I'm thrilled to have Lauren Fleshman on the pod today (wooo!) Lauren Fleshman is one of the most highly decorated professional runners in the US. She is also an award winning author. Her book, Good For A Girl, was a life changer for me. I had the supreme joy of joining one of her WILDER retreats this fall in the French Alps (!) where she led us as we ran, wrote and surpassed ourselves every day. Today we talk about running, women in sports and the multitude of pressures that come with athletics. I learned so much just in this convo! I hope you do too.

You can also find my writing on these subjects and much more at After Class on Substack 

Please take a moment to like, share, comment or rate and review this podcast wherever you are listening to it! Doing any of those things help more people to find this pod!

The latest episode of Busy Body Podcast featuring conversation with Journalist and co-Author of the book Food Intelligence, Julia Belluz is out now. It’s a super informative conversation and a really great book. (order here)

Busy Body is now on Patreon! If you’ve been a long time listener, please consider supporting the pod! Your support will help me be able to put more episodes out more regularly. If just twenty people joined the 2nd tier we’d have an extra episode a month covered!

The audio version of the podcast will continue here on Substack, you can also upgrade to paid and support the pod and my writing here. Truly anything helps.

Subscribe now

If you are more of a here-for-the-pod person, on Patreon, we’re offering an ad-free video tier, a gift-in-the-mail tier and an UNFILTERED tier where members get access to bonus content conversations as well as mini segments from me on topical subjects and my (strong) opinion on them - if that tier takes off, I can open the private chat option so we can all chat with each other!

You can also find my writing on these subjects and much more at After Class on Substack 

Thank you for listening! I’m hoping this move will help me better understand and get to know my listeners and better understand and get to know my Substack readers! These communities are growing and are distinct - I so appreciate you and hope you’ll join me wherever is best for you!

Now onto the show!

I've been following Julia Belluz's writing for awhile and when I heard she was putting out a book co-authored with Kevin Hall PhD I literally pre-ordered it twice (accidentally but still!).  Food Intelligence did not disappoint! We cover a lot in this conversation from 'food environments' to the unrelegated world of supplements, and of course the discourse around 'obesity', fat bodies and health. It's a great conversation and I also hope to have Kevin Hall on soon so stay tuned!

Before I get to the latest episode of Busy Body - News! I’m teaching my signature workshop: Fascia Release™ VIRTUALLY this Saturday Nov 22nd - you can join FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD - just in time to de-stress you before the holiday season officially begins!

If you’ve never engaged with my physical fitness work Enjoy this Free 15 minute preview - you need a foam roller to fully enjoy ❤️

Fascia Release™ is a guided self-massage workshop created by me! from many many and ongoing years of study on structural anatomy and how our bodies work so that we may feel better in them. Fascia Release™ decreases chronic tension, pain and gently re-aligns joints and tissue to give you more ease, mobility, pain and injury relief and prevention! I hope you can join me this weekend.

If you can’t attend live you get 7 days recording access with sign up or join the membership and get full archive access to all past workshops PLUS mini Fascia Release™ modules focused on shoulders, low back, even TMJ and jaw relief, for when you need targeted release on your own time!

Now to podcast time! I really loved this conversation - Enjoy ❤️

On this episode of Busy Body I got to dive deep on issues that are close to my heart with Writer, Speaker, Activist, Chrissy King. We discuss the commercialization of Body Positivity, the power and importance of Joy in relation to healing body image and even touch on recent celebrity weight-loss stories. We manage to go deep and laugh a lot throughout this conversation, which I think is a testament to us both! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.Purchase Chrissy’s book HEREFind her courses HEREConnect with her on social media HERESubscribe to her fantastic Substack The Body Liberation Collective HEREPlease take a moment to like, share, comment or rate and review this podcast wherever you are listening to it! Doing any of those things help more people to find this pod!

Today I talk with Allison Yamamoto, sports nutritionist and founder of Koa Foundations Program about REDS - Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport which you may have never heard of but might already have! REDS is common in athletes but can easily happen to the average hobby runner and over worked fitness enthusiast. REDS has come up as part of many conversations here on Busy Body and I’m so glad to devote an entire episode to this important topic!Allison was kind enough to extend a free stress relief resource to Busy Body listeners HERETo connect with Allison find her on IG HEREOr apply for her REDS Foundation program HERE

I also own a virtual fitness and wellness studio that is about to be 15 years old. Please check out my offerings…

For more info from my virtual fitness and wellness studio, Brooklyn Strength click ⬇️

I teach beginner strength and stability via The Self Paced Series as well as several restorative classes and workshops including Anti-Anxiety Cardio and Fascia Release™ all of which are designed to gently shift our bodies into balance without the ableist, fat shaming ‘sweat is fat crying’ mentality that infects so much of mainstream fitness.

