Bite-Sized Balance Podcast with Wendy McCallum

Dr. Brooke Scheller is a Doctor of Clinical Nutrition, Certified Nutrition Specialist, and expert in nutrition for alcohol use by impacting gut and brain health. She is a leader in the wellness space, pioneering the understanding of how alcohol impacts the gut, our nutritional pathways, and the brain through nutrient deficiencies.   In this episode, Dr. Brooke shares what led her to challenge her...

Rachael Layton is a certified This Naked Mind coach from Brisbane, Australia, who is now happily alcohol-free, after years of working as corporate communications specialist while raising a family and feeling in control of all other areas of her life, except for the way she drank. In this episode, Rachael shares her drinking story and explains why perimenopause made her rethink her drinking. Wendy...

In this short podcast episode, Wendy provides listeners with an update on her abrupt transition to empty nester this fall, including the blindsiding grief she felt this spring and how she worked through it to find the joy on the other side. Since her children are only seven months apart, and in the same grade, they both left their childhood home for university residences the same week. Wendy share...

A self-declared ex "Boozy Tragic", Amy Armstrong is on a mission to normalize alcohol-free drinking experiences in Australia. She's dedicated her second career to removing the stigma around not drinking and creating the best possible experiences for people by curating the best-quality non-alcoholic wines, beers, pre-mixed drinks, and alcohol alternatives through her online reviews and tasting part...

Wendy and Sarah discuss a couple of recent news articles about the death of ambition since the emergence of COVID. People are working less or are less invested in their work, with more opting for early retirement than ever. There's a rebellion happening against "pointless presenteeism" and Wendy and Sarah are 100% here for it. They explore and deconstruct the social definitions of success for wome...

April Stroink is a Money Coach and Advisor for individuals and entrepreneurs seeking clarity, ease and abundance with their finances. In this episode, April and Wendy discuss key behavioural finance truths including the common limiting money beliefs that many women in midlife have, and why it's worth the work to shift them. April draws a fascinating parallel between overspending and other addictiv...

Ruby Williams, Senior Certified TNM Coach, shares her story of growing up in Sonoma, California in a family of winemakers, followed by her 19-year career in the wine industry, where her food addiction grew and her drinking progressed, eventually leading to alcohol abuse after bariatric surgery. She and Wendy explore her path to eventual freedom from both alcohol and food and discuss the role of mi...

Karla Adkins, Senior Certified TNM Coach, shares her amazing death-defying story (for real!) of crippling anxiety, drinking to cope, the acute and terrifying health challenges that ensued, and her subsequent journey to mental and physical wellness and freedom from alcohol. Wendy and Karla discuss the link between anxiety and alcohol for women, the problem with asking "am I an alcoholic?", the cons...

Wendy and Sarah catch up in the Season 3 opener of Bite-Sized Balance and share what they did this summer and some of the life lessons they've both learned this year. Sarah opens up about a recent loss and her insight into her instinct to try to control everything and how it serves her better to hold life's outcomes more loosely. Wendy shares an update regarding her emptying nest and the emotions...

In the Season 2 closer, Wendy and Sarah revisit their favourite guests and episodes from the last year, and what they've learned from hosting Bite-Sized Balance and from each other. Wendy provides her favourite definition of the "meaning of life", and they consider how it jives with their own approach to midlife. Sarah shares two recent moments of self-discovery and her decision to explore coach t...

In this short podcast episode, Wendy provides listeners with an update on her commitment to "creating a life she doesn't feel the need to escape from" before her transition to empty nester this fall, including her re-discovery of her love of writing. She shares a piece called "Taking Care of Me" that will resonate with busy, worn-out woman everywhere, where she explores what it really means to tak...

Christy is a Certified "This Naked Mind" Coach helping moms in their 30s and 40s examine their relationship with alcohol. Christy grew up in Los Angeles but relocated to London in 2008 after completing law school and passing the California Bar Exam. Upon relocating to the United Kingdom, Christy started a hugely popular website to help other ex-pat women navigate the transition across the pond. Al...

