Meet Michelle May, M.D.
Michelle May, M.D., a physician and recovered yoyo dieter, empowers individuals to take charge of their life and end chronic dieting and overeating without deprivation and guilt. She delivers her crucial and timely message with energy, humor, and insight that transform the way people view weight management.
As an inspirational speaker and author, Michelle's passion for healthy lifestyles stems from her own personal struggle with food and weight. After years of chronic dieting, she resolved her own struggle with yo-yo dieting by developing a healthy, balanced relationship with food. Her primary goal has been to inspire audiences to improve their health with her compassionate and constructive approach.
Michelle is the Founder and CEO of the proven Am I Hungry?® Mindful Eating Workshops that guide participants to eat instinctively again, live a more active lifestyle, and balance eating for enjoyment with eating for health. Am I Hungry?® received the Excellence in Patient Education Innovation Award and is available through corporate wellness programs, medical offices, hospitals, fitness centers, insurance companies, and community programs. She has trained and licensed Am I Hungry?® Facilitators worldwide. As a physician, author, inspirational speaker, workshop facilitator, and consultant, Dr. May has shared her powerful and innovative approach to mindful eating and non-diet weight management with thousands of individuals, workshop participants, health care professionals, and organizations across the country.
Michelle is the award-winning author of Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat: How To Break Your Eat-Repent-Repeat Cycle. Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat was awarded seven awards for publishing including Best Health Book, Best Body-Mind-Spirit Book, Best Nutrition Book, and Best Self-Help Book. TIME.com called Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat one of the Top 10 Notable New Diet Books for 2010 (though Dr. May insists that it is actually a how-not-to-diet book).
Her newest book is Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat with Diabetes. Her first book, Am I Hungry? What to Do When Diets Don't Work was the basis for the American Academy of Family Physicians' national wellness campaign, Americans in Motion. Michelle is also the co-author of 'H' is for Healthy, 'F' is for Fitness, and three other books that encourage healthy attitudes and behaviors in young children.
She was featured in the Discovery Health Channel specials, Adult Obesity: Reversing the Trend (sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control) and Healthy Steps to Treating Childhood Obesity. She has also appeared as a guest for numerous television and radio programs including Dr. Oz and Oprah Radio and has been quoted in CNN Health, Fitness, Fox News Radio, Glamour, Health, Parade, Parents, Shape, Self, TIME.com, USA Weekend, US News & World Report, Vim & Vigor, Washington Post, WebMD, Weight Watchers, Woman’s Day, Woman's World, and many more. Her personal story appears in Chicken Soup for the Dieter's Soul.
As an expert in mindful eating and the cognitive-behavioral approach, she also advises corporations and organizations on a sustainable approach to nutrition, physical activity, and healthy lifestyles.
Dr. May is a Board Certified Family Physician with 14 years of clinical experience in Phoenix, Arizona. She has "retired" from practice to focus on mindful eating. She received her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Arizona State University and her Medical Degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She completed a three-year Family Medicine Residency at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona where she served as Chief Resident.
She is well respected by her physician colleagues who elected her to serve as President of the Arizona Academy of Family Physicians. She was the Chairperson for the Subcommittee on Women of the 93,000-member American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and was elected to serve in the AAFP Congress of Delegates, the policy forming body of the organization for eight years. She is Past Chair of the Americans in Motion Advisory Panel and the AAFP Women's Health and Physician Wellness Conference. She served on the AAFP Commission on the Health of the Public and Science and the American Medical Association's Healthy Lifestyles' Advisory Panel. She has also been a recognized leader in many other professional and community organizations, including the Board of Managers for her local YMCA and President of the National Speakers Association, Arizona Chapter.
Michelle must practice what she preaches in order to balance her personal and professional life while maintaining her own optimal health. She cherishes her relationships with her two children, Tyler and Elyse, regularly enjoys hiking near her home in Phoenix, Arizona, and is a certified yoga instructor. She and her husband, Owen, a professional chef, share a passion for gourmet and healthful cooking, recipe development, wine tasting, and traveling.