Want to deep dive with me on YOUR unique issues? Get the accountability that private coaching creates? Join me for virtual one-to-one sessions, we’ll move together, relieving your pain, or talking about your needs and goals.

If you liked this conversation please rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts AND heart comment or share on this substack post! It helps spread the word and get this podcast and these wonderful conversations heard and seen.

Music by Rob Byrne, performed by the Wild Yaks.Podcast produced by Brad at Trains Sound Studio.Illustrations by me

So pleased to have Coach Rachel on again to talk about running, the patience it takes to create a consistent running practice and the difference between being obsessed with metrics versus learning to trust our own bodies and journey. Very much the ethos of our Coaching Program, Virtual Run Club - now on Early Bird Sale till Oct 6th - We start Running October 13th!

Trusting our body comes with time and experience. In this episode we hear about the ten year journey that took Rachel from someone intimidated by marathons to logging so many she’s lost count. We share insights and some pretty astounding experiences from our recent running adventures. Rachel just came in 2nd overall and 1st in her age group (in her early 40’s 🔥) in her longest yet Ultra Race and I just came back from 5 days hiking and running the French Alps with the Wilder Running Retreat. Pretty epic! And pretty exhausting (for me at least)!

Spoiler alert age is not a barrier in stamina sports! I hope you’ll find this conversation as inspiring as I did! (I definitely went running right after recording - pretty irresistible after hearing Rachel’s journey!)

If you are not already a paid subscriber please consider it! These episodes cost $ to produce and A LOT of time to create. In addition the essays I write usually take me up to 2 weeks to write, edit etc… that’s a lot of work and I believe people should be paid for their work ( especially women 🔥) a monthly subscription is only $7 and it means so much to have your support. Thank you ❤️

Virtual Run Club is an inclusive running club, all levels and abilities are welcome.

If you’re looking for support, structure, and help with consistency, this group is for you! Virtual Run Club is on Early Bird sale NOW - full info HERE

Enjoy a few reader favorites here:

Eat All The Cookies

7 Decades of Self Denial

Is it Anti-Feminist to Want to Lose Weight?

I also own a virtual fitness and wellness studio that is about to be 15 years old. Please check out my offerings…

For more info from my virtual fitness and wellness studio, Brooklyn Strength click ⬇️

I teach beginner strength and stability via The Self Paced Series as well as several restorative classes and workshops including Anti-Anxiety Cardio and Fascia Release™ all of which are designed to gently shift our bodies into balance without the ableist, fat shaming ‘sweat is fat crying’ mentality that infects so much of mainstream fitness.

Want to deep dive with me on YOUR unique issues? Get the accountability that private coaching creates? Join me for virtual one-to-one sessions, we’ll move together, relieving your pain, or talking about your needs and goals.

If you liked this conversation please rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts AND heart comment or share on this substack post! It helps spread the word and get this podcast and these wonderful conversations heard and seen.

Music by Rob Byrne, performed by the Wild Yaks.Podcast produced by Brad at Trains Sound Studio.Illustrations by me

In the 2nd episode of my conversation with Mikala Jamison, author of the substack Body Type and upcoming book, The Forever Project (out next summer!). We pick up where we left off discussing the the importance of curiosity over criticism, and how societal trends impact our self-perception and our ever ongoing journey towards embracing our bodies without judgment. Such a great convo, look out for more when Mikala’s book comes out this spring!

To get updates on Mikala's book publication and read her work disentangling of fads from fitness, subscribe to her substack and follow her on socials HERE

If you enjoyed this conversation, please share it with your friends and leave us a review! Your support helps us continue these important conversations. If you enjoy this podcast and my essays please consider subscribing. The podcast costs money to produce and a lot of time to create. Your support makes it possible for these episodes to exist.

I’ve written about my own experience of learning to run here

I was recently published by Business Insider. I wrote about a moment of semi-spiral around my aging face. Read it here. p.s. the title is their edit(!)

I’ve also written about the upsides of poor mental health here-enjoy!

Curious about exercise? HATE exercise? Please check out my offerings…

For more info from my virtual fitness and wellness studio, Brooklyn Strength click ⬇️

I teach beginner strength and stability via The Self Paced Series as well as several restorative classes and workshops including Anti-Anxiety Cardio and Fascia Release™ all of which are designed to gently shift our bodies into balance without the ableist, fat shaming ‘sweat is fat crying’ mentality that infects so much of mainstream fitness.

