Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Tough Cookie Talks
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Tough Cookie Talks
By Jenna JozefowskiHealth & Fitness
Tough Cookie Talks episodes
- Maybe Cardio Isn't So Bad After All. . .Running Without Running Yourself Into the Ground with Liz Brinkmoeller
This week's episode is inspired by MANY conversations I've been having with clients lately. It seems that improving cardiovascular endurance is a common goal for a lot of us. And there are so many questions surrounding how to do that. Especially if you've previously had a complicated relationship with cardio. My friend Liz Brinkmoeller seemed like the perfect person to have this conversation.
After being a track athlete in high school, Liz went through college and had a traditional desk job for about 6 years. After finding her way back to fitness and running, she became certified in group fitness and personal training and switched careers to full time training. As a former runner with a complicated past with exercising and eating, her goal is to work through all the misinformation in the fitness and running world so all the clients she serves don't forget they live a life outside of body size and PRs.
On this episode we talk about:
- How lifting weights can benefit people who run AND how running can benefit those who primarily lift.
- How to balance hybrid training (AKA running and strength training) without overdoing it.
- The ways diet culture shows up in the running world.
- How to improve your relationship with running/cardio if you've previously used it as a compensatory behavior.
- The ways that cardio (like running) can be both a really good and healthy thing, and also a disordered and unhealthy thing depending on your approach.
- How to improve your capacity for running/cardiovascular fitness when you haven't done it in awhile (or ever).
- So many other great things!
Follow Liz on Instagram
Work with me
Get my free mini push-up program
Follow & tag me on Instagram
Join me in the UNdiet Online Community
53 min - Your Science Means Nothing Without Empathy (An Open Letter To the Instagram Gym Bros)
I get so tired of reading posts from Instagram gym bros who can tell you all about what the science says but have no concept of how that applies to the actual human beings they work with. Especially women. I've wanted to comment on their posts so many times, but I know they don't give AF. So I decided to record a podcast episode about it.
On this episode we talk about:
- Why listening to your client's lived experience is just as important (if not more so) than understanding what the science says.
- Why we need more evidence based training and less dogma and misinformation AND the understanding that not every client we work with is going to fall neatly into the box of what "studies show".
- How many of the people who preach "CaLoRiEs In CaLoRiEs OuT bEcAuSe SciEnce!" fail to account for are things like what that calorie deficit feels like to live out in real life.
- Why we, as fitness professionals need to start unpacking our own assumptions about people's bodies and stop contributing to weight stigma by celebrating fat loss like it's the greatest thing a person could ever achieve.
- Unrealistic beauty standards, body dysmorphia, and how losing weight often doesn't make you feel as great as you think it will.
- The patriarchal bullshit of it all.
Work with me!
Get my free mini push-up program
Follow & tag me on Instagram
Join me in the UNdiet Online Community
26 min - What Does Fitness Without Diet Culture Look Like for YOU? With Ashantis Jones
This week I am thrilled to be interviewing Ashantis Jones, who is not only a kick ass HAES aligned personal trainer, but my social media assistant! This interview was inspired by an old IG post that she suggested I re-share that blew up and sparked the question "What does fitness without diet culture look like for YOU?"
Ashantis Jones is a trained Master’s level Counselor, NASM Certified Personal Trainer, Group Fitness Instructor, and Coach that focuses on both the mind and body - both of which are equally important to one’s health. By using an intersectional approach, self-love becomes the tool that heals and educates.
On this episode we talk about:
- Ashantis' history with exercise, disordered eating, and diet culture and what drove them to start doing things differently.
- What it was it like for her to let go of diet culture while working in an industry that was full of it. (Including several big name fitness chains.)
- What fitness can look like when you're not doing it from a place of trying to shrink yourself from their perspective and mine.
- Some hot takes on the way that the anti-diet movement portrays fitness vs. what it actually is.
- The harsh reality of healing your relationship with your body/food/movement when you work in industries that sometimes require you to look a certain way to get hired.
