisol test recommendations and what to actually do with the results

48:19 – What guilt does to your amygdala and why it keeps you from prioritizing yourself

Mentioned In Your Sugar Cravings Make Sense When You Understand Your Hormones with Amber Romaniuk

Amber Approved | TikTok | YouTube | Instagram | Facebook | LinkedIn

Book a Body Freedom Consultation with Amber

Hormone Imbalance Quiz

No Sugarcoating Podcast

Find Your Food Stage Quiz

For many of us, the body has long felt like an inconvenient, separate entity. Our intellect does the heavy lifting while our physical selves get relegated to the background. You know how to think your way through problems, build a career, figure things out. But when it comes to looking down and asking your body what it actually needs, there's a tight ball of feelings most of us would rather not touch.

My dear friend and developmental coach Sas Petherick used to live that way. Over the past year, through a process she describes as one of the most vulnerable experiences of her life, Sas has gone through a complete identity shift in how she relates to her body, her marriage, and herself. She's lost 52 pounds and built her most developed muscle mass as an adult. But what surprised her most wasn't the physical change. It was that figuring out her body stuff required more growing up than changing careers, getting sober, or losing a parent.

Sas returns to close out a year-long conversation about what it actually takes to change your relationship with your body. We get into why body image lives in the brain and not the mirror, how the padding she carried was protection against vulnerability she wasn't ready to feel, and what it means when your insides finally match your outsides. This is what it looks like to move from self-monitoring to true self-awareness and become more fully yourself.

7:21 – Why Sas ranks this body journey alongside sobriety, grief, and career change as one of the most identity-altering experiences of her life

13:00 – Difficulties of the journey and how much Sas’s relationship with her body has impacted her nearly 20-year-old relationship with her partner

19:08 – Highlights of the journey and what Sas noticed while watching a stranger at dinner that revealed just how far she's come

32:50 – Why maintenance (which everyone says is the hardest part of this journey) has actually become easier for Sas

46:23 – Why Sas’s relationship with food is more difficult than her relationship with exercise, and how she’s learning to work through it

50:11 – Why body dysmorphia might have a root emotion that doesn't get talked about enough

1:00:07 – Defining body image, embracing the body positivity movement, and why grief isn’t just about loss

1:02:37 – Sas's honest take on GLP-1s: what’s missing from the conversation, what she'd do if she were taking them, and what everyone should be asking before they decide

1:09:12 – How exploring her relationships with food, movement, and her body are no longer tied to the scale for Sas

How to Lose Weight and Love Yourself (because you can do both!)

“We’re the Brave Ones” – Discipline vs Devotion, Macros & Being Sporty

Emotions & Embodiment for Sustainable Weight Loss

How to Hold Your Weight Loss Goals Loosely (for better results)

How to Finally Stop White-Knuckling Your Weight-Loss Journey

Sas Petherick

Find Your Food Stage Quiz