Episodes

I’m back with psychotherapist and author Elke Scholz, and we get into something that’s easy to miss when you’re busy taking care of everybody else: how you’re actually doing. Elke shares how migraines, stomachaches, stuttering, and feeling different were part of a struggle she didn’t recognize as anxiety until after she started her private practice. Helping other people didn’t make her immune to getting drained, either. She opens up about exhaustion and the shift that helped her start paying att...

You can do everything you’re supposed to do and still feel like something is missing. I sat down with Elke Scholz, a registered psychotherapist, expressive arts educator, and author, expecting to talk about anxiety and running on empty. Instead, we got into the story behind her work: a difficult home life, feeling out of place in school, and the creative classes she credits with saving her life as a teenager. Elke’s path took her from calligraphy and teaching art to writing a book and eventua...

I know the routine: work all day, come home exhausted, turn on the TV, and promise yourself you’ll do something different Monday. Coach Willie Blake joins me again to talk about getting out of that cycle without pretending we can change our whole lives overnight. After exploring his experience with dyslexia and his health journey in our first conversation, we get practical about what comes next: figuring out what you actually want and choosing one small thing you can do about it. Willie also sh...

Coach Willie Blake told me it took him 11 attempts to finish 75 Hard. My first thought? I probably would have called it quits after three. But the more we talked, the more I realized this wasn’t just about finishing a challenge. Willie grew up with dyslexia, worried about being called on to read, and found comfort in food when he didn’t feel comfortable with himself. Those feelings followed him long after his school days were over. We talk about the family photo that made him take a hard look a...

Sometimes you’ve got to live in the mud for a while. Not call it beautiful. Not pretend you’re enjoying it. Just admit that it hurts. Laura Bratton joins me again to talk about what helped her move forward after losing her sight, including the support of people who believed in her when she struggled to believe in herself. I wanted to know what grit and gratitude actually look like on the hard days. Laura shares how she learned to acknowledge her grief, stop treating every frightening thought as...

What happens when life changes in a way you never asked for, and there’s no going back? I sat down with Laura Bratton, an author, speaker, and coach who learned at nine years old that she would eventually lose her sight. She understood the words, but understanding what they would mean for her life was something else entirely. Laura shares how losing vision during her teenage years shook her confidence, her identity, and her belief that she still had something to offer. There wasn’t a countdow...

Marylee Calmes is back for a practical, honest conversation about something most of us are not very good at: paying attention before our bodies force us to. With more than 30 years of experience as a licensed acupuncturist, herbalist, educator, and traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, Marylee explains why symptoms are signals, not just inconveniences to push through. We talk about stress, sleep, food, movement, seasonal changes, and the small habits that can either support us or slowly we...

Prostate cancer is one of those subjects many men would rather avoid, until it lands in their own doctor’s office. Michael Bovarnick knows that feeling firsthand. He was diagnosed 23 years ago, had his prostate removed, lived with the anxiety of ongoing testing, and then learned the cancer had returned two decades later. Michael’s story is not just about cancer. It is about resilience, being proactive, and getting past the silence that can hurt men and their relationships. He shares why PSA t...

Marylee Calmes spent years dealing with asthma, allergies, recurring illness, headaches, and the frustration of being handed one more prescription without getting a real answer. Her personal health struggles eventually led her to traditional Chinese medicine, where she found a different way to look at the body, not as a collection of disconnected symptoms, but as a whole system with patterns worth paying attention to. We talk about why health problems often build quietly over time, why recove...

Picky eating can turn every meal into a battle, and too often the child gets labeled as difficult before anyone asks what is really going on. Lena Livinsky is back on the podcast to help us look below the surface. She explains her B.L.O.O.M. Framework, a practical way for parents to consider connection, health, oral function, the microbiome, exploration, and boundaries when food becomes a struggle. What I appreciated most about this conversation is that it was not about blaming kids or blamin...

Tracy Smaldino is back for part two of our conversation, and we get real about what healing after trauma actually looks like when life keeps moving. Tracy shares how breath work, meditation, journaling, and simply learning to pause helped her recognize the physical signs that something was off before she reacted. We talk about the pressure to keep up appearances, especially for men who were taught to tough it out and women who were taught not to cause trouble. Tracy’s message is simple but po...

Tracy Smaldino is the founder of Trauma Rockstars, a keynote speaker, author, podcast host, and someone who spent decades looking functional on the outside while carrying trauma she had never truly faced. When the pandemic forced her to slow down, a simple meditation practice opened the door to memories, survivor’s guilt, and pain she had worked hard to bury. We talk about trauma without comparing or minimizing it, why being busy can sometimes be a way to avoid ourselves, and how healing can ...

