On this episode of the Sonya Looney Show, Ethan Kross, one of the world’s leading experts on controlling the conscious mind, best-selling author and a professor in the University of Michigan’s Psychology Department and Ross School of Business, talks self-talk and his book, Chatter . Kross studies how the conversations people have with themselves impact their health, performance, decisions and relationships. In 2008, he founded the Emotion & Self Control Laboratory at the University of Michig...
Jul 10, 2021•59 min
No one picked me to become a professional mountain biker or to start a podcast. No one picked me to become a speaker where I've been on stages for entrepreneurs, tech gurus, and other athletes. No one picked me to write for dozens of publications over the years. Seth Godin, an author, marketer, speaker, and businessman said, "No one is going to pick you. Pick yourself." I recently was listening to the NoMeatAthlete Radio where founder, author, and ultrarunner Matt Frazier was talking about makin...
Jul 02, 2021•24 min
Eliot Jackson is a former Motocross rider and World Cup Downhill bike racer and is now a presenter for Red Bull TV and an entrepreneur. He is a published author in multiple national and international magazines. He is also the Chairman of the Grow Cycling Foundation, created shortly after the 2020 George Floyd protests. With the knowledge that the cycling world is not immune from a culture of exclusivity and racism, the foundation was created to deliver new avenues for inclusive community buildin...
Jun 25, 2021•1 hr 3 min
Can you be plant-based and an elite athlete? Matt Frazier says absolutely yes. Matt, a vegan ultra marathoner, author, and entrepreneur is a plant-based diet advocate, but he also knows it’s not for everyone. Founder of No Meat Athlete, Matt is all about providing the tools for thriving on a plant-based diet and how athletes can be at their very best with this type of nutrition. Matt is known for his No Meat Athlete Radio podcast and his books, which have sold over 125,000 copies in five languag...
Jun 18, 2021•1 hr
Are you trying to create a good habit or break a bad one? That’s Dr. Jud Brewer’s speciality. Dr. Jud (MD, PhD) has over 20 years of experience with mindfulness training and a career in scientific research. His interest in how the brain works has led him to work with people to make deep, permanent change in their lives. He has developed mindfulness programs for habit change, including in-person and app-based treatments for smoking, emotional eating, and anxiety. Earlier this year, Dr. Jud releas...
Jun 11, 2021•55 min
We all have ideas of what we want our life to look like. It could be something like weight loss, improving speed on the bike or running, or even cooking more at home. When you set those goals, how do you go about doing it? You may have heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals. Specific Measurable Action-Oriented Realistic Timebound Answering the where, when, and how as specific as possible (and making sure the goal is just outside your reach rather than a pipedream) is a great place to start. Where do you go f...
Jun 04, 2021•15 min
Do you ever feel like you are losing focus and can’t find the energy to do what needs to be done? Charles Clay is a published author, dynamic speaker, men’s empowerment coach, breathwork facilitator, and more! He joined me to talk about his Laser Focus Method and ways to best utilize your energy. Founder of M Powered Men’s Group Training and Mastermind, Charles helps men and women understand and heal aches, pains and injuries in order to experience more joy, love and creativity. He helps people ...
May 28, 2021•57 min
Wondering how to feed your toddler or baby a plant-based diet or if it's even safe? What about how you communicate around the relationship we have with food? Well, the Plant-Based Juniors crew is here to help. Enter Whitney English and Alex Caspero, Registered Dietitian, Certified Personal Trainers, and Moms who founded Plant-Based Juniors (PBJ). Together, they created a community and incredible resource for families who want to raise their kids with a mostly plant-based diet. Relying on evidenc...
May 21, 2021•1 hr 5 min
Podcasting is About Loving the Process You can't control the outcome of the podcast. It's well within my grasp to become the best interviewer I can be, do ample research on my guest and their work, put out high-quality content, and do my best to make sure people know about my podcast. I can't control the popularity of my podcast (I wish I could. I would love to be one of the very well-known podcasters). I also keep in mind that no matter how many downloads I get, it'll never be enough. This show...
May 14, 2021•20 min
In North America, you probably see female mountain bikers and think nothing of it. But what if you were in Iran where a woman's virtue is at stake if she is seen riding a bike? Or in Nepal where it's been forbidden by family (and customary for women to live with their family until they get married)? What if you had to be the first woman in your community to mountain bike like a woman I spoke to in Guatemala? There is a lot we can take for granted in our lives without even realizing the hurdles s...
