I received some really great questions for you all yesterday in my question box and wanted to answer a few of them on the podcast today! We'll be covering night shift work tips and tricks for sleep and nutrition, how many sets is optimal for training, travel tips when it comes to training and nutrition, and more!

Time Stamps:

(0:05) Q&A Style Episode

(1:47) Overview of Questions I’ll Be Covering

(2:52) Night Shift Work

(5:20) Sleep Cues and Routines

(13:51) How Many Exercise Sets Are Needed?

(16:06) Why Research Loves 4 Sets and Why It’s Problematic

(25:43) Travel Tips

(31:40) Travel and Nutrition

(38:44) Please Share and Review

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Where You Can Find Me: @joellesamantha

Nutrition & Fitness Coaching: @leveltencoaching

Fitness Coaching Software: @fitcoachpro

I'm so excited for today's guest and I've wanted to cover this specific topic for awhile! Patricia Ladis is a dear friend and pelvic floor physical therapist out of NYC. Those who have been following me for awhile, when I was pregnant with Sloane, I was seeing Patricia regularly for many reasons but primary to activate my core and using my pelvic floor in the right way. Today, we discuss pelvic floor health for every stage of a woman's pregnancy stage, prerequisites to great pelvic floor health, and more!

Time Stamps:

(0:11) My Guest Today Patricia

(5:18) Diaphragm, Breath Work, and Prerequisites to Pelvic Floor

(13:30) Balance of the Pelvic Floor

(16:00) Practically Explaining the Process

(27:00) Key Considerations at Pre-Pregnancy

(33:40) Pregnancy Considerations

(37:09) Postpartum Considerations

(53:32) Where to Find Patricia

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Follow Patricia on Instagram

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Where You Can Find Me: @joellesamantha

Nutrition & Fitness Coaching: @leveltencoaching

Fitness Coaching Software: @fitcoachpro

You've probably heard the "spoken" golden rule of 10,000 steps a day but how true is it and does the research back it up? More importantly, what is right for YOU? In today's episode , I want to dive into the importance of walking for our health, whether we should be shooting for 10,000 a steps a day, steps for fat loss specifically, and more!

Time Stamps:

(0:10) The Science of Hitting a Step Goal

(1:45) Do 10,000 Steps Really Matter?

(4:00) Why Walk More?

(8:05) The 10,000 Step “Rule”

(10:25) Looking At the Research

(22:22) Steps for Fat Loss

(26:18) What I Want You to Focus On

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Where You Can Find Me: @joellesamantha

Nutrition & Fitness Coaching: @leveltencoaching

Fitness Coaching Software: @fitcoachpro

One of my dear and close friends (no pun intended) Stephanie Cowan recently launched a podcast and I was honored to be one of her first guests! We had such an amazing wide ranging conversation that I wanted to share it on my platform as well. We discuss everything from our stories, putting your health first, my first photoshoot with Stephanie, and so much more!

Time Stamps:

(1:15) How We Met

(3:05) Nailing the Essentials

(6:10) Mental Health Education and Services

(8:28) Joelle’s Mental Health Journey

(13:40) Gym is Not Therapy, Therapy is Therapy

(19:10) Defining Stress

(22:30) Joelle’s PCOS Journey and Gaining Back Her Fertility

(30:50) Our First Photoshoot Together

(37:08) Baby Sloane

(43:30) Stephanie's Binge Eating Disorder

(49:00) Adding Over Subtracting

(52:15) Recommendations For Showing Up For Yourself Physically

(55:35) Meet Yourself Where You’re At

(58:45) Comparing Yourself to Your Past Self

(1:00:48) This Week’s Homework

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Follow Stephanie on Instagram

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Where You Can Find Me: @joellesamantha

Nutrition & Fitness Coaching: @leveltencoaching

Fitness Coaching Software: @fitcoachpro

I have been keeping a rather large secret/ have a very big announcement for you if you haven't been on Instagram the past few days. Hint: this is a very timely conversation! I am joined by my great friend Kassie Reil who is a certified nurse midwife out of Scottsdale, Arizona. We discuss the role of a midwife, why you would choose a midwife over an OBGYN, home births vs hospital births, and more!

Time Stamps:

(1:06) Can Finally Tell You I’m 8 Months Pregnant!

(3:48) What is a Midwife?

(6:14) Why Look for a Midwife Over an OBGYN?

(14:45) Being More Present During Delivery

(19:56) Questions to Ask to Find the Right Midwife

(29:18) Home Birth vs Hospital Birth

(42:00) Defining a Doula

(53:20) Ultrasounds 

(1:02:38) Final Notes

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Follow Kassie on Instagram

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Where You Can Find Me: @joellesamantha

Nutrition & Fitness Coaching: @leveltencoaching

Fitness Coaching Software: @fitcoachpro

You've probably heard the phrase "eat less, move more" at noisome when it comes to weight loss but how true is it? How do hormones and metabolism affect calories in, calories out? The honest answer: both matter. Nuance matters especially when it comes to the topic of energy balance and hormones so I want to take you through my thoughts on the great debate and the nuance and factors that exist with this topic.

