The Body Competence Podcast
The Body Competence Podcast
Michelle Zagardo
Welcome to The Body Competence Podcast where weekly interviews explore what it means to be and raise body competent humans. In each episode we'll talk about getting back in touch with the needs, wants, and desires that were suppressed by the power hierarchies of patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, colonialism, anti-fat bias, ableism, and even the families we grew up in.Michelle and her guests will navigate topics like body positivity, body neutrality, cycle breaking, food neutrality and so much more.This podcast is for you if you are a human or parent trying to imagine a future with body autonomy and without diet culture but aren’t quite sure where to begin. 
Rethinking Pleasure with Veronica Dress
Note: This episode was recorded on January 31, 2024, and is being posted nearly a year later due to the host (me!) being tied up with things like pregnancy and adjusting to life with two children. Michelle relied heavily on this episode, and Veronica's wisdom, during early postpartum and is happy to be able to publish this episode as one of the first as The Body Competence Podcast (hopefully) gets back up and running. Join Michelle (she/her) and Veronica Dress (she/her) in this episode for a ...
Feb 18, 2025
53 min
I'm back, bb!
Michelle (she/her) reflects on becoming a mom of 2, her break from social media and podcasting, and the very-broad-strokes future of @foodbodiesfamilies and The Body Competence Podcast. The Body Competence Podcast explores what it means to be and raise body competent humans. In each episode Michelle and her guests talk about getting back in touch with our needs, wants, and desires that were suppressed by the power hierarchies of patriarchy, white supremacy, capitalism, anti-fat bias, ableism,...
Sep 3, 2024
14 min
Supporting Boys and Men with Food and Bodies
Join Michelle (she/her) and Jeff Ash (he/him) in this episode for a conversation about toxic masculinity, the impacts of diet culture on men and boys, and how to support our boys in developing a balanced relationship with food and body. Jeff (he/him) is a nutritionist, Intuitive Eating Coach, personal trainer, and host of the Men's Intuition Podcast. In his work, he is passionate about helping other men transform their relationship with food, exercise, and body all without restriction, guilt...
Feb 27, 2024
59 min
Body Convos with Kids and Making Parenthood Your Own with Kayla Stansberry
Join Michelle (she/her) and Kayla Stansberry (she/her) in this episode for a candid and cozy conversation that spans rethinking the "twenties checklist", how to talk to kids about bodies (even when we aren't comfortable with our own), getting validation outside of parenthood, dressing for sensory needs, and so many more incredible gems. Kayla (She/Her) is a Licensed Therapist who specializes in Fat Activism & Fat Liberation Education. She is the founder and owner of Intuitive Growth Coun...
Feb 8, 2024
1 hr 7 min
Nutrition Support for Maternal and Infant Health with Mother of Fact
Join Michelle (she/her), and registered dietitians Emily Sylvester (she/her) and Chacha Miller (she/her) of Mother of Fact for a conversation about the health of birthing people in the United States, and the platform they’ve developed to provide timely, individually tailored, culturally sensitive professional nutrition guidance to people who are in various stages of their reproductive journeys. They have generously offered to open up their platform to listeners of The Body Competence Podcast ...
Feb 1, 2024
54 min
Eating Plants and Picky Eating with Chacha Miller
Join Michelle and Chacha Miller (she/her), in this episode to discuss picky eating in children, what it means to her to be a plant forward mama, postpartum bodies, and the social justice issues involved in food access. Alicia 'Chacha' Miller is a Registered Dietitian specializing in maternal, pediatric, and family nutrition. Chacha has a passion for health equity as her work is focused on bridging the gap in health disparities between historically marginalized communities of color and other r...
Jan 8, 2024
57 min
Nurturing Body Competence Throughout Adolescence with Oona Hanson
Join Michelle and Oona Hanson (she/her), in this episode all about navigating hard body conversations with our adolescent children. Oona Hanson is passionate about helping parents and guardians raise kids who have a healthy relationship with food and their body. In addition to her private practice as a parent coach, Oona has worked as a Family Mentor at Equip, an eating disorder treatment program. Oona holds a Master's Degree in Educational Psychology and a Master's Degree in English. He...
Dec 13, 2023
1 hr 3 min
The Body as a Community with Damali Fraiser
Join Michelle and Damali Fraiser (she/her), the non-diet trainer behind Lift Off Strength and Wellness for this thoughtful episode about non-diet fitness, and Damali’s theory of the body as a community. Damali is a Canadian Kettlebell Instructor, Nutrition Coach, and author passionate about exploring fitness from an intersectional lens. Founder of Lift Off Strength & Wellness, Damali is a compassionate coach and student of strength who teaches hardstyle kettlebell technique, inclusive fit...
Nov 28, 2023
50 min
Sex Education, Consent, and Sexual Abuse with The Sex Ed Mum Marisol
Join Michelle and Marisol, the creator behind the instagram account @thesexedmum in this episode. Marisol is a passionate sexologist and coach who specializes in sex education. She provides valuable support to young people and offers expert guidance to parents regarding sex education. This is a topic that Michelle is both passionate about, and knows very little about, so Marisol was the obvious choice to bring in to this conversation. She’s funny, straight forward, easy to talk to, and create...
Nov 14, 2023
58 min
Living Cyclically with Alexa Reidenauer
Join Michelle and Alexa Reidenauer, the creator behind the instagram account @tellingourtails in this episode. Alexa shares about her journey to a PMDD diagnosis (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) and the changes that she’s made to living her life cyclically so that she can balance her mood disorder. Michelle has learned so much from Alexa about menstruation and the way that the bodies and moods of menstruators might change over the course of a cycle. Alexa’s self awareness is striking, and sh...
Nov 1, 2023
48 min
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