Body Freedom with Michele Scarlet

Eating less, exercising more, and STILL gaining weight?

You're eating healthy. You're watching your calories. You're working out harder than ever. So why isn't the scale moving in the right direction?

In this episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet sits down with hormone nutritionist and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner Monika Eva to discuss stubborn weight gain, belly fat, hormone imbalances, exhaustion, and why eating less and exercising more isn't always the answer.

Monika knows this frustration firsthand.

After gaining 20 pounds despite eating healthy and exercising twice a day, she...

You've been told your hormones are normal. Your thyroid is fine. The weight gain is just perimenopause. The exhaustion? That's what happens when you get older.

But what if nobody is asking the right questions?

In this episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet sits down with nurse practitioner Tammy O'Rourke, PhD, to tackle a controversial question: Are women's hormones finally being taken seriously, or have we found another way to sell women treatments?

Tammy isn't just a hormone and thyroid prescriber. She's lived through stage 4 endometriosis, medically induced menopause, ovarian cancer...

Do mammograms actually save lives? And are some women being treated for breast cancers that would never have harmed them?

After 17 years as a breast surgeon and surgical oncologist, Dr. Jenn Simmons began questioning everything she had been taught about breast cancer screening.

In this provocative episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet and Dr. Simmons discuss why she changed her position on mammograms, the science of overdiagnosis, the risks of unnecessary treatment, and the difference between detecting cancer and saving lives.

They also explore breast cancer risk, genetics versus metabolic health...

What did growing up in early-2000s diet culture teach us about weight, food, exercise, and our bodies? And how much of it are we still carrying with us after 40?

In this deeply personal episode of Body Freedom, Michele Scarlet looks back at more than 25 years of body image, weight loss, food rules, exercise, and the pressure to be thin.

It starts in 1999, with one of the first comments Michele remembers someone making about her body. From there, she looks back at what it was like becoming a teenage girl in the early 2000s, when...

What if the answer to weight loss after 40 isn’t simply eating less and exercising more?

In this powerful conversation, Michele Scarlet sits down with peptide and wellness coach Stephanie Gambetta to explore GLP-1s, peptides, metabolism, muscle building, nutrition, insulin resistance, and the foundational habits that can change how women approach their health.

Stephanie shares her personal journey from years of intense running and cardio to discovering the importance of strength training, recovery, nourishment, and listening to her body. After a major knee injury forced her to slow down, she began approaching fitness and me...

What if trying to become healthier is actually making your life smaller?

In this powerful conversation, Michele Scarlet and Sarah Ball take an honest look at the modern wellness industry and ask whether the constant pursuit of better health can sometimes turn into obsession, fear, perfectionism, and consumerism.

From avoiding seed oils and tracking glucose to worrying about cortisol, filtering water, buying organic, taking supplements, monitoring sleep scores, testing hormones, studying toxins, and constantly searching for the next thing to fix, women are surrounded by an endless stream of health advice. But where does healthy...

What if the weight gain you noticed after starting HRT isn’t actually being caused by your hormone therapy?

In this episode, Michele Scarlet shares the story of a woman in her 40s who gained 15 pounds around her midsection within six weeks of starting HRT. She was bloated, constipated, felt puffy, noticed food sensitivities, and suddenly felt different in her body. It would have been easy to assume that HRT was the problem but Michele looked deeper.

This conversation explores HRT weight gain, perimenopause weight gain, hormonal changes, gut health, constipation, cortisol, chronic stress, and we...

Are GLP-1 medications the right tool for weight loss after 40 or are we missing what your body actually needs?

In this candid episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet breaks down the increasingly confusing conversation around GLP-1 medications, perimenopause and weight loss resistance, including why some women see incredible results, why others don't, and why some women regain weight after stopping.

For women navigating perimenopause weight gain, hormonal changes, insulin resistance, slow metabolism, thyroid issues, and weight loss resistance, it can feel like everything that worked before suddenly stops working. Michele explains why the...

What if the wellness trend you’re following isn’t actually what your body needs?

