Grow the Good

How well do you know your body?  Dr. Jen Esquer (DocJenFit) believes in empowering people to heal themselves through movement and body awareness.  As a Physical Therapist with a sports focus, she has the equation to our aches and pains: mobility.  Mobility or being able to use our body through its full ranges of motion is often the most overlooked element.  Mobility is what makes up the foundation behind stretching, strength work, and yoga and every way we bend and use our body.  I recently started putting more emphasis on mobility when I realized that all of my recurring aches and pains were related to an inability to move properly.  I also couldn't understand why I could never do a proper handstand despite doing yoga for over a decade.  I learned that I actually can't put my arms over my head properly.  Wake up call: all the yoga in the world won't fix your mobility issues.  I learned mobility the key to shoulder and knee pain.  When I found DocJenFit on Instagram, I was amazed and inspired by her videos.  She makes it easy to understand and even more important- easy to execute in our daily lives.

Dr. Jen left the standard PT clinic and started her own business with both a private practice and an online platform called The Mobility Method and The Optimal Body.  In this episode, we talk about Dr. Jen's journey, rethinking how to help people heal their own bodies, understanding your personal areas of pain, the mistake most people make with their breathing, and how to cultivate more self-compassion and self-love.

I follow DocJenFit very closely and I think after hearing this episode, you will to!

• How Dr. Jen chose the path of physical therapy
• How to take a leap to leave your job and start your own business
• Understanding the areas of pain in your body through self-assessment
• Why mobility is the key to unlocking performance
• How to use the breath to lessen our sensation with pain
• Emotional pain can manifest as physical pain
• Key steps to having more self-compassion and self-love

• Jen Esquer's website: DocJenFit
• Follow Doc Jen Fit:  Instagram: DocJenFit
• The Mobility Method

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

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

What really motivates us and where does motivation come from?  Motivation can wear many faces.  Sometimes we are motivated by external factors - a race result, a promotion, a leaderboard, money, or a number on a scale.  Other times, we are motivated because we simply love doing something.  Going deep into why we choose to do certain things and how to stick with our habits is a fascinating topic.  I personally think it's important to have awareness around our self-talk and understanding how to motivate others in a positive, proactive way.  I was really excited to have the chance to speak with Dr. Heather Patrick.   She earned her Ph.D. in Social Psychology.  She has contributed to health psychology in many ways including her role as the health scientist and program director at the National Cancer Institute for 5 years and the associate director of the SmokeFree.gov Initiative.  Currently, she works at Carrot to help create programs and technology around stopping smoking.  She is passionate about health coaching and is a runner herself.

Dr. Patrick has more than 50 peer-reviewed publications and nearly 15 years of experience using scientific theories of human motivation to develop, implement, and evaluate behavioral interventions in tobacco cessation, nutrition, weight management, physical activity, and stress management.

• What is Self Determination Theory (SDT)
• 3 building blocks of SDT
• The one thing to focus on when it comes to goal setting
• How to harness intrinsic motivation over extrinsic motivation
• Motivating others as a parent and in the work place to do their best
• Why using external rewards isn't most effective
• The best way to pull yourself out of a self-destructive spiral
• How SDT is used to help people quit smoking (or change habits)
• Relationship between SDT and willpower, laziness, procrastination

• Self-Determination Theory Website
• Bettercast Podcast
• Dr. Heather Patrick's Twitter
• Book by her colleague, Dr. Deci: Why We Do What We Do

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on soci

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

What if I told you that there is an entire segment of training that maybe you've never considered?  When I first moved to Kelowna, I was introduced to Dr. Andrew Sellars.  Dr. Sellars is an anesthesiologist as well as a sports physiology expert.  He also is co-founder of Balance Point Racing.  When I did my first physiology assessment with Balance Point, I realized that everything I thought I knew about training and had learned from some of the top sports institutions in the US was very limited.  The crazy thing that a lot of the assessments are still done using a very old method of measuring all of your physical systems.  Balance Point taught me that there are many more factors at play.  For example, instead of wondering my wattage was low when I tired, I learned exactly what it was about my body that made me unable to generate higher power - things like how much oxygen was in my muscle, if my heart itself was tired, or if my respiratory system was tired.   There's a lot of incredibly important and useful knowledge in this episode if you're interested in taking your training up a notch!

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• Andrew's background and how he became a doctor
• What Andrew learned through mentorship with Juerg Feldmann
• What is a Balance Point Assessment?
• Why the respiratory system is an integral part of fitness
• how to train your respiratory system

• Balance Point Racing
• Spiro Tiger

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on social media

Apple Podcasts

Stitcher

Google Play

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Thanks for listening!

