The Spiritual Road to Athletic Supremacy

Musician, author & health philosopher king Sid Garza-Hillman joins the podcast to chat about all things PlantPower, including his new book, Approaching the Natural: A Health Manifesto*. More than just another book about plant-based nutrition, “Approaching the Natural” is a passionate and insightful primer on how we can achieve a more grounded, holistic, happy & gratifying existence — physically, mentally & spiritually — by connecting better with ourselves and the natural environment that surrounds us all. Sid is a breath of fresh air and it was a pleasure to have him on the show. Hope you enjoy the episode. SHOW NOTES + MORE Thanks for listening and enjoy the Program! Rich

20 Feb 20132h

According to Brian MacKenzie, most endurance & ultra-endurance athletes are doing it all wrong. The controversial founder of CrossFit Endurance stopped by the garage to illuminate me further on his perspective — one that slays the sacred aerobic cow in favor of championing focused high intensity anaerobic work coupled with technique and functional body strength. Truth or Fiction? Somewhere in between? Thanks for listening and enjoy. Rich

18 Feb 20132h 8min

Yes, this is a health & fitness podcast. But physical health is only one component of holistic wellness. If your life feels amiss, your unfocused mind wanders or your spirit is adrift, then are you truly healthy in a complete sense? Of course not. So after several very nutrition and athlete focused episodes, it feels right to swing the pendulum from the physical back to the more ephemeral and return Julie Piatt to the co-host seat so we can roll up our sleeves and delve into matters less — well, let's say “tactile” — and examine what's behind the blocks preventing us from actualizing those latent dreams deferred that reside within all too many of us. It all starts and ends with creativity. And creativity my friends, isn't just for “artists” — because we are all artists, our lives and passions the expression of that art. To wit: * What is impairing your ability to realize the best version of yourself? * What is a shadow artist and how can it be overcome? * Tools for tackling self-doubt, fear patterns & obstacles to unlock & unleash your latent creativity as a channel for manifesting positive life change. * And oh yeah, my feelings about Valentine's Day….. Julie takes us out with “I'm Here Now”, from her album Mother of Mine. Thanks for the support and enjoy the show! Rich

13 Feb 20131h 50min

Buckle up! Back by popular demand, the controversial and outspoken Vinnie Tortorich — “America's Angriest Trainer” and my favorite guy to ride a bike with — returns to the podcast as my first repeat guest so we can throw down and get to the bottom — for the very first time — of what constitues the most ideal diet. Is it “low carb” (Vinnie)? Or “plant-based” (Rich)? Maybe something in between or alternatively something else entirely? There can only be one winner in this argument, right? Tune in to find out. And we'll let you be the judge. Whether or not you end up with some greater conviction or just more confused, only you can say. At a minimum, and wherever you come down on the debate, you will feel moved by Vinnie's frankness about his past & continuing battle with leukemia. At one point in the interview, Vinnie makes the very controversial statement that there is no correlation between dietary fat and cardiovascular disease. Just so we are clear, I do not share this view. Give me an opportunity to dig into the research a bit more thoroughly and I will return to the blog and/or podcast with my supported findings. NOTE: Despite my admonishments after his last tour on the show about keeping it all family friendly, Vinnie couldn't help himself and went off script with a few explicit lapses of the tongue. Nothing crazy, but just a heads up if you're blasting it at work or happen to be unusually squeamish. Apologies, but give him a break — he is, after all, America's Angriest Trainer and has a reputation to maintain. Thanks for the support and enjoy the show! SHOW NOTES Wikipedia: Saturated Fat & Cardiovascular Disease Controversy The Angriest Trainer Podcast VinnieTortorich.com Vinnie on Twitter @VinnieTortorich Vinnie on Facebook Ben Greenfield's “Become Superhuman” Conference, March 8-9. 2013 Spokane, WA – use the code “RICHROLL” to get 50% off the $297 registration price. Click HERE to learn more, see the list of speakers and sign up.

