The Sonya Looney Show

One of my favorite sayings is that limits live in our minds.  Today's guest is all about helping people confront and overcome their own limiting beliefs by helping them understand what lens they are choosing to see the world.  Rob Scott has had a very interesting life from being homeless with substance-abuse problems, to getting back on track and having a great career, to riding the roller coaster of a cancer diagnosis.  What's Rob up to now?  He is a personal development coach, hosts his own Mastermind and Fundamental Shift Coaching Community.  He is passionate about helping people shift their identity to achieve big goals and personal fulfillment. Topics Discussed in the Podcast  Why your comfort zone isn't comfortable Lenses to overcome self-limited beliefs Challenging your bias questions to ask yourself about identity why affirmations don't work cause/effect of self-fulfilling prophecies work lense for imposter syndrome, self-worth, and procrastination Resources Follow Rob Scott on

Alison Tierney is a registered dietitian and board-certified in oncology nutrition and started her business, Wholesome LLC in 2015. After developing an oncology nutrition program at a local academic cancer center, Alison pursued Wholesome exclusively as her business and client base continued to grow and increase in demand. Her passion for nutrition and healthy lifestyle is obvious in her work, her care for her clients, and her desire to always keep learning. Although Alison is board-certified in oncology nutrition, she is multi-passionate in nutrition and her expertise goes beyond cancer and involves helping others with the management of chronic diseases such as: heart diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and autoimmune diseases. I love the story of today's guest.  Many of us tend to weave through different experiences in life before we find our path.  Alison is no different.  In school, she initially studied business and was a college athlete. As an athlete, she was aware that nutr

Jen Hudak is an American freeski athlete specializing in halfpipe skiing. She is a 2-time world champion, 5-time X-Games medalist and 4-time national champion.   In 2010, she won nearly every competition there was: X-Games, US Open, World Ski Invitational, Dew Tour, and US Nationals, to name a few. But one contest eluded her: The Olympics. She had a vision that halfpipe skiing would be an Olympic sport and served as a proud advocate for the sport over her 13-year professional ski career. With the help of Jen's efforts, halfpipe skiing made its Olympic debut during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.  But as she pursued her quest to add "Olympian" to her highly successful list of career achievements, the unthinkable happened.  Horrific injuries and in addition, one of her competitors dying.  She had to rethink her goals.  To make matters even harder and more devastating, her father passed away, losing in a 5 year battle with a rare form of leukemia. The world had turned upside down o

Dr. Michael Greger is on a mission to give people information on how to live their healthiest lives.  The obesity pandemic in North America and globally is quickly escalating and Dr. Greger hs the most comprehensive book on evidence-based weight loss, the psychology behind our interpretation of how many calories are in food, and the danger of quick fixes like weight loss surgeries and diet pills.  He also has the healthiest and easiest foods to add to your diet to help burn more fat. "It turns out a calorie is not just a calorie. 100 calories of chickpeas is a different impact on the body than chicken or chicklets, based in part on different effects on their impact of absorption, appetite or microbiomes.  Different foods can rev up your appetite for example. It's not just what you eat, it's what you absorb.  Fiber, for example, in whole intact plant foods can trap calories, flush them out the other end. And even if you do eat and absorb the same number of calories. A calorie still may not be a

Once per month, I'm checking in with you to talk about my journey as a new athlete mom. I'll talk about time management, how getting back to and maintaining a training schedule is going post-partum, the mental and emotional pieces too.  I'll tell you what it's really like and hopefully give you some nuggets you can apply to your own lives as well. This podcast is supported by Wahoo Fitness who have been a great partner during my journey as a pregnant athlete and new mom! I wanted to bring my husband, Matt Ewonus in on this episode as I will on some of the future Athlete Motherhood series because Parenthood is really what it's about! Truthfully, we were trying to record this episode for weeks, but every time after Bradley went to bed, we wanted to just chill out!  So I'm excited that we got this episode in the queue. It was fun to sit down and recap what we've been up to as parents the last 3 months. Here's my MorningBrew Newsletter Referral Link (you don't get mon