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

A lot of people are surprised when they find out I have Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering.  Sometimes I even forget because I finished my Master's 11 years ago.  Time flies!  I'm excited to share this story and speech with you.  It's so hard to know what we want to do in university or even when we get out of university.  I was fortunate enough to find mountain biking halfway through my undergrad.  I was in the engineering program at UNM and even rode for UNM Collegiate Cycling Team!  This was a speech I gave a couple weeks ago at the Western Michigan University to their engineering school.  It's about my path through my Master's Degree and how mountain biking began to shift my perception of what I was capable of. It's about feeling dissatisfied with a traditional path I was following because I really wasn't passionate about it.   This talk is about how I created my own path.  The thing that was interesting about this talk is that I go into detail about the life lessons that being an engineer taught me, and how that helps me as both a mountain biker and as an entrepreneur.

• The experience of being in engineering school
• Almost failing out of my first semester of grad school
• how to learn how to have self-compassion when you don't meet expectations
• Changing my mindset
• the major pivot points in my life
• how I created my own path
• the top 6 ways engineering helped me be grittier as a mountain biker

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on social media

Apple Podcasts

Stitcher

Google Play

Spotify

Thanks for listening!

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

Steph Gaudreau's mission in life is to help build unbreakable humans.  Her calling is to help women build stronger bodies and minds is what drives all of her work.  From her incredibly powerful instagram posts of over 200k followers to her best selling books, she creates meaningful content to help people change for the better.

Steph is well-versed in creating changes in life.  She walked away from a secure 12 year teaching career to pursue food blogging in the Paleo world.  The diet helped her get off sugar and processed foods and she started eating healthier. She also transitioned from an 8 year span as an endurance athlete to squatting and lifting heavy weight in the gym.  After building an impressive empire, thousands of recipes, and an identity in the Paleo world, she shifted once again.

What is Steph up to now?  She recently decided that diet doesn't need to be limited to a label, and is finding a new definition of nutrition as a holistic nutrition coach.  She has a book coming out next year that covers her four pillars: Eat nourishing foods, Strengthen your body Recharge your energy, and Get your mindset right .  We barely scratched the surface of Steph's wheelhouse.  As a business person and brand, I am inspired by the work she does.

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• Importance of transparency and vulnerability online
• Why body type can make fitting into a sport feel hard
• How to focus on being healthy, not smaller
• Changing habits is about adding in healthier foods, not restriction
• How Steph grew comfortable and shifted her identity and business
• Steph's Four Key Pillars for Health

• Harder to Kill Radio: Steph's podcast
• StephGaudreau.com
• Steph's Instagram

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

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

Is your mind on overdrive? Are you exhausted?  Is it hard to leave your email alone on nights and weekend?  Don't worry, you're not alone.  Office workers report a burnout rate of 40 percent  in the United States and Canada.  Physicians are closer to 50%.  Burnout is not only attributed to the workplace; "keeping up with the joneses" and trying to be a "balanced" human who works more than full time, exercises regularly, eats healthy, sleeps 8 hours a night, has a family, and makes time for friends can seem overwhelming.  In a society that champions the hustle and reveres people who seem to be doing it all, it's hard to feel a sense of ease when we aren't doing something productive.  I was excited to dig into this conversation with burnout expert, previous podcast guest, and author Brad Stulberg because burnout is a regular part of the conversation amongst my peers and family.  We wanted to get to the bottom of why we feel pressure to push ourselves so hard, how to actually define rest, why obsessive passion can be detrimental, and how to live more easeful lives.

Brad is the co-author of one of my favorite books, Peak Performance. which is specifically about avoiding burnout and elevating your game.  Listen on our last episode and definitely get this book. I've read it a couple times!  If you're not already familiar with Brad's writing on human performance in his regular column in Outside Magazine, or in publications like the New York Times, Thrive, Sports Illustrated, and more, you're missing out.   He is my favorite person to follow on Twitter because he always has insightful and actionable information.

My favorite takeaway from today's episode was to define rest as the act of doing an activity without needing to progress.

• how to tell if you're burnt out
• why being an excitement junkie can kill you
• difference between excitement and happiness
•  how do you define true rest
• how to implement 3 key habits to foster happiness and human connection
• harmonious vs obsessive passion
• what to do if you constantly are seeking external validation

• Brad Stulberg's Website
• The Art of Living
• Previous podcast with Brad and Steve on their book Peak Performance
• Website: Peak Performance
• Episode on Self Compassion with Dr. Kristin Neff
• Brad's recent article on Outside about being Good over Great

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free sho

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

Meagan Duhamel is the perfect blend of power, poise, flexibility, and grace on the ice.  As a figure skater since the age of 3, her entire life has been dedicated to being a hard working and multi-faceted athlete.  With parter Eric Radford, she is a 2x Olympian.  She won a gold medal this year in the team event and a bronze in the pairs event.  In 2014, they won a silver medal in the team event.  She and Eric are also 2x World Champions amd Meagan has been the Canadian National Champion 7x.  And that's just the tip of the iceberg of her impressive accolades.  I first met Meagan just 2 weeks ago on an athlete panel at the Toronto VegFest.  I loved her inspiring attitude and stories about how changing her diet 10 years ago changed the trajectory of her career.  This is a fascinating podcast episode going into the mental and emotional aspect of figure skating, discussion about how Meagan's best performances coincided in the highest pressure environments, and also about her plant-based diet and the food they feed athletes at the Olympics (like there's a 24 hour McDonald's!).

