Episode 108Aug 10, 2026· 5:18

What Babies Know About Movement That We Forgot

▸ Show notes from the creator

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About this episode

Short episode featuring a guest voice note from Shirley Billigmeyer (Energetics method) on innate hunger cues, infant eating behavior as a model for intuitive eating, personal choice as identity, the limits of nutrition research given individual variation, and retraining food and movement habits. Host Ashley Grant reflects on nature vs. nurture in habit formation and shares a personal example of packing healthier…

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Who this episode is for

This episode may resonate with you if:

You've been following diet advice that contradicts itself — one study says something is healthy, another says it isn't — and you're exhausted trying to figure out who to trust.

You feel like you've lost touch with your own body — you eat past fullness, you skip movement — and you can't remember when that disconnection started.

You grew up in an environment where junk food was just normal — everyone around you ate it — and you're only now questioning whether those habits were ever really yours.

You're someone who wants to move more but it feels like a chore rather than something you actually want to do, and you're wondering if that's just who you are now.

You're trying to make small, concrete changes — like what you pack for a road trip — but you're not sure if those tiny choices actually add up to anything.

What makes this episode interesting

what do babies know about eating that adults have forgotten?

answered

Shirley Billigmeyer's view is that infants are born with natural eating boundaries — they know when to start and when to stop eating, and they enforce it physically by spitting food out or clenching their lips, with no concern for weight or diaper size.

"are hungry, they want to start eating. And they certainly know when they are no longer hungry, they want to stop eating. And they will be quite forceful in their desire to stop eating. They will spit it out, throw it, clench those little lips to tell you they want to stop eating. and they could care less about their weight or their"

if shrimp is healthy but makes me feel bad, who's right?

answered

Shirley's position is that you are the final authority — conflicting research isn't wrong, it just reflects how different people respond differently, and your own body's reaction is the real answer.

"if you read that shrimp is healthy, yet when you eat it, you have a reaction, who really is the final authority? You are. In addition, have"

why does nutrition advice keep changing?

answered

Shirley argues the research isn't wrong — it depends on how a specific group of people responds to a particular food, which is why results vary and why individual response matters more than any single study.

"you feel. It is why the research keeps changing. The research isn't wrong. It depends on how that group of people responds to a particular food or group of foods in the study. For example,"

can you retrain your brain to want healthier food?

answered

Ashley shares from a road trip experience that repeatedly reaching for junk trains your brain and body to want junk, while reaching for healthier foods trains your mind and body to want those instead.

"for junk then you're training your brain and"

Setting expectations: This episode is not about infant development, pediatric nutrition, or exercise science research on how babies move. It's a short voice note from Shirley Billigmeyer followed by Ashley Grant reflecting on the idea that infants naturally know when to eat, when to stop, and how to move — and that adults have drifted from that by following social cues instead of their own bodies.

Tone & style

Opinion and personal philosophy, not research or medical guidance. Shirley explicitly frames external nutritional research as less authoritative than individual feeling, and Ashley endorses that view from her own experience.

toneWarm & casual

focusAshley plays a voice note from Shirley Billigmeyer arguing that infants model what natural eating and movement look like, then reflects on how nurture — not nature — is what pulls people away from those instincts.

stylecasual_chat

energymedium_low

complexitybeginner

pressure Levellow

emotional Texturewarm, encouraging, conversational

Notable quotes

"will spit it out, throw it, clench those little lips to tell you they want to stop eating. and they could care less about their weight or their diaper size. They simply want to stop eating."

— Shirley Billigmeyer

"if you read that shrimp is healthy, yet when you eat it, you have a reaction, who really is the final authority? You are. In addition, have"

— Shirley Billigmeyer

"just stopped listening to ourselves and stopped. making our own choices. And we left the one place that had all the answers, our gut brain, our"

— Shirley Billigmeyer

"all kinds of junk but if you're constantly reaching for junk then you're training your brain and your body that you want junk But if you are reaching for healthier foods, you're training your mind and your body that you want healthier foods."

— Famous Ashley Grant

Episode transcript

Organized into 2 chapters — open any part to read the full text.

0:001. Intro and Shirley's Voice Note on Innate Eating and MovementAshley Grant introduces the episode and plays a voice note from Shirley Billigmeyer, founder of Energetics, who argues that humans are born with natural eating boundaries and a desire to move — using infants as the example — and that reclaiming personal choice over food and movement leads back to that innate wisdom.2:582. Ashley Reflects on Nature vs. Nurture in Food and MovementAshley responds to Shirley's message, connecting it to the nature vs. nurture tension in how people develop eating and movement habits, and shares a personal example of packing healthier road trip snacks as a way of retraining the brain toward better choices.

Open full transcript

Mentioned in this episode

personShirley Billigmeyer

Guest who submitted a voice note arguing that humans are born with natural eating boundaries and a desire to move, using infants as her central example.

companyEnergetics

Shirley Billigmeyer's company, spelled with 'INNER' — built around the idea that energy and choice over food and movement come from within.

websiteenergeticsmethod

Shirley Billigmeyer's Instagram handle, shared at the end of her voice note as a way for listeners to follow her work.

websitefamousashleygrant.com/fitness

Ashley Grant's website page where listeners can submit their own voice notes to be featured on the show.

Key themes

Infants as models of natural eating and movement

Shirley uses infant behavior — spitting out food, clenching lips, constantly wanting to move — as evidence that humans are born with intact hunger cues and a drive to be active.

Personal choice as identity

Shirley frames the act of choosing what you eat and how you move as the foundation of personal identity, arguing that owned choices become permanent and pleasurable.

Trusting your own body over external research

Shirley argues that because everyone has unique taste buds and responses to food, the individual is the final authority on what is healthy — not shifting nutritional research.

Losing the gut brain — stopping listening to yourself

Shirley identifies the core problem as people abandoning their internal 'gut brain' wisdom in favor of external cues, which she says is how natural eating boundaries and the desire to move get lost.

Nature vs. nurture in how habits form

Ashley reflects on Shirley's message through a nature vs. nurture lens, pointing to social environment — like everyone around you drinking sodas — as the force that overrides innate instincts.

Retraining the brain through repeated food choices

Ashley shares that packing healthier road trip snacks was a deliberate act of retraining her brain, arguing that consistently reaching for junk trains you to want junk, and vice versa.

Fat as 'stored information'

Shirley introduces her own term 'storage' for fat, framing it not as a moral failing but as stored information — a reframe of how body composition is talked about.

Reclaiming joy in eating and moving

Shirley closes her voice note by framing the return to personal choice as a reclaiming of joy — in eating, in movement, and in living in your body.