In this candid, no-BS episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet is joined by Bria Gadd to question the growing obsession with biohacking and wellness optimization and explore what actually deserves your time, money, and attention.

From AG1 and greens powders to continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), peptides, GLP-1 medications, PEMF and grounding mats, cold plunges, and wearable health trackers, Michele and Bria break down where these tools may be useful, where they can become unnecessary, and when health tracking can...

What if the anxiety you feel every day isn't simply “who you are” and your body may be part of the story?

In this deeply personal episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet explores the kind of low-grade anxiety many women quietly normalize: constantly overthinking, planning ahead, worrying about sleep, replaying to-do lists, feeling on edge, and never quite switching off even while successfully managing work, family, relationships, and everyday life.

Michele shares her own experience with anxiety alongside bloating, constipation, insomnia, food sensitivities, fatigue, inflammation, weight gain, hormonal changes, and chronic stress, and expl...

What if the missing piece of metabolic health isn't another diet, but learning to trust your own body?

In this powerful conversation, Michele Scarlet is joined by orthopedic surgeon turned functional medicine physician Dr. Doug Lucas to challenge some of the biggest assumptions about health, metabolism, and chronic disease. Together, they explore why metabolic health is far more complex than calories, blood sugar, or the number on the scale, and why true healing begins with understanding your unique biology.

Dr. Doug shares his journey from conventional orthopedic surgery to functional medicine after witnessing firsthand how...

What if your biggest health struggle isn't your hormones, your gut, or even your metabolism, but the beliefs you've carried about yourself for years?

In this deeply personal conversation, Michele Scarlet is joined by functional health practitioner, fitness coach, and Accelerate Wellness founder Victoria Hartcorn to explore the powerful connection between mindset, nervous system regulation, emotional healing, and women's health.

Victoria shares her own journey through years of dieting, body dysmorphia, PCOS, gut dysfunction, SIBO, chronic hives, burnout, and perfectionism, and how lasting healing didn't begin with another supplement or nutrition plan. Instead, it started...

Can emotional stress really make you physically sick?

In this deeply personal episode, Michele Scarlet shares the life-changing story that transformed her understanding of health, healing, and the connection between emotional trauma and physical symptoms. After leaving a long-term unhealthy relationship, she expected to feel better. Instead, once her body finally felt safe, it began sending stronger signals through weight gain, anxiety, constipation, gut dysfunction, food cravings, fatigue, and persistent health symptoms that conventional testing failed to explain.

Michele explains why emotional stress doesn't always disappear when the stressful situation ends. Sometimes the body continues...

What if the real cost of one glass of wine isn't the wine itself, but what it does to your body overnight?

In this episode, Michele Scarlet explores why so many women over 40 suddenly experience poor sleep, a racing heart, night sweats, bloating, stubborn belly fat, fatigue, cravings, and hormonal weight gain after what seems like a harmless evening drink. Rather than focusing on willpower or restriction, she explains how alcohol interacts with your nervous system, cortisol, metabolism, and recovery during perimenopause.

You'll learn why waking up between 2 and 4 a.m., struggling with weight loss...

If you've been told your thyroid is "normal" but you're still dealing with fatigue, stubborn weight gain, brain fog, low energy, hair loss, constipation, or hormone imbalance, this episode explains why so many women never receive the answers they're looking for.

In this conversation, Michele Scarlet sits down with Dr. Amie Hornaman, widely known as The Thyroid Fixer, to uncover why hypothyroidism, Hashimoto's disease, and thyroid dysfunction are frequently overlooked during perimenopause and menopause. Together, they explain why many women are told to simply eat less, exercise more, or accept their symptoms as part of aging, even...

Have you ever wondered why your sex drive suddenly disappeared, even though you still love your partner, feel attracted to them, and desperately want to feel like yourself again?

In this episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet explores one of the most misunderstood topics in women's health: low libido after 40. What many women are told is simply "part of aging" is often the result of deeper physiological changes involving hormone imbalance, metabolic dysfunction, chronic stress, and nervous system dysregulation.

Michele explains why declining estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and DHEA can influence intimacy, energy, mood...