Dr. Hema Murty returns to Uncle Marv’s Unhealthy Podcast for a real conversation about health that goes way beyond the gym and the number on the scale. Dr. Hema brings the perspective of an aerospace engineer, advanced yoga instructor, personal trainer, and nutrition coach to explain why our bodies need to be treated like individual systems, not like cookie-cutter fitness projects. We talk about the overlooked basics that can make a big difference: quality sleep, drinking enough water, managing...

Hydration should be simple, but the marketing has made it feel like plain water is no longer enough. I wanted to look past the flashy labels and find out when electrolyte drinks can actually make sense, when they are probably unnecessary, and what we should be watching for when it comes to sodium, sugar, and ingredients. I share my own honest struggle with moving away from soda, trying flavored-water products, and figuring out how to make healthier choices without pretending I have it all figur...

Dr. Hema Murty has a PhD in aerospace engineering, but the work she is doing today is all about helping people move better, hurt less, and stop treating their bodies like machines that need to be forced into submission. Her path into wellness began with her own knee pain after training for and completing the Toronto Marathon, followed by years of frustrating advice that did not actually solve the problem. We talk about why one-size-fits-all fitness plans often leave people discouraged, the co...

Liz Watt is back for part two, and we go deeper into what happened after her personal health turnaround. Liz is the CEO and co-founder of Be Healthy Utah, an author, speaker, health coach, and someone who has built a meaningful community around natural health, resilience, and the belief that it is never too late to make changes that support a better life. She shares how a dream, a big leap of faith, and a conference that did not go exactly as planned became the beginning of something much big...

Liz Watt had spent years living what she believed was a healthy, natural life. She cooked from scratch, raised six kids, leaned into natural remedies, and built a life around wellness. Then her body began falling apart in ways nobody could explain. Pain moved through her joints, numbness spread across her back, and everyday life became something she had to fight through. What I appreciated about Liz’s story is that she does not pretend there was one magic fix. She talks about slowing down, pa...

Mealtime battles can wear a family down in a hurry. You start out trying to serve a decent meal, then suddenly you are negotiating over one bite of chicken, making a second dinner, or wondering whether your child is getting enough nutrition. I sat down with pediatric speech-language pathologist and holistic feeding specialist Lena Livinsky to talk about why picky eating can be more than just a frustrating phase. Lena shares how her own son’s struggles with food changed the way she viewed feed...

Could one meal a day help you lose weight? Maybe. But feeling hungry, run-down, and stressed about food is not exactly the definition of healthy, so Uncle Marv digs into what OMAD can do, what it cannot prove, and what a more realistic middle ground may look like. OMAD, short for One Meal a Day, sounds wonderfully simple on paper. One meal, fewer decisions, less cooking, maybe fewer calories. But simple is not always the same thing as sustainable. Uncle Marv looks past the dramatic claims and a...

Coach Brian Parana returns to walk through the “how” behind getting healthier when you’re a driven dad, business leader, and frequent traveler who lives on planes, in hotels, and at conferences. Instead of yelling “try harder,” Brian breaks down simple systems that fit the real-world chaos of client dinners, late nights, and inconsistent schedules. We talk through his AIM principle for moment-by-moment decisions, why the first win is often just maintaining your weight on a trip, and how to rebui...

If you’re a business owner, IT guy, or high performer who feels like you’re crushing it for clients but limping home at the end of the day, this conversation is going to feel very familiar. Brian has spent more than two decades working with husbands and dads who are worn out, overweight, and half present at home, and he explains why so many of us hit that wall in our 40s and 50s. We walk through his journey from coaching cross country and teaching classes at the YMCA to training business owners ...

Barb Nangle is back to unpack how real boundaries create internal safety, cut burnout, and help you stop abandoning yourself. We talk about learning to say no without guilt, and how that shift ripples through work, relationships, and recovery.

Barb Nangle and I dig into what it really means to feel safe in your own life by learning where your limits are and actually honoring them. Her story of codependency, recovery, and reparenting yourself shows how boundaries can transform everything from friendships and work to weight, health, and love.

Dr. Noushin Hart opens up about how trauma changed everything she believed about healing, cancer care, and what patients really need. She talks straight about the limits of Western medicine, the power of mindset, and why the whole person matters, not just the diagnosis.