The Sonya Looney Show

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn is a pioneer in medicine.  He currently directs the cardiovascular prevention and reversal program at The Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute and has saved thousands of lives. As a surgeon, he was operating on patients with breast cancer.  Disillusioned by treating the disease and never addressing the cause, he decided to do his own research. From his bio: "In 1995 he published his bench mark long-term nutritional research arresting and reversing coronary artery disease in severely ill patients. That same study was updated at 12 years and reviewed beyond twenty years in his book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, making it one of the longest longitudinal studies of its type. In July of 2014 he reported the experience of 198 participants seriously ill with cardiovascular disease. During 3.7 years of follow up of the 89% adherent to the program, 99.4% avoided further major cardiac events." Dr Esselstyn is incredible and I highly recommend watching Forks Over Knives. It changed my life!

Today’s guest is no stranger to the cycling world.  He has finished 5th  two times at the tour de France, won stages in races like the Giro D’Italia and the Vuelta Espana. His name is Tejay Van Garderen and he currently rides for BMC Racing.  This guy is in on top of the world stage of professional road cyclists. The thing I really enjoyed about Tejay is that he was really down to earth and easy to talk to in our conversation.  My husband Matt co-hosted this episode together and we both thought that Tejay seemed like a truly genuine guy.  He has been racing since the age of 10 and has had his ups and downs over his career.  We talked about how to deal with expectations, especially when you aren’t meeting them.  We talk about his background in racing and what it’s actually like to race at his level. In interviews at some of these grand tours, you don’t get to hear the whole story and Tejay told us a lot of interesting stories. We talk about what it’s like to have little kids and a wife and travel like he does.

Yesterday, I had moments of self-doubt and feelings of wanting to give up.  Here is a breakfast table conversation with my husband Matt.  We talked about what I was feeling, how to navigate self-doubt, and how to accept these feelings. 

Just because you don't eat meat or dairy doesn't mean that you're healthy. Chef AJ can relate.   She said, "For 26 years, I was the quintessential fat vegan.  It wasn't until I had a health scare.... that I realized I had to do something."  She is a self-proclaimed recovering food addict and a classically trained chef, author, and speaker. As an unhealthy vegan for most of her life, she jokes that "skittles was a fruit" and "cakes and candies" were a food group.  When she discovered she had pre-cancerous polyps in her colon at age 43, things started to trained.  Refusing to undergo surgery due to a fear of anesthesia, she found the Optimum Health Institute in Southern California where diet and lifestyle were used to help people with diseases.  Six months later, the polyps were gone  she went a little deeper into nutrition and started eating a plant-exclusive diet and eliminated ALL processed foods for good. After she became aware of her addiction to certain foods, she stopped eating oils, sugars, and added fa

Rebecca Rusch is one of the most prolific adventure athletes out there.  From first ascents as a rock climber (El Capitan in Yosemite) to kayaking in the Grand Canyon to taking her bike up Mount Kiliminjaro, nothing stops the Queen of Pain.  Rebecca was one of the top Adventure Racers before becoming a pro mountain biker and is the 7x World Champion in several sports.   Rebecca's depth goes far beyond her athletic endeavors.  She's a speaker, author of her book Rusch to Glory, a filmmaker with her most recent film Blood Road, and an event producer with Rebecca's Private Idaho.  Her palmares and activities are so vast that I highly recommend checking out her website for more!  This is a fun episode of the show because we talk about so many interesting topics.  Rebecca's father was shot down in the Vietnam War when she was just a young girl.  Haunted by the unknown and not knowing exactly what happened to her father, she decided to go find him.  Rebecca rode the entire 1,200 miles of the Ho Chi Minh trail with 

