Today on the podcast, I’m answering your awesome questions! Talking about date nights, where Jackson sleeps, my favorite bikinis, makeup I’m loving, colonics, dealing with negative self image, and everything else in between!

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Big thank you to this week’s sponsor!

Siete is a healthy Mexican-American food brand that makes grain free and paleo-friendly tortillas and tortilla chips, and they are a brand I talk about weekly because I love them so much. Siete has three different kinds of grain-free tortilla chips including sea salt, lime and nacho and the chips are made simply with simple ingredients like cassava flour, avocado oil, coconut flour, ground chia seed, sea salt, and citric acid. And their bags are puffed to perfection so even the last chip you have at the bottom of the bag is still a full chip, instead of a crumbled mess like most chips. And their tortillas are just as delicious. They offer almond flour tortillas, cassava & chia tortillas, and my favorite – cassava and coconut tortillas. And right now, Siete would like to offer PaleOMG Uncensored listeners 10% off at sietefoods.com if they use the promo code PALEOMG. Just go to sietefoods.com and use promo code PALEOMG for 10% off right now!

Support the podcast by clicking the Subscribe button on iTunes and please a review only if you love the podcast! There is enough negativity in this world, don’t spread more. I love hearing about what YOU want me to talk about so feel free to leave on comment here or on social media with topics you’d like me to cover! And don’t forget, some posts have affiliate links which I may be compensated from. This compensation helps with keeping this blog and up and running! Thank you so much for your support, you guys are amazing!

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Episode 80 Transcription!

This week’s podcast is brought to you by Siete. Siete is a healthy Mexican-American food brand that makes grain free and paleo friendly tortillas and tortilla chips. They are a brand I talk about every week, because they’re constantly in my freezer, fridge, and pantry. I’m always making tacos, tostadas, nachos, or I’m just eating the chips. You know what I’ve done? I’ve even put peanut butter and jelly on their tortillas. I love them.

And I just made a new recipe for the blog. My pork belly tacos with their coconut cassava tortillas. They are my favorite, and I have them weekly for taco Tuesday for family dinner in our house.

Anywho. If you don’t know about Siete, it was created by the Garza family, which is made up of 7. Siete. Get it? When Veronica, one of the kids, who I actually interviewed on a podcast back in episode 60 when she was diagnosed with multiple autoimmune conditions, she began cooking with new ingredients, and the family all came together to support her new diet and lifestyle. And the more they loved and enjoyed her creations, the more they knew they needed to share it with the world. And that’s how Siete brand came to be.

Siete has different kinds of grain free tortilla chips, including sea salt, lime, and nacho. And the chips are made from cassava flour, avocado oil, coconut flour, ground chia seed, sea salt, citric acid, and lime oil. And their bags are puffed to perfection. Even the last chip at the bottom of the bag is still a full chip. It’s so freaking awesome. It’s so annoying when you open most tortilla chip bags and all of it is just a crumbled mess. What am I supposed to put that in? You think I’m going to dip with that, you bastards? {laughs} That sounded like the Office. I’ve been watching too much of the Office.

Anyway. Their products are the best, because they’re made from the best people. They’re a brand I’m lucky to call my friends. I know many of the people on the team. I’ve visited their office. They’re just the best. Follow them on Instagram in their Instagram stories, because they’re hilarious, and they make food so much more fun.

And right now, Siete would like to offer PaleOMG Uncensored listeners 10% off at SieteFoods.com if you use the promocode PaleOMG. That means you can take back taco Tuesday and celebrate, all for 10% off. Just go to SieteFoods.com and use the promo code PaleOMG, and you’ll get 10% off. And don’t forget to follow them on Instagram, because they will brighten your day, and they will inspire your next meal. Again, Siete Foods, promo code PaleOMG.

This is Juli Bauer from PaleOMG and you are listening to PaleOMG Uncensored.

1. Listener Questions: Food [9:07]
2. Listener Questions: Fitness [37:20]
3. Listener Questions: Business [49:53]
4. Listener Questions: Beauty [56:03]
5. Listener Questions: Travel [1:04:28]
6. Listener Questions: Random [1:10:25]

Juli Bauer: Hello. Welcome to another episode of PaleOMG Uncensored. As I talk to you, I’m watching a paused episode of the Office. I like to rewatch the Office every couple of months. Because it’s one of those shows that I’ve seen so many times that I don’t actually have to watch what’s happening. I just know. So then I can actually really listen, and just get the jokes. So I can be doing the dishes, I can be cooking. I can be doing whatever, and the Office is just always right there, making me laugh. I love the Office. Why is it so good?

My dad doesn’t get it. Both my parents, I think, don’t understand it. I heard my dad recently say that he just never understood it, and didn’t think it was funny. And I wanted to kick him in the shin. In the shin! Because that is disgraceful. If you don’t understand the Office humor, then you just don’t have humor. It’s racist, it’s sexist, it’s biased. I don’t know. Any of the -ist you can think of. It’s getting all of them out there. The first season is so incredibly racist. But it’s racist against all people. So, it’s ok I guess. But, to each their own. If you don’t like it, you’re the worst.

Anyway. I’m gearing up for a busy weekend, because this weekend, this Sunday is my Denver meet up. I’ve never done a meet up before. I don’t even know how it’s going to go down. I feel very uncomfortable talking in front of people. But I’m really good at faking it. So, we’ll see how it goes. But I’m very pumped for it.

And it is my 30th birthday in 9 days. And in 7 days, I will be in the Caribbean. So, I will obviously be celebrating my 30th birthday in the Caribbean. I’m sailing away with the company Trade Winds. Making my husband go. He doesn’t get to take much time off of work, and I’m forcing him to go. And we’re going on a boat that is sailing the island of Guadeloupe. And who knows where else we’ll go. But we fly into Guadeloupe, which is a Caribbean island. And then sail away for 7 days. It’s the best.

I did this once before. I had a whole podcast about it, and a whole blog post about it. Because it was the best trip of my life. And hopefully this can top that. Because now I have my husband with me. And we just celebrated our 2-year wedding anniversary this week. So now we’re going to be celebrating my 30th birthday, and our wedding anniversary. Because I wanted to take a trip for our wedding anniversary every year; but it also falls on my birthday. So, joke’s on him. So we get to celebrate two things.

We just watched; we had a DVD made of our wedding. It was included in our package. And we didn’t do any sort of upgrades with our package. It was kind of the cheapest of all of them. And we really didn’t care about the photos. We didn’t care about the video. That just wasn’t important to us, really. We’re not huge photo or video people. We don’t care.

But we got this little sh*tty DVD. But the thing is, we don’t have a DVD player or a computer that has a disk player in it. So the other day, I went and bought a DVD player, and he didn’t get home until 8 p.m., because he has all this stuff going on. And I had the DVD player ready to go, and he walks in with a DVD player that he had borrowed from work. {laughs} So, I’m obviously returning the DVD player. Because who watches DVD’s anymore? Not me.

But we watched our wedding video; and it’s so terrible. But it’s great. And you’re smiling the whole time. But it’s the worst quality. And the guy who married us, we couldn’t hear what he was saying. They made us do the weirdest sh*t during our wedding ceremony. After we signed the marriage certificate, he made my husband hold it in his hand, and then I had to take it from him. And then we had to kiss on the lips without kissing. This is all on video. We were like, what the f*ck is going on?

And before anybody ate, they made us cut the cake and put cake in each other’s mouth. And I was like; are we still doing this? And I say that on camera. Because I’m like; what is going on? Stop making us do sh*t we don’t want to do!

Anyway. It was fun watching that video. Except; isn’t it so funny what happens at weddings. How you bring your significant other; your friends bring their significant other, and then they end up not ending up with that person. There are a couple of people at our wedding who are now their ex’s. And we want these people to see our wedding video, but we also don’t want the bad memory of the ex’s. So that’s kind of a sad piece of our wedding. This one f*cking guy. Pissed he’s in my f*cking video. Get out of here, you f*cking joke. You know who you are. I hate him.

But anyway. That’s what’s been going on. Because now, this week is coming up. I have sh*t to get done. I have to get all my blog posts done ahead of time, so my assistant can post everything for me just in case I can’t get to Wi-Fi. But then posts are going up at the same time they always do. You’ll have new recipes, and new blog posts, and new outfits, and all that jazz. Even when I’m not at my computer. So I can’t wait. So things are busy, and I’m just trying to get all the done.

