Mikala Jamison is your go-to gal for sanity about bodies and body image. Her bestselling newsletter, Body Type, brings nuance, honesty, and perspective to conversations about the tricky business of the physical self.
Her first book, The Forever Project: How Exercise Strengthened Me Inside and Out for the Long Haul (out Jan. 5, 2027, from New Harbinger) is a memoir/how-to mashup minus standard self-help fluff; it offers a new philosophy about what exercise is for and how anyone can find joy in it. Mikala’s copy editor also told her it’s very funny, and she doesn’t have to say that.
Mikala has been a reporter, writer, or editor in newsrooms since 2012, and continues to freelance for places like The Atlantic and The Washington Post. She’s worked as a group fitness instructor, trained as a competitive powerlifter, and went through eating disorder recovery — all of which informs her work.
Mikala also created and produced a live storytelling show about body image, The Body Show, in 2022 and 2024. It sold out every show date. Here’s a five-star review.
Body Type is the newsletter that nearly 14,000 readers have come to trust as a place for compassionate, informed, nuanced writing about bodies and body image. (And it’s what led to the book deal for The Forever Project!)
In addition to Body Type, Mikala has written for multiple health and culture-focused publications, and has appeared on various podcasts. She loves to write and talk; please invite her to do so.
The Forever Project: How Exercise Strengthened Me Inside and Out for the Long Haul, asks a question: You’ve been told exercise is about changing your body, but what if its true utility is putting you in touch with your own character?
Instead of offering yet another plan to “fix” your body, The Forever Project offers a philosophy: Exercise isn’t something you use to control yourself, but something that helps you come back to yourself — again and again, forever.