Listen today on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or iHeart!

You’ve been told a thousand times that movement is good for you…so why does it keep falling off the list?! Dr. Michelle Segar is here to flip the script and show y’all that sustainable movement doesn’t start with more willpower. It starts with a MINDSET shift! Once you get what she unpacks in this episode, consistency starts to feel like a totally different game!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why your mindset is the FIRST domino that decides whether you’ll actually stick with movement 🧠
• The difference between the “wrong whys” and the “right whys” – and why chasing weight loss keeps failing you 💭
• The research that says it’s how you feel WHILE you’re moving (not after) that decides whether you keep going 🙌🏼
• Why all-or-nothing thinking is quietly sabotaging your consistency 🚫
• Activity swaps and the “all or something” mindset shift that changes everything 🔁
• How to transform physical activity from a chore into a gift 🎁

Timestamps

• 00:00 Season Four Welcome
• 00:47 Meet Dr Michelle Seeger
• 01:56 Origin Story Sustainable Self Care
• 05:59 Books And Research Focus
• 10:37 Mindset As The First Domino
• 19:03 Shifting The Why For Movement
• 23:02 Feel Good While Moving
• 28:50 Activity Swaps Beat All Or Nothing
• 33:26 Applying Mindset To Eating
• 39:13 All Or Something Takeaway
• 41:14 Where To Find Michelle
• 43:02 Healthy Living Doesn’t Have To Suck
• 44:13 Wrap Up And Disclaimer
  
  
  

About Dr. Michelle Segar

Dr. Michelle Segar is an award-winning, NIH-funded researcher at the University of Michigan with over thirty years studying how to help people adopt physical activity and other lifestyle behaviors in ways that can be sustained in the unpredictability of the real world. She’s the bestselling author of No Sweat! and The Joy Choice – which was named “one of the best health books experts read by 2022” in The Washington Post. Her advice is sought by prominent initiatives including the World Health Organization’s Global Action Plan on Physical Activity, and her research has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, The Atlantic, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, TIME, and more.

Connect with Dr. Michelle

• Website: MichelleSegar.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michellelsegar
• Free quarterly newsletter: on her website
• Take her diagnostic quizzes (one for each book): on her website
• No Sweat! and The Joy Choice: linked on her website + available on Amazon

Resources mentioned in the episode

• Michelle’s recent program of research on all-or-nothing thinking and flexible regulation for physical activity, with collaborators [Jennifer Tabor and John Updegraff]
• The NIH-funded dietary change intervention at University of Michigan (currently in year 5 of 5)
• American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s Fitness in Medicine Member Interest Group
• Kara Alwell’s book

Additional reading from Dr. Michelle

• TIME magazine interview on Dolly Parton’s “Rejoicing Exercises”: time.com/article/2026/08/26/dolly-parton-rejoicing-exercises
• Michelle also co-led a 2025 workshop at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine conference, teaching clinicians how to prescribe physical activity using next-generation science on lasting motivation

CHECK OUT OUR LINKS!

• Join the Change Maker Collective group coaching membership to receive support, accountability, and coaching from Melyssa to achieve your lifestyle change goals!
• Check out a free 25-minute audiobook sneak peek!
• Grab our FREE Wellness Wheel Activity sneak peek from the book!
• Join our FREE Change Maker Community here!
• Check out Move with Melyssa – a size inclusive, virtual fitness studio!
• Grab your copy of Melyssa’s book here!
• Follow us on Instagram: @melyssa_with_a_why and @healthylivingdoesnthavetosuck
• Email Melyssa at: info@melyssawithawhy.com
• Visit our website: https://www.healthylivingdoesnthavetosuck.com/