Grow the Good

Once per month, I'm checking in with you to talk about my journey as a new athlete mom. I'll talk about time management, how getting back to and maintaining a training schedule is going post-partum, the mental and emotional pieces too.  I'll tell you what it's really like and hopefully give you some nuggets you can apply to your own lives as well. This podcast is supported by Wahoo Fitness who has been a great partner during my journey as a pregnant athlete and new mom!

My husband, Matt Ewonus has joined me on many of these Athlete Motherhood series because parenthood is really what it's about! In this episode, we talked about how we view aging, how having a baby might affect how you feel about things like failing a workout, thinking big picture when it comes to the pace of achievement, and how the caloric needs from breastfeeding have been impacting my training.

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• Celebrating aging
• thinking big picture when it comes to pace of achievement
• how having a baby changes how we might feel about failing a workout
• caloric needs of breastfeeding impacting training

Listen Now

 

Resources

• Wine we mentioned: Earthquake Cabernet Sauvignon by Michael David Winery
• Do You Beat Yourself on Recovery Rides blog post
• Pre-Order Nourish by Brenda Davis RD and Reshma Shaw, MD
• Raising Financially Fit Kids book by Jolene Godfrey
• My podcast episode with Jolene Godrey about Raising Financially Fit Kids
• My Prokit Post: Breastfeeding and the Athlete

 

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Support our awesome sponsors!

The best organic non-GMO sprouting seeds are Sproutman!  They’ve been in business since 1977.  I love that their sprouting seeds are non-GMO, organic and have a 95% germination rate.  Their beginner's dozen and their salad bags make it super simple!

 

 

 

 

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Doug Evans and sprouts have a few things in common.  They are both super healthy and both contain an incredible amount of potential energy.  Doug has used his energy for so many incredible life projects- from building incredible businesses in the health space to becoming an author about one of the most impactful nutritional powerhouses on the planet: the power of Sprouts.  Many of us are interested in harnessing the benefits of eating more plants and I have a secret for you- sprouts are about as nutritionally dense with nutrients as you can get.  They have about 20-30x the nutrients of other vegetables!

One thing that is easily agreed on no matter what diet or lifestyle you enjoy, everyone loves the nutritional benefits of sprouts. They are also incredibly easy. If you listening to my episode with Stephen Ritz from the GreenBronxMachine, you heard about the incredible impact on marginalized communities from indoor gardening and involving kids. Sprouts are insanely simple to grow - they are cheap, very easy, require minimal effort, and can grow anywhere!  In fact, my growing interest in sprouting lead me to one of our great podcast sponsors: Sproutman. I was looking for seed companies with organic, non-GMO seeds with a 95%+ germination rate. I was also looking to make it as easy as possible. Sproutman was it and they've been around since 1977 with great down-to-earth people.  I got their salad bags which are small hemp bags. I gave it a try with their salad mix and put 4 tablespoons of seeds into the sack.  Here's how you do it in a seedshell: sterilize the bag in boiling water, soak your seeds in the bag in a bowl of water overnight, rinse the bag for 30 seconds twice a day and just let it hang in your kitchen... and a few days later you have more sprouts than you can eat!

Believe it or not, sprouts are packed with omega-3s, protein, vitamin C, iron and so much more!  Doug's book, The Sprout Book, takes you on a journey all about why and how sprouts are gamechangers to health, society, and has a lot of information from medical experts.  He also goes into detail on how to sprout different types of seeds and how to grow a sprout garden in a very small corner of your kitchen.  There are also a ton of recipes on how to use sprouts and add them to what you're already eating.  So let's get into how you can up your nutritional game with the very simple act of growing and eating sprouts.

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• attitude/perspective and equanimity
• what is a sprout?
• are sprouts healthy?
• nutritional density
• how to actually sprout and how easy it is
• sprouts vs. shoots vs microgreens
• variety of sprouts
• how to deal with gas and sprouted legumes
• are sprouted bread products good?

Listen Now

 

Resources

• Follow Doug Evans on Instagram
• Sproutman seeds

Books Mentioned

• The Sprout Book

Support our awesome sponsors!

The best organic non-GMO sprouting seeds are Sproutman!  They've been in business since 1977.