• Body acceptance and growing up as a figure skater
• How Meagan handles the pressure of performance
• Pair skating vs individual skating
• Mental toughness and being able to move on from mistakes
• How Meagan views competition
• Why Meagan decided to change her diet
• Eating plant-based at the Olympics
• Meagan's nutrition tips for athletes
• What retirement from competition looks like

• Meagan's Instagram
• Meagan Duhamel's website: Lutzofgreens.com

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on social media

Apple Podcasts

Stitcher

Google Play

Spotify

Thanks for listening!

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

I was stoked when the Toronto VegFest invited me to speak at their even this year.  It's the biggest VegFest with over 40,000 people over 3 days, tons of inspiring people, and great vendors. I made some new friends!  In addition to my keynote, I sat on an athlete panel with some very cool people like John Lewis, Meagan Duhamel (on the show next week), and Ann-Marie Campbell.  

My talk is about my story making changes in my career, moving to Canada, making changes to my diet and how you can make positive changes in your life too. I also have a section on plant-based performance as an athlete, followed by how to be inclusive. I hope you enjoy it! 

Want to join our free facebook group - Plant Powered Tribe?

Also, I have a Plant Powered Tribe Instagram where I post funny memes and daily photos. 

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

Imagine having a career with massive success.  In just 4 years of racing, you become a 4x USA National champion sporting the stars and bars cycling kit everywhere you go. You are a force on a bike and even perform at the highest level across multiple disciplines of cycling.  Meet Rose Grant.  In 2012, she start racing in the Pro field.  After a pregnancy test, she had to put racing on a short pause to have her daughter, Layla.  But pregnancy or having an infant didn't stop Rose from chasing her goals.  Balancing a family and pushing her limits on the bike, Rose Grant's remarkable ascent in the sport had just begun.  Winning her first Marathon Nationals in 2014 was the beginning of a rein of power in the endurance scene.  She won Nationals each year consecutively, and signed on with a team that offered her great support.

But as it happens, the trip on Cloud Nine came crashing down as she had a crash that snapped her ACL and tore her MCL.  Rose was relegated to her couch and slowly trained back to form on an indoor trainer.  Her comeback was impressive, winning races as soon as she was back on dirt.  After an incredible year of racing, reality struck again. This time, a crash dislocated her shoulder. Patient, tenacious and hard-working, Rose continued to win huge races in a shoulder brace.  She took winter to rehab her shoulder and in 2018, raced the Pan Am Games early in the season.  Unfortunately, her shoulder wasn't ready and she had another devastating crash, breaking her fibula and putting her out for the beginning of the season she has worked so hard for.  To make matters more emotional, Rose was faced with a decision: continue trying to race with a bad shoulder, or sit out the rest of her season and have shoulder surgery.  She chose the latter.

This is a powerful episode about the darkness of injury as an athlete, how to overcome setbacks in your life, how Rose manages being an athlete mom and racing at the highest level, and so much more.

• Rose's background growing up
• Her approach to being a pregnant athlete
• How she got back to racing after having a baby
• Rose Grant's ascent to becoming National Champion
• Rose Grant's team: Stan's Pivot Presented by Maxxis
• The injuries Rose has overcome in the last couple of years
• How to emotionally cope with huge disappointments

• Rose Grant's Instagram
• Rose Grant's website
• Recore Fitness for post-partum and pregnant moms

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the sho

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

Dr. Joel Kahn is a mover and shaker. He is known as “America’s Healthy Heart Doc”, a title given to him by Reader’s Digest Magazine  He is a holistic cardiologist with his own clinic based in Detroit (Kahn Center for Cardiac Longevity) which he founded because hospitals do not have a high enough standard for taking care of patients.   A lot of hospitals have notably unhealthy food, and food is one of the most powerful medicines we put in our bodies. He has treated thousands of heart attack patients with diet and lifestyle.  He has also written 5 books and over 100 research papers. He also opened 2 restaurants "Green Space Cafe"  and 1 food truck that all serve healthy, whole foods plant-based meals. I actually ate at the food truck he owns in Austin on my last trip there and only after eating there did I discover he was the founder!  He regularly speaks on shows like The Doctors and Dr. Oz and is often pitted against Keto and Paleo experts.

Dr. Kahn is inspiring with his how he applies his energy to help people find optimal health across his multiple businesses.  He is also very active on his instagram account.

• how he changed his diet by accident as a teenager
• what is credible information
• does fasting work?
• tips for changing your diet to plant-based
• resources for getting started on a whole foods, plant-based diet
• why keto is bad for you

• Dr. Joel Kahn's Instagram
• Dr Kahn's Website

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on social media

Apple Podcasts

Stitcher

Google Play

Spotify

Thanks for listening!

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