- Why body positivity needs to dig deeper into things like anti-racism and fat liberation.
- How she's the best person to have in your corner if you need a trainer or coach, or are one yourself and want a virtual assistant who actually understands anti-diet culture.
- So many other great things!
Follow Ashantis on Instagram
Follow Ashantis on TikTok
Work with Ashantis
Work with me
Get my free mini push-up program
Follow & tag me on Instagram
Join me in the UNdiet Online Community
1 hr 10 min - When Your Family Ditches Diet Culture With You: A Candid & Delightful Convo With My Sister Kristi
This week we have a VERY special guest. My ever so delightful little sister Kristi! I'm really lucky to have her in my life and talking to us this week, because I am one of the few people who is able to share similar views about diet culture with a family member. And we commiserate and banter OFTEN. So often that I decided that one of our text conversations needed to become a podcast episode ASAP. It wasn't always this way though. As kids I was often jealous of her for being "the skinny one" and notoriously slapped her in the middle of Abercrombie & Fitch when she was upset that they sold out of her teeny tiny jeans size. Thankfully she has forgiven me and we are friends today.
On this episode we talk about:
- How my sister got on board with all the anti-diet culture stuff with and without my influence.
- Letting go of labels when it comes to food rules (and everything else).
- The next-level body image fuckery that shows up when you grow up as a dancer.
- Dealing with the obnoxious comments people make about your body when you're pregnant and/or postpartum.
- Why we both agree that your weight/body size is the least important thing about you.
- How diet culture shows up in the medical field for my sister as a nurse, and what she wishes more healthcare professionals understood.
- Our experience trying to raise kids who are intuitive eaters (AKA how do they NOT eat the chocolate donut or lollipop??)
- Dealing with people in our lives who DON'T get it.
- Lots of other super fun anecdotes about growing up in diet culture and finding our way out!
Work with me!
Get my free mini push-up program
Follow & tag me on Instagram
Join me in the UNdiet Online Community
55 min - Strength Training Is Boring AF (+ Why That's a Good Thing)
Good strength training is sometimes boring AF. Yes, even when you're "advanced". This might come as a surprise to you, but hopefully this episode will make you feel encouraged about where you're at right now. And also, gives you some validation if lifting doesn't always feel like the most fun workout to you. Basic movement patterns (squat, hinge, push, pull, carry, rotate, etc.) will pretty much never go away no matter how much experience you get. Good strength training can get boring sometimes. That's ok, and usually means you're doing it right.
On this episode we talk about:
- Why the basics work and what they are.
- What good strength & conditioning looks like when you're more experienced.
- Why the flashy moves some trainers post on social media are not usually how those people train on a regular basis.
- How to actually progress exercises when things are feeling too easy (spoiler alert--it's usually not balancing a medicine ball on your nose while doing handstand push-ups on a balance beam)
- Why it could be that if you want it to be, and how to know if that ridiculously complicated exercise makes sense for you.
- How to actually progress exercises when things are feeling too easy (spoiler alert--it's not balancing a medicine ball on your nose while doing handstand push-ups on a balance beam)
Work with me!
Get my free mini push-up program
Follow & tag me on Instagram
Join me in the UNdiet Online Community
12 min - Space, Season 2 & Shit Sandwiches
Welcome to Season 2 of Tough Cookie Talks! I am back from a bit of a hiatus and did I ever need it. Not gonna lie, I have a really hard time slowing down. And as much as I love being in your ear every week, I realized that I needed to take a minute to come up for air after 50 episodes and a very busy 2022.
On this episode we talk about:
- What I've been up to since the last episode.
- The magic of sending your child to daycare + the un-sexy parts of running your own business.
- My word of the year (space) as it applies to this podcast and life.
- What's to come in 2023!
Work with me!