 

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

"You can train three things: your craft, your body, and your mind."  That's something you'll frequently hear from world-renowned high-performance psychologist, Dr. Michael Gervais.  I'm really excited about having him on the show because he is one of my personal heroes in the arena of mindset and psychology.  He frequently talks about the importance of self-discovery and our own inner lives, being aware of and training our inner narrative, and the power of vulnerability.  Over the course of 20 years working with world-leading performers, Dr. Gervais has developed a psychological framework that allows people to thrive in pressure-packed environments. His clientele consists of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, countless Olympic medalists, MVPs from every major sport, world record holders, internationally acclaimed music artists, and corporate leaders. He is the host of one of my favorite podcasts: Finding Mastery that explores the psychology of some of the world’s most extraordinary thinkers and doers.

Dr. Gervais and NFL coach Pete Carroll founded Compete to Create, an online and live master class for the mind. They have worked with more than 30,000 employees at Microsoft alone on the mental skills and strategies to unleash one’s potential.  Just last month in July of 2020, the Audible Original, Compete to Create was released. It's authored by Dr. Gervais and Pete Carroll and is incredible.  It also has some really helpful PDFs that come with the audiobook.  The Compete to Create Audible Original just scratches the surface of their 8-week online course.

You'll hear important and actionable ear nuggets in this podcast episode- things like defining your personal philosophy, how to build confidence and trust in yourself, the optimal level of emotional stimulation for high performance, defining success and so much more. I highly recommend listening to Compete to Create on Audible because it goes deeper into many important topics about mental skills training- from your psychological framework, to mindset skills to practice, to taking care of yourself, and getting adequate recovery.

"Confidence is a skill; we can train it. And you train it by being aware of how you’re appraising the external, how you’re appraising your internal, and then finding ways to challenge both of them. And if you do that on a regular basis, you got something.  And the only place confidence comes from is self-talk- what you say to yourself. That’s the keyhole to confidence is  what do you say to yourself and if you’re faking it, it’s going to get found out." - Dr. Michael Gervais Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• What interviewing the world's best performers on his podcast has taught Dr. Gervais about himself
• Importance of relationships
• Emotional Activation/Arousal for optimal performance (even at the Olympics)
• Training confidence as a skill
• How to be unbiased about self-assessment
• Does confidence or vulnerability come first?
• Difference between self-trust and confidence
• Group/team dynamics and personal philosophy during challenges
• Defining success

 

Listen Now

 

Resources

• Follow Dr. Michael Gervais on Instagram
• Compete to Create Audible Original
• Compete to Create online course
• Book Mentioned:

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Infectious positivity, inspirational curiousity, humor, and you

Stephen Ritz is a South Bronx educator who believes that students should not have to leave their community to live, learn, and earn in a better one. An internationally acclaimed award-winning educator, Stephen is the author of the best-selling book, The Power Of A Plant, and founder of Green Bronx Machine. Known as “America’s Favorite Teacher,” Stephen is responsible for creating the first edible classroom in the world, which he has evolved into the National Health, Wellness and Learning Center. He and his students have grown more than 100,000 pounds of vegetables in the South Bronx, and in the process, Stephen has moved school attendance from 40% to 93% daily and helped provide 2,200 youth jobs in the Bronx. Stephen was a Top Ten Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize, named Global Humanitarian, Food Tank Hero, TEDx Prize Winner and a Global Food Educator, and has presented at the Obama White House three times. A replica of his classroom was installed in the US Botanic Gardens in Washington, DC. His curriculum is being used in hundreds of schools across the United States, and internationally from Colombia to Dubai, from Canada to Cairo, to Doha, and beyond. He has even met the Pope!

To date, Stephen’s work has been featured by Forbes, Fast Company, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, TNT, Disney, Discovery TV, NPR, Teach Middle East, The Gulf National, and countless others. His TED talk boasts more than 1 million views, ranks in the Top 10 Food/Education TED Talks of all time, and is used for teacher training/workforce development globally. Stephen was featured in the film adaptation of Michael Pollan’s best-selling book, In Defense of Food and appeared on ABC’s The Chew, The Rockefeller Foundation’s Food for Thought, NPR’s 50 Great Teachers, All Things Considered, and American Graduate. The State University of New York uses his curriculum to train teachers in all content areas. His recent appearance on PBS’ Growing A Greener World (Episode 808) won an Emmy Award, and he and his students were recently featured on the covers of TIME for KIDS and Scholastic Magazine. Stephen splits his time between his home in the Bronx and his residence in The Sustainable City in Dubai, UAE, where he serves as Director of Health, Wellness and Innovation for Esol Education at Fairgreen International School. Currently, Stephen is working with Anthem Blue Cross / Blue Shield to bring Green Bronx Machine programming to 22 American cities across 19 states.