1. Listener Questions: Food [9:07]

Anyway. That’s not what we’re here for. We’re here for listener questions. Dun-dun-nuh-nuh! You guys asked; I’m here to answer. I asked on Instagram if you had any fun questions, and there were over 100 on there when I last checked and wrote all these down. So thank you guys for sending in those questions. I’m literally always scared nobody is going to ask a question. Especially now with the Instagram algorithm that they don’t show you a lot of posts; most of my posts. I feel like nobody is going to see anything. Nobody is going to ask any questions. And then I’m just going to look like a dumb stupid head. But, thanks for making me not feel that way!

So, we’re going to start with food. But before I get started, let me get a drink of water, ok? Gotta stay hydrated, man. Ok, so let’s start with a food question. Questions. I always start with the food, because I feel like people have the most questions when it comes to food. First up, I have Amanda. “Currently obsessed with spicy margaritas. Recipe recommendations? Restaurant recommendations in Denver?”

So, number one. I love, love, dammit. Somebody is at my door. I love spicy margaritas. It’s my only drink that I like to drink when I go out. And I have a spicy, I believe, spicy blueberry margarita on my blog. And, let’s see; this person at my door is very distracting. I really love this spicy blueberry one, but I know I have more than that. Let’s see; jalapeno watermelon margarita on my blog. Go try that one. Done. Make it, it’s the best.

This is a huge bummer. When we were going to Lake Powell, before we left, I was like; I’m going to make a huge batch of the watermelon jalapeno margaritas. Like the mix, and we can just mix tequila with it later. And I made this huge batch. And we put it in the boat, because we were staying in hotels, so we were boating from Paige to Bullfrog Marina. And the bags blew up for wake surfing in the back. So these bags in the back of the boat fill up, and then they deflate depending on where you want your wake to come out of the back of the boat. So we put all our food back there, not even thinking about it.

And one day I’m sitting there, and I’m like; it smells like jalapenos. Like, I’m totally craving that margarita now. My husband is like; you are crazy. It does not smell like jalapeno. And then two minutes later, I opened the back, and the entire thing had exploded because the bags had filled up, pressurized the plastic container it was in, and obviously it went everywhere. So that was quite lovely.

Anyway. That was a stupid story for such a simple answer. Watermelon jalapeno margaritas on my blog. And restaurant recommendations for spicy margaritas. I don’t have a ton, but I’ve heard Adelitas is good. Haven’t tried it. And I really like Lola for margaritas.

Osteim. “What’s your personal opinion on paleo versus keto? Advantages, disadvantages, how to tell which one is right for you? I hear so much about keto these days, but the idea of eating a ton of fat scares the crap out of me.”

Keto is such a trigger word right now. It is so trendy. It’s so popular. And I think keto can be really awesome. Fat should not scare you. That’s something that’s been engrained in our minds for a long time. Luckily we’re getting out of that. Healthy fats are very important. So avocado, coconut oil, what else. Grass-fed butter, ghee. Healthy fats are good, and you should be eating healthy fats on a regular basis.

A lot of people love keto because you go super low carb, high fat, and you lose a ton of weight. And you can get amazing results from keto. From what I’ve heard. I’ve never done it myself. I’ve always been a higher fat diet since I switched to paleo years ago. But what I hear is as soon as you’re not keto, and you enter in some carbohydrates, you usually gain a lot of the weight back that you lost. So I don’t know if that’s totally true. I’ve never experienced this myself. You need to go to people who know more the scientific facts behind everything.

I think paleo is more of a long-term diet. So it’s more of a lifestyle. For me, I’ve been able to stick with paleo. I have gluten free food in there sometimes. I have some gluten free grains sometimes. But it’s pretty easy for me to stick paleo. But keto; I forget how many carbs you’re allowed to have. I think it can be challenging depending on your workout schedule. And your activity level. I just find paleo more of a long-term thing. And healthful, and easy long-term. Versus keto, where you just kind of have to track that a little bit more. If that makes sense.

So, you have to find which one is right for you. You can always try keto out; see how you feel. See what happens with it. Don’t be scared of fat. At the end of the day, don’t be scared of fat. Don’t be scared of adding fat into your diet. Even if you’re not keto, make sure you’re getting plenty of healthy fats. It’s a good thing.

Ok, Katie. “What suggestion would you give to someone who wants to go paleo? I’ve done Whole30 and felt amazing on it, and wanted to try paleo. Also, what do you do post workout?”

So, if you’ve done Whole30, that’s even just a more strict paleo, more than anything. So I think it’s pretty easy to go paleo if you’ve done Whole30. And any advice I have for people; you have to do what works best for you. For me; I took steps getting to paleo. It was a very step-by-step thing for me. I couldn’t just go cold turkey. That was very scary to me. So I took steps and started eliminating certain foods, and felt the difference. It made me want to stick to even a cleaner diet. So, I’d say if you’ve done Whole30, you’re good to try paleo.

And for what I do post workout. I don’t do anything post workout. I don’t do anything pre or post workout. I just usually eat a meal. Because, say I’ll workout in the morning before breakfast or in the afternoon, before lunch. Same thing with dinner. And I just don’t have anything pre or post.

Dangit, I think I just read the wrong name, because this is Austime. Sorry whoever’s question; I’m lost now. So this question. “I’ve been working on listening to my body when it comes to certain foods and how my body reacts to them. What tips do you have for really narrowing in on those foods to avoid? I find that when I wake up feeling bloated, yucky, but can’t figure out which food I ate that may have caused that reaction.”

That’s hard. Elimination diet is hard. I think it’s often, if you’re feeling crappy on a regular basis, most of us don’t have the same foods every day. So, for me, sorry if you guys hear Jackson burping or chewing on a bone in the background. Because he just burped so loud, but it wasn’t a fart so things are looking up.

So, the thing with diet and eliminating things, is we often eat the same things on a regular basis. And that’s kind of how it’s hard and it’s easy to start figuring out what those things are. So I think it’s good to look up inflammatory foods. Because some of those inflammatory foods could be causing that. Like, nuts and seeds can be inflammatory. If you’re doing grains, grains can be inflammatory. Gluten, obviously. So looking at the inflammatory foods, I always think about Diane Sanfilippo and her Practical Paleo book. She has a great information section about inflammatory foods in general. So you can look into that.

But, for me, I’ve been able to nail it down. Because say I eat eggs every morning, but then my lunch is different every day, and my dinner is different every day. But I’m still feeling kind of funky; what’s the common denominator there? I’m eating eggs every single day. Ok, it’s probably eggs. So I take eggs for a while, no longer bloated and I’m no long breaking out. So that’s how I’ve kind of been able to figure out eggs.

But I think taking out foods on a regular basis, if you’re feeling kind of funky. For me, I would eat sweet potatoes all the time, and would never put it together; why did I feel bloated? Finally I decided to not eat sweet potatoes for a while, just to exit it out. See if it was a problem food. And I stopped feeling bloated. And there it was. So it could be something that you’re like; this isn’t an inflammatory food. But it’s something you eat on a regular basis, then it’s worth kind of taking out.

But it’s definitely a trial and error. And it’s long term. Because you know what? We have allergies in the past, and these allergies come and go. And things that bothered us in the past don’t bother us any more, or vice versa. So just because you have maybe your diet nailed down in the future doesn’t mean it won’t change, as well. So trial and error constantly. That’s how life is, sadly. I hope that helps.

CE Gillespie. “What advice can you give about intuitively eating? I’ve come from counting macros, and I don’t want to do that anymore. But I feel like now I’m not eating enough most days. I don’t want to stress about food anymore. Counting or not counting. Any advice on how to do that?”

That’s really hard when you’ve come from a counting background. It’s hard to not worry when that’s what you’ve trained your mind to do all the time. You’ve trained yourself to (I didn’t yawn) obsess constantly about numbers, and constantly about counting. And now you’re telling yourself not to do that anymore. So it’s like, any behavior you have to teach yourself to not do that. And that’s going to be hard. And it’s going to be challenging for a little bit.

And at the end of the day, most of us; say who aren’t counting; most of us are eating too much one day, or eating too little, or eating just right. And I don’t ever count. And I know some days are over, some days are under. Whatever that number might be. And that’s ok. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

So I think you just have to teach yourself that you don’t need to be obsessed. It’s hard, but I think learning to listen to your body, and stopping when your satisfied when you’re eating and stopping yourself when you feel like you just want to eat for no reason and you’re just bored or whatever it is. But at the end of the day, you just have to teach yourself a new behavior, and that’s not obsessing. And that’s a hard one. But you can get there. It’s just listening to your body.