Get my free mini push-up program
Follow & tag me on Instagram
Join me in the UNdiet Online Community
16 min - How We Show Up Outside the Gym Matters! Recovery For the Other 23 Hours of Your Day with Julie Shiller (Best of Season 1 Replay)
This week's episode with my friend Julie Shiller is one we all need to hear. Especially if you have a hard time slowing down. Or if you find yourself asking what you even need to "recover" from. I often hear her advice echoing in my head as I remind myself to slow down, take a walk to calm my nervous system, drink a glass of water, eat a nourishing meal, or put my ass to bed early. I especially think of her every time I put on my jorts--and if you follow her on IG or listen to this episode you'll know!
Coach Julie Shiller is the owner of The Other 23 Hours Coaching, a hybrid personal training and recovery coaching business based in Long Beach, California. As a social worker and ACSM certified personal trainer, Shiller brings a unique approach to the health and fitness industry. She has a decade of experience working with students in commercial, corporate, and private settings, and is a a Pain-Free Performance Kettlebell and Performance Specialist, Precision Nutrition Coach, and Sleep, Stress Management and Recovery Coach.
Before becoming a coach full-time, Shiller earned her BA in Sociology from the University of Hartford and her MSW from the University of Denver. Shiller comes from a family of educators and social justice advocates, and has always felt a deep connection to working with communities that have been historically underserved. She was inspired to become a personal trainer after she experienced first-hand the transformative impact that movement and intentional recovery strategies had on her professional and personal life. She wants to pass this amazing gift to others.
Shiller’s signature program, “The Other 23 Hours,” is a strength and conditioning program that emphasizes the importance of rest and recovery first. She is also the co-host of The Other 23 Hours Podcast with her wife, licensed clinical social worker, Kelsey Hopson-Shiller. As a native east coaster, Shiller takes pizza very seriously, and will not apologize for eating it, or call it a cheat meal. She also loves strong coffee, her pup Millie and cat Mustache. Shiller firmly believes that life can and should be enjoyed.
On this episode we talk about:
- What exactly "recovery" means in everyday terms, and why it's for you even if you're not dealing with illness or injury.
- Why we think there isn't more of a focus on this in the fitness industry, even though there should be.
- How NOT focusing on recovery got us both into trouble in the past.
- What to do when you think you're "too busy" for recovery.
- How to figure out whether or not to work out, and if yes, how hard.
- Why tracking certain data around your workouts can be helpful and how to do it without being obsessive.
- How to get a recovery practice going when you're just starting out.
- How a focus on recovery from your workouts & life can actually help you do MORE.
- All sorts of other good stuff!
Follow Julie on Instagram
Work With Julie
Follow Jessie on Instagram
Tough Love Strength Club: get on the waitlist!
Work with me
Follow & tag me on Instagram
57 min - Eating To Support Your Health: Everything You Were Afraid To Admit To Your Anti-Diet Friends with Kaitlin Brazil (Best of Season 1 Replay)
This episode with my friend Kaitlin Brazil started out as a conversation in the Instagram DM's, and quickly turned into "THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW". I've known Kaitlin for years, and she always has a beautiful way of bringing me back to seeing the humanity in people. Especially people on the internet who piss me off. Our DM convo started with a few of us going off about people who promote an all meat diet. And quickly evolved into Kaitlin sharing a bit about her personal health journey. Let's just say by the end of the conversation, I had so much more empathy for people who are navigating this sort of thing, and helped me to release some of the anger that I'd been holding on to since my last horrah with diet culture (paleo) in 2016. Please note: this episode is a candid conversation around our own lived experiences and is not meant to be a substitute for medical advice.
On this episode we talk about:
- Who Kaitlin is, and how and why she no longer works in the online fitness and anti-diet space.
- How to push back against diet culture while navigating a chronic illness.
- Why common advice around intuitive eating doesn't always work for everyone.
- How trauma affects the way you eat.
- How hard it can be when you're not getting answers from conventional medicine and what draws people to try things that seem really out there.
