One Facebook Post, a Masterclass, and Why Accountability Won’t Save You
A three-page Facebook post. Over 100 comments. And not one person in the thread looking at it from a Happy Calories® perspective. In this episode, Carmela reads through a real post from someone doing everything the diet and exercise model tells her to do — the cookbook, the water bottle, the weights, the drug, the accountability group — and breaks down word by word why the ship itself is the problem, not the passenger.
Does the Law of Attraction Actually Work for Weight Loss? Here’s the Real Answer
So many people come to the Law of Attraction hoping it will be the workaround they’ve been looking for — a way to get the body they want without the pain of the diet and exercise model. But there’s a reason it so often creates more frustration than freedom. In this episode, Carmela breaks down where the Law of Attraction is genuinely true, where the logical fallacies live, and why Happy Calories Don’t Count® lets it work through you without you having to think about it at all.
The 5 Steps of Happy Calories Don’t Count® — All of Them, Right Now
Back to school, back to basics — all five steps, laid out clearly in one episode. From embracing a model of alignment to clearing the channel, Carmela walks through the complete Happy Calories Don’t Count® framework and explains not just what each step is, but why the order matters and how they work together as a flexible, sustainable system that moves with you through real life.
It’s All About Being Happy — And Here’s What That Actually Means
The first sentence of the book Happy Calories Don’t Count was ‘I have learned that it’s all about being happy.’ Twelve years later, Carmela has a more sophisticated way of explaining why — and in this back-to-basics episode, she traces how that original insight connects directly to the two assumptions that make the diet and exercise model so painful, and why switching from a transaction-based model to a relationship-based one is the thing that actually sets you free.
Affirmations Aren’t Magic — Here’s What They Actually Do
Affirmations are everywhere in the self-help world — but if you’ve ever tried to affirm your way to body peace and found it didn’t work, there’s a reason. In this episode, Carmela explains what affirmations actually do, why they fall short when you’re still operating from the diet and exercise model, and how to use positive thinking in a way that genuinely supports your healing.
The Real Price of Happiness (It’s Not What the Self-Help World Tells You)
I was 45 minutes into a 90-minute commute for 12 miles when something unexpected washed over me — a sense of peace I hadn’t felt in years. That moment taught me something about happiness that none of the self-help work, therapy, or pillow-beating had managed to. Here’s what it was.
Why Accepting That Life Sometimes Sucks Is the Secret to Food Freedom
I’ve been bingeing The Vampire Diaries — and before you judge me, hear me out. A conversation between two immortal vampires accidentally said everything I’ve ever wanted to say about why fighting “what is” only creates more pain. Including with your body.
Why Controlling Your Body Will Never Make You Happy (And What Actually Does)
I binge-watched enough Netflix to notice a pattern — every show about power ends the same way. The characters who fight hardest to control their circumstances are the most miserable. Here’s why that’s exactly what’s happening with diet culture, and what personal empowerment actually looks like instead.
Hungry for Happiness: Why No Diet Will Ever Fill That Void
I first saw “Hungry for Happiness” on a tray liner at Arby’s. But it stopped me cold — because that phrase is actually the entire thesis behind everything I teach. Here’s what it means and why chasing the perfect body will never get you there.
Why Happiness Is the Real Source of Personal Power
Three friends, three completely different problems — divorce, financial crisis, a diet that wasn’t working. But they were all feeling exactly the same thing: powerless. Here’s what I think we get wrong about power, happiness, and why our circumstances don’t actually determine either one.