Watch the podcast above, or listen below. 

Sarah and I are back again to wrap up season 3 of BSB and talk about the one impactful mindset shift we have made in the last couple of years that has led us to live with more compassion and way less judgment.

Drawing on a Brené Brown anecdote, we explain how everything changes when we start assuming that everyone (even the people who frustrate and disappoint us most) is “doing their best.” We can then decide how to respond from a place of empathy instead of criticism.

Everybody’s best looks different, and our “best” can change from day to day, but using the “what if they’re doing their best” lens helps you treat people with kindness and compassion and can also lead to you also being able to show yourself more of the same. 

Topics include: 

• How to get started with a practice of empathy
• Stepping into empathy while also setting boundaries
• Our goals for...

 Watch the podcast, above, or listen below. 

Today I talk with Sarah about how the empty nesting went last year and how I'm feeling now that both of my kids are home for the summer. 

Just one year ago on the podcast, I shared the reality of empty nest syndrome, including my apprehension and grief around my children leaving for university and the sale of their childhood home.

But their time away brought many unexpected gifts, and I found myself enjoying the agency and freedom that came with the un-parenting. I traveled loads by myself, and my husband and I downsized to a fun downtown neighborhood.

There was an adjustment period around how to both parent and “un-parent” from afar, and now with my kids back at home for the summer, there’s another re-adjustment happening for all of us as full nest syndrome sets in.

Topics include: 

• understanding your own needs and...

 Watch the podcast, above, or listen below. 

This week I am joined by Maureen Benkovich. Maureen shares her moving personal story as she and I have an honest discussion about infertility, pregnancy loss, grief, depression, and women’s drinking. 

Maureen has experienced the pain of infertility and failed adoption and knows firsthand how easy it is to get stuck in a cycle of shame and blame when it comes to grief, depression, and drinking. For years, she used alcohol as a way to cope with these challenges, and it only made things worse.

But with help, compassionate support, and the latest neuroscience-based techniques, Maureen was able to break free from her patterns and transform her life. Now, as a life coach, she is committed to helping others do the same.

Topics include:

•  Maureen’s journey through multiple miscarriages and fertility treatments
• The painful decision to stop treatment
• Her failed adoption and the grief that followed
• Using alcohol to...

 Watch the podcast, above, or listen below. 

This week, I am joined again by my friend and colleague Sarah Baillie, N.D. to talk about the practical steps women can take to avoid hitting an emotional rock bottom in midlife. Research suggests that most people are at their unhappiest in their forties, but that this continues to improve as they age.

Sarah and I believe there are ways to speed that process up!

As more of our clients come to us looking for support in pro-actively making their midlife easier and happier, we have identified five key areas women can address to help create space for themselves during the time in their life when their energy and happiness are statistically at their lowest. 

Whether you’re preparing to head into the bottom of the u-curve of happiness, or if you’re already there, these suggestions can help you and the people around you create more peace and joy in your life.

Topics include how to cut back on your to-do list,...

 Watch the podcast, above, or listen below. 

Today I talk with Jay Fields, an educator, coach, and author who has taught the principles of embodied social and emotional intelligence to individuals and organizations for twenty years.

If you’ve ever wondered how to get better at sitting with your emotions, instead of drinking, eating, or scrolling to escape them, Jay’s got the practical three-step solution.

We discuss the importance of feeling your emotions instead of “fixing” them, and how learning to do this using Jay’s approach allows us to respond instead of react, which in turn leads to deeper, more meaningful connections and personal relationships.

Topics include:

- how people-pleasing arises from a common childhood blueprint (“never make anyone else feel uncomfortable”)

- how trying to “fix” an emotion instead feeling and accepting it can lead to overwhelm and burnout

-...

Watch the podcast, above, or listen below.

Guest Ally Garber, successful career woman, mom of two, and lover of running, shares her personal story of mental health challenges, alcohol dependence, and recovery -- with honesty, insight, and a great sense of humour.

Ally and I discover we have a lot in common in terms of our shared stories, including the decision to stop drinking during the last year of a parent’s terminal illness.

This easy conversation includes a new take on “mommy wine culture”, a discussion of the pitfalls of moderation, advice for sober-curious “gray-area drinkers”, and the unexpected joys of becoming alcohol-free.

Want to start exploring your relationship with alcohol? Maybe drink a little less? No need to commit to anything, start with my FREE 3 video series, here: www.wendymccallum.com/myths

Watch the podcast, above, or listen below.

Jessica Landon was a successful Hollywood actress living a charmed & glamorous life, but it all fell apart when she spiraled into full-blown alcoholism at age 26 which led to jail, then living on the streets, weighing just 78 pounds. She lost it all, but somehow, after 9 trips to rehab, she found the will to leave alcohol behind and build a life she didn't need to escape from. 

She now lives in Los Angeles with her fiancee and beautiful baby boy, and is an advocate and coach for moms in recovery.

Jess shares her powerful story with raw honesty, including the role that laughter, gratitude, and connection played in her own recovery.

Jessica and I discuss gray-area drinking, the sober curious movement, mommy wine culture, and the critical importance of community and connection for women when it comes to healing and recovery.

Follow Jessica on instagram at @jessicalandon12 and find out more about Sober Mom Squad meetings...

Watch the episode, above, or listen, below!

Jenn Salib-Huber, Intuitive Eating Coach, R.D. & N.D., and I discuss what’s going on with our bodies and hormones during perimenopause and menopause and what we can do to our hormones and wellness through a “food-first” approach.

Specific topics include: “Meno Rage” (that out-of-body experience of wild anger that our hormones can trigger!), the “mid-life pleasure deficit” and how that can affect cravings, emotional eating and the importance of an experiment mindset & self-compassion, why soy does not cause breast cancer, the role of estrogen in weight gain and why we should celebrate it, and mindful and intuitive eating as the key to food freedom.

This is a conversation all women should hear!

MORE ABOUT JENN SALIB HUBER:

Jenn helps women navigate the physical and emotional changes that happen in perimenopause and menopause, including their search for food freedom and body confidence....

  Watch the episode, above, or listen, below!

Dr. Jenn Salib Huber, Intuitive Eating Coach, R.D. & N.D., and I discuss the soul-crushing toll the commercial diet cycle is taking on women, why resolutions don’t last, and how women can break free of the noise and achieve freedom when it comes to food.

If you’ve been on “every diet out there” or made resolutions around food in 2021 that you’ve already “broken”, this podcast is for you!

Ready to get out of the chronic cycle of the latest "quick-fix" followed by guilt & shame when you can't keep it going? Listen to this episode.

We talk about how to shift your relationship with food from a rule-based, deprivation-centered model to one of abundance and freedom. Break free and find so much more joy in healthy, intuitive eating!

Follow Jenn on Instagram at @menopause.nutritionist.