Off The Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe - Alexandra Catalano

Episode Date: February 4, 2020

Today, Kaitlyn sits down with healthy lifestyle expert, two time TEDx speaker and creator of the blog and brand Eat Cute, Alexandra Catalano! The pair take back the word cute, discuss the shift from magazines to social media putting undue pressure on women, and Alexandra breaks it down when Kaitlyn finds what is fact and what is fiction with nutritional cliches. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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of laughs tabby topics on filtered advice and wine. Lots of wine. Get ready to shake things up. Here's Caitlin. Today on the podcast, I'm sitting down with a healthy lifestyle expert, a two-time TEDx speaker, and the creator of the blog and brand Eat Cute. She travels across the U.S. hosting workshops, speaking at colleges and events and providing all the info one needs to live a healthier lifestyle. She's also the author of the book, From Beer Bongs to Broccoli, that focuses on helping college students avoid the dreaded freshman 15. She's here today to help us start off 2020 with a healthy outlook for both mind and body and share her story of how she discovered her passion.

Please welcome to the podcast. You know I'm going to say it like this. I'm so excited. Alexandra Carolano. Yeah. Chia, bellissimo, perfecto brava. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's all I can say.

I'm so jealous that you're Italian. You know, it's okay. No. It's not so, it's fine. No, I always, I think I'm supposed to be Italian. I can see it. You talk with you. I can see the hands.

I don't. I have a hand talker. Oh, 1,000%. Great. Okay, wait. I have a couple of questions. Ooh, okay. First of all, please tell me that eating cute means drinking a lot of wine.

Oh, okay. I had a feeling you'd ask me this. And I think it could be. I think it's drinking cute. You're Italian. You're going to drink wine. I've seen your wines that you make and they're damn cute. Thank you. See?

Yeah. So that's, we could call it Drinking Cute. I like, you know what? Let's the next book. We'll co-write it. Yes. Okay, perfect. And what does eating cute mean to you?

You know? How did you come up with that? Yes. Okay, well, truth be told, I don't know if you can tell. I'm 4 foot 11. And I'm an adult. I'm a little person. And so everyone used to my whole life is like, oh, you're cute.

Like in a way that wasn't like complimentary. I was like, oh, you don't know anything. You're cute. And I was like, you know what? Damn it. I am cute. And I, like, made a brand out of it. But for me, it's really a personalized approach to eating that makes you feel your best.

Because I think there's so many diets and lifestyles and things out there. And I think, you know, they're just tools. And I think it's really a personalized approach to what makes you feel your cutest. I like that. Thank you. Because I have been told the same thing because I'm not, I mean, I'm 5'4. That's not too short. Oh, yeah.

The tall model in here. You know what they call me? Legs McGee. Yeah, right. I'm like, I'm pretty sure I'm 5'3 and I just lie and say I'm 5. No, I believe it. But I've been told that too, like, oh, you're so cute. Yeah.

I actually get mad at Jason, my boyfriend, when he says that to me because I'm like, no. Tell me, I'm beautiful. Because it is. It's kind of like, especially like women say it kind of like in a, like, oh, you're just so cute. See, you know, it's never a compliment. So I'm like reclaiming cute. I like that.

And cute is a positive thing now. I mean, it should be. It should be. It's not, it's a great word. Yeah. I like it. I like that. You're turning it into a brand.

You're like, screw it. I am cute. I'm turning into a brand. Yeah, that's right. I'm 34. I can be cute. I love it. Hey, I'm 34 too.

No, you're not. Yeah. You look like a little 20 year old. Oh, am I so cute? Oh, you're so damn cute. Damn it. Okay. Okay.

Well, I just freshened up on the Botox. Oh, it looks great. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. You look very fresh. Thank you. If you are in town, my girlfriend just ordered. I was going to say I should have texted you.

She just opened her own studio. It's called Indy Skin Care. And she is a godsend to this world. Her name's Elizabeth Smith. Because your skin looks great. She's changed my life. She's changed my life with skincare routine and everything. Like not just Botox or fillers.