Alison “How did you come to the conclusion that your body needed more carbohydrates to drop body weight and fat? With so much conflicting out there, it’s hard to navigate what’s appropriate for you and your goals. All I’m hearing is high fat.”

So I didn’t come to the conclusion that my body needed more carbohydrates. I got to this moment where I was limiting my carbohydrates by a decent amount because I was trying to lose weight, because I was gaining weight from constant inflammation and constant beating up my body every day from competition days of CrossFit. And I got to this f*ck it moment, that I didn’t want to feel like sh*t anymore. So I stopped competing. I stopped over working out. I took more rest days. And I ate what my body was craving. And at that point, it was craving carbohydrates because I was doing high intensity CrossFit daily. And that way, once I started eating more carbohydrates, my body was able to balance itself out. And along with balancing my adrenal fatigue.

But, at the end of the day, everybody is so different. And just because someone says high fat is the way to go, doesn’t mean it’s the way to go for you. I try not to overdo it on carbohydrates. It’s not like I’m eating rice at every meal, or gluten free grains at every meal, or potatoes. I try to balance it out and have some carbohydrates when I feel like it, and less on other days.

But I didn’t figure that out. I just noticed that my body started losing weight as I ate more carbohydrates. But that also had to do with coming out of adrenal fatigue, and not putting my body through so much stress. There were a lot of other factors that played into weight loss. So you have to figure out what works for you. It’s hard. It’s annoying because it’s so easy to get one flat answer. But that’s not how it is. You’ve got to find what works for you. And maybe it’s high fat. Maybe it’s carbohydrates.

Whatever it may be, you have to find what works for you in your lifestyle. I wish I had a flat answer. But you’ll hear all sorts of answers out there, and at the end of the day, you are you. And someone can tell you so much, but you have to figure out what works best for you. It sucks when I can’t give you a better answer.

Ali. “I’m not caught up on your podcast, so maybe you’ve covered it already. Did you notice a big difference adding collagen to your diet? What changes did you notice, and how long did it take to start noticing?”

Yes, I’ve covered this a couple of times on the podcast before. I started using collagen; and I feel like it probably took 3 to 6 months. I can’t say exact dates, because I wasn’t really paying attention. But probably 3-6 months of adding it every single day to my coffee. Literally, every single day. I never missed a day. I take it with me on vacation. And my hair got way thicker. It started growing longer and faster. It was so much healthier. My nails started growing so much faster, which is super annoying for getting my nails done. Those are the two biggest things.

I take it also for skin, for long-term collagen and just rebuilding collagen in the skin. But more than anything, I just started noticing the difference in my hair and nails. Because I see my esthetician regularly. So if my skin looks better, I can’t just say it’s the collagen I’m taking. Because there are a lot of outside factors that play into it. But hair and nails; big time.

Shailyn. “What’s your favorite most used kitchen gadget? I love adding any new tools that are going to make cooking and meal prep easier.”

I think probably Instant Pot. It’s not my most used gadget, but for meal prep, I think that’s the easiest thing to add to your kitchen that makes cooking so much easier. And then, I love my Vitamix. I just recently got a Vitamix, and I feel like you can use that for so many things. But my Instant Pot is pretty rad.

Ms. Corblund. “These are my favorite! (These podcasts.) Do you typically buy organic produce, and why? I’ve heard there are different options regarding this subject, and would love to hears yours.”

I think that it’s important to look at the Dirty Dozen, and the Clean Fifteen. But the Dirty Dozen has a list of foods; I’m going to look it up right now. The Dirty Dozen are the items that you should make sure you purchase organic for sure. And, let me see. I know strawberries are at the top of the Dirty Dozen. And luckily strawberries gross me out. But, let’s see. Always go to Pinterest, you know what I mean? Pinterest is the best.

The Dirty Dozen is the foods that you should make sure you purchase organic. And the other one’s kind of not to have to worry about as much. The Dirty Dozen include apples, celery, strawberry, peaches, spinach, nectarines, grapes, sweet bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce, kale, and collard greens. So, those are the ones that are ranked the worst that you should make sure you buy organic when you’re purchasing. And obviously, always try to buy local as much as possible.

And then the Clean Fifteen are mushrooms, grapefruit, sweet potatoes, watermelon, cabbage, kiwi, cantaloupe, eggplant, mangos, sweet peas, asparagus, avocado, pineapple, sweet corn, onions. Did you memorize that? Those are the ones that you don’t have to worry about as much.

I try to buy organic as much as possible, and just wash my fruits and vegetables. But I don’t worry about the items that have a skin on it that you’re not going to eat. Say pineapple, or I don’t know, what else? Cantaloupe. I don’t know what else. I try to buy organic, and I always just wash my fruits and vegetable beforehand. But it’s definitely not something that I over-obsess about and freak out about. I try to worry about the quality of my meat more than my fruits and vegetables. But always washing those fruits and veggies for sure.

Torrie. “What was the hardest part about sticking to a paleo diet when you first tried it?”

What I thought was the hardest part was I had talked myself into thinking it was the worst thing in the world. But I also didn’t know how to cook. So for me, when I started paleo, you’re telling me I can’t have any processed foods. So I can’t have this box of lasagna; because number one it’s packaged foods, and it’s grains, and it’s cheese. And it’s like, all this stuff you can’t have. So I would just see it as everything I couldn’t have instead of everything I could have.

And that’s why I started my blog in the first place. Because I didn’t know how to cook. And how the f*ck was I going to eat if I didn’t know how to cook? So that was the hardest. Trying to navigate what to eat in a world where there wasn’t that much information out there then when I first started paleo. That was probably the hardest part. But once you figure out how to cook, the options are kind of endless.

This next one is a buys name, so I’m not going to say it. “When you use lemon juice on your arugula, or call out lemon juice in recipes, are you using fresh lemons or lemon juice purchased?”

Girl. Fresh lemons, all the way. Lemon juice, purchased, I think is f*cking nasty. No thank you. Always fresh lemons. In my fridge, I always have a huge bag of lemons and limes, because I use them so often.

Alexandra. “What is your supplement and vitamin regimen?”

I don’t really take any supplements. I like to take collagen in my coffee every morning, and I should take fish oil, but I don’t. {laughs} But that’s it. If you want to know about vitamins and supplements, you should check out Emily Schromm, because she loves that sh*t. When she was on my podcast, she named like 47 things I should be taking, and I didn’t listen at all. But she’s the best. So if you want advice on that, she would be a great person to look up and check out her podcast.

Another name I don’t know how to pronounce. “Have you ever supplemented your diet with recovery products, such as Fit-aid or protein bars?”

I think, no offense to Fit-aid, but I don’t want some kind of recovery fake drink. I feel bad, I don’t want to talk sh*t about them. They’re doing great things in this world. So I’m not a huge fan of protein bars or fit-aid for any recovery products. I think you should be eating real food. I think protein bars are great in those moments; it depends on your bar, as well. But when you’re going on vacation and you need snacks. Or you’re traveling. Or you’re not going to have a meal for another three hours, and you need something in your system to hold you over.

But at the end of the day, I just believe in real food for recovery. That’s going to help you recover even better. My opinion.

Hannah. “How do you limit yourself on paleo treats? I recently went paleo, but it’s hard to not buy all the cookies, chips, and feel ok about it when I don’t really need them, just because they’re paleo.”

I stay away from those. I try to stay away from the paleo baked goods, especially. Whenever I make them for the blog, I get them out of the house right away. I try not to buy any sweets on a regular basis. And chips, I’ll have some chips in the house and I just try not to overindulge. I think I’ve just gotten better about stopping when I’m full, and just knowing the products I can’t have in the house because I know I can’t stop. So that’s how I do it.

I think there’s room for treats everywhere, and I like having paleo treats as an option versus sh*tty foods with weird ingredients in it. So I think you have to decide how you can limit foods yourself. But for me, I just know what food I can have in the house and what I can’t. And yeah, that’s how I do it.

Emily. “I know everyone is different with grocery prices, but do you feel Butcher Box is a better value than getting meat at Whole Foods?”

Yes, and you know where it’s coming from, as well. I’ve loved Butcher Box. I think the quality tastes better than what I get at Whole Foods. And I definitely think it’s a better value for the kind of product you’re getting. And Thrive Market, also, has amazing products at better prices than the grocery store, as well.

Anastasia. “What’s your favorite non-paleo guilty pleasure? I know you dig a gluten free cupcake, but is there anything else you like to cheat with?”

I don’t really consider anything I eat a cheat. I think that’s so weird people put that name to it. It’s so weird. This is not a Chloe-Tristan situation, you know what I’m saying? If you don’t know what I’m saying, just look up Chloe and Tristan, ok?