Have you ever felt like you're doing everything right, tracking your food, exercising consistently, eating healthy, yet you're still gaining weight, feeling exhausted, bloated, anxious, and being told your labs are "normal"?

In this deeply personal episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet shares the story that completely changed her life, and ultimately became the foundation of her Body Freedom Method.

At just 30 years old, Michele gained 25 pounds in only three months while eating less than ever before. She struggled with hormonal weight gain, bloating, constipation, poor sleep, anxiety, low energy, and digestive issues...

Have you ever been told your labs are “normal” even though you’re struggling with fatigue, brain fog, bloating, hormonal weight gain, thyroid symptoms, anxiety, constipation, poor digestion, or weight loss resistance?

In this episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet sits down with Dr. Stephanie Dunlop, board-certified emergency medicine physician and founder of RootRx, to explore why so many women are dismissed by conventional medicine despite experiencing very real symptoms.

After gaining over 30 pounds in just a few months postpartum, Dr. Dunlop was repeatedly told everything was normal. That experience led her into the wo...

Have you ever looked at your life and thought, “Everything seems fine... so why don’t I feel like myself anymore?”

In this deeply personal episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet shares the story behind her own journey through hormone imbalance, low energy, emotional flatness, and the loss of connection so many women experience in their late 30s and 40s.

Despite doing everything “right”, clean eating, intense workouts, supplements, early mornings, and endless discipline. Michele found herself feeling disconnected, exhausted, uninspired, and not sure how to change it. What she eventually discovered changed everything...

What if the reason you're still exhausted, inflamed, waking up at 3 a.m., struggling with brain fog, cravings, poor recovery, and stubborn weight gain after 40 isn't because you're taking the wrong supplements, but because you've been sold the wrong solution?

In this episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, functional medicine practitioner Michele Scarlet exposes one of the biggest myths in the wellness industry: more supplements do not automatically mean better health.

Women in perimenopause and menopause are often spending hundreds of dollars every month on collagen powders, greens blends, adrenal supplements, probiotics, and trendy wellness...

What if cellulite isn’t actually a skin or a fat problem?

What if the dimples on your legs are simply your body’s way of revealing what’s happening beneath the surface with your metabolism, blood sugar, inflammation, muscle mass, circulation, and hormone health?

In this powerful episode of the Body Freedom Podcast, Michele Scarlet challenges one of the most profitable myths in women’s health and wellness. She explains why 80–90% of women have cellulite, why it often becomes more noticeable during perimenopause and midlife, and why the solutions women are constantly sold rarely address th...

Michele Scarlet sits down with functional medicine practitioner and gut health expert Elizabeth Aylor for a deeply honest conversation about the hidden reasons so many women feel bloated, exhausted, inflamed, hormonally imbalanced, and stuck in bodies that no longer feel like their own, even while eating healthy, exercising consistently, and “doing everything right.”

In this powerful women’s health podcast episode, Elizabeth shares her personal journey through severe gut dysfunction, chronic constipation, parasites, SIBO, mold toxicity, hormone imbalance, inflammation, nervous system dysregulation, burnout, and unexplained weight gain. Together, Michele and Elizabeth uncover how chronic stress, toxic overload, poor g...

What if the reason you can't lose weight after 40 has nothing to do with carbs, and everything to do with inflammation, hormones, stress, and the way your body is responding to perimenopause?

In this powerful hormone health podcast episode, Michele Scarlet breaks down the hidden blood sugar problem affecting millions of women over 40. From hormonal weight gain and stubborn belly fat after 40, to exhaustion, cortisol spikes, thyroid symptoms, poor sleep, and slow metabolism, this episode explains why so many women feel like their bodies suddenly stopped working.

You'll discover why traditional advice like cutting carbs...

Why can't women over 40 lose weight, even when they're doing everything "right"? In this women's health podcast episode, somatic eating expert Stephanie Mara joins Michele Scarlet to unpack the hidden nervous system patterns behind emotional eating, binge eating, chronic dieting, hormonal weight gain, slow metabolism in women, and the body image struggles that keep women stuck in the diet-restrict-binge cycle.