Alison Desir and Amir Figueroa are on a mission for social change.  The two individually found their love of running – Amir’s father died of HIV when Amir was 4 and Alison was struggling with depression and some very hard life challenges with a bad break-up and a very sick father.  And from there, they found running through seeing others lead by example.  Amir saw a friend with HIV walk a marathon and raise money for Harlem United.  Alison saw a friend on social media who was a black man training for a marathon and felt empowered to do it too. And now?  Leading by their own examples is changing the world.  Before they met, Amir and Alison started their own running groups to build community in Harlem and met because of similar hashtag they were using.  They decided to join forces. Not only did they join forces, but they got married and had a beautiful baby boy named Kouri about a year ago.  For Alison and Amir, it’s not just about running, it’s not just about having a club.  It’s about running for social chang

Katerina Nash is a timeless force in the sport of cycling.  Not only is she a 2x Olympian in Mountain Biking, but she also has been to the Olympics twice for cross-country ski racing in 1998 and 2002.  Her first Olympics was a the age of 17 and again in London 2012 and Rio 2016.  Originally from the Czech Republic, Katerina moved to the U.S. in 2000 on a college scholarship for cross-country ski racing.  Katerina has proven to be among the world’s most versatile and enduring athletes, showing the world that women can remain competitive at the highest levels into their forties. She dominated every where she goes- CX, mtb, stage racing, Downieville... She has been on multiple World Championship and World Cup podiums in both CX and MTB and she also has won BC Bike race numerous times and competed in her first EWS in 2019. Topics Discussed in the Podcast  growing up in Czechoslovakia from Nordic Skiing to her first Olympics (mtb) in 1996 Moving to the USA and choosing mountain biking Clif Bar and her long term

Ayesha McGowan is the first African American female Professional Cyclist, riding for Liv Cycling. She's on a mission to advocate for representation and is an inspiration for the next generation of African American female cyclists.  Her bicycle has been a tool to not only help her accomplish her dreams, but as a vehicle for storytelling and social change.  Ayesha noticed that our sport of competitive cycling was being represented in the media by white men and she took action. Her tagline is "Representation Matters."  Her voice and mission have created diversity across brands, media, teams, and organizations. She's been on the cover of Outside Magazine, partnered with Nike's Dream Bigger video series, and has spoken on stages, podcasts, and articles on why it's important to have representation in sport, in the media, and in the industry. Recently, Ayesha was named to the Top 50 most influential people in cycling by CyclingNews for being an advocate for women of color in the bike i

Once per month, I'm checking in with you to talk about my journey as a new athlete mom. I'll talk about time management, how getting back to and maintaining a training schedule is going post-partum, the mental and emotional pieces too.  I'll tell you what it's really like and hopefully give you some nuggets you can apply to your own lives as well. This podcast is supported by Wahoo Fitness who have been a great partner during my journey as a pregnant athlete and new mom! If aren't an audio fan and you want to read the transcription, scroll down a bit. Key Takeaways "Your starting point isn't your endpoint and a growth mindset means that knowing that whatever that number is, you can improve on it. But if you don't ever look at that number. If you don't get up the courage to say where am I starting from, if you never look at that you'll never get better and you'll never be able to measure that improvement." "The only thing to be ashamed of is not

I'm pretty excited about today's guest.  The best thing about podcasting is I get to learn even more about a person's story, even when they are a friend!  I first met David Swain when we connected over Prokit.  Prokit celebrates adventurers and the athletic experience, whether you’re just getting started or breaking world records. The platform is designed to help cut through the noise, learn from the best, and find the community you need to reach your potential. David Swain is the co-founder of Prokit along with Angela Zaeh.  The idea first popped in his head in 2013 when he signed up for his first cyclocross race. Just like all of us when we start new things, David wondered how to train, what gear to use, where to race, what to eat, what events his friends are doing and the idea of Prokit was born.  But David is so much more than the founder of Prokit. His experience in communication and team building is unparalleled.   David's story is interesting and a wild ride- from driving cross-coun