9 Feb 20131h 52min

UFC / MMA / BAMF James “Lightning” Wilks joins the podcast to talk PlantPower nutrition, what it's like to grapple in the UFC, his experience winning Season 9 of “The Ultimate Fighter”, his thoughts on “low carb” and Paleo-style diets, updates on the development of his documentary on plant-based athletes and how he fuels for performance. Not only is James quite intelligent & extremely articulate, his knowledge and passion when it comes to plant-based nutrition is palpable. I hope you enjoy the interview. Also, thanks Ed Gutentag– cinematographer extraordinaire — David Kitay and team for dropping by the garage to film today's episode. At the moment, this is a rather low fi version of the HD film. Given that it is a video in excess of 90 minutes it was the only way to get it up without a 48 hour upload time. However, I'm a luddite when it comes to properly configuring HD video for YouTube, so I'll try to get this figured out and swap it out for a better resolution version. Apologies for a few audio tweaks in the video – a humming noise for a few minutes in the middle — this is our first attempt at video and we'll get better as we go. And if you have a moment, we'd love it if you could toss a quick review up on the iTunes page. It's most appreciated! Thanks for the support and hope you enjoy the show! SHOW NOTES “Is Distilled Fish Oil Toxin Free?” — NutritionFacts.org eCornell Online Professional Development Program: Certificate in Plant Based Nutrition James Wilks Wikipedia James Wilks Website PlantAthlete.com Website PlantAthlete on Facebook

7 Feb 20131h 44min

Raw vegan runner extraordinaire Tim VanOrden joins the show to discuss his journey with food, how he re-discovered a passion for running that led him to 9 U.S. Masters Trail Championship victories, his holistic approach to life and how he makes it all work on a 100% entirely raw plant-based diet. Along the way, we talk specifics about: * aerobic zone training * finding the joy in racing & training * the perils of becoming pigeonholed by labels * the importance of microbial health * what it's like to race up the Empire State Building * his thoughts on supplementation, and * the ever-present protein question I thought I knew a lot, but Tim enlightened me on more than a few issues and it was a pleasure interviewing him. NOTE: apologies for the poor audio quality of the Skype interview. There is a persistent static hum that I could not eliminate and the levels are — well, let's just say — a wee bit off. I am still new at all this and obviously still have a few things to learn. Production quality is important to me, so I am truly sorry for the issue. Hopefully Tim's passion and sagaciousness will overshadow the annoyance, and all I can say is that I promise to do better next time. And if you have a moment, we'd love it if you could toss a quick review up on the iTunes page.It's most appreciated! Thanks for the support and hope you enjoy the show! SHOW NOTES * NY Times Sunday Magazine: How to Make an Ironman Whimper (and Cough): * Running Raw Blog: runningraw.com/blog * Running Raw on Facebook: facebook.com/runningraw * Tim on Facebook: facebook.com/tim.vanorden * Tim on YouTube: youtube.com/user/runningraw

5 Feb 20132h 23min

The wildly inspiring Byron Davis joins the program to share his story and tools to Live Your Epic Life. A gifted, highly dynamic, charismatic & articulate conversationalist, his story of humble beginnings, Olympic dreams and service to help other's unleash their inner potential is certain to strip you bare of excuses and motivated to set a new and committed course towards self-discovery and personal transformation. Open your ears, heart and mind and let Byron help lead you there. And if you have a moment, we'd love it if you could toss a quick review up on the iTunes page. It's most appreciated! Thanks for the support and hope you enjoy the show! SHOW NOTES * Byron Davis' “Live Your Epic Life” Website * Byron Davis' “Unleash the Unstoppable You” Website * Annett Davis' “Get Fit With Annett” Website * Byron on Twitter @ByronDavis7 * Byron Davis' Bid to Become the first African American Swimmer to make the US Olympic Team – 1996 100 Fly Olympic Trials Final

1 Feb 20132h 9min

The beautiful & always delightful Julieanna Hever — aka “The Plant-Based Dietitian” — joins Julie Piatt and I on today's podcast to drop knowledge on all things nutrition and wellness. Together we hit on a wide variety of health-related subjects, including: *The joys & challenges of raising plantpowered kids; *The perils of school lunch programs; *GMO's and Prop 37; *Government involvement in nutrition education; *Combating entrenched & often outdated opinions on optimal nutrition; *Her recent television debut on the Veria Living network: “What Would Julieanna Do?” *What's the deal with Paleo? *Why most doctors and nutritionists / dietitians don't fully understand plant-based eating; *Tips for getting started the plantpower way; *Superfoods; *The deal with oils; *The pros & cons of blending & juicing; *Flu shots & vaccinating kids; And if you have a moment, we'd love it if you could toss a quick review up on the iTunes page. It's most appreciated! Thanks for the support and hope you enjoy the show! SHOW NOTES * Coca-Cola's new Anti-Obesity Campaign * The Onion: “We Raise All Our Beef Humanely…” * Julieanna's Website, The Plant-Based Dietitian * Julieanna's new television show, “What Would Julieanna Do?” * Julieanna on Twitter * Julieanna on Facebook

1 Feb 20131h 59min