Episode 13Dec 3, 2025· 8:13

Why Your Body Knows Better Than Any Diet: Listen to These Natural Signals

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About this episode

Ashley Grant reflects on how dramatically increasing her workout frequency — from 2-3 hours a week to 19 classes — changed her eating and drinking habits without intentional dieting or calorie counting. She describes craving water over soda, being unable to finish meals, reducing portion sizes organically, and eventually choosing foods like bananas over cookies because she could feel the physical difference. She…

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Who this episode is for

This episode may resonate with you if:

You've tried diets before and the restriction itself is what broke you — the moment you said 'I can't have that' was the moment you wanted it most.

You've recently started working out more seriously and you're noticing your body feels different — but you don't have a framework for what that means yet.

You're tired of tracking calories and want to know if there's another way — but you're not sure you trust yourself without the numbers.

You've eaten past the point of fullness and felt genuinely bad about it — and you're looking for someone who talks about that honestly instead of pretending it doesn't happen.

You're more than a few months into a new fitness routine and starting to notice small, quiet shifts in what you want — and you're trying to make sense of them.

Questions this episode wrestles with

Can your eating actually change without you forcing it?

answered

Ashley shares that her eating shifted on its own once she started working out heavily — soda stopped feeling enjoyable, portions shrank because she felt sick if she ate more — without her deciding to restrict anything.

"that's not because I was intentionally restricting myself. It's because my body started craving certain things. And here's what I mean by that."

Is it still a diet if you didn't decide to diet?

answered

Ashley says she hasn't 'dieted per se' but has 'naturally changed the way that I'm eating' — framing the distinction as whether the change comes from a rule you impose or from what your body is telling you.

"So in truth, no, I've not dieted per se, but I have naturally changed the way that I'm eating."

When should you listen to your body and when should you override it?

open question

Ashley raises the squats counterexample — that 'if it feels bad, stop' logic breaks down when something uncomfortable is still good for you — but doesn't land on a clear rule for when to listen and when to push through.

"then then again, some of you might be listening to this going, well, I hate squats. So I guess I should stop doing that. It doesn't feel good, but it's good for you. Right. So you should still do the squats. But maybe if you eat a candy bar"

Is there a way to eat better that doesn't involve counting calories?

answered

Ashley shares her experience of reaching for healthier options because she 'can feel a difference in my performance when I do' — describing it as responding to what her body craves rather than tracking numbers.

"for healthier options because I can feel a difference in my performance when I do. And this isn't about again, I want to I just want to make this abundantly clear. It's not about restriction. It's about I am feeling that my body is craving different"

What if your body already knows what it needs — does tracking just get in the way?

open question

Ashley pushes back on the calorie-deficit framing and says 'if you really listen to your body, it will tell you what you need,' while also acknowledging doctors recommend calorie limits — leaving the tension between the two approaches unresolved.

"that. If you really listen to your body, it will tell you what you need. And I think you'll find that if you start doing that rather than trying to focus on the numbers of calories that you're consuming. you might notice that your body is telling you that it wants something that's healthier"

Setting expectations: This episode is not a diet plan, a calorie-counting framework, or a guide to intuitive eating as a formal practice. It's Ashley sharing what personally happened to her cravings and portion sizes after jumping from 2-3 hours of fitness a week to 19 classes — specifically that soda started feeling bad, she couldn't finish meals, and she started reaching for a banana over a cookie because she could feel the difference.

Tone & style

Ashley starts from a firm anti-diet position — restriction leads to binging, full stop. Then her body surprises her: jumping to 19 classes a week makes her reach for water constantly and feel sick after soda. She notices she can't finish meals, starts making smaller portions, and eventually finds herself choosing a banana over a cookie because she can feel the difference. More than 100 days in, she reframes the whole thing: her body told her what to do, she didn't tell her body.

Personal experience from Ashley's own 100+ day fitness journey. She explicitly defers to doctors on clinical questions and frames everything as 'what I've been feeling' — not advice or a method.

toneCasual & candid

focusAshley shares how ramping up to 19 fitness classes a week changed what her body craved — without her trying to diet at all.

stylesolo_monologue

energymedium_low

complexitybeginner

pressure Levellow

emotional Textureupbeat, self-deprecating, conversational

Notable quotes

"or Z. I feel like if you're going to change what you're eating or change your portions, then it should be because your body is telling you to, not because you're telling your body to. Does"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"to be. So even though I'm a soda girly, I wasn't enjoying the experience of drinking soda. The"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"want is a banana because if I eat the banana,"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"no, I don't want this cookie. What I actually want is a banana because if I eat the banana, I can feel the potassium. I can feel it's better"

— Famous Ashley Grant

"then then again, some of you might be listening to this going, well, I hate squats. So I guess I should stop doing that. It doesn't feel good,"

— Famous Ashley Grant

Episode transcript

Organized into 5 chapters — open any part to read the full text.

0:121. Ashley's Aversion to DietingAshley introduces her dislike of the word 'diet' and explains she doesn't want to restrict herself, while also clarifying she's not trying to binge.0:462. How Intense Workouts Changed Her CravingsAshley describes how jumping from 2-3 hours of fitness a week to 19 classes made her body crave water constantly, which naturally crowded out soda because it started feeling bad to drink.2:353. Eating Less Without Trying ToAshley notices she can't finish meals after ramping up workouts, starts making smaller portions, and admits she still sometimes overeats a meal she loves — and pays for it physically.5:044. Reaching for Healthier Food Because It Performs BetterMore than 100 days in, Ashley finds herself choosing a banana over a cookie because she can feel the difference in her body — and frames this as the body telling her what it needs rather than her telling her body what to do.8:135. The Squats Caveat and Closing ThoughtAshley acknowledges the limits of 'if it feels bad, stop' logic by joking about squats, then wraps up by encouraging listeners to check in with how food and drink actually makes them feel.

Open full transcript

Mentioned in this episode

personFamous Ashley Grant

The host of More Movement Please, sharing her personal experience of how ramping up to 19 fitness classes a week naturally changed her eating and drinking habits without intentional dieting.

Key themes

Hating the word 'diet'

Ashley opens by saying 'diet' is a four-letter word she can't stand, and frames the entire episode around why she refuses to think of what she's doing as dieting.

Restriction leading to binging

Ashley explains her fear that restricting herself could backfire into binging, which is part of why she won't follow a conventional diet.

Body cravings shifting after intense workouts

When Ashley jumped from 2-3 hours of fitness a week to 19 classes, her body started craving water constantly and soda started feeling bad rather than enjoyable.

Eating less without trying to

Ashley describes getting so full mid-meal that she couldn't finish, which led her to naturally shrink her portion sizes — not as a deliberate restriction but because her body physically stopped her.

Still overeating sometimes and paying for it

Ashley admits she will occasionally eat an entire meal even when stuffed because she loves it, and is honest that she physically pays for it afterward.

Body telling you what to eat vs. you telling your body

Ashley draws a distinction she returns to repeatedly: changes in eating should come from the body signaling what it wants, not from externally imposed calorie rules.

Feeling food performance in the body

More than 100 days in, Ashley finds herself choosing a banana over a cookie because she can physically feel the difference in how each affects her performance.

The squats caveat — 'feels bad' has limits

Ashley briefly acknowledges the flaw in pure body-signal logic by joking that hating squats doesn't mean you should stop doing them, drawing a line between discomfort that's good for you and food that genuinely makes you feel bad.

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