He holds advanced degrees in special education, administration and school leadership, and an honorary Ph.D. from the State University of New York for his award-winning curriculum. Affectionately known as America’s Favorite Teacher, Stephen has taught extensively in elementary, middle, and high school settings has served as a school leader in a variety of capacities and has lectured at colleges and universities around the globe. Additionally, he has created workforce development programs for people of determination, disconnected youth, and second opportunity adults that have resulted in over 2,200 jobs.

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• Why he wears a cheese hat
• How he lost 100 lbs
• Social determinants of health from inequities
• Food deserts and food swamps
• how he created the first edible classroom
• How he is transforming the Bronx
• why plants are the lynchpin to changing the world

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Once per month, I'm checking in with you to talk about my journey as a new athlete mom. I'll talk about time management, how getting back to and maintaining a training schedule is going post-partum, the mental and emotional pieces too.  I'll tell you what it's really like and hopefully give you some nuggets you can apply to your own lives as well. This podcast is supported by Wahoo Fitness who has been a great partner during my journey as a pregnant athlete and new mom! I wanted to bring my husband, Matt Ewonus in on this episode as I will on some of the future Athlete Motherhood series because Parenthood is really what it's about! In this episode, we talked about how to stay motivated when your race or event got canceled (or just how stay in it if your training has gotten stale).

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• Staying motivated when your event has been canceled or you're just in a rut
  • Live Strava Segments on the Wahoo ELEMNT
  • Power Numbers and TrainerRoad workouts
  • Using Strava Routes or just GPS Routes
  • Improve your technical riding
  • Ride with Friends
• Listener Questions: Plant-Based cookie recipe, chamois, riding zones when pregnant, advice for someone who says they don't have time for sports, training routine for flexibility, guilt for going riding with baby at home, breastfeeding/supply when riding

Listen Now

 

Resources

• Simon Sinek Youtube inspiration vs. motivation
• Last month's podcast with Matt and I
• Kyle Warner's YouTube Channel
• Recipe for my ride cookies
• Great resource from Laura King on ProKit about pregnancy and exercise

2 Ways to Give Back to the Show

Thank You!

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

One of my favorite sayings is that limits live in our minds.  Today's guest is all about helping people confront and overcome their own limiting beliefs by helping them understand what lens they are choosing to see the world.  Rob Scott has had a very interesting life from being homeless with substance-abuse problems, to getting back on track and having a great career, to riding the roller coaster of a cancer diagnosis.  What's Rob up to now?  He is a personal development coach, hosts his own Mastermind and Fundamental Shift Coaching Community.  He is passionate about helping people shift their identity to achieve big goals and personal fulfillment.

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• Why your comfort zone isn't comfortable
• Lenses to overcome self-limited beliefs
• Challenging your bias
• questions to ask yourself about identity
• why affirmations don't work
• cause/effect of self-fulfilling prophecies work
• lense for imposter syndrome, self-worth, and procrastination

Resources

• Follow Rob Scott on Instagram
• Identity Shifting Mastermind
• Fundamental Shift Coaching Community
• Byron Katie's 4 Questions

2 Ways to Give Back to the Show

 

 

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Alison Tierney is a registered dietitian and board-certified in oncology nutrition and started her business, Wholesome LLC in 2015. After developing an oncology nutrition program at a local academic cancer center, Alison pursued Wholesome exclusively as her business and client base continued to grow and increase in demand. Her passion for nutrition and healthy lifestyle is obvious in her work, her care for her clients, and her desire to always keep learning. Although Alison is board-certified in oncology nutrition, she is multi-passionate in nutrition and her expertise goes beyond cancer and involves helping others with the management of chronic diseases such as: heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and autoimmune diseases.