But this is a food I decided to eat because I wanted it. And I don’t know; I’m not going to put a negative word around it. So I love me some fro-yo. There’s this place that’s not far from us that has fro-yo. And they have everything; their frozen yogurt is gluten free. And they have a ton of different toppings. And you can also get a gluten free cupcake if you want to mix that in there and be a naughty f*cking b*tch.

But I love getting frozen yogurt, the sea salt caramel. I like toasted coconut, chocolate sprinkles, some peanut butter chips, and then I like to put just a couple of Reese’s on top there. Just a couple of chopped up pieces on top. And that’s my go to. F*cking love that sh*t.

Why are sprinkles the best? They taste like nothing and they’re so good. And then I mix my frozen yogurt so it’s all mixed together, and it gets kind of soupy. Oh my god, I f*cking love it.

Mel. “Do you still get cravings for delicious things like M&M’s and cookies or bread? How do you deal with these cravings?”

I think there are so many options out there that I don’t get cravings for the exact same thing. I don’t get cravings for bread really anymore, because first of all, there’s gluten free bread that I think is just as good. But once you eliminate those things for long enough, I feel like you just don’t crave them. When you eliminate sugar for quite a while, you won’t crave sugar anymore. It’s just like, sugar is a drug. So when you have it out of your system, you’re not constantly craving it. If you add it back into your system, then you crave it all the time.

So I don’t crave those things anymore. I always get a sugar craving around my period, for sure. And just like to eat sweets sometimes. But there are so many alternatives out there at this point that I don’t get cravings for the sh*t I used to eat before I went paleo.

Jackson is going to town on this f*cking bone.

This is the last one for food. “Hi! I’m new to following you, so I’m sorry if these questions have been asked already. Why did you decide to eat paleo? Do you take a digestive enzyme, or something to help with digestion? Do you have a difficult time digesting eggs, nuts, and seeds?”

Number one, I decided to go paleo because I was competing in CrossFit, and continued to hear that paleo was the best diet out there for, best overall for your health and fitness. So I went paleo mostly because of that. And then quickly noticed that my depression went away. I slept better. My stomach issues went away. So it was a very eye-opening experience.

And I do not take a digestive enzyme. I don’t have any issues with digestion at this point with my diet. And whenever I do have any sort of issues, I can pretty much nail down what happened and what I need to add to my diet. And I drink a sh*t ton of water, which I think is really helpful, as well.

And then yes, I have a difficult time digesting eggs, nuts, and seeds. Mostly nuts. I stay away from eggs because my skin breaks out, and I’m bloated from it. And then I stay away from nuts, as well. I’ll have some seeds once in a while, but I try to stay away from nuts and seeds in generally.

There we go, there’s food. Let’s get a sip of water. Speaking of digestion. Water’s the best. I’m so obsessed right now with the company Spindrift. If you haven’t checked them out. They have, it’s kind of like La Croix, but instead of the “natural flavors” Which La Croix won’t specify what that even is, they actually put in, if you want a cucumber flavored drink, sparkling water, they add in cucumber. So they have fruit; or I guess cucumber is a vegetable. But they have fruit mixed into their drinks to make the flavors instead of synthetic flavors. Pretty rad.

2. Listener Questions: Fitness [37:20]

Anyway. Ok, let’s talk about fitness. Fitness. Mallory. “If and when you feel like you want to get in better shape before being in a bikini, what steps do you take?”

Well, for me, I’m always trying to look better in a bikini. Isn’t it the best when you feel good in a swim suit? It’s the best. So I think I’m constantly trying to do that. And just constantly eating healthy. And working out on a regular basis. And I always do that. And drinking a ton of water. If you’re ever feeling bloated, it could be because you’re not drinking enough water so you’re holding onto that water weight.

But anyway, cutting out alcohol. Cutting out sugar. And eating a ton of vegetables. And not overdoing your carbohydrates. I think is always a good way to be in bikini shape, whatever shape you’re trying to get in. I think there’s nothing that you can do, say you’re just deciding to get in better shape a month out, you can’t do very much about that. I think consistency is key.

Jackson just burped in my face. If you don’t know who Jackson is, he’s my dog. Apologies to continuing to talk; I wasn’t talking about human thankfully not farting. So, sorry about that.

Tiff. “How do you deal with insecurities about body image? Do you have any mantras, motivational quotes that keep you motivated? Do you ever not go to the gym? What do you do on those days? How do you handle when your performance is less than what you expected?”

So, I deal with insecurities all the time. I think I talk about that pretty frequently on my podcast, and on my blog. And I just was on my friend, Real Food with Dana, I was on her podcast and really talked about insecurities I’ve been going through. And I think insecurities, everybody goes through. I think those are very common. And it’s just how you deal with them in general. So for me, I figure out why I’m feeling this way. And then I change those situations that I’m going through.

Oh my gosh dog. He just wants to lie on top of me.

So, why am I dealing with those insecurities? What is different in my life right now versus before that has led to these insecurities? And I nail that down. And then taking the steps to feel better, whether that’s cleaning up my diet, because I’ve been bad with my diet. Or changing up my workouts. Or taking some time off my workouts. I also look at myself in the mirror, and I say compliments to myself. I give myself a couple of compliments. And even if I don’t believe them, I move on right there.

So I’ll say; you look great. You’ve worked your ass off. I hope you do awesome today in the gym. And then I move on. It’s as simple as a nice compliment, just like you would give to your friend. You’re doing the same for yourself. You’re giving yourself a compliment, even if you don’t believe it. You can truly trick your mind into believing something if you just say it out loud. I think so.

So I deal with body image. I’m not a big motivational quote person. I’m not a big Pinterest board into that. I think motivational quotes, sometimes people use those instead of doing the actions to feel better. So I always take rest days. And if I know I don’t need a rest day, but I need to stay out of the gym to work on myself, I’ll do that as well.

And as far as handling when my performance isn’t as much as I expected it to be, I like to look at it like what stress is going on in my life. Why I’m not performing as well. And at the end of the day, I don’t have perform my best every single day. It’s just a workout. I’m not trying to be a competitive athlete. I don’t have a certain goal in mind. I’m just trying to be the best version of myself. And that means some high performance days and some low performance days. And that’s just kind of how it is. I hope that answers your questions.

I go through insecurities all the time. It’s been something that’s been high on my mind recently. So I just spent a week of giving myself a compliment in the morning and moving on with my day, and not obsessing about it. Because man, that’s just f*cking draining. It’s not fun. No thank you.

Zimmerman. “I love listening to your podcast.” You’re the best, Zimmerman. “You’ve kept me entertained on a lot of my runs. I’m wondering if you ever do at home or body weight workouts.”

The only time I’m really ever doing body weight workouts; because I never workout at home. I work from home, so the last thing I want to do is a workout at home. Because I’ve spent my entire day there. So, the gym is really an escape for me. It’s a place where I can be around people I like; be around friends; be around other people who are just trying to do the exact same thing as me. So I love getting to a gym, whether I’m in a class format or just a gym that’s five minutes from my house, where I do my own workouts.

The only time I’m ever usually doing body weight workouts are when I’m on vacation. I did a ton of body weight workouts when I traveled to the Caribbean on that catamaran trip I did not long ago, that I’m doing again soon. I did a lot of body weight workouts there. It’s pretty easy for me to come up with those kind of workouts. But I prefer going to the gym. I don’t like working out at home. No matter what the weather is. No matter what’s going on. I have to get out of the house at some point.

Jessie. “Are you interested in filming follow along workouts?”

Yes! And that may be in my future.

Tippie Carl. “Would love an update on your work with Apollo Soft Tissue. I struggle with the same hip issues, and I’m interested in what progress you’re seeing with him in that regard.”

So I haven’t really talked about it at all on my podcast yet, but if you’ve been following me along on Instagram stories, I always share when I’m going to Apollo Soft Tissue. So that’s a chiropractic place in town. And I have been having neck issues for a good chunk of time. And it has to do with my competitive days in CrossFit, and doing two to three workouts a day. It has to do with me working on a phone and computer all day every day. And at a stovetop or taking photos where I’m leaned over all the time.

So I’ve had these neck issues. They’ve been bugging the sh*t out of me. And I’ve been working with him. And I haven’t seen a ton of development yet. And I even told the guy, Dr. John there, that I didn’t want to talk about it on Instagram until I really saw some progress. Because I’ve had a hard time with it.