Want to deep dive with me on YOUR unique issues? Get the accountability that private coaching creates? Join me for virtual one-to-one sessions, we’ll move together, relieving your pain, or talking about your needs and goals.

If you liked this conversation please rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts AND heart comment or share on this substack post! It helps spread the word and get this podcast and these wonderful conversations heard and seen.

Music by Rob Byrne, performed by the Wild Yaks.Podcast produced by Brad at Trains Sound Studio.Illustrations by me

In this episode of Busy Body Podcast I speak with Mikala Jamison, author of the substack Body Type and upcoming book, The Forever Project (out next summer!). We discuss the both-and of caring for one's body with exercise while also being aware of the societal norms and pressures of living in a body that is policed by society to have a certain appearance or ability. What is body image? How do we engage with fitness without falling into a spiral of metrics and calorie counting? We dive deep in this conversation! Stay tuned for part 2!

To get updates on Mikala's book publication and read her work disentangling of fads from fitness, subscribe to her substack and follow her on socials HERE

If you enjoyed this conversation, please share it with your friends and leave us a review! Your support helps us continue these important conversations. If you enjoy this podcast and my essays please consider subscribing. The podcast costs money to produce and a lot of time to create. Your support makes it possible for these episodes to exist.

I’ve written about my own experience of learning to run here

I was recently published by Business Insider. I wrote about a moment of semi-spiral around my aging face. Read it here. p.s. the title is their edit(!)

I’ve also written about the upsides of poor mental health here-enjoy!

Curious about exercise? HATE exercise? Please check out my offerings…

I teach beginner strength and stability via The Self Paced Series as well as several restorative classes and workshops including Anti-Anxiety Cardio and Fascia Release™ all of which are designed to gently shift our bodies into balance without the ableist, fat shaming ‘sweat is fat crying’ mentality that infects so much of mainstream fitness.

Want to deep dive with me on YOUR unique issues? Get the accountability that private coaching creates? Join me for virtual one-to-one sessions, we’ll move together, relieving your pain, or talking about your needs and goals.

If you liked this conversation please rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts AND heart comment or share on this substack post! It helps spread the word and get this podcast and these wonderful conversations heard and seen.

Music by Rob Byrne, performed by the Wild Yaks.Podcast produced by Brad at Trains Sound Studio.Illustrations by me

This was such a thrilling insightful conversation! Join me as Laura Thomas helps to 'complicate simplistic food narratives for our overall peace' - I love that phrase! We discuss the societal and cultural influences on food choices and Laura's ultimate thorn, the hyper focus on ultra-processed foods in modern diets. As always, there is so much more to the story! Capitalism, domestic gender equality and politics all come into play on our plates.

Find Laura Thomas, PhD in Nutritional Sciences, registered nutritionist, and author of the newsletter "Can I Have Another Snack." Her newsletter and podcast Here, IG here and her books here (apologies that the ‘zon was the only spot I could find selling them in the US).

Subscribe to the Busybody Podcast for more discussions on topics like this! Follow me on Instagram at @BrooklynStrength and visit brooklynstrength.com for more information and ways you can work with me! (including to de-program your brain to stop fighting with your body)

I’ve written about the joys of ‘eating a lot’ here Guacamole Fulfillment

And how not all poor mental health is ‘bad’ - enjoy!

Curious about exercise? HATE exercise? Please check out my offerings…

You can still jump into the Summer Series! Grab it now and get consistent, safe, fun, (anti-anxiety cardio anyone??) movement on YOUR schedule all summer long.

I also teach beginner strength and stability via The Self Paced Series as well as several restorative classes and workshops including Anti-Anxiety Cardio and Fascia Release™ all of which are designed to gently shift our bodies into balance without the ableist, fat shaming ‘sweat is fat crying’ mentality that infects so much of mainstream fitness.

Want to deep dive with me on YOUR unique issues? Get the accountability that private coaching creates? Join me for virtual one-to-one sessions, we’ll move together, relieving your pain, or talking about your needs and goals.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Laura Thomas and Her Work

02:51 Cultural Perspectives on Food: US vs UK

05:33 The Role of Mothers in Nutrition and Food Choices

11:42 The Burden of Food Work on Mothers

14:37 Ultra-Processed Foods: Definitions and Implications

29:34 The Societal Impact of Food Choices

44:20 Critical Thinking in Food Consumption

58:40 Conclusion and Future Conversations

If you liked this conversation please rate, review and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts AND heart comment or share on this substack post! It helps spread the word and get this podcast and these wonderful conversations heard and seen.

