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
49. But How Do I Raise My Kids to Have Positive Body Image? A Conversation With Molly Forbes
This week we talk to Molly Forbes, author of the book Body Happy Kids and founder of The Body Happy Org. Molly talks to us about her experience raising children in diet culture and the work she does …
48. But I Can't Stop Disconnecting From Myself
Dieting can promote disconnection from self. Sometimes we use food to further disconnect from our experience or our shame. As we heal our relationship with food, body, and self, how do we address the…
47. But How Do I Know If I'm Restricting (Part 2)
A follow up to last week’s episode is out by popular demand. In this episode we continue talking about the nuances of restriction and the ways this might be showing up in your disordered eating and/o…
46. But How Do I Know If I'm Restricting? (Part 1)
These days, restriction is a buzzword in the anti-dieting space, and it’s often talked about in disordered eating recovery. But what does it really mean, and how do you know if it applies to you? In …
45. But What About Bulimia Recovery?
We talk a lot about binge eating in this podcast, but this episode is dedicated to our experiences with bulimia – how it looked, how it felt, and how it was different from binge eating disorder. We’l…
44. But My Inner Critic is so Loud
In this episode, Sarah and Stef discuss the role of the inner critic, and how each host dealt with the evolution of the critic during recovery from binge eating. We'll cover:
- Sarah’s embarrassment o…
43. Can Cosmetic Surgery Improve Body Image? with Becca Robinson
Back with another guest! In this episode, we talk to Becca Robinson, a BEAT advisor in recovery from bulimia, about her experience with breast implants and her decision to ultimately have them remove…
42. But How Can Humility Help My Eating?
What does humility have to do with binge eating recovery? In this episode, we discuss:
- Is it wrong to be self-focused?
- Stef’s “fall from grace” during college and how humility diminishes the ego
- The…
41. But Being Tired Makes Me Eat
- The evolution of Sarah & Stef’s fatigue over the years
- "Fatigue" versus "being tired"
- Sarah naps!
- Rest: Spl…
40. A Look Inside Our Eating Disorder Journals!
In this episode, Sarah and Stef pull out old journals to read excerpts from their deepest binge eating days. In this vulnerable episode, we share:
- Stef’s entries from college: feeling like the cycle…
39. A Conversation About The F*ck It Diet
In this episode, Sarah and Stef review Caroline Dooner’s book: The F*ck It Diet. We’ll talk about:
- The book that changed Stef’s life
- The power of the Minnesota Starvation Experiment
- Caroline’s Five …
38. But How Do I Improve My Body Image?
Improving body image is one of the most popular topics in this field. In this episode, we talk about our own stories of making more peace with our bodies and offer concrete tools we use with client…
37. Not Dieting in the Public Eye: A Conversation with Katie Thistleton
Katie has given up on dieting while in the public eye as a media prese…
36. But How Do I Talk To Loved Ones About My Disordered Eating?
Talking to loved ones about recovery from disordered eating (or the choice to give up dieting) is complicated. We created this episode to share with friends and family who want to support your journe…
35. But What If Everyone Around Me Is Dieting?
Deciding not to diet anymore can feel empowering…especially from the safety of social media communities or inside of a pandemic. But what happens when we go out into the world and get confronted with…
34. But What If I'm Just Greedy?
Greed is a word that comes up a lot around binge eating and overeating. What if you believe that your binges aren’t a disorder or a “problem,” but a manifestation of being greedy? In this episode, Sa…
33. But How Can I Be More Consistent?
Do you struggle to be more consistent in your life? Whether its with food, exercise, self-talk, or pretty much anything else in life, what is the story with consistency (or lack of it)? In this episo…
32. A Conversation About Geneen Roth
31. But Can I Eat "Healthy" Without Dieting?
The Intuitive Eating approach sometimes gets portrayed as a “junk food free for all.” So does eating nutritious food only happen in the context of a diet, or are there ways to incorporate nutrition i…
30. But I'm A Secret Eater!
Have you ever heard people talk about their experiences of eating in secret? How does secret eating make us feel? In this episode, Sarah and Stef talk about:
- Shame as it relates to secret eating
- Bin…