I just bought a new pillow; more of a therapeutic pillow to hopefully help with those issues. And I’m really hoping I don’t have a bulged disk. But we were talking about maybe getting an MRI because I’ve had these issues for so long.

No progress yet. We’re really back pedaling. I stopped doing CrossFit five days a week, and now I’m doing CrossFit two days a week. And I’m adding in yoga, and Pilates, and I’m really just trying to take care of my body and not over do it. I’m going to have to start modifying movements, so I’m not doing handstand pushups or anything where I’m activating my traps and really causing more damage to my neck.

So I don’t have any progress updates at this point. It’s really backpedaling and figuring out what’s going on. And lessening all the workouts that I was doing. And yeah. Once I have more feedback and more progress to share with you, I will definitely share that. But at this point, it’s just figuring out what is causing this in the first place. So hopefully I have answer soon.

“Have you been using Class Pass? Pros and cons? Not good if you want to go to the same places all the time, huh? What are your thoughts on it? What are your thoughts on the new gym at 15th and Wewatta? What kind of workouts are they?”

Ok, that was a lot of questions. So, yes. I’ve been using Class Pass. For people who don’t know what Class Pass is, or maybe their city or state doesn’t have Class Pass yet, I’m not sure where all it is at this point. But you purchase Class Pass, and with that monthly pass, you have a certain number of credits that go towards certain gyms in town that use Class Pass. So for example, my CrossFit gym, their fit program. Their boot camp style classes, they use Class Pass.

So people can sign up for Fit through Class Pass instead of signing up for just Fit on Broadway. They can sign up for Class Pass, and they can also go to yoga, and they can also go to Pilates, and they can also go to kickboxing. And they can try out a number of studios around town. So it’s great for that gym, because it gets new faces in the door, and a lot of people will end up buying a membership with that gym.

But for the user itself, for me, I purchased it because I want to go to CorePower Yoga, Sculpt, and C2 on a regular basis. But their memberships were very expensive. And then I also wanted to start doing transform, which is a megaformer Pilates style class. And then I want to try some kickboxing, and whatever else. Now I can try all those gyms for less than what one of those gym memberships would be. I think their highest plan is $90 a month, and I forget how many credits that gives you. But when I say credits, most gyms, depending on the class or the time, most gyms for one class will be about 5 credits. And I forget how many credits you get with the most expensive pass.

It just gives you the ability to try new gyms. The problem is, it doesn’t give you the ability to go to all of their classes. So, say I’d love to go to this one girl’s CorePower class. Her Yoga Sculpt class. And I love going to her, she’s so great. But then when I try to sign up, that class doesn’t show up. Because maybe I’ve gone to that studio, and it doesn’t always let you go back to that studio in the same month. Or I can’t go at that time. So it’s just hard to get into a certain class that you want to go to.

So for me, it’s fine, because I have a flexible schedule. I can go at 10:30, I can go at 1:30, I can go at 4:30. I can do whatever I need to do. But I think it’s really cool if you’re wanting to try different workouts, and changeup your routine. So now I’ll be going to CrossFit. I’ll be going to megaformer Pilates at Transform. I’m going to be going to their climbing class, as well. And then I’m going to be doing CorePower Yoga. So I’m getting four different classes, four different style workouts off one pass alone. Not the CrossFit; that’s just my own. But I think it’s so cool. I’m really in love with it.

Ok, Hannah. “Have you ever considered any workout from home options, such as the Peloton?”

No, absolutely not. Sorry, I already said that, but I hate working out at home. And I absolutely hate spinning. So, not for me. I do like cycle bar, if you’ve ever tried that. You should definitely check that out. It’s so fun. But no at home workouts for me. I need to get the f*ck out of the house.

Smidgen. “Can you recommend one or more brands of resistance bands? I’ve purchased a few that were really horrible. Thanks.”

I recently purchased Alexia Clark’s bands. If you just go to AlexiaClark.com and go to the shop tab, she has her own brand of bands there. And the package comes with three small resistance bands, and then three of those long ones. And I love them. I think they’re awesome. I lost one of them, I can’t f*cking find it. I feel like it’s deep in the crevice of my car. But yeah, I love hers.

3. Listener Questions: Business [49:53]

Grown Mary. “as you begin your 30th…” Oh, this is business, guys. We’ve moved on to business, just so you know, now. Let’s get a sip of water. I almost choked. Ok, business now. There are only three business questions.

Grown Mary. “As you begin your 30th year of life, what is your biggest regrets for your PaleOMG business, and what is something you’re most proud of?”

I feel like most people feel this way as they get a little bit older. There’s not a lot of things I regret in life because they’ve led me to learn a lot of things in the process. And I would have gone a different route. But it’s hard to regret anything because it’s brought me to where I am now. So I don’t really regret anything with my business. I wish I would have gone with a different publisher for my first book. That was a huge learning curve, but it taught me a lot.

But I think I’ve grown from all of the experiences that I’ve had. I really only regret getting tattoos in my life {laughs}. Those are the only thing I’m like; ok, I haven’t learned anything from this other than I wish I didn’t have it.

And something I’m most proud of; how I’ve grown this business. I was making below poverty line, and barely being able to pay my bills. And I’ve grown this business to where I can purchase a home. And I can create a good life, and make my own retirement fund. I’ve created this business for myself working hard and not listening to anybody who said it was stupid, and didn’t believe in it, and still doesn’t understand it. And I’ve been able to make a life for myself and my husband at this point. And my dog. So I think that’s the biggest thing I’m proud of. I’ve been able to push through any of the doubt in other people’s mind, and created a business that I’m proud to call my own.

Ashely. “Fellow worker from home here. I was wondering how you block out time for efficiency and just what a day in your life looks like?”

So, I’ve talked about this before. But I write down everything I need to get done in the day. So I have a to-do list on my phone. It’s just in the notes section of my phone. I think that’s an app you download. So I have a Notes section, and it has everything I need to get done. So today; let’s look. I’m just going to look at my phone.

Today, it was getting my blog post done in the morning, sending out my newsletter. Commenting back to comments on my blog. Then it was going to the gym. Then going to see my esthetician. Then it was back here. I write down everything. I need to have my lunch made; meaning I need to make my lunch. I need to take photos of the living room for a post next week, or in two weeks. I need to record this podcast. I need to go drop off boxes, ship some stuff. Return a DVD player {laughs}. And then I need to come back, edit the podcast, cook dinner. Get the post ready for tomorrow so the podcast can go live. And that’s kind of how my days play out. There are always different things going on. Whether I need to go to a certain class. I need to; I don’t know, cook something for the blog. I need to go to a coffee shop to work.

But that’s what I like to do to make sure I’m staying efficient throughout the day. Change up my scenery. So I’ll stay home sometimes, and other times I’ll go to a coffee shop and work when I just need to make sure my dog is not lying on top of me and I can bust out more work. It just makes me happier to be out of the house, and be somewhere else. Enjoy a nice coffee, in a pretty coffee shop, and get some work done there.

I just write out everything I need to get done. And that’s the biggest thing for me, being able to cross those things off the list. And that keeps me busy and productive the entire day.

Christina. “How do you organize all your problems for photos? Cups, plates, napkins, etc. It’s a lot to sort. Any organizational tips?”

Oh my god, it’s such a f*cking pain in the ass. I have one of the small rooms in our house has become my office. It’s funny, when we moved in, I was planning for that to be my office and my husband was like; no, that’s going to be a guest bedroom. And my sister-in-law was living with us at the time. So when she moved out, I was like; f*ck no, man. This is my office. And I forced it. Because it’s so much easier to have all tools in one room.

But I have this big chest; what’s it called? I bought it at World Market. But I found this place that you would store dishes in. And I bought this big organizational; I don’t know. I forget what it’s called. Cabinet thing. And it goes in my office. I also have a ton of my clothes that I take photos for.

And then I store all my plates in there, and glasses, and all that. And I have a table set up where I do photos right next to a window. And underneath the table are some crates and bins that I put a lot of the props in. So whether it’s Thanksgiving props, or Halloween, or Christmas, I have a lot of those ornament and objects in there.

And then napkins, I just bought a big bin, like a basket bin, that goes on top of my cabinet. And I just fold all the napkins and kind of color code them and put them in there to go above the cabinet. So that’s how I do it, but it’s such a mess. I really need to start getting rid of some stuff and start bringing some new stuff in. But as soon as you don’t think you need it, that’s when you need it. So I have a ton of junk in there.