May 07, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Robert Cheeke is 220 pounds of pure muscle. As a vegan bodybuilder, author of x books, and motivational speaker, he has impacted many lives. He went vegan in 1995 when he was 120lbs and has built a physique naturally that shows his dedication to health, hard work, and consistency. And those themes not only show up in his athletic life, but in all aspects of his life. Robert is the author of 4 books, with his most recent book, The Plant-Based Athlete available for pre-sale now ! It comes out in J...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr 16 min
Dean Karnazes, aka the UltraMarathonMan , is an extraordinary human. If you have ever followed ultrarunning, no doubt you've heard of some of his adventures. He's been named one of the "Top 100 Most Influential People in the World" by Time Magazine, He has taken on many unthinkable feats like running 50 marathons, in all 50 US states, in 50 consecutive days finishing with the NYC Marathon where...get this... he ran a sub 3-hour marathon for his 50th marathon in a row. He has run 350 continuous m...
Apr 22, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Empowering female athletes and creating media around female heroes is the first step to bringing more women into sport. Sara Gross is a two-time Ironman Champion, founder of Live Feisty, and has her PhD in Women's History. Her advocacy for women's sports drove her to create Live Feisty . Live Feisty's mission is to create media, information, and support for female athletes. It's a media company that has a network of podcasts, articles, events, and more to help women move toward their potential. ...
Apr 15, 2021•54 min
Kyle Warner is an incredible mountain biker, down-to-earth, and an amazing mountain bike coach on his YouTube Channel with his girlfriend, April Zastrow. You might know of Kyle Warner from his incredible race results as a professional enduro racer or because of all the mountain bike tips you've learned from his Youtube Channel. What you may not know is that Kyle's background and rise into the sport of mountain biking is far from traditional. He grew up helping care for his mother while she battl...
Apr 08, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Mindset for athletes is one of the secret weapons that separate good from great performers. Most people don’t realize that you can actually train your mind like you can train your body. Mindset for athletes is a growing field of relevance and importance, and my personal passion. In this podcast, I’m actually on the other side of the mic with Molly Hurford, host of The Consummate Athlete podcast asking me all the questions. We talked about many of the topics in my Moxy & Grit Mindset Academy ...
Apr 02, 2021•49 min
What does it take to overcome personal limits? Former Professional Triathlete and Entrepreneur, Izzy Fischer knows all about it. From bumping up against limiting beliefs as a young swimmer to overcoming an eating disorder, Izzy has figured how to thrive. Who is Izzy Fischer? Izzy Fischer the co-founder and formulator of Plant Bites – a plant-based no added sugar workout fuel – perfect energy replacement for gels and gummies, and head of Enterprise Development for Complement, a business that deli...
Mar 25, 2021•56 min
An often overlooked part of endurance training is strength training for cyclists. Many of us just want to ride our bike, but we don't realize that strength training helps us prevent injury and actually ride stronger! Enter Derek Teel- founder of Dialed Health and podcast host of strength training for cyclists. Derek Teel believes in leading from the front. From racing as a Professional Mountain Biker in enduro races to building his online and in-person fitness company, Dialed Health - he is defi...
Mar 19, 2021•1 hr 7 min
A common topic of conversation is nutrition tips for endurance athletes. There are many different approaches, but understanding the basics of sports nutrition will help you make personalized decisions to find the right fit for you. Enter: Anne Guzman- sports nutritionist. Anne is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist with the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, specializing in Sports Nutrition as a Sports Nutrition Consultant. She believes that athletes often undermine their training by not fueli...
Mar 11, 2021•1 hr 9 min
The journey of being an athlete mother is an interesting one. From being a pregnant athlete to navigating life and training with a baby, there are so many personal insights to be gained! This podcast is segment 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 consistency i...
Mar 05, 2021•49 min
Kathryn Bertine is a retired professional female cyclist, an activist for equity in women's pro cycling, author, and documentary filmmaker. You might have heard of the film, Half the Road , which chronicles the inequality in women's cycling that also is a metaphor for life. With Half the Road, Kathryn noticed that the women's road races were often shorter than the men’s events, prize money was pitifully lower, and in some cases, non-existent, the female pros had no base salary nor any sort of un...