Julieanna Hever is a well-known plant-based dietician, author of 2 books, and has her own TV Show!  She is also a columnist for VegNews Magazines and has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show, The Steve Harvey Show, Reluctantly Healthy, The Marie Osmond Show, The Jane Velez-Mitchell Show, and E! News, co-stars on The Chef and The Dietitian, on numerous radio shows, and lectures extensively around the world. Topics Discussed in the Podcast  How our metabolism works (oxidative priority) Omega 3s vs Omega 6 Supplement recomme3s vs Omega y: how do you do it and is it easy How your Palate changes Is the Mediterranean Diet Healthy? Links Complete Idiots Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition book Vegiterranean book Julieanna Hever's Website Julieanna's Twitter Support the Show If you like my show, I’m aiming to make it an ad-free zone using crowdfunding to support it.  All donations will go directly to the production of the show. I’m raising money using Patreon.   A lot of podcasts sell ads to cover the production co

Caroline Gleich is a magnet for adventure.  She is one of the ski mountaineering world's most prolific skiers.  She has been on the cover of many skiing magazines, premiered in Warren Miller films, and skied some of the most challenging lines around the world. Most notable and recent was that she was the 4th person ever and first woman to ski all 90 lines in the Chuting Gallery in the Wasatch Range.  Caroline will be the first to say, "Ski Mountaineering is really dangerous."  She is also an environmental activist. Backcountry skiing is so much more than being a skilled skier.  You have to have intuition; when to summit and when not to ski. When to push past the shaky heart in the throat fear and when to listen to it.  So why does she do it?  This podcast is about so much more than just adventures and how to decide what to do when faced with a challenge.  It's about how to stand up to cyber bullies, it's about gender equality, what it's really like to be an endurance athlete and how isolating that can be, an

Do you ever have thoughts and feelings that you don't want? What does mental toughness mean?  Do you ever worry about what people think about you or wish that you were more confident? These are all questions that 3x X-Terra World Champion Lesley Patterson and Simon Marshall, PhD have addressed in their book, "Brave Athlete: Calm the F*ck Down."   It was great to talk with both of them.  Lesley is a badass- 3x World Champ and Coach.  Her insight and depth of knowledge is incredible.  Simon is a former professor of family and preventive medicine as well as sport and exercise psychology.  He has a lot of practical experience as a Sports Psychologist (even to the Professional BMC Road Racing team).   I enjoyed their book - they break everything that I regularly love to think and talk about into bite size chunks that can be applied to sport and life.  You'll have to listen for more!    Topics Discussed in the Podcast  Naming the book How to cope if your event or ride isn't going well Where to derive self-confiden

Brasil Ride is a 7 day mountain bike stage race in Bahia, Brazil.  This was my 3rd Brasil Ride and I raced it the Mixed Category with Gordon Wadsworth. My husband, Matt Ewonus took the helm and hosted this episode.  This podcast episode is how it all went down!  Boiling sun, technical terrain, heat stroke, 4-6 hour days in the saddle, losing and regaining the leaders jersey, how to be successful as a team, strategies for winning and so much more!  If you missed the episode where we talked about our race in New Zealand back in February and a little preview of Brasil Ride, check it out here.   Topics Discussed in the Podcast  Drug testing and what it's actually like (especially after racing 6 hours in the heat) What made this race so hard Dynamics of racing as a team and the keys to being successful Supporting friends The crazy Brazilian terrain and boiling sun Dealing with heat stroke Competitive moments Race strategy How to stay positive in a stage race Self worth and how it effects your attitude in a race

Would you spray paint your bike?  Emily Kachorek does.  Maybe you've seen a blur of color, stoke, and little orange creamsicles fly by you on the road or in a Cyclocross Race.  This month, I've been focusing on entrepreneurs, and I was intrigued by Emily because she thinks outside the box.  Not only is she creative and learned how to run a successful business, but she has her Master's in Biology and was a Professional Road Racer on the US National team.    Tired of road racing scene, she put away the bike for awhile.  Inevitably, she rekindled her love of riding through commuting and found cyclocross.  Intrigued by new people, experiences, skills, and places, she jumped right in.   Emily's vision for Squid started by wanting to be visible.  She designed her own kit and ended up adding her own custom spin to her bike. "My bike was painted this school bus yellow color and had this neon vibe going.... so I went to the hobby store down the street and got a bunch of sheet of neon vinyl."   From there, she took her