4. Listener Questions: Beauty [56:03]

Ok, let’s go onto some beauty. Hunter-Gatherer. “You mentioned before that you had acne scars. I’m 21, and a chronic face picker. I do it when I’m stressed, nervous, sad, angry, etc. How bad am I damaging my face?”

Yeah, stop f*cking doing that! If you’re asking that question, you know you’re doing it. So you know you’re damaging your face. Do not pick your face. I’m a person; I pick at my face to get hairs. If I feel one hair, I’m going to pick until I get it. I’m like; just go get some f*cking tweezers.

But don’t pick at your face. It’s the worst thing you can do, for sure, and you’re going to cause more damage, and you’re going to cause more acne scars. So don’t pick. I get it; it’s your nervous, stressed out thing. But you can stop doing those things. You just have to be proactive about it. As soon as you start feeling yourself doing that; stop. Just stop. You can change your behavior. But yes, you are damaging your face. Stop it.

Paleo Bacon. “Do you wear makeup when you’re working out? If so, what do you typically wear?”

I always have some sort of makeup when I work out. Pretty much, because most days I’m going on with my day. So say I put makeup on, I go run errands, I go to workout, and then I go to a coffee shop and I work. I’m going to have my make up on that I put on before.

Sometimes, if I’m going to Yoga Sculpt, which I’m always drenched in sweat, I try not to wear make up that day if I can because I just know it’s going to fall off. But I always wear makeup. And right now I’ve been wearing Revision Skin Care. Their tinted moisturizer, I’m forgetting what it’s called right now. But it’s the best. I freaking love it so much.

Revision Skin Care. I wear their tinted moisturizer, and then I put bronzer on top, and then I wear mascara, as well. And I fill in my brows. So those are the things I wear on a regular basis. It just makes me feel better when I have some sort of makeup on. It feels like I have my sh*t together, and I usually have things to do around my workouts.

Oh, this made me think of something. I want to know how you guys feel about this. So I was at Core Power the other day, and I get it. Locker rooms are a safe space. You can get naked there. Nobody cares. But this woman was drying her hair butt ass naked. So she’s just totally naked. How you would be at home, drying your hair. In a full locker room. It’s like; why don’t you just put on a bra and underwear? Why do you have to be butt ass naked?

I don’t want people to see me naked. I don’t want to see other people naked. If I wanted to see you naked, I would be having sex with you. But I’m not. So I just don’t want to see you naked. I get changing. Change. But when you’re just roaming around, doing your makeup, do you have to be butt ass naked?

I know, I’m American. I’m just a prude, I guess. But I just don’t want to see other people naked. Leaning over. Full on, drying your hair. That is a whole bowl of stuff I don’t want to see.

Back to the point. Baker. “I know you mentioned you’re a natural blonde; when and why did you decide to go dark? When do we get to see an old picture of you as a blonde?”

So, ok. I dyed my hair brown when I was 15, and I have not gone back since. I started trying to dye my hair a little bit lighter color a few years ago, and I f*cking hated it. I just feel very natural as a brunette. And natural meaning I have to get my hair dyed every two to three weeks. But I just feel way more comfortable as a brunette. And I felt more like myself when I dyed my hair brown.

So, yeah. I just feel way more attractive and comfortable in my own skin when I have dark hair. And you can easily see a picture of me as blonde. I have it in my microblading post. I share photos of my younger years as my eyebrows start to disappear as I get older. But I have a couple of pictures of myself as blonde there. So boom; there you go.

Cinnamon. “What do you suggest for dark circles under your eyes?”

Dark circles can come from many things. Your genetics. It could be a sinus issue that’s causing these dark circles under your eyes. It could be a hydration issue. Hormonal issue. Maybe as we get older and we lose some of the adipose tissue in our face, those dark circles show through a little bit more. But it’s hard to really figure that out. I would ask an esthetician.

I don’t deal with a ton of dark circles under my eyes. If I am dealing with that, it’s usually my hormones are a little funky. It usually goes away. But I also use regular products on a regular basis. But, yes. I don’t have a certain answer for that. I would recommend talking to your esthetician; your specialist who deals with your own skin to help you with that.

Jen. “I know you’ve shared your skincare routine, but can you share products you use to take care of the rest of your skin? Body wash, lotion, exfoliant?”

I feel like I haven’t found; I haven’t shared that because I haven’t found products I really love yet. I just got a recent new lotion from Whole Foods, and I can’t think of the name off the top of my head. But I just started using it. If I like it enough, I’m going to share it in my Instagram stories.

I love the Beautycounter sugar scrub. It’s an awesome exfoliant. I always use that before my spray tan. And I always use this mint 365 brand at Whole Foods body wash. Nothing fancy.

Carly. “What is your mascara? Have you tried another eyelash perm?”

Ok. So, I have not tried another eyelash perm. But I found out that my girl who does my eyebrows, she does eyelash perms. So she is going to do that to me this coming week before I go on my Caribbean trip. I wanted to get that done. I had a really terrible experience with that last time, but I trust her with my life and she’s not stupid like this one girl was when she did my lashes the last time.

And, I use a super sh*tty, just drug store brand. I use L’Oréal telescopic mascara. I’ve used it since high school. I love it so much. I think it’s the best. And I think it creates the best eye lashes. So that’s what I use.

Julie. “Didn’t you mention that you had Invisalign or braces in your early 20s? Can you tell us about your experience? Was it worth it?”

So, I actually did Invisalign probably a year ago now, and I loved it. Highly recommend it. I think it’s awesome. I did it for 6 months. I had braces when I was younger, and stopped wearing my retainers. Don’t do that. Don’t be a dick; wear your retainers. Even if you’re dating a new guy and you don’t want to be dumb in front of him. Just do it. Because then I had to pay $3000 for Invisalign. So hey, save that money that your parents spent on your braces. Don’t be a dummy like me. So yes. It was totally worth it. I loved it. It’s been awesome, and my teeth are all straight now.

Holly. “Can you talk about natural deodorants? I tried Tom’s beforehand, but hated it. Is Primally Pure what it’s cracked up to be?”

Yes. I use Primally Pure charcoal deodorant, and I love it. I think it’s the best. I think the smell is the best. I haven’t had any irritation from it. So I highly recommend that.

Last one of beauty. Hannah. “Do you use any drug store skin products or makeup?”

I don’t use any skincare products; drug store ones. But I do use that telescopic mascara. And that’s just that L’Oréal brand.

5. Listener Questions: Travel [1:04:28]

Ok, travel. On to travel, and then we have just kind of random questions. Do you guys like these longer ones? I was listening to Wine and Crime the other day, and theirs was like 2 hours, and I f*cking love it when it’s that long. But I know some people don’t like that.

Irish Red. “When you go on vacation, what are tips and guidelines on finding a great restaurant?”

So, usually it’s super easy for me because I will reach out to people on Instagram, and everybody will tell me where the best places to eat. And I can figure it out pretty quickly, because 10 people recommend one restaurant, then it’s pretty easy to know that that’s a good restaurant to check out.

But I always go on Yelp. I’ve heard some really sh*tty things about Yelp, which is such a bummer. Like, they’re a pretty sketchy company, and you have to pay to be on there, and they’re just a little sketchy. So I don’t know how trustworthy Yelp is. But I’ll look up gluten free restaurants in whatever town I’m going to on Yelp. Or maybe I’ll just look up restaurants in walking distance to where I’m staying, depending on if I have a car or not. And then I look up some of the reviews.

But more than anything, I just look online. I’ll look up gluten free, paleo, and you can start nailing down some of the restaurants and look from there. I think it’s pretty easy. Whenever I’ve traveled, I’ve been able to find pretty good restaurants pretty quickly online.

Alicia. I’m going to be doing my first solo trip this weekend to attend your Denver event.” Yay! That’s so cool. “I know you’ve done a lot of solo trips in the past. Can you give some tips and advice on traveling alone, or navigating Denver as a solo female traveler?”

For Denver, stay off 16th street mall. No need to go there; it’s the worst. And it’s f*cking sketchy, so don’t go there. I think it’s pretty easy to travel; look up the cool neighborhoods when you’re traveling. Where they have some of the best restaurants and shops and it’s pretty easy to walk in most cities, especially Denver, if it’s nice weather it’s really easy to walk and navigate through Denver or other cities.

Just look up some of the things you want to do. Whether you want to go workout; it’s going to show you a new area of town, and you want to go to a class. Or you want to go checkout a restaurant, or go to a coffee shop. And you can always ask people there who worked there, is there a cool place I should hit while I’m here? Do you have any shops that you recommend? Areas that you recommend? People, I feel, love to share. Usually their advice of the city they live in. And I’ll do that a lot if I sit at the bar, when I go to a restaurant, it’s pretty easy to start talking to people. There are other solo people there, or the bartender to talk to. So that’s kind of how I maneuver cities when I’m traveling solo.