I love the story of today's guest.  Many of us tend to weave through different experiences in life before we find our path.  Alison is no different.  In school, she initially studied business and was a college athlete. As an athlete, she was aware that nutrition was important for fueling long practices and game days for optimal physical performance, but she wasn't thinking about nutrition in terms of disease prevention and longevity.  By the time she finished her business degree, her interests had started to change.

Her husband encouraged her to switch to nutrition, but she felt like it was too late to switch. I can attest to that feeling!  But take it from both of us, it's never too late. She took one nutrition course and that was it her last year of college and realized she had found her path.  She went back to school to pursue a second bachelors' degree in dietetics.  Her interests also changed from dietetics to oncology nutrition as cancer started claiming the lives of her family members.

Outside of the cancer center, she focuses on Wholesome LLC to provide individual counseling, classes and seminars to promote a wholesome diet.

While Alison is an expert in using nutrition to treat chronic diseases, we went in a different direction - hormones. She was featured in Neal Barnard's book, Your Body in Balance.  Things like fertility issues, PCOS, menopause, and having your kids eat plant-based has come up in a lot of questions from my listeners and friends.  Alison has a lot of experience here too.  She was unable to get pregnant...that is, until she changed her diet to a whole-foods, plant-based diet.

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• Alison's Fertility Journey (6:00)
• Whole Foods Plan-Based Diets and Hormone Regulation (9:00)
• What about eating low fat organic dairy?
• Eating beans and how to get your gut used to them (20:00)
• phytoestrogens in soy
• top cancer-fighting foods (28:00)
• her role as an oncology dietitian
• how to change your diet: add before you subtract
• foods to ease menopause symptoms
• how to help kids change their diet

Listen Now

 

Resources

• Check out Wholesome LLC
• Daily Dozen app (Dr. Greger)
• Sofritas Taco Recipe
• Wholesome LLC Facebook
• Wholesome LLC Youtube
• Wholesome LLC Instagram

Books Mentioned

• Your Body in Balance by Neal Barnard, MD
• How Not to Diet by Michael Greger, MD
• Fiber Fueled by Will Bulsiewicz, MD

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Jen Hudak is an American freeski athlete specializing in halfpipe skiing. She is a 2-time world champion, 5-time X-Games medalist and 4-time national champion.   In 2010, she won nearly every competition there was: X-Games, US Open, World Ski Invitational, Dew Tour, and US Nationals, to name a few. But one contest eluded her: The Olympics. She had a vision that halfpipe skiing would be an Olympic sport and served as a proud advocate for the sport over her 13-year professional ski career. With the help of Jen's efforts, halfpipe skiing made its Olympic debut during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.  But as she pursued her quest to add "Olympian" to her highly successful list of career achievements, the unthinkable happened.  Horrific injuries and in addition, one of her competitors dying.  She had to rethink her goals.  To make matters even harder and more devastating, her father passed away, losing in a 5 year battle with a rare form of leukemia.

The world had turned upside down on Jen.  Losing her father whom she had a close relationship with, dealing with the harsh reality of being a retired professional athlete, and feeling like she had lost her purpose was incredibly hard.

What happened next? She dusted herself off and started making new choices, one after another.  Here's a quote I like from her website: "My life is a constant work in progress. I still struggle with balancing masculine and feminine energy, overcommitment & burnout, fully accepting myself & all my shortcomings, learning to love my body as it is (not based on physical performance or aesthetic), saying "no" with love & grace, and engaging with conflict from a place of deep compassion & curiosity."

Jen hasn't stopped there.  She is a new mom to baby Hudson, is the co-host of the podcast, Balanced Pursuits and Co-Founder of the teardrop trailer company, Escapod Trailers.

 

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• Jen's husband changing his last name to Hudak
• Her first dream
• why skiing?
• insecurity & self-worth
• Olympic dream
• how goal setting has changed for Jen
• getting confidence back despite injuries
• how to use visualization
• being a mom and entrepreneur- new identities

 

Listen Now

 

Resources

• Follow Jen Hudak on Instagram
• Visit Jen at JenHudak.com

2 Ways to Give Back to the Show

 

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Dr. Michael Greger is on a mission to give people information on how to live their healthiest lives.  The obesity pandemic in North America and globally is quickly escalating and Dr. Greger hs the most comprehensive book on evidence-based weight loss, the psychology behind our interpretation of how many calories are in food, and the danger of quick fixes like weight loss surgeries and diet pills.  He also has the healthiest and easiest foods to add to your diet to help burn more fat.

