Could Your Trauma Be Disrupting Your Metabolism? The Weight Health ConversationCould Your Trauma Be Disrupting Your Metabolism? The Weight Health Conversation
The Biology of Trauma™ With Dr. Aimie
Dr. Aimie and dietitian Ashley Koff talk about how trauma and survival mode can disrupt hormones that control weight, appetite and metabolism. They outline a "weight health" approach that looks beyond the scale to digestion, hormones, life stage and nervous system health.
48:00•10 Mar 2026
Trauma, Hormones and Weight: Rethinking Metabolism With Dr. Aimie and Ashley Koff
Episode Overview
- Weight and BMI as single numbers tell almost nothing about true health; "weight health" looks at hormones, body composition, digestion, hydration and more.
- Trauma and long-term survival states can disrupt weight health hormones like GLP-1, leptin and ghrelin, making standard diet and exercise approaches far less effective.
- Focusing solely on weight loss can further deplete an already under-resourced system, while optimising digestion, hydration and lifestyle creates a stronger foundation.
- Perimenopause, menopause and andropause-related belly fat are important biological signals, not vanity issues or personal failures.
- Building agency with food starts with curiosity, unlearning diet-culture rules and aiming for choices that feel genuinely delicious and resourcing to the body.
“Weight loss is not the right goal, it's not the right approach, and it is one that will leave you disempowered and on this wheel, this cycle that so many of us have been on.”
What can we learn from those who have battled addiction to diet culture and shame around weight? This conversation on The Biology of Trauma™ with Dr. Aimie zooms in on how trauma, hormones and metabolism all collide to shape weight and health in ways a bathroom scale can never show. Registered dietitian and author Ashley Koff joins Dr. Aimie to unpack what Ashley calls "weight health" – an ecosystem involving digestion, hydration, hormones, lifestyle and even joy.
As Ashley bluntly puts it, "Weight, our total weight, doesn't tell us anything about our health. Like literally nothing." Instead of obsessing over a number, she introduces "weight health hormones" like GLP-1, leptin and ghrelin, explaining how they act more like spark plugs than villains. You’ll hear how trauma and long-term survival mode can scramble these hormones, leaving people stuck in cycles of dieting, self‑blame and exhaustion.
Ashley shares her own history of bullying, self‑criticism and endless diets, and how understanding physiology stopped her from "being mean" to herself and turned her body into a puzzle rather than a problem. A standout part of the episode is Ashley’s pizza metaphor: digestion and hydration are the crust, lifestyle choices like sleep and stress are the cheese and sauce, and things like GLP‑1 medications are just toppings – useful tools, but never the whole meal.
The pair also touch on perimenopause, andropause and that infamous belly weight as powerful signals, not moral failings. The tone is warm, funny and very human, yet firmly science‑based. If you’ve ever thought, "What’s wrong with me? I’m doing everything right and my body still won’t change," this chat might gently flip that script. What if nothing is wrong with you – and your body is simply asking for a different kind of care?
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