Shana. “When you know you’ll be traveling and indulging more than usual, do you change anything about the way you eat leading up to trips?”

I stop eating as much sugar. We’re thinking about going to grab a drink for our wedding anniversary, but we know we have a trip in a week where we’re going to be drinking on a regular basis and we’re going to be eating more sugar than we normally would. So we didn’t go out and get a drink. We just had soda water at home.

So I definitely try to be a little bit more strict with my diet leading up to a trip that’s going to be a lot of indulging. Especially when I’m going to be in a bikini the whole time, and I just want to feel my best. I just try to eliminate sugar and alcohol, because I know I’ll be doing that on a regular basis when I’m traveling.

Shine in and out. “Where to go on a fun luxurious weekend getaway with your husband without breaking the bank? What’s the best bang for your buck?”

Oh man, that is totally subjective. I think it depends on the person and where you want to go. I think depending on where you stay, I think going to Santa Ynez Valley is such a cool place. You can do it more expensive, you can do it cheaper. But it’s such a cool place. It’s wine country, and it feels like you’re going on a really luxurious weekend getaway.

There are all these different beliefs about Mexico right now, but I loved going to Cabo. The flight was a direct flight from where we lived, and it was cheap. And it was very reasonable to stay there. You have to get; there’s a lot of different things that are going on in Mexico right now, so you have to decide what’s best for you. But I thought Cabo was really awesome. And it was affordable where we were staying, and it was pretty easy to stay in a decent price range. So those are my two. I love Santa Ynez Valley, and I loved going to Cabo, and those both felt really luxurious and super fun.

Meg. “Are you ever going to do another fitness meet up in Costa Rica or somewhere else fun? I think you did one a few years ago? Me and my bestie want to go.”

So, I was actually in conversation with that company, Under 30 experiences. I was in talks with them about doing Paris. And doing something like that. They were pushing really hard on it, and then I haven’t heard back from them. So. Not sure. But I would love to do one in the future. That would be awesome. We’ll have to see if that comes to fruition. But I think it would be really cool.

6. Listener Questions: Random [1:10:25]

OK. Last but not least, we have just kind of random questions. Sorry, I have to drink my water, ok? I have to.

Jenae. “What do you normally do for date nights?”

We love going to get sushi, because that’s one of our favorites. We’re big into going out to one of our favorite restaurants in town, and the going to grab a drink at a cool cocktail bar afterwards. But that’s our normal date night out, I would say. Going to dinner, and drink afterwards. Or we like to go to Comedy Works and go see a show. That’s always a fun one, too.

Kelly. “I know you’ve touched on this in the past, but what are some suggestions for trying to increase self-confidence and self-esteem?”

So, just like I touched on before, I think giving yourself a compliment and saying good things to yourself is a great starting point. Because if you’re not talking highly of yourself to yourself, it’s pretty easy to not believe those things long-term. So, I think you just have to continue to say nice things to yourself. And just be confident in some of the decisions you make. And do the best things for yourself, whether that means taking a vacation or working out more, or working out a little bit less. Or eating your best. Whatever those things help you feel your most self-confident, and saying positive things to yourself on a regular basis. I think those are big two things that are super helpful.

Chelsea. “You mentioned on Girls Gone WOD that you learned to communicate more in the last year of your marriage. Do you have any specific ways you focused on communicating? I’m in the stage of communicating better by just saying the damn thing instead of thinking, why the hell doesn’t he blah, blah, blah, know what to do.”

Ok. So I feel like I did a blog post, just in case you guys missed it on the blog, I did 10 things I learned in the second year of marriage. I did that the first year, as well. And I feel like it’s just maturing a little bit more as I get closer to 30 here. When we’re in a fight, I don’t want to fight with my husband. I know some people get a thrill out of that, but I don’t want to fight with him. It doesn’t feel good. And those fights are going to definitely come up. But if it’s a fight that didn’t need to happen in the first place, as I’m starting to create this fight, I know now. I can talk to myself, and say; is this actually something you want to say before I just throw it out of my mouth.

So I’ve learned to backpedal during fights. And think to myself; is this really worth it. Backpedal and stop the fight; apologize. And say, I’m sorry that was not the best way of going about it. This is why I was upset, and why this fight was created in the first place. And sometimes he can understand, sometimes he has to think on it.

And also, instead of getting pissed that he didn’t do something, I just ask him to do it. I say; hey, could you start helping me. At one point, my husband wasn’t being great about the dishes. And I told him; I cook dinner for you every night. I would really appreciate it if you started doing the dishes every night. It just feels good to have a clean kitchen and not have to worry about it the next day. And boom, he started doing the dishes every night.

If I want him to fix something, I say; hey. This weekend, can you fix this? And he does it. So instead of just being annoyed that he didn’t do something, I just say it beforehand. Before I get pissed off. Because who wants to be pissed at their significant other? It’s the worst.

Katelyn. “What are your favorite bathing suit brands?”

I really love this brand, L Space. That’s one of my favorites right now. And then Becca. I look for their swimsuits on Everything But Water. Same with L Space. You can find L Space all over the place. But this swimsuit brand, Becca, is really awesome. I really love those two. I think they fit me the best. They’re just freaking cute.

I have some new swimsuits I’ll be sharing on my trip coming up to the Caribbean. I’m super pumped for them.

Ok, Happy Healthy Kate. “Your engagement/wedding rings are gorgeous. Did your husband design them on his own, or did you help in the process?”

So, my dad is a jewelry designer. He creates jewelry. He’s a gold smith. So he created my engagement ring and my wedding band. I sent him photos when we were getting kind of closer to that, I sent my dad photos and said, this is kind of what I have in mind and what I’m hoping for. And then I did tell Brian a couple of times; hey. If this ever happens, here’s a couple of rings. Just so you get an idea of what I like. And he just looked at them, and we kind of moved on. But it was easy, because my dad took over and kind of created rings around what design I had in mind.

Ok. JK Something. “Would love to hear any tips on getting good sleep.”

Ok, so getting good sleep. Turn off electronics an hour or two ahead of time. Especially if I’m on my phone or my computer, and even I put on where it changes the screen to that orange/yellow color, whatever. Even if I change that, I still can’t fall asleep if I’m on my phone or computer leading up to bedtime. So turn off screens. If you can, get away from your TV. I’m not going to act like we do that. But turning off screens altogether. Go read a book. Let the brain turn off and get away from all the stimulation that you put it through the entire day.

I don’t have a big issue with sleeping. So I know a lot of people take; what’s it called? It’s like magnesium. You can take magnesium or; I’m forgetting everything because I don’t ever really have to take it. But you can take some natural products to help you sleep a little bit better. Just look up that. If you can get blackout curtains, I think that’s important. We don’t have that either. And then finding a good pillow. Which I’m obviously trying to work on.

I just purchased the purple pillow, recommended by my chiropractor, and then a bunch of people on my Instagram. So I’m trying that out tonight for the first time. So I will let you know from there. But more than anything, I think it’s turning off. Letting your brain turn off before you go to bed. And getting away from electronics. Read, relax, let the body turn off before you’re going to bed. And do that ahead of time. And it’s hard to do, for sure. But I think that’s what’s the best for me. If I get in bed early, before I’ve really looked at my screen too much, I fall asleep. I wake up feeling great. Wake up early, ready to go.

I kind of want coffee. I always feel like this. I don’t feel tired, I just crave some coffee and it’s 3 p.m. No; not having that. Because I won’t sleep. Yeah, don’t do caffeine. There you go. I always cut myself off of caffeine after 12. I can’t have any more caffeine after that.

Foxy Roxy. “Do you still get colonics? If so, how often?”

Funny you ask, because I just scheduled one for next week! I’m going to get another colonic. I haven’t done one since I did it the first time. Loved it the first time, thought it was amazing. But I’ve just felt good, my stomach has felt good. I thought I would kind of clear everything out before I go on a trip. So I booked one. I don’t remember the last time I did it. It’s based on whenever that podcast episode came out. But I’m going to get another one, and I’m pumped about it.

If you don’t know what a colonic is; it’s water up your butt.

307McIntyre. “I’d be interested in what you do with all your clothes! No way you fit those all into your closet.”

