My Story: From Anorexia and 200 Pounds to Happy Calories Don’t Count®
At seventeen I was hospitalized for anorexia at 80 pounds. At thirty I was 200 pounds and suicidal. What happened between those two moments — and after — became the foundation of everything I teach. This is my story.
Is Body Positivity Actually Making Things Worse?
“Love your body” sounds beautiful. But you can’t compel yourself to love anything — least of all your body. Here’s why the Body Positivity movement, despite its good intentions, often leaves women with more pain than peace.
The Serenity Prayer and the Secret to Ending the Food Fight
The Serenity Prayer talks about accepting what you can’t change, changing what you can, and having the wisdom to know the difference. It turns out that’s also the perfect framework for understanding why diet culture fails, why body positivity falls short, and what Happy Calories Don’t Count® actually does differently.
What Nobody Knows About the Happiest Person in the Room
Everyone describes me the same way — happy, energetic, vivacious. What they don’t know is that I live with depression. Not the situational kind. The kind that just is. Here’s what I’ve learned about living with it — and how the same principles behind Happy Calories Don’t Count® changed my relationship with that too.
Why We Accept Aging But Not Our Bodies
I finally went to the optometrist and was annoyed that my eyesight was changing with age. Then I noticed something ironic. We accept aging as something we can’t control — but we carry enormous shame about our weight and bodies because we believe we can control them. What if that belief is the problem?
Does Your Body Trust You? (And What Dieting Does to That Trust)
I saw someone post about “the eating plan I’m on now” — now being the operative word. Every month, a new plan. And I thought — does her body trust her? Because here’s the thing about dieting that nobody talks about: it’s not just ineffective. From your body’s perspective, it’s disrespectful. Here’s what I mean.
What ‘Co-Creating Your Reality’ Actually Means — And What It Doesn’t
“Your thoughts create your reality.” It’s everywhere. And it’s actually true — just not in the way the snake oil salesmen mean it. Here’s what co-creating your reality actually looks like, why you can’t think your way to winning the lottery, and what you actually can control.
What Do You Actually Mean By the Law of Attraction?
When the event organizer asked “do you believe in the Law of Attraction?” every hand went up except mine. Not because I don’t believe in it — but because I didn’t know what she meant by it. Here’s the distinction that changes everything.
The One Diet That Works For Everyone
Every New Year brings the same advice from every expert: no one diet works for everyone. Eat good foods, avoid bad foods, exercise. But what if there actually is one approach that works for every body? There is — and it has nothing to do with what you eat.
The Milkshake Experiment — And What It Really Tells Us About Weight Loss
A researcher made two batches of identical milkshakes — same ingredients, different labels. People’s bodies responded differently based on what they thought they were drinking. Here’s what that experiment actually proves about weight loss — and why both the personal trainer and the NPR interpretation got it slightly wrong.