"It turns out a calorie is not just a calorie. 100 calories of chickpeas is a different impact on the body than chicken or chicklets, based in part on different effects on their impact of absorption, appetite or microbiomes.  Different foods can rev up your appetite for example. It's not just what you eat, it's what you absorb.  Fiber, for example, in whole intact plant foods can trap calories, flush them out the other end. And even if you do eat and absorb the same number of calories. A calorie still may not be a calorie. The same number calories eaten at a different time of day, in a different meal distribution, or after different amounts of sleep can translate into different amounts of body fat." -Dr. Micheal Greger

"Obesity is one of today’s most blatantly visible – yet most neglected – public health problems. Paradoxically coexisting with undernutrition, an escalating global epidemic of overweight and obesity – “globesity” – is taking over many parts of the world. If immediate action is not taken, millions will suffer from an array of serious health disorders."  -WHO

But here's the thing, weight loss is really hard for most people.  The food industry makes sure that their high calorie, low nutrient foods are highly addictive.  Many Americans are nutritionally bankrupt.  And weight loss?  People will do anything, including surgery and reaching for diet pills that actually are not effective or safe.  Enter the book How Not to Diet by Dr. Michael Greger.

You may have heard my previous episode with Dr. Greger about his book How Not to Die and of his incredible organization, NutritionFacts.org.  If you aren't familiar with Dr. Greger, the man has more energy than anyone I've ever seen. Between the hundreds of the latest nutrition research videos on NutritionFacts.org, writing a book every 2-3 years, and spending most of his time on the road speaking about nutrition, he is a busy guy.   He is a medical doctor, a New York Times Best-Selling Author, and internationally acclaimed speaker.  NutritionFacts.org is a public service to give people the information they need to lead the healthiest, disease-free lives possible through evidence-based nutrition.

He also recently released the book How Survive a Pandemic and has been releasing videos about COVID-19 that have been helpful and interesting on NutritionFacts.org.

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• why everything in moderation doesn't work
• the psychology and marketing in our food choices
• our interpretation of how many calories are in food
• a calorie is not a calorie
• chronobiology
• do fat genes actually exist
• fasting for athletes? when to eat
• how to have permanent weight loss
• best weight loss tweaks:
  • vinegar
  • negative calorie preloading
  • timing of when to eat
  • black cumin seeds, cumin, other spices

Listen Now

 

Resources

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co. 

Once per month, I'm checking in with you to talk about my journey as a new athlete mom. I'll talk about time management, how getting back to and maintaining a training schedule is going post-partum, the mental and emotional pieces too.  I'll tell you what it's really like and hopefully give you some nuggets you can apply to your own lives as well.

This podcast is supported by Wahoo Fitness who have been a great partner during my journey as a pregnant athlete and new mom!

I wanted to bring my husband, Matt Ewonus in on this episode as I will on some of the future Athlete Motherhood series because Parenthood is really what it's about! Truthfully, we were trying to record this episode for weeks, but every time after Bradley went to bed, we wanted to just chill out!  So I'm excited that we got this episode in the queue. It was fun to sit down and recap what we've been up to as parents the last 3 months.

Here's my MorningBrew Newsletter Referral Link (you don't get money, but you get swag!)

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• how we have approached sleep, schedule, and rhythm for our baby
• a bit about my breastfeeding approach
• My birth story
• a day in the life- what our weekday schedule looks like
• loss of flexibility with time management
• changing priorities
• what it's been like to have less time to train and work
• how I plan my day with a baby
• Happiness Vs. Contentment CrushitMonday
• Focusing on the joy instead of the challenges
• Dad Bod can mean a fit bod!

Listen Now

 

 

Resources

• Check out my blog posts on riding while pregnant
• Here is my Vegan Athlete Pregnancy Guide
• Books: The Baby Whisperer by Tracy Hogg and Bringing up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman
• Sleep course: TakingCaraBabies
• Book: Disease-Proof Your Child by Joel Furhman, M.D. (and check out our podcast episode too)

2 Ways to Give Back to the Show

 

Thank You!

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.