39 trillion. That is approximately how many bacteria that are living in your gut. Guess what feeds them? You. Everything you eat is either a step towards better health or a strike against it.  If you want gut flora that help balance your hormones, reduce your chances of cancer, reverse Type 2 Diabetes, prevent neuropsychiatric conditions like ADHD, Alzheimers, and depression, then you need to eat fiber.  Yes! Fiber is about so much more than pooping regularly.  So how do you make sure you have a healthy gut?  You talk to Dr. B, you eat as many different sources of fiber as you can, and you pick up the book, Fiber Fueled. If you're a fan of this podcast, you more than likely listened to my first episode with gastroenterologist and now new author, Dr. Will Bulsiewicz.  As he likes to be called, Dr B is an MD and an internationally recognized gut health expert. He is passionate about the incredible healing power that lives inside you—your gut microbiota. Dr. B's medical training involved 16years at Ame

I really enjoy public speaking and have had the honor to give keynote speeches on the topics of positive psychology, motivation and habits, nutrition and even cycling-specific talks at business, leadership, tech, and nutrition conferences.  One of my favorite stories to include is an old Cherokee parable. I wanted to share it with you because it embodies the power of our perspective.   Perspective and choosing what stories to tell ourselves and how we interpret daily events and emotions is one of the most powerful practices you can have.   One evening an old Cherokee man told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

Pregnancy and motherhood looks different for everyone, but in this week's podcast episode I have a chat with fellow new cyclist mother, Laura King about our pregnancies and post-partum life.  We talked about topics you may not be accustomed to hearing about like miscarriage, pelvic floor health after birth and also maybe more familiar topics like what it's like to ride during pregnancy, how we are maintaining our identities, and more! A quick bit about Laura King: Laura’s background in competitive swimming led to 12 years competing in triathlon, including the Ironman World Championships and earning a pro license. An invitation to USA Cycling's Talent ID Camp and a simultaneous job offer for a major industry position presented a fork in the road, and her decision to take the industry position and pursue racing as a passion provided the right balance of career and sport. Nonetheless, her credibility as a competitor has served her well in a successful career of over a decade in Sales and Marketing

Derek Loudermilk might be one of the most interesting people you've ever met.  He's discovered a new species of virus while in graduate school, he's traveled the world as a professional cyclist, he became an entrepreneur and digital nomad - including doing this with a wife and a child under the age of 3.  He's created his own path as an author, podcaster, speaker, coach, and guide to help people start living the life they imagined.  How did this all really start?  With a blood clot in his brain after being given a 75% chance of dying.  In his quest to understand the future of entrepreneurship around the world, Derek Loudermilk has traveled to every US state, 40 countries, and lived on four continents. He is the author of his book SuperConductors.    Topics Discussed in the Podcast  the power of community his journey to living around the world and becoming an entrepreneur falling in love with adventure at Yellowstone how to remove barriers and make changes where does confidence come from?

Stacy Sims, PhD is a leading global expert on female Physiology & endurance training.  You may be familiar with her popular book that I've personally read a few times, ROAR.  It is a science-based layperson's book explaining the sex differences in training and nutrition and addressing the dogma for women in exercise, nutrition, and health outcomes. She says that women are not small men and we should not be generalizing women when it comes to training, recovery, supplements and more because our physiology is different from men. Unfortunately, the majority of research is done on men so it's been hard to decode things like how we should alter training based on where women are in their hormonal monthly cycle.  Dr. Sims has done an incredible amount of work providing a body of information so women can make better and more informed choices.  Let me tell you more about Dr. Sims background. She is currently a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Waikato after returning to academia from a

