Michelle is passionate about helping people develop a healthy relationship with food and their body. She knows firsthand how difficult and frustrating this can be. Growing up, Michelle saw food as a source of comfort, pleasure and a way to communicate with those she loved. As an overweight adult, failing diet after diet, food became a source of frustration and guilt. In 2006, Michelle had gastric bypass surgery and successfully lost 172 pounds. She soon realized, however, that the protein powders, artificial sweeteners and overly processed low-fat and low-carb foods that filled her shelves would never be as comforting or satisfying as "real" food.

In an effort to educate herself about whole foods nutrition, Michelle attended and graduated from Bastyr University in Seattle, WA with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Culinary Arts. This education gave her the tools she needed to integrate nutritious ingredients into comforting, delicious meals that she could feel good about eating and feeding to other people.

Michelle became a Health At Every Size Facilitator in 2013, after attending in-depth training with Linda Bacon and Lucy Aphramor. Their research in the health and obesity field was the basis for Michelle’s main shift in focus from diet and weight loss to eating for health, body care, and seeing obesity as a social justice issue. Michelle uses HAES principles and encourages Intuitive Eating when teaching classes and coaching clients.

Besides being owner of Delectable U, Michelle worked as a Personal Chef consultant for Passionate Nutrition and a Cooking Instructor for Cancer Lifeline, both based out of Seattle, WA. She was a guest speaker at the International Obesity Help convention in 2013, has written several nutrition articles for Sound Integrated Health and had two radio appearances on KKNW.