If you've ever asked yourself, "Why can't I lose weight after 40 as a female?", "Why do I emotionally eat when I'm not even hungry?", or "Why does restrictive dieting make me feel worse?" — this episode is for yo...

Are you eating healthy, working out consistently, and still struggling with weight loss after 40? You're not alone, and the problem probably isn't your discipline.

In this episode, Michele Scarlet breaks down why fat loss after 40 for women works less like a sprint and more like building long-term wealth. Your body keeps score of chronic stress, under-eating, poor sleep, overtraining, and emotional exhaustion. Eventually, your metabolism pays the price.

Most women over 40 are unknowingly dealing with hormone imbalance, cortisol overload, gut health issues, and an overworked nervous system that makes fat loss feel impossible no matter...

Struggling with weight loss after 40 even though you’re eating healthy and working out? If you’ve been asking, “why I can’t lose weight after 40 female” or dealing with stubborn belly fat after 40, this episode will change how you understand your body.

In this hormone health podcast episode, Michele Scarlet explains the real reason behind hormone imbalance women face in midlife and why simply trying to “balance hormones” often misses the bigger picture.

Your hormones don’t work in isolation. They are part of a complex system that controls metabolism, fat storage, stress response, and sleep. This...

Struggling with weight loss after 40 women commonly experience despite eating healthy, exercising, and doing everything “right”? In this powerful hormone health podcast episode, Michele Scarlet explains why hormonal weight gain, anxiety, poor sleep, and belly fat after 40 may not be “just perimenopause.”

This episode breaks down the real reason your hormones are broken and why hormone imbalance women experience after 40 is often connected to deeper issues involving metabolism, gut health women, stress response, liver detoxification, and nervous system overload. Michele explains how estrogen fluctuations can expose underlying dysfunction that has been building for years leading to slow m...

Doctors Aren’t Trained for This: The Real Reason Women Have Undiagnosed Hypothyroidism

If you’ve ever been told “your labs are normal”… while feeling exhausted, gaining weight, losing hair, or watching your body change after 40 — this episode is going to hit.

I sat down with Elle Russ — bestselling author and thyroid expert — for a conversation that’s equal parts eye-opening and unapologetically honest.

Elle doesn’t sugarcoat it.

She breaks down why so many women are left undiagnosed, dismissed, or stuck managing symptoms that never fully resolve… and why the thyroid is often the m...

Are you doing everything right eating healthy, working out and still struggling with weight loss after 40? You’re not alone. The answer may not be calories, workouts, or even hormone imbalance women… it could be your body’s detox system.

In this powerful hormone health podcast episode, Michele Scarlet, reveals the hidden cause of belly fat after 40 that most doctors don’t tell you about.

If you’ve been asking:
“Why can’t I lose weight after 40?”
“Why am I gaining weight with no reason female?”

This episode uncovers what’s...

What if the reason you can’t lose weight after 40 has nothing to do with motivation… and everything to do with the way you’re training, recovering, and stressing your body?

In this eye opening conversation, Michele Scarlet sits down with evidence based nutrition coach Philip Pape to challenge some of the biggest myths around fat loss, metabolism, and strength training for women over 40. 

If you’ve been stuck in the cycle of:

At 42 years old, entrepreneur Vicki Pollack opens up about her deeply personal journey with GLP1s, diet culture, body image, hormonal weight gain, and the emotional reality of weight loss after 40 women rarely talk about honestly.

After years of struggling with body shame, food noise, IVF hormones, and feeling disconnected from her own body, Vicki turned to GLP1 medications during one of the hardest seasons of her life. What followed was dramatic weight loss, improved confidence, and a completely new relationship with food but also unexpected challenges involving restriction, food obsession, dependency fears, and the p...

“Your labs are normal.”

If you’ve ever been told that — while your body felt anything but — this episode is for you.

In today’s episode of the 12 Days of Christmas: Fat Loss Edition, I’m sharing the three lab tests that changed my life — and why routine blood work from your doctor did absolutely nothing to help me lose weight, balance hormones, or feel like myself again.