Feb 26, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Robyn Conley downs, author and podcast host of The Feel Good Effect believes wellness needs to be simplified into small shifts to create big changes in your mindset, behaviors and decision making. The Feel Good Effect takes Robyn's big ideas and makes them easy to execute with simple shifts. Her website, Real Food Whole Life is home to all things health and wellness and Robyn uses simple, science-backed strategies to help people cut through life’s clutter to uncover small shifts that create huge...
Feb 18, 2021•57 min
Nikki Brammeier is a cyclocross champion and had her first baby during lockdown in 2020. Nikki has stood on many World Cup Cyclocross podiums (12 to be exact), has been British National Champion across multiple disciplines of cycling, and has had great success in road racing as well. She is also a cycling coach and founder of her company, Mudiita Coaching . "My aim is to inspire, coach, and mentor the next generation of cyclists using my past experience, creating happy, healthy bike riders" -Nik...
Feb 12, 2021•1 hr
Molly Hurford is the co-host of The Consummate Athlete Podcast and her new book co-written with her husband: Becoming a Consummate Athlete . Molly Hurford has built her career with several aims in mind: Write constantly, race often, travel frequently and live on her own terms, mostly outside. Molly has been on this podcast a couple of times because she contributes so much to our community. She’s also the author of multiple books on cycling and nutrition including a book about Saddle Sores that i...
Feb 05, 2021•55 min
Confidence - it can be hard to boost your confidence when you feel like you are lacking it. But research shows that increasing confidence is actually a trainable skill. A lack of confidence can show up in many different forms; being worried about what other people will think of you, fear of rejection when putting yourself out there, feeling like you don't have the skills, education, or training to for a task or role, or fear of it not going a certain way and what that could mean about you. It's ...
Jan 29, 2021•15 min
Pelvic health and training the pelvic floor for performance was something I thought only applied to pregnancy and post-partum women. So when I became pregnant, I went to see not one, but two pelvic floor physios to learn as much as I could about it. During pregnancy, it mostly about education, but once I had my baby it was time to do the work. I had some initial symptoms after having my baby- some that disappeared on their own and some that mandated professional help (that have since resolved). ...
Jan 22, 2021•1 hr 2 min
Self-talk for performance is like the secret weapon you didn't know you had. Your body only gets you so far, and a lot of the time it's your mind that gets you to the finish line. If you're challenging yourself, there's no doubt been moments of wanting to quit- or maybe you actually have quit a time or two. Self-talk in sports is a common thread, but working on your self-talk for anything in your life is key to optimism, resilience, and even equanimity. I like to say "the most powerful voice in ...
Jan 15, 2021•59 min
Metabolic health might be something you've never considered. Metabolic health is way more than just the number on the scale or your BMI. It's considering things like having ideal levels of blood sugar, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, blood pressure, waist circumference and more without the use of medications. These factors directly relate to a person’s risk for heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Your metabolic health also affects sleep, energy levels, recovery, appetite, and more. A study with...
Jan 08, 2021•1 hr
2020 was a crazy year for everyone. 2020 isn't only the year of COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and the biggest voter turnout in the USA- it was the year I had my first child. Even though this year had its challenges, there were a lot of positive things I pulled out of this year and having a baby really helped me along the way. I hope you enjoy! -------------- The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.
Dec 31, 2020•28 min
What are the real exercise guidelines during pregnancy and post-partum exercise guidelines? How do you safely exercise through your pregnancy? With the varied advice from medical doctors and midwives, it's important to get up to speed with the current pregnancy exercise research. Enter Catherine Cram, MS. Catherine is an exercise physiologist and the owner of Comprehensive Fitness Consulting , a company that provides pre- and postnatal fitness certifications and information to hospitals, health ...
Dec 18, 2020•1 hr
Plant-based baking is on the rise and a fun fact you may not know- sourdough is actually plant-based! It's also considered a fermented food. Enter today's guests- the owners of the first vegan bakery in the Sea to Sky Corridor in BC- Eds Bred. I'm always fascinated to learn about the different journeys people go on to work towards optimal health. And I also love to hear what they do next. Once you start changing small daily actions, these new habits start to form a new identity and with that ide...
Dec 11, 2020•58 min