Rage, Rapture, Lust, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed...what does this have to do with running a business, philanthropy, and backcountry skiing?  It all ties under Lodi's premier winery; Michael David Winery.  David Phillips is a co-owner of the winery with his brother Michael and their family has been farming the fertile soil in Lodi, California for 5 generations- since 1865 to be exact.  However, they weren't always growing grapes and making wine.  "My parents put up a card table on the side of the road and started selling tomatoes for 25 cents a basket.  I grew up with selling product at fruit stands" David said.   Long before the wine, the Phillips farm thrived at farmer's markets and fruit stands.  They started growing grapes for other wineries when one day, their biggest customer said they were not going to buy grapes.  With a full crop of luscious grapes, Dave said, "Let's do this ourselves and take matters into our own hands."  Changing your business model, investing in oak barrels, learning a new industry, and

What do British born rock stars, the hosiery capital of the world, cycling, and dyslexics have in common?  One man: Shane Cooper. After traveling with his band and playing music/bass professionally, Shane got really into cycling and consequently, socks. “It kind of started by mistake” Shane said when I asked him how he started one of the most successful sock companies in the world.  Shane was racing his bike and needed to make some extra money to support his cycling habit.  He took the things he knew: marketing (from marketing his band and playing the bass), socks (his father sold sock machines and sock machine parts), and his ability to think outside the "socks" (he re-engineered how yarn was used to wick moisture).  DeFeet was born. DeFeet has endured many ups and downs since its inception in 1992: theft, fires, tornadoes, and a constantly changing retail environment.  Think about it - we barely had the internet in 1992!  This is a conversation about entrepreneurship, overcoming adversity, maintaining integ

When an NBA Hall of Famer and Olympic Gold Medalist says "Mountain biking is my new basketball," you know he means business.  Reggie Miller, the Knick Killer, is also killing it on the trails. If you've been watching the Legend's Instagram, you've noticed that the majority of his photos are of him on a mountain bike, sporting familiar gold and navy blue Pacers colors with BOOM BABY splayed across the chest.  When he's not announcing for TNT, starring on movie sets, or playing with his adorable children, Reggie is pedaling on his home trails in Malibu, California.  Not only that, but Reggie has rocked the top step of the podium at some of his local races in Southern California. Reggie and I met on instagram.  I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it was THE Reggie Miller asking me about mountain biking equipment, skills, and training.  It was surreal and I was excited that someone of his caliber was so interested in the sport that I've dedicated all my energy towards.  ...and then he asked me to be his coach.

You know those couples that seem to always be happy?  Those people who always seem to be having cool adventures?  Gordon Wadsworth and Emily Hairfield are those people.  This show is about secrets of being a biking couple, singlespeeding, and some adventure stories. Matt Ewonus (Sonya's husband) co-hosts this episode with Sonya.   In this show: life lessons from riding a tandem bike background on Gordon's racing Racing 100 miles on a singlespeed WHY ride a singlespped fun stories about racing The Pioneer in New Zealand together sleeping in a 2 person van with 2 couples secrets of happy relationships Support the show on Patreon: patreon.com/thesonyalooneyshow

This week’s episode is a speech I gave about my journey as a plant-based athlete at the San Francisco Veg Fest (called the World Veg Fest). It was my first time to a VegFest and first time speaking outside the bike world about my diet. I wanted to share it with you on my podcast. There will be a video available soon of the speech as well so you’ll be able to see the accompanying slides. I’ll update this post with the video after I receive it. Topics covered in my talk: My background pertaining to making changes in life A brief history of my career as a professional cyclist My transition to eating a plant-based diet. Here is an associated blog post with resources. How to be inclusive and build community My Top 5 Performance Enhancing Foods LINK to the Plant-Powered Tribe Facebook Group I started. Everyone is welcome (you don’t have to eat a plant-based diet. It’s for people who are interested in adding in more healthy foods and a community group where everyone can participate in the conversation) Thanks s