- The very real fear of judgement when it comes to exploring alternative health options when many people see those sorts of things as "diet culture".
- Why we need to stop making assumptions about people based on one aspect of their life or personality.
- How to walk the fine line of caring for your health without getting sucked into quackery and dogmatic approaches.
- The problem with applying health advice that wasn't meant for you.
- Why some people get drawn to extreme styles of eating.
- The fact that if I was dealing with a chronic illness and didn't get answers, I could see myself being convinced to eat nothing but shit sandwiches if people told me it would heal me.
- So many other good things!
Follow Kaitlin on Instagram
Work with me
Follow & tag me on Instagram
1 hr 22 min - Fitspo, Freak Shows & Storytelling with Dr. Kate Browne (Best of Season 1 Replay)
This is probably the most interesting podcast episode & conversation I've recorded to date. I originally met Kate through Body Positive Fitness Alliance, and I remember being impressed not only by her speaking skills, but also how well researched she was when it came to talking about all things related to diet culture. I was sold on her story once I listened to her TED Talk about the connections between fitspo and the freak show. Yes. The freak show as in the side shows that you'd often find at the circus back in the day.
Kate Browne teaches people and organizations how to tell stories that change the world for good. She is a professor of digital rhetoric and gender studies and the author of the first academic book on The Golden Girls. Kate's writing on storytelling as a wellness habit has appeared in Runner's World, Refinery29, and SELF magazine.
On this episode we talk about:
- Kate's personal story of learning to love fitness as an adult.
- The strange connection between fitspo (aka fitspiration/diet culture-y garbage fitness messaging) and the freak show.
- How the stories we're told about fat people vs. thin people shape the way we see others and ourselves.
- The story that before and after photos tell, and why that story sucks.
- How to start to change that narrative and tell better stories.
CW: mention of weight/numbers.
Listen To Kate's Ted Talk
Follow Kate on TikTok
Follow Kate on Instagram
Work with me
Follow & tag me on Instagram
1 hr 8 min - Everything You Think You Know About Pain & Injuries Is Wrong. The Tea On PT With Dr. Melissa Cioffi (Best of Season 1 Replay)
Today's episode is a guest interview with my good friend and physical therapist, Dr. Melissa Cioffi! Truthfully, people like Dr. Mel, as I call her, are half the reason I decided to start a podcast. I wanted to share the expertise of providers like her who do things that are not in my own scope of practice as a personal trainer, but still very much relate to what we do in the gym. Dr. Mel is the person I call whenever my clients ask me questions about pain and injuries that I can't answer and she's helped me learn a LOT over the years. Today I'm excited to share her knowledge with you!
Dr. Melissa Cioffi is a physical therapist and owner of New Quest Physical Therapy. As a pelvic floor PT, Melissa is passionate about helping women discover the power they hold within their bodies that they never realized existed. Using a mix of movement and no-nonsense education, she helps women learn how to finally use their body instead of being afraid of it.
On this episode we talk about:
- Some common red flags to look out for when it comes to finding a provider to help you deal with an injury or pain.
- The truth about your weight and joint health.
- Why you went to physical therapy in the past but it didn't help you get better.
- The surprising reason why so many physical therapists are going out of network with your health insurance and how to figure out if it's worth hiring them anyway.
- Why we hate fear mongering and disempowering language from medical providers and how it might actually be keeping you in pain.
- The truth about manual therapy modalities like ice, heat, stim, and massage.
- How diet culture keeps us from truly understanding our bodies.
And lots of other fuckery that happens in the world of physical therapy!
Follow Dr. Mel on Instagram
Learn how to work with Dr. Mel
Work with me
Follow & tag me on Instagram
1 hr 9 min
About Tough Cookie Talks
From the publisher's feed
Tough Cookie Talks is a podcast we'll explore the intersection of fitness & anti-diet culture and all the gray areas in between. We'll let go of "shoulds" and judgment and dig into tough…
conversations with curiosity.