So true, I do not. So I have my closet, and then I have my office where I store a lot of clothes as well. My friends go shopping in my closet regularly. And then I have some friends who purchase clothing off of me. And just the other day I went to Buffalo Exchange, and I sold a bunch of clothes, and the clothes they didn’t take, I donated. So that’s what I do with it.

Cassie. “Now that you’ve done your Four Athletics collaboration, what is another brand you would like to collaborate with? Would you stick to athletics, like Chesty or Reebok and Nike? Or would you like to do something more high fashion in a collaboration with Nordstrom?”

Yes, yes, and yes! I mean, working with Four Athletics has been amazing. I haven’t even looked at them because I had to record this podcast. I just got some drafts for the next round of leggings and some sketches going down. So we’re working on leggings, crops, shorts, and bras for this next season. So pumped to share those with you.

But I would love to collaborate with more people. I think that would be amazing. I love what Chesty is putting out there. I think their bras are so f*cking cool. And duh, who wouldn’t want to collaborate with Nike, or Nordstrom. I’d be happy to collaborate with anybody. I think that would be so incredibly awesome if I had the opportunity to do that. So, anyone. I’d love it.

Ander. “Did your husband say I love you first, or did you? Also, how did you know you wanted to marry him?”

I said I love you to him first, for sure. And I don’t remember when, but I know I said it first. And then I feel like I knew; I wouldn’t say marriage, but I knew I really wanted this relationship to work because we went through some hard times at the beginning, and it took some time to figure out our relationship. And I dated people in between. And throughout those dates, I was constantly thinking about my now husband. And so, yeah. For me, there’s those people who were like; oh, I just knew. I met him and I knew. That wasn’t me. It was a process of figuring each other out. And if we worked with each other. And finding out if he was as good of a person as I thought he was. And he was. And I couldn’t imagine marrying anybody else. I didn’t want to be with anybody else. So that’s kind of how I knew.

It’s so cool. Because I’ve seen a lot of people who have married people that they didn’t necessarily want to marry. Or married for the wrong reasons. And I told my sister-in-law; I was like, when he proposed, and when we got married, there was never a doubt in my mind. Nothing ever in my gut telling me that this wasn’t right. And my gut has often told me what wasn’t right, and what was often very correct.

So I think that’s how I knew. We had spent so much time with each other, and had created so much respect around each other. And when he asked me to marry him, there was no doubt in my mind whatsoever. Whatsoever.

Eat More Paleo. “I love watching your IG stories!” Thank you. “You may have answered this question before, but where does Jackson sleep at night? In bed with you and your hubby? Or in his own bed?”

He has his own bed next to my side of the bed. So he has his own little bed with a little blanket. He sleeps in his own bed. When my husband is gone, he knows he can sleep in bed with me. But then I automatically regret it, because he’s hot, and I get sweaty. And he’s not very comfortable, because he’s so used to sleeping in his bed. But yeah, he sleeps in his own bed. He’s stinky.

Hannah. “I know you said collagen has helped your hair a ton. Are you currently growing your hair out even longer?”

I’m always trying to grow it out longer. I love long hair. I love when my hair is longer. The longer, the better. So as long as I can get it, I will continue to grow it out as much as possible.

Amy Marie. “You’re an only child. How does that affect your relationships, life, etc. I’ve noticed I’m definitely more organized, timely, and responsible. I can also be pretty anal and obsessive about things.”

So, I know it’s affected my relationships in a negative by I don’t always think about other people. I’m always thinking about myself. So if I decide I want to do something, I go and do it. I wanted to go see a movie, and my sister-in-law and I had talked about it. And then I was having a bad day and I went and saw the movie by myself. And when I told her, she was like; we talked about doing that together. Why wouldn’t you ask me? I was like, I don’t know. I just wanted to go. And she’s like, you are such an only child.

So I just don’t always think about others, because I just want to do what I want to do in that moment. If I want to purchase something, I will purchase it. I don’t expect other people to purchase it for me. And yes, I am also very timely, and I think responsible. I don’t know if that has to do with being an only child. I think it has to do with my upbringing and the jobs that I had at an early age.

But yeah, I think it’s affected my relationships in negative ways a lot of times, and I’ve had to work on myself. I found, in the past, and I probably sound like that in the first place. But in conversations with friends, I would talk more about myself instead of asking about them. I had to learn that’s not what you’re supposed to do. I just have done that my whole life, because I’m always by myself. So I had to learn to stop talking about myself. Which, I know it doesn’t sound like that, because I just do that all the f*cking time on my podcast.

But when I go to have lunch with a friend, I constantly ask her questions. And if we don’t talk about my life at all, that’s totally fine and dandy. I want to put my friends first, and I’ve learned that through observations and through feedback from my friends.

But yeah. I think; I love being an only child. I think it’s made me very independent, and hard working. And it’s definitely harder with relationships sometimes, but I’ve worked on that, and I’ve gotten better at that.

Ok, two more questions, and then we are donzo!

Janessa. “Random, but Frenchie related. Have you ever had major issues with Jackson? Did you get his soft palate shortened, or nostrils widened? Honestly anything? I’m always looking for experiences from other Frenchie owners. They are the best.”

They are. He’s such a potato right next to me. So no. He has not had his soft palate shortened or his nostril widened. He hasn’t had any breathing issues. The only time he’s had major snoring was when he gained weight and had a few pounds to lose. And so once he lost that weight, he doesn’t snore as much unless he’s in a really weird position. And then I move him and it goes away. But knock on wood, we haven’t had any issues.

The one thing that’s popped up is, I forget what it’s called. But this spot on his eye; the white in his eye has bulged out before. And I freaked out and took him to the vet, and she said that that was common in Frenchies and it wouldn’t go away. You could get surgery on it, but it would most likely come back. But then it went back in the next day and has only come back a couple of times. And it will stay for like an hour and then go back in. So she was like; no, it will be there forever and if you get surgery, it will probably come back. And I was like; well I’m not going to get surgery then. And then it went away.

But I haven’t had any issues, knock on wood. He’s been a pretty healthy pup in general.

Ok, Bethy. “I had breast augmentation surgery. I’m curious, what are your favorite bras, bralettes, and sports bras. I haven’t gone shopping for any yet because I’m only 2.5 weeks postop.”

Ok. So, for me, I don’t really care about bras. I don’t have to obsess about them. Because I feel like my boobs don’t move. Since they’re fake, they just stay in one place. So I don’t really have an issue with figuring out bras.

For regular bras, I think Third Love is the best bra out there. I f*cking love my Third Love bra. I wear a sticky bra all the time with a lot of my tops. And sports bras; I really don’t care. I love all sports bras in general. They all fit and are comfortable for me.

If you really want great advice, I know that my friend Lee of Fit, Foodie, Finds just did a blog post about a ton of bras that they went and tried on. Because her and her partner, her assistant, however they work together. I made her sound like a lesbian. She’s not a lesbian. Her business partner. {laughs}

They went and tried on a ton of bras, and did their feedback, and shared which ones they loved and didn’t love. So that’s worth checking out on Fit, Foodie, Finds. But for me, I just like all bras. But Third Love I think is the best bra out there. I could never find a comfortable bra, like underwire bra, and theirs are f*cking money. Love them. Go try them out. They’re the best. I have a blog post about it. They’re the best.

Ok, that’s it! Those are all your questions. Sorry if I missed any. I always stop looking at a certain point at previous posts. So if I missed yours, feel free to come to www.PaleOMG.com. Ask your question there. And I do this; I’m trying to do this podcast every three weeks, four weeks or so. So if you come up with a question, ask me on this next little bout of questions in a couple of weeks. I’ll be doing a favorite things podcast soon, and I’m going to do a recap of my upcoming trip. So yeah, I have lots of stuff coming up.

But, if you haven’t been to the blog this week; I have a taco pizza that is f*cking awesome. I have a lox and cream cheese sheet pan breakfast. I have that post about 10 things I learned in the second year of marriage. I have my weekly workouts. I talk about why I started Class Pass. And what I’ve been loving. I’m yawning. Dammit.

And then I have a post about jumpsuits and rompers. I know some people are like; I can’t wear that. But you just haven’t found the right one for you. There are so many out there. So I’m sharing a ton of those on the blog.

I hope that helps. I have to venture back out on this snowy day. I was just tanning in our back yard yesterday. It was 75 degrees. And now it’s snowing. I had our window open last night. F*cking cold in our room.

Ok. Well I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thank you to everyone who is coming to the Denver meet up. You’re the best. And if you have any questions, remember go to www.PaleOMG.com. I answer questions on my blog fastest.

Yeah. Go have a lovely day. Bye-bye for now!

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