I mean, although I'm a big fan, skincare. Like she's just, if anyone comes to Nashville, I'll go to Indy. It's okay. She just opened it. And it's like chic and beautiful. And you just feel like so comfortable when you walk in. And aha. That's my guilty pleasure of skin care.

Me too. Me too. I feel that. Okay. So you travel the country. Yeah. And you're here visiting Nashville. But where are you originally from? You live in L.A. Right. Yeah. Oh, you're from L. Born there. Raised there. I don't know any better. Yeah. Oh. That's wild. Yeah. And but do you look, obviously, that's just home base. You travel all the time. I travel a lot. Yeah. This is gosh. You know, I'll tell you what. I traveled to so many places. But Nashville, you guys, I should have stayed longer. This place is so pretty and everyone's nice. I know. good good food great food i just i came in last night i'm already leaving today so i'm just like i know i know did you speak today i'm speaking after this oh okay yeah oh i'm getting you all lubed up all warmed up that's amazing and so you have your instagram page yeah you have a book titled from beer bongs to broccoli yes go on yes like well and what is the dreaded freshman 15 i've skipped my college years oh great um so a lot of people when they go to college yeah you know it's the first time you're away from home and you're making your own choices about your food and your lifestyle and a lot of people end up putting on a lot of weight and when I went to college

I was actually going to school to be an opera singer which yes I saw that that's wild it is I take 60,000 dollars and just oh my gosh and do you yeah but do you just like go on stage and you're just this like massive presence in a cute body no I'm just kidding I'm just kidding but like singing opera that's so powerful yeah but like no one wants to hear that at karaoke let's be real i do do you okay um any kind of scene opera is the most impressive singing to me yeah you know what though it's like i never want to sing that at karaoke like opera so i like try to anything i try to sing sounds operatic so it's like to the window uh so there's that um that's me my girlfriend i used to do that are you serious

yeah we used to sing um any any like rap song we would turn it into opera okay this is why i'm to be best friends. Okay. Yeah, it all makes sense now. Just that one thing. I'm like, oh, where have you been in my life? Yeah, right here in L.A. Do you own or rent your home?

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Go to guyco.com, get a quote, and say, see how much you could save. It's Guycoeasy. Visit guyco.com. Today, that's guyco.com. Anyways, circle back. Circle back. It's going to school. Yeah. Studying to be an opposite. Yes. First time away from home. Yes. And unfortunately, you know, I, 34 years old. So, you know, I had a lot, there was a lot of information about diet books. There was no Instagram. Facebook had just come out. Right. But so magazines and celebrity diet books were like my go-to in terms of, like, being healthy. But I never really understood the difference between being healthy and

like being skinny, you know, so I used to confuse it. So when I got to college, I ate poorly, I wasn't sleep and wasn't drinking water, had no idea how to take care of myself. And so I resorted to magazines and books to look to be healthier. And I got really, I felt like crap. Yeah. You know, I had really bad habits around eating,

a lot of eating disorder stuff, which is very common for a lot of young women. Especially when you're looking at magazines for, you know. Oh my God. Like, Cosmo hates you. Hates you. Like hates you. I don't understand. I don't, are they different now? Is it starting to change a little bit?

I haven't picked up a Cosmo since I was like in my 20s, but like, they're like, be better. Yeah, they're like, impress your man with sex and get skinny in bed. And I'm like, oh, God. Oh, it just gave you the worst advice. So I just had horrible things about food. And what ended up happening is like you try these bad diets and I wasn't getting results. And then I felt bad like there was something wrong with me. So it wasn't until I got sick and I started losing my voice and I was just like miserable.

I know. sucked. But the good thing is, is I started, like, searching for answers. So somebody introduced me to practices around, like, holistic nutrition, which was all about, like, instead of being afraid of food, it's like how food could actually make you have better skin, make you be thin, you know, make you get the body you want, make you perform better. And that was awesome. And I fell madly in love with it and went to school at the integrative nutrition for it. And then it became my life because I was like, oh