Ellie Crowe is a Certified This Naked Mind Coach, Gray Area Drinking Coach and co-host of the Present & Sober podcast. Ellie helps overwhelmed and sleep-deprived moms parent peacefully and happily, without needing alcohol to escape at the end of the day. Ellie lives with her husband, three young kids and three hounds in a very old pub in Cambridge, England. She's a passionate yogi, Wim Hof-fer and...

Casey Davidson is a Professional Life Coach and the host of the extremely popular "Hello Someday" podcast. She's a wife and mom who spent 20 years climbing the corporate ladder while holding on tightly to her love of red wine. Like Wendy, Casey specializes in working with women with full calendars and overflowing to-do lists, who are doing all the things and drinking to forget all the things. Case...

Jillian joins Wendy to share her story of breast cancer and the medically induced menopause that resulted from her treatment. She highlights the most difficult parts of her diagnosis and treatment, and shares what she's learned during the past year in the hopes that it will help other women undergoing breast cancer treatment or supporting someone who is. Jill and Wendy discuss the many different t...

Jillian joins Wendy to share her story of breast cancer and the medically induced menopause that resulted from her treatment. She highlights the most difficult parts of her diagnosis and treatment, and shares what she's learned during the past year in the hopes that it will help other women undergoing breast cancer treatment or supporting someone who is. Jill and Wendy discuss the many different t...

Victoria Yates, RN & Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, is passionate about helping women ditch diets and stop hating their bodies. On this episode, Wendy and Victoria discuss why quick fixes don't work when it comes to our weight, why intuitive eating is the answer to freedom from food, and how we can start listening for the language we use around our body image and change it if it's not servi...

Dr. L. Carol Scott, PhD. (Psychology) is a TEDx speaker, author and coach with a unique model to help women succeed in their business and personal lives through self-aware emotional and social intelligence. Carol mixes hundreds of years of child development theory with 21st Century brain imaging research, decades of her own experience with hundreds of developing humans of all ages, and her own liv...

Wendy's fellow Certified TNM Alcohol Coach, Susan Larkin joins her to share her story and message for busy women who are drinking more than they'd like to manage stress. Susan's career in medical education at an Ivy League medical school started late in her 30's. It was then that she started drinking to cope with the stress of balancing a career, family life and getting her MBA. As her career prog...

Wendy's friend, author, fellow Certified TNM Alcohol Coach, and partner in their popular women's program, REWIND, Emily Lynn Paulson, joins her to answer a few common FAQs from women who are actively trying to drink less or stop altogether. Wendy and Emily answer questions about what to do if you're trying to drink less or quit and your partner still drinks, how to deal with social situations if y...

Sarah shares the story of her friend's recent frustrating experience with her care provider when she asked for support with her post-pandemic exhaustion. Sarah and Wendy discuss what was so disappointing about her doctor's response, and what we really need right now, as we emerge from a period of intense stress and caregiving, more burnt out and exhausted than ever. We need a safe place to land, a...

Karen Furneaux is a 3-time Olympian, 2-time World Champion and the winner of 9 medals at the World Championships over her 20-year professional sprint kayaking career. Karen is now a published author, broadcast analyst with CBC and professional speaker. Wendy talks to Karen about the lessons she learned through her lifelong dedication to her sport, and how she's using that learning to motivate othe...

An experienced Burnout & Alcohol Coach, Wendy shares some of her best advice around how to worry less and manage your anxiety better. Her strategies range from small daily practices that build resilience and calm to simple yet effective tools you can use in a moment of overwhelm to ground and centre yourself. You can apply everything in this episode to any area of your life where you might find yo...

Wendy and Sarah provide an update as to what's changed for them in the last six months or so in their transition post-menopause. The discussion includes how the hormonal and other treatments have worked out for them, how their menopausal symptoms have shifted and improved, and what they've learned about themselves and what they need (and want!) more of as they begin the second half of their lives....

Wendy's friend, author, fellow Certified TNM Alcohol Coach, and partner in their popular women's program, REWIND, Emily Lynn Paulson, joins her to answer a few common FAQs from women who are actively trying to drink less or stop altogether.   One question comes from someone who's still drinking but would like to take a break, another from a woman who has been alcohol-free for a short time but is s...