About

Hi, I’m Michelle.

When asked to fill out paperwork describing what I do I answer ‘creative person’. I’ve trained as a graphic designer and as a chef. I’ve worked  in e-commerce, advertising and run my own design company. I’ve also worked in commercial kitchens, hosted my own vodcast, Healthy Helpings and write regular recipe articles for Oxygen Womens Health and Fitness magazine (Australia). For over 10 years I hosted my own community radio show and was heavily involved in the running of the station.

The Figure Athlete

Discovering body building has changed my life. After never having the confidence to play sport as a child I found myself in the gym experimenting with weights. With hard work and consistency I started to see results and my passion & creativity was sparked to build a sculpture with my own body.

In 2008 I competed in two INBA figure shows, placing runner up as Ms Figure Whyalla in my second ever show. My journey since has been a whirlwind adventure and along the way Lindy’s forum has been there to support me and keep me motivated. I am currently training hard to sculpt my body and live an energetic life. I am also a community moderator at LindyOlsen.com, which is a great community of energetic women interested in physique sports.

The Chef

I’ve always loved to cook and eat food. My entire family is passionate about food. As a figure athlete I eat 5-6 meals a day, so I’m glad I’m a good cook.
My passion for food has lead me to pursue it as a career. I am studying a Certificate 3 in Commercial Cookery and working in restaurant kitchens. I also develop healthy recipes for Oxygen Magazine and have produced a series of podcasts called Healthy Helpings TV. Healthy Helpings TV, a healthy cooking podcast. You may also have seen me in the top 50 of the first series of Australia’s Masterchef.

The Designer

Since 2001, I’ve run my own web &graphic design consultancy, MKgd. I’ve worked with major government clients, community organisations, private industry, independant wine-makers, bands and musicians. I believe that the design process is very collaborative and enjoy working with my clients to better communicate their message.

About the Author

Michelle is passionate about showing people how easy it is to prepare food that is healthy and packed full of flavour. She has just completed her first recipe book, Healthy Helpings: fast food for fit physiques. She began sharing her love of food in 2007, when she produced two series of the online cooking show ‘Healthy Helpings TV’, making fast food healthy and healthy food fast. In 2008 she competed in bodybuilding as a novice figure shaping competitor and she remains passionate about physique sports. She was a 2009 Australian Masterchef semi-finalist, and contributes articles to Oxygen Magazine Australia. Michelle lives with her husband on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, where she loves to search out new ingredients and food ideas from local farmers markets, health food shops and ethnic grocers, and take her two dogs on long rambles through the vineyards.