How easy is it to gain muscle? How difficult is it to lose body fat? And is it even possible to do both at the same time? I personally believe it IS possible. But the scale might not be your friend during this time. And this week on the podcast, I go into great detail as to how and why I wish we could all smash our bathroom scales. Yep, on this episode, we're discussing how I consistently added 8 lbs. onto my frame during my bikini competitor years (and still won my shows!) Plus we're delving into ideal calorie ranges and requirements based on your goals and how to determine what your "maintenance" calories are and when to consume a caloric surplus vs. a deficit. So get your pencils out, vegan fit fam and tune in!

A must-listen episode for any fitness competitor or aspiring physique competitor. Thanks to years of bikini competing, I know I'm guilty of comparing my fluffier, well-fed, off-season body to my lean & svelte (though hungry & depleted) stage body. And almost all of us (competitor or not) has yearned to resemble the younger version of ourselves or the skinniest once again, right? Unfortunately, metabolism does slow down over time and my vegan coaching packages do NOT include a time machine. But through resistance training, we CAN build muscle mass and literally slow down the aging process! So this week on the podcast, we're covering all kinds of juicy bodybuilding topics. We discuss how weight training can help reverse aging and how fitness competing and "prep life" can really mess with your head. PLUS what a realistic, healthy and attainable body fat percentage is (both on and off season,) why "fat" does not define you, the dangers of having too LOW of body fat and why I've always been an advocate for weekly, planned "cheat meals."

When do you feel sexiest? And how often do you even acknowledge what makes you a hot, sexy, beeyatch? Sadly, 90% of women look in the mirror and don’t AT ALL like or appreciate what they see. Sure, we ALL have things we’d like to change about ourselves. But I strongly believe that it’s important for ALL of us to find a way to connect with and appreciate our own unique, beautiful bodies for what they're capable of. So this week on the podcast, we’re talking about “channeling our inner goddess (or god)” and how to balance (and differentiate between) our feminine and masculine energies aka the yin vs. the yang. We’re also discussing (at great length) my dry brushing skincare routine and the many health benefits to doing it.

Let's face it, we ALL procrastinate on something at some point in our lives. And some of us are serial procrastinators when it comes to pretty much EVERYTHING. The good news is that once we can get over that slacker hump and force ourselves to actually start the task at hand, the rest is usually easy. Awesome! But how do we force ourselves to get started? And what tools and tricks can we implement to avoid "farting around" and actually get shit done? We're covering all of it on the podcast this week!

Did you know that most of us produce a whopping 3 lbs. of garbage every single day!? Sure, we vegans try our best to recycle and compost as much as possible. But sadly, most of our waste gets broken down into small, microscopic pieces (or chemicals) that don't fully degrade and instead, end up in our oceans. This week on the podcast, we're diving into (no pun intended) what exactly it takes to live a "no waste" lifestyle and do our part to protect our ecosystems and our own health. We're also discussing how we Shorkeys measure up with our own "green living" initiatives and challenge each other (and our listeners) to a one week attempt at producing no garbage whatsoever.

Why do we always listen to sad music when we're depressed? And what is the best music for lifting weights? Cardio? Cooking or studying? Today we're talking all about it with Emily Tohana, a raw vegan who is also the founder and facilitator of Music Care Ottawa where she helps dementia patients via music memory association! Music plays a huge role in most of our lives and we can all use it as a form of therapy so let us dive right into it on this episode (and sing many, many annoying songs at the same time.)

Today we're talking all about sweat, stank and pubic hair (or lack there of.) Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? Well we all sweat and we should want to sweat!

It gets rid of toxins, improves our skin and helps to kill any viruses or bacteria that we might be carrying around. But as good as sweating is for us, none of us WANT to be sweaty and we definitely don't want to stank. So today we're talking all things schweaty!!! And sharing wayyyy too much info about our pubic hair grooming methods.

I always say I'm a “mindful meathead” because I’m so much more about inner peace rather than outer perfection. So despite being a pro bikini competitor, I’m actually strongly against having any kind of body goals. I say this because all of us are so bad for always seeing ourselves as a constant self-improvement project. So we set such high standards for ourselves wanting these “body goals” to push us forward because we don’t think we’re good enough the way that we are. Then we hang onto these “body goals” thinking that ONCE we achieve them, THEN we’ll be happy and confident. But this is a horrible way to think and feel and the worst way to try to reach your health and fitness goals. So today on the podcast, we're delving into the vast topic of goal setting and more specifically, the dangers of having "body goals."

Release the Chocolate Hostage! Oh yes, today we're talking all about POOPING (and optimal digestive health.) We've delving real deep (probably too deep) into what exactly a healthy poop looks like, how often we should be riding the porcelain bus and how menstruation effects our bowel movements. It's definitely a juicy, (hot & steamy) hilarious episode you don't want to miss.

We're covering all kinds of cool, hippie shizz on this week's "energy" podcast. From our very own spiritual practices and whether healing crystals actually work to the best, all-natural ways you can boost your own physical and mental energy levels. PLUS we review the amazing, new Netflix vegan fave Okja and talk about our fascination with "cat mouth."