Life After Diets
Not dieting? Now what?
Hosted by Stefanie Michele, a coach and somatic therapist, Life After Diets explores what it really takes to heal your relationship with food and body image. Stefanie brings the lens of nervous system regulation into every conversation, showing how patterns of bingeing, restricting, and body anxiety are less about willpower and more about how our systems seek safety.
Through personal stories, professional insights, and candid reflections, Stefanie unpacks the messy, nonlinear process of recovery: the relief of food freedom, the discomfort of identity shifts, and the challenge of living in a culture obsessed with thinness.
This isn’t another motivational pep talk or wellness quick-fix. It’s an honest exploration of how to move beyond food obsession, regulate your system, and create a life that feels steadier, freer, and bigger than the scale.
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 41 minutes
- Episodes
- 210
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
69. But Depression and Anxiety Mess Up My Eating
Depression and anxiety are common partners with binge eating, overeating, restricting, and other forms of disordered eating. What do we make of this intersection? How can we have more influence over …
68. But What If I Just Keep Gaining Weight?
When we reject diets, there is often a period of weight gain that follows. But what if it feels like you'll just keep gaining weight and never stop? How long does this go on for? In this episode, we …
67. But I'm Scared to Feel Full
Part Two in a two-part series about hunger and fullness: what about the fear of fullness? Last week we discussed why feeling hungry can be triggering for some people, and this week we are looking at …
66. But I'm Scared to be Hungry
What is your relationship with hunger? Do you ever eat to prevent the feeling of hunger? What do you think this is about? In this episode, we talk about:
- Stef’s internal hunger “alarm bell”
- The diff…
65. But Is It OK To Weigh Myself?
To weigh or not to weigh? This question can interrupt many an intuitive eater's journey, so we dedicated a whole episode to the topic. We cover questions like:
- Do Stef & Sarah know their weights?
- Ca…
64. 5 Things We Learned in Recovery From Disordered Eating
Sarah and Stef share the lessons they learned through their recovery from disordered eating.
Join our growing support community. This community is for you if you want to improve your relationship wit…
63. Living in the Messy Middle: Nicole's Story
This episode features a guest -- not an expert -- who is still working through her relationship with food and body image and doesn't have it all figured out. We hope you find it helpful to hear from …
62. But I Can't Trust Myself Around Food
Having a disordered relationship with food can erode our sense of self-trust. Not only do we learn to trust outside voices over our own hunger, but we also can't seem to keep the promises we make to …
61. But I Eat When I'm Stressed!
Stress is a common trigger for eating, overeating, and binge eating. If you're someone who experiences increased urges to eat when you're stressed or anxious, this episode explores the following topi…
60. But I Feel So Guilty About Food
Guilt can be a huge barrier to feeling peaceful with food. What do we do with the feelings of guilt that remain around what we eat, how we eat, and how much we eat? In this episode, we discuss:
- Guil…
59. A Conversation with Bri Campos of Body Image With Bri
In this episode we are talking to Brianna Campos of Body Image with Bri about the Body Grief framework. We’ll also talk about:
- How Bri came to focus on grief in her work around body image
- Dealing wi…
58. But I Hate Wasting Food
If we overeat or find it hard to stop eating because we don't want to waste food, how can we navigate this conflict? This episode talks about:
- Sarah’s experimental task to throw away one bite of foo…
57. But Is My Eating a Trauma Response?
There is a significant intersection of people with eating disorders and disordered eating with T/trauma. In this episode, we identify the meaning of trauma and explore how it shows up in our body bey…
56. But What About Food Logging and Meal Planning?
Food logs and meal planning are hallmarks of weight loss efforts and diet culture. Is there any place for them in a non-diet approach? In this episode, we talk about:
- Do we like food diaries?
- Food s…
55. But Why Can Some People Control Their Weight?
The "anti-diet" and "diets don't work" messages can be very empowering for many people, but how do we reconcile these ideas when there seem to be people that do, in fact, diet and lose weight? In thi…
54. A Conversation with Susie Orbach
In 1978, Susie Orbach wrote the groundbreaking book: Fat is a Feminist Issue (FIFI) to decontrust the role of dieting as oppressive to women. She has remained an author, psychoanalyst, advocate for w…
53. But I Can't Eat in Moderation
Why is eating in moderation so hard? In this episode, Sarah & Stef discuss:
- What does moderation mean?
- Is the 2000 calorie RDA based on moderation?
- Satisfaction and extreme hunger
- Why are some peop…
52. But I'm a Fussy Eater and I Don't Like "Healthy" Food
Intuitive Eating advocates may have us believe that we will naturally start to crave nutritious food after allowing ourselves to eat what we want, but is this true? What does it look like if you're s…
51. But What About Summer Bodies?
The summertime can be a difficult time of year when we’re dealing with body image – the heat, the clothes, the vacations. In this conversation, we break down some reasons why summertime can be diffic…
50. But How Do I Become More Intuitive With Food?
If intuitive eating is the gold standard of a healthy relationship with food, how do we actually become more intuitive? In this episode, Sarah & Stef talk about:
- The definition of Intuition (UK vs U…