We’re talking:
• why “normal” labs don’t mean optimal
• how you can feel awful while being told you’re “fine”
• the exact tests that finally explained m...

If cutting carbs, eating less, and working out harder actually worked…
you'd already have your dream body!

In this episode of the 12 Days of Christmas: Fat Loss Edition, I’m calling out the exact habits women need to leave in 2025 because they are what is keeping you exhausted, inflamed, and unable to lose real fat after 40.

Low carb.
Calorie cutting.
Fasting.
HIIT 5–7 days a week.

If those strategies delivered long-term fat loss, confidence, and energy — you’d already have it.

We’re breaking down:
• why these habits work sh...

Just because you’re over 40 doesn’t mean your best shape is behind you.

It means the rules changed — and no one gave you the new playbook.

In this episode of the 12 Days of Christmas: Fat Loss Edition, we’re breaking down why so many high-functioning, burned-out women feel exhausted, frustrated, and disconnected from their bodies — and why it’s not because they’re lazy, undisciplined, or “getting older.”

We’re talking:
• burnout vs biology
• why old fat-loss strategies stop working
• what “HOT AF” actually means from a metabolic health perspective
• and how work...

In today’s episode of the 12 Days of Christmas: Fat Loss Edition, we’re breaking down the real biological signals women ignore that are directly linked to why your weight loss feels impossible after 40.

It’s about stress, hormones, nervous system capacity, and why your body might be conserving instead of letting go ( of stubborn belly fat)

Once you understand these signals, fat loss finally starts to make sense.

Can’t stop thinking about food? 👀

Before you decide you need more willpower, another diet, or that a GLP-1 is your...

On the fifth day of Christmas, I asked a question no one wants to answer: why are women so chronically unwell?

And when I say “sick,” I don’t mean disease.

I mean living in a body that feels off —
low energy, hormonal chaos, stubborn weight, symptoms that keep getting dismissed as “normal.”

In this episode of 12 Days of Christmas: Fat Loss Edition, we talk about:

what’s actually behind this pattern

why so many symptoms show up at the same stage of life

why being told “everythi...

On the fourth day of Christmas, fat loss exposed a hard truth: effort and results are not the same thing.

In this episode of 12 Days of Christmas: Fat Loss Edition, we’re calling out one of the biggest lies women believe about fat loss; that trying hard should automatically produce results.

It doesn’t.

Fat loss responds to data, patterns, recovery, and biology — not how hard something felt.

In this episode, we talk about:
• why effort you feel is “enough” often isn’t
• the difference between working hard and working in align...

On the third day of Christmas, my body taught me that minerals are the foundation of fat loss.

In this episode of 12 Days of Christmas: Fat Loss Edition, we’re talking about minerals — not as a supplement trend, but as the biological foundation your metabolism depends on.

If minerals are low, fat loss doesn’t happen.
Not because you’re lazy.
Because your body doesn’t have the raw materials required to burn fat.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
• why minerals are required for thyroid function, blood sugar control, and fat oxidat...

On this day of Christmas, my body taught me that my gut has its own Ozempic button.

In this episode of 12 Days of Christmas: Fat Loss Edition, we’re talking about GLP-1, GLP-2, and GLP-3; the gut hormones that control appetite, blood sugar, satiety, and fat loss.

You’ll learn:

why GLP-1 medications work (and what they’re actually mimicking)

how gut health, digestion, and hormones determine whether GLPs fire properly

how to naturally support GLP signaling through nutrition and lifestyle anchors

why “just eat more protein” doesn’t wo...

On the first day of Christmas (Fat loss Edition) my body taught me that it is not a calculator.

In this episode of 12 Days of Christmas: Fat Loss Edition, we’re breaking down why calories in, calories out stopped working; and why eating less and moving more often makes fat loss harder after 40, not easier.

If you’ve been eating clean, working out consistently, and still feeling frustrated, uncomfortable in your skin, and confused about why nothing is changing, this conversation will finally give you clarity.

You’ll learn:
• why your body adapts t...