Farming for Health Podcast #6: Autumn Michaelis

Enjoy and benefit from a conversation between Dr. Amy Sapola and Autumn Michaelis. The two women share a passion for nutrition with Autumn sharing her journey towards Whole 30—one where she learned more about food facts, freed up mental space, and became more empowered.

Autumn said that the focus of her life had previously been fitness: she had an educational background in fitness and worked out in the gym. In short, exercise was her first love. She equated the notion of being “fit” with being “healthy” although it became apparent that this wasn’t always the case. Autumn knew people who worked out quite hard and had become very strong—and yet weren’t necessarily healthy.

There must be, she thought, something more to this journey to health.

About that same time, her husband—who was seeing a naturopath—brought home a Whole 30 checklist. It guided a person through eliminating potentially problematic foods from the diet, and then carefully reintroducing whole foods back, one at a time You could note how you reacted to the reintroduction of each food and then determine what was best for you. 

When Autumn first read the checklist, she decided that she’d never try it. That said, as a “recovering sugar addict,” she felt as though she had a monkey on her back as she would try to determine whether she should or shouldn’t eat a certain food. Autumn found this whole process to be “exhausting.” 

So, she tried the Whole 30 process but without resources to help her. Not surprisingly, she didn’t succeed. The second time, though, armed with tips on how to navigate the undertaking, she was successful.

The result? Autumn was shocked by what changed: improved skin, more energy, reduced allergies, better sleep, and more stabilized moods. This demonstrated to her that there’s more to food and what should be eaten than mathematical equations, such as how many calories a food contains.

It resonated with Autumn that the types of food matter, and what works best for her matters. 

She then researched resources on the subject and, after that, created ones to fill in gaps and help others on the same journey. 

Hear Autumn’s story directly from her. She’ll also share how to use the Whole 30 approach in budget saving ways in our Farming for Health podcast, Whole 30, Sustainable Habits, and Loving Vegetables 

Past Episodes of our Farming for Health Podcast

If you’ve missed any of our previous episodes, you can find them here:

• Episode One: Keto, Cruciferous Vegetables, Salt and Your Mindset
• Episode Two: Cooking, Conviviality, and Preserving the Harvest
• Episode Three: Ferments, Food Insecurity, and Wasted Food.
• Episode Four: Anti-Cancer Diet, Food as Medicine, and Vegetables.
• Episode Five: Plants, Happiness and Mindful Neglect.

Stay tuned for more!