Fat Pride, Body Positivity, and Why Celebrating Fatness Isn’t the Same as Healing It
Bill Maher, Abercrombie, and a cultural moment that has everyone talking — but from a Happy Calories® perspective, both sides are missing the point. In this episode, Carmela untangles why rejecting shame is not the same as rejecting the diet and exercise model, why celebrating fat pride still leaves the real problem in place, and what actually creates healing at both the individual and cultural level.
Time To Move & Shake with Zibby Owens
My guest episode for Zibby Owens’ podcast. In this podcast, I teach actionable strategies to create more time for busy moms who deal with food, exercise, and body-image issues. Sharing personal insights gleaned from my own painful and life-threatening struggles surrounding my body and my weight, I outline a path for optimizing health, vitality, well-being, joy — and time!
Your Weight Is Not Your Identity — And the Diet and Exercise Model Is Why This Hurts So Much
Lizzo’s reality show, a fat pride academic conference, a comedian’s elaborate prank, and the Oscars slap all landed in the same week — and they all point to the same thing. In this episode, Carmela unpacks why the body positivity and fat pride movements, however well-intentioned, are still pushing against the diet and exercise model rather than dismantling it. And why no label — fat, thin, neurodivergent, or anything else — is your actual identity.
The Real Reason the “Just Eat Less, Move More” Advice Doesn’t Work
Bill Maher, Ben Shapiro, pedometers, and the obesity conversation nobody seems to be having honestly. In this episode, Carmela takes on the cultural assumption that weight is simply a matter of willpower and caloric math — and makes the case that the real epidemic isn’t obesity, it’s disconnection. From yourself, from your body, from your source. And no Fitbit is going to fix that.
What That Eating Disorder Treatment Ad on the Side of a Bus Got Wrong
A bus ad stops Carmela in her tracks — and she takes it apart word by word. In this episode, she breaks down how marketing language manufactures problems, why the ‘eating disorder voice’ isn’t a thing, and why eating disorder treatment centers keep missing the piece that actually creates healing. Knowledge is a rumor until it lives in the body — and this episode is about getting it there.
Eating Disorders Are Not Your Fault — But Healing Is Your Responsibility
The diet and exercise model sets up a system where if you’re struggling, it must be your fault. In this episode, Carmela makes an important distinction: the eating disorder isn’t your fault, but healing it is your responsibility — and those are two very different things. She shares her own story and explains what taking responsibility for your healing actually looks like.
Why Fitness Trackers Can’t Tell You What Your Body Already Knows
Your Fitbit doesn’t know you. It can count your steps but it can’t feel your body, understand your stress, or sense what you actually need. In this episode, Carmela digs into why the data obsession of the fitness industry is a symptom of the diet and exercise model — and why the information your body is already giving you is far more valuable than anything on a screen.
Why Fitness Apps and Trackers Keep You Stuck (And What Actually Builds a Body You Love)
Fitness trackers promise data-driven results, but Carmela makes the case that tracking calories, steps, and macros is actually disconnecting you from the very thing that creates lasting change: the wisdom of your own body. In this episode, she explains why external data is no substitute for an internal relationship, and what it actually looks like to build a body you love.
Emotional Eating Isn’t the Problem — Here’s What Actually Is
Emotional eating gets blamed for everything, but what if the problem isn’t that you eat emotionally — it’s the model that says you shouldn’t? In this episode, Carmela reframes emotional eating entirely, explains why all eating is emotional in some sense, and shows how the diet and exercise model turns a normal human experience into a source of shame and dysfunction.