Time Stamps:

(0:18) Congested Mess Thanks to Sloane

(1:26) Calories vs Hormones

(4:00) Neither Camp is Entirely Right or Wrong

(6:55) Breaking Down Energy Balance

(10:21) Factors That Influence Energy Out

(15:45) Why Calorie Calculators Aren’t Reliable

(19:45) Break a Leg

(22:55) Energy Absorbed

(29:27) Suddenly Gaining Weight Out of Nowhere

(40:11) Lifestyle Changes

(42:13) Increasing NEAT

(43:53) Improve Food Quality

(49:15) You Are Not Broken

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Where You Can Find Me: @joellesamantha

Nutrition & Fitness Coaching: @leveltencoaching

Fitness Coaching Software: @fitcoachpro

As I was creating a swipe/carousel post for Instagram on this topic, there was way too much I wanted to try and include and wanted to do a deep dive on this potential controversial topic on weight loss drugs. We've seen the rise in popularity of these drugs and injections and I am concerned with how it is being prescribed especially to our younger population. I'll share some statistics, studies, my thoughts, and more on this topic and please let me know what you think!

Time Stamps:

(0:28) Inspired By an Instagram Post I Worked On Today

(2:27) Weight Loss Drugs/Injections

(4:00) Caveats/My Concerns

(6:23) Mechanisms of These Weight Loss Drugs

(8:14) Common Side Effects

(13:50) Problems with Overprescribing

(22:13) Opening Up the Conversation

(23:50) No Exit Plan

(27:47) Side Effect of Muscle Loss

(45:00) Muscle Loss and Cardiovascular Events

(49:20) My Stance is One of Concern

(52:14) Please Send Me a DM

(54:00) Please Share and Rate!

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Studies Mentioned in This Episode:

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36721154/
• https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2032183
• https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00125-019-05065-8

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Where You Can Find Me: @joellesamantha

Nutrition & Fitness Coaching: @leveltencoaching

Fitness Coaching Software: @fitcoachpro

A potentially controversial topic but one I think we can see both sides of the issue. I was originally just going to discuss PMS symptoms and ways to relieve symptoms but I came across an article that was related so I wanted to include it as well. Thoughts on paid menstrual leave? Spain recently adopted a 3 day a month menstrual leave policy all the way to 5 days if the symptoms are severe. You'll hear my take on this plus everything PMS relief!

Time Stamps:

(0:12) Potentially Controversial Topic

(1:20) Paid Menstrual Leave in Other Countries

(4:47) Taking Advantage of the Policy?

(9:56) Severe PMS Symptoms Are Not Normal

(10:23) PMS and Supplement Relief 

(17:00) Turmeric and Black Pepper

(17:35) Omega 3’s

(21:10) Stress Management

(23:50) Fiber Intake

(27:06) Please Share, Rate, and Review

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Where You Can Find Me: @joellesamantha

Nutrition & Fitness Coaching: @leveltencoaching

Fitness Coaching Software: @fitcoachpro

I've been so excited for this interview with Alessandra and Josh Scutnik, AKA my business partners with our software company Fit Coach Pro. How we met is a very interesting story you won't want to miss and we wanted to talk about going against the grain and not viewing each other's companies as "competition", the genesis of Fit Coach Pro, and something we're really excited to share that only my podcast listeners will hear first!

Time Stamps:

(0:50) Alessandra and Josh

(4:05) How We Work Together While Being “Competitors”

(10:30) The Genesis of Fit Coach Pro

(14:37) We Want the Best Coaches Using This

(19:00) The Importance of Quality Mentorship

(31:21) Final Words

(31:49) Where to Find Alessandra and Josh

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Follow Alessandra on Instagram

Follow Josh on Instagram

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Where You Can Find Me: @joellesamantha

Nutrition & Fitness Coaching: @leveltencoaching

Fitness Coaching Software: @fitcoachpro

As many of my podcast episodes are, this one was prompted by a Q&A I did recently around the topic of what I want my daughter to know about nutrition. While this is a loaded question, I want to give my honest thoughts about how I will be communicating exercise, food, sleep, and other health topics to her. My hope is her generation can live in a world that, frankly, is different from the one we are living in now while I do think we are starting to make some strides in the right direction.

Time Stamps:

(0:28) The Things I Want My Daughter to Know About Nutrition

(2:56) Modeling Desired Behavior

(9:00) The Morality of Food

(11:25) All Foods Do Something For Us

(19:39) Additive vs Restrictive

(21:02) Exercise is not Punishment and Eating is Not a Reward

(26:35) The Clean Plate Club and “Finishing Your Vegetables”

(29:47) Sorry Mom and Dad

(30:35) Recapping

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Where You Can Find Me: @joellesamantha

Nutrition & Fitness Coaching: @leveltencoaching

Fitness Coaching Software: @fitcoachpro