Kate Courtney found her love for cycling with tandem bike rides with her father in middle school and enjoying blueberry pancakes after the ride. "It was really just a vehicle for pancakes," she laughed. This was the beginning of 10x National Champion Kate Courtney's career on a bike.  Who knew that the little girl pedalling behind her dad in the woods of Mount Tam would become one of the top female cyclists in the world?  She started her racing career at the age of 14 in the NICA NorCal League, rapidly moved up the ranks and was racing Junior World Cups just 2 years later. Kate is down to earth, approachable and vibrant.  As a recent graduate from Stanford University, she knows a thing or two about balancing school with training and travel as well as commitment.  She also knows what it takes to perform at the highest level.  She is sponsored by Specialized and won the U23 Elite World Cup series this year.  Next year, the 22 year old will be turning 23 and racing in the Elite World Cup Circuit. Topics Discusse

"Once you start acknowledging, and looking at, and being honest with yourself the role that the ego plays in the sport, and it's a big deal in mountain biking... once that starts to be addressed, then some smarter decisions can be made."  -Ryan Leech   Ryan Leech is one of the world's best Trials Mountain Bikers and has even performed with Cirque du Soleil.  But what is trials?  Trials is a discipline of mountain biking where you have to navigate an obstacle course at very slow speeds without putting your foot down.  In his shows, you will see him hopping from a railing to a rock like he is on a pogo stick or jumping up onto trailers.  To be a trails rider, you basically have to be a ninja on a bike.   Not only is Ryan one of the best technical mountain bikers in the world, but he is a meditation and yoga instructor and has an online skills coaching business called Ryan Leech Connection where he breaks down mountain bike skills into bite sized chunks. Most people who learn to mountain bike pick up the bike as

"The person inside your head that you're with 24/7 is yourself. So you have to be your own supportive friend. I tell people you have a choice. you can be an inner ally or an inner enemy. It's that simple.  The voice in your head can either be kind, supportive, encouraging, nurturing 24/7 or cutting you down telling you you're a loser, you're no good, you're not good enough." - Dr. Kristin Neff The voice inside our head is possibly one of the most powerful influences on our lives.  Most people are very self-critical and hard on themselves.  Have you ever noticed that if a friend makes a mistake, you say "oh, that's ok, everyone makes mistakes" but if you make the same mistake yourself, you might say, "Ah Gosh! I'm such an IDIOT!"  How we talk to ourselves is extremely powerful and being mindful about your self-talk is the key to getting started. One of my favorite quotes is "The voice inside your head that says you can't do this is a liar."  I first learned about training my inner voice to be more supportive a

Some people are wonderfully infectious with their smile and enthusiasm.  Caroline Burckle is one of those people.  Not only is she a positive force that transcends the 2 dimensional boundaries of social media, but she mentors athletes who are rising stars through her RISE LIFE business.  Caroline is a veteran in what goes on behind the scenes of human performance.  She knows about pressure, accomplishments, and hard work.  She has personal experience with overtraining. Caroline is a Bronze Medalist Swimmer performing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 4 x 200m relay.  Not only that, she took gold in the 2007 Pan Am Games in the 800m freestyle, was the 2x NCAA champ, and was named the 2008 NCAA Swimmer of the Year! I first found Caroline on Instagram and we instantly became online friends.  After only a few conversations with her, I was inspired by her energy, her commitment to personal growth, and her journey.  She was training to race the Othillo Swim Run World Championships with Hilary as her teammate and

Goal setting is tricky. It's most common around January 1 when people are setting their New Year's Resolution. In fact, 92% of people who set them for the new year fail!  Here's a post I wrote about goal-setting. We are told that we need to have a 5 year plan, find our purpose, and set challenging goals but it's rare that you read about the actual process behind goal setting.  I've done a lot of my own research and found Brian P. Moran's book, the 12 Week Year. As athletes, we have all heard of using periodization in our training.  Brian P Moran took Periodization and converted it into a goal execution system. In Brian's book, he creates a different system around goal-setting where you view your year as 12 weeks long and set only 2-3 new goals in that period.  Through process control, weekly scoring of your process, and by taking ownership of your execution, it's a lot easier to take the steps needed to lead you down the right path.  Brian says, "You don’t have to be perfect on the execution side. [stay on