Music by Rob Byrne, performed by the Wild Yaks. Podcast produced by Brad at Trains Sound Studio. Illustrations by Jackie Mendez and me

#Nutrition #FoodCulture #Podcast #LauraThomas #BusybodyPodcast

I was first introduced to Cecile Simmons from her essay on being an expert on wellness misinformation and yet falling down a rabbit hole of social media fueled wellness trends even as she knew she was being duped. After that I was hooked (relatable!). We talk about the upsetting relationship between wellness, misinformation/disinformation and politics. In a world filled with conflicting information and the political agendas that shape wellness, the need for a balanced approach to health that prioritizes genuine well-being over societal pressures is even more needed.Cecile's book Ctrl Delete Hate is out now - get it HEREFind Cecile Simmons work HERE and HERE

I’ve written about ‘eating a lot’ here Guacamole Fulfillment

And how not all poor mental health is ‘bad’ - enjoy!

Curious about exercise? HATE exercise? Please check out my offerings…

You can still jump into the Summer Series ! Grab it now and get consistent, safe, fun (!) movement on YOUR schedule all summer long.

I also teach beginner strength and stability via Kettlebells and Pilates as well as several restorative classes and workshops including Anti-Anxiety Cardio and Fascia Release™ all of which are designed to gently shift our bodies into balance without the ableist, fat shaming ‘sweat is fat crying’ mentality that infects so much of mainstream fitness. I also do virtual one-to-one sessions, just me and you moving together, relieving your pain, or talking about your needs and goals.

I hope you can find something here that supports you.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Wellness and Misinformation

02:50 The Intersection of Wellness and Political Ideologies

05:44 Understanding Misinformation vs. Disinformation

08:45 The Impact of Social Media on Wellness Trends

11:55 The Dangers of Tracking and Optimization

14:54 The Role of Community in Wellness

17:46 Monetization in the Wellness Industry

20:40 The Crisis of Dietary Confusion

23:35 The Influence of the Pandemic on Health Trends

26:41 The Rise of Extreme Diets

29:38 The Political Nature of Dietary Choices

32:45 The Backlash Against Contraceptive Pills

35:37 The Need for Equitable Health Solutions

37:56 The Impact of Hormonal Birth Control on Women's Health

40:48 Navigating Misinformation in Health and Wellness

42:36 Cultural Perspectives on Food and Health

46:01 The Influence of Misinformation on Dietary Choices

50:37 The Role of Community in Wellness

56:52 Men's Health and the Manosphere

01:06:11 Political Agendas in Wellness Trends

On this episode I got a real STAR! Insert name-in-lights! Sarah shares her journey from a shy kid in a small town to a contestant on America's Next Top Model (whaaat!) which launches her plus-size modeling career AND exposes her to the outrageously disturbing manipulative nature of reality TV. We discuss the impact of objectification on self-perception and the pressure of being a plus-size model despite the seemingly built-in body positive message. Plus lots of juicy - they did whaaat? from her time on ANTM.Sarah's book, You Wanna Be On Top? a memoir of makeovers, manipulation and not becoming America's Next Top Model is out July 8th!!Order her book HEREFind Sarah HERE

I’ve written about the positives of ‘eating a lot’ here Guacamole Fulfillment

And how not all poor mental health is ‘bad’ - enjoy!

Curious about exercise? HATE exercise? Please check out my offerings…

You can still jump into the Summer Series BOGO 50% off is still going on!

Grab it and get consistent, safe, fun (!) movement on YOUR schedule all summer long.

I also teach beginner strength and stability via Kettlebells and Pilates as well as several restorative classes and workshops including Anti-Anxiety Cardio and Fascia Release™ all of which are designed to gently shift our bodies into balance without the ableist, fat shaming ‘sweat is fat crying’ mentality that infects so much of mainstream fitness. I also do virtual one-to-one sessions, just me and you moving together, relieving your pain, or talking about your needs and goals.

I hope you can find something here that supports you.my offerings

02:58 From Small Town to Reality TV

05:59 Understanding Plus-Size Modeling

08:53 The Reality of Modeling and Body Image

12:00 Cultural Differences in Body Perception

15:10 Navigating Attention and Performance

17:56 The Transformation Through Comedy

21:00 The Surreal Experience of Reality TV

24:11 Manipulation in Reality TV

27:01 The Psychological Tactics of Competition

29:45 The Aftermath of Reality TV

32:56 The Journey Beyond the Show

39:09 The Early Days of Plus Size Modeling

42:00 Objectification and Body Image

46:00 The Struggle for Self-Identity

51:02 The Impact of Objectification on Self-Perception

55:47 Navigating Body Positivity and Self-Acceptance

01:01:02 The Journey Towards Body Neutrality

01:10:04 Reflections on Diet Culture and Self-Worth