Joel Fuhrman, M.D. is a board-certified family physician, six-time New York Times best-selling author and internationally recognized expert on nutrition and natural healing, who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional methods. He is the President of the Nutritional Research Foundation and on the faculty of Northern Arizona University, Health Sciences division. Dr. Fuhrman coined the term “Nutritarian” to describe a nutrient-dense eating style, designed to prevent cancer, slow aging, and extend lifespan. For over 25 years, Dr. Fuhrman has shown that it is possible to achieve sustainable weight loss and reverse heart disease, diabetes and many other illnesses using smart nutrition. In his medical practice, and through his books and television specials, he continues to bring this life-saving message to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Topics Discussed in the Podcast  where his interest in nutrition started Dr. Furhman's world-class career in ice skating prevent

Yoann Barelli will make you smile. One word used to describe him by many is that he is a character. He is known for his enduro mountain bike prowess, his super fun clown-like antics, his great coaching, photography, and also his environmental efforts of lately to raise money and also pick up trash. Yoann is seen as a positive and outspoken person on the Professional Circuit as you've no doubt seen on his YouTube Channel and Instagram. He is also a Dad!  Yoann's focus has been on enduro and crushing the EWS series around the world.   He says, "I want to make you laugh, to motivate you, to give you joy, to be this kick on the ass when you need it, by being me, through my own life experiences!"  At first glance, his infectious laughter and energy will entertain you but there are many dimensions to Yoann.  In this episode, he even talked about the spiritual side of his life which he doesn't talk about that much! For Yoann, being alive is about being unapologetically true to yourself, it&a

If you're familiar with Ironman, then you've surely heard the voice of Mike Reilly.  The four words, "You are an Ironman" are some of the most powerful words uttered at the finish line of endurance sports.  Mike has been announcing Ironman events since 1989 and is fondly known as "The Voice of Ironman."  He has been inducted into the IRONMAN Hall of Fame, the USA Triathlon Hall of Fame and the Running USA Hall of Champions, and is the only person to have been inducted into all three.  He has connected with hundreds of thousands of athletes, making each one feel individual and special as they cross the finish line, but also at the start line and throughout the grueling 19 hour day of announcing.  Mike's book, Finding My Voice was published about one year ago and is an inspiring and fun read about some of the most incredible moments through Mike's career with Ironman.  You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll feel inspired when you read it.  It's about how

Michael Klaper, M.D. is a board-certified physician, internationally-recognized teacher, and sought-after speaker on diet and health. In addition to his clinical practice and private consultations with patients, he is a passionate and devoted educator of physicians and other healthcare professionals about the importance of nutrition in clinical practice and integrative medicine. He is the author of x books and has authored dozens of articles for both scientific journals and the popular press. Dr. Klaper is well known for taking complex medical topics and making them easy for everyone to understand.  He is also an expert in water fasting after 9 years on the medical staff at True North Health Center.  He shares a lot of great information through his website and YouTube Channel.  Topics Discussed in the Podcast  How Dr. Klaper found Plant-Based Nutrition in the 1980s Dr. Klapers initiative to educate medical doctors on curing chronic disease Moving Medicine Forward water fasting, medical fasting should ath

Our most primitive cravings and habits come down to three words: Trigger, Behavior, Reward. But our brains can trick us into creating bad habits and driving is to be addicted to technology, love, thinking, and unhealthy food and beverages.  To break the cycle, Dr. Jud Brewer believes that curiosity is our ultimate superpower.  He has his MD and PhD and is the Director of Research and Innovation at the Mindfulness Center.  He is also an associate professor in psychiatry at the School of Medicine at Brown University, as well as a research affiliate at MIT. He is the founder of the digital therapeutics platform, MindSciences, and author of the book, “The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love—why we get hooked and how we can break bad habits.  It was one of my favorite books I read in 2019.  Dr. Jud is also a fellow mountain biker. As an addiction psychiatrist and internationally known expert in mindfulness training for treating addictions, Dr. Jud has developed and tested mindfulness programs for