Learning is one of my top 5 things to do. Even though the school years have long passed, I rarely pass up an opportunity to learn more on things I’m passionate or curious about.
I’ve been a voracious reader since I was a little kid, and as I got older (and started multitasking more), learning from audiobooks and podcasts have been become my main way to learn. I love listening to information while I’m cooking, at work doing something pretty straight forward, cleaning, or in my car (which in LA is a lot).
There’s something pretty powerful about hearing something talking to you about their lives, their struggles, what they’ve learned and interesting topics. I have learned from podcasts and love them so much, I was inspired to create my own in 2018.
If you learn best from listening, you can get your learning on too! I’ve been listening to some of these podcasts for years and quite a few are made by my amazingly talented friends. Some have even been guests on the Small Steps Podcast! Do you have a favorite podcast that isn’t on this list? Comment below and let me know what it is!
Health and Wellness
Balanced Black Girl
Balanced Black Girl is a podcast I was searching for earlier last year and so SO EXCITED when it launched in later 2018. Lestraundra Alfred created the podcast when she launched her new platform of the same name after it became crystal clear that women of color are underrepresented in wellness spaces. Each week she interviews a woman of color doing their unique, great things in wellness. In addition to sharing about what they’re doing, they also share their struggles and how they support their communities. She also has a solo show each Friday that’s filled with actionable health and wellness tips.
I deeply appreciate this show and finding more women of color doing amazing work in health and wellness. We are out there!
How Long:15 minutes to an hour.
How Many: 40+
How Often: Once a week.
Bonus: Lestraundra was on the Small Steps Podcast, Episode 36.
The Daily Sweat Podcast
The Daily Sweat Podcast is hosted by my dear friend Ariana Fotinakis. Ariana is a personal trainer, business and life coach with a similar love of learning and personal development. Her show is a great mix of interviews and solo shows that cover a wide range of wellness, personal development and spiritual topics. I love the variety of guests she has on her show and how many different things get covered in the show. If you’re a Vancouver native, this is also a great show to find potential wellness practitioners to work with.
How Long: 30 minutes to an hour.
How Many: 80+
How Often: Once a week.
Bonus: Ariana was on the Small Steps Podcast, Episode 8.
The Between Meals Podcast
Food and meals are awesome, but life is about more than that. There’s the space between meals that fills up the rest of our lives and how we go about living that. Beth Manos Brickey of the blog Tasty Yummies is here to talk about that very thing with the podcast, Between Meals. A fellow NTP and friend, Beth is keeping it real talking about health, nutrition, mindset, and why one way of being doesn’t fit all. Her husband, Mark, is a full-time podcaster joins her on some of the podcasts, along with guests.
How Long: Around an hour and a half
How Many: 15+
How Often: Once a week.
Harder to Kill Radio
Harder to Kill Radio is by Steph Gaudreau, NTC and my dear friend. In addition to blogging, Steph is an Olympic weightlifting coach, health coach, and author of The Paleo Athlete and The Performance Paleo Cookbook and soon to be The Core 4 in July. Harder to Kill is an awesome mix of fitness, nutrition and mindset people talking with Steph and sharing their wisdom with you to make you more resilient and Harder to Kill. In addition to her weekly guest interviews, she also has a Fierce Love Friday episode each week as well, where she keeps it super real on a topic related to health and wellness. They’re always on point and just what you want to hear.
How Long: Interview shows are around an hour, Fierce Love Friday is around 20-25 minutes.
How Many: 200+
How Often: Twice a week.
Bonus: Steph was on Small Steps Podcast, episode 6.
She Thrives Radio
She Thrives Radio is a companion to the blog She Thrives, which is written by Taylor Gage. Taylor is an awesome, multi-talented human being. She’s a personal trainer, nutrition coach, blogger, and amazing portrait photographer. She Thrives Radio is a little over a year old and is KILLING IT. Most of the time, her episodes ae solo shows. Listening to Taylor is like hearing advice from a good friend who tells it to you straight and filled with love.
Being a Crossfit coach, she does have a frame of reference that includes fitness, and all of what she talks about can be applied to so many other situations. She’s also talking about mindset work, the importance of rest and opting out of hustle culture.
How Long: 30 minutes to an hour.
How Many: 60+
How Often: Once a week.
Bonus: Taylor was on Small Steps Podcast, episode 20.
Nutrition and Food
The Autoimmune Wellness Podcast
Autoimmune conditions (where your body thinks normal cells are invaders and starts attacking them) are on the rise these days, and thankfully so are ways to naturally address them. Mickey Trescott, NTP and Angie Alt, NTC are some of the OGs in autoimmune world, helping bring the autoimmune protocol (an elimination diet to help figure out triggers and heal from conditions) into bigger prominence with their website Autoimmune Wellness and their books.
I’m late in the game to their podcast, but I’m loving their latest season, which focuses on eating real food on a budget while on AIP. While I haven’t tried the AIP protocol yet, I love learning about it, especially for if and when I recommend it to a nutrition client. Their advice this season is also relevant to anyone looking to eat real food, whether you’re doing AIP or not. The latest season has Mickey and Angie talking with each other and interviewing guests.
How Long: Anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
How Many: 30+
How Often: Once a week.
Balanced Bites
Balanced Bites is the team of Diane Sanfillippo, CNC and Liz Wolfe, NTP. Diane is the creator of the 21 Day Sugar Detox (which I’ve done and shared my thoughts on here) and author of Practical Paleo. Liz is the author of Eat the Yolks. The ladies answered listener questions, gave updates about their lives and evolving philosophies on a variety of topics. They have interviews with bloggers and nutrition professionals as well.
They have a HUGE archive covering specific nutrition topics and health issues. This podcast ended this year, but with their extensive back catalog, you can get so much from this podcast.
How Long: Newer ones are around 30-45 minutes, older ones are an hour plus.
How Many: 400.
Essential Omnivore
Essential Omnivore is hosted by my dear friend and fellow NTP, Lucia Hawley. A mix of interview and solo shows, Lucia brings a wonderful curiosity and kindness to her show. A lot of her shows focus on health through the lens of nutrition, and her background in social work also brings a groundedness to the show that I appreciate. In her guest episodes, she brings on people from a variety of backgrounds, all with the intent to help you live a more fulfilling and autonomous life.
How Long: 20 minutes to an hour.
How Many: 30+
How Often: Once a week.
Bonus: Lucia was on Small Steps Podcast, episode 22.
Keep Calm and Cook On
Keep Calm and Cook On isn’t necessarily about health and wellness in comparison to the other shows in this article, and I felt really strongly about putting it on this list. This podcast is created by Julia Turshen, writer, cookbook author and creator of Equity at the Table, a database to give underrepresented voices in food more seats at the table. Each week she interviews someone in the food world about the work they do, whether that’s working in a restaurant, creating cookbooks, mental health, representation, activism and more. This podcast is, in a way, an audio version of Equity at the Table and shows how women, POC and LGBTQIA+ folks are creating a bigger presence in the food world. As a woman of color in the food world, this podcast is so encouraging and inspiring to me.
After each interview, Julia answers listener questions about cooking, which are read by her wife, Grace Bonney (of Design*Sponge, one of my long time favorite design blogs) which is always fun.
How Long: 30 minutes to an hour.
How Many: 25+
How Often: Once a week.
Nutrition and Regenerative Agriculture
The Meatcast
Epic Provisions, the company behind the original meat bar, has its own podcast. Made by one of their employees, Eric Le (who is super nice! I’ve met him), The Meatcast interviews people who also share their mission to live healthy lives and give back to planet. I have learned so much from this podcast about regenerative agriculture and who’s leading the charge with Epic to bring about that change. They also interview people in their company after that main interview to give you a look behind the scenes, which reinforces the idea that they’re good people doing awesome things.
If you want to learn more about soil, regenerative ag, sourcing, and companies who lead with their ethics, this is the podcast for you.
How Long: Around an hour.
How Many: 50+
How Often: Every other week.
Sustainable Dish
I had heard Diana Rodgers, RD (and NTP) of Sustainable Dish on other people’s podcasts over the past few months, and after she announced her crowdfunding for her docuseries Sacred Cow, I was in. Diana lives on a working farm, sees nutrition clients AND is working on a docuseries that shows why red meat is a part of a healthy diet. Her podcast interviews other farmers, ranchers and nutrition professionals to talk about their expertise. More and more, her podcast addresses sustainable and regenerative agriculture as well as the facts behind eating meat. If you’re interested in learning about where your food comes from, definitely check this podcast out (as well as The Meatcast).
How Long: Around an hour.
How Many: 70+
How Often: Once a week.
Do you have a favorite podcast that isn’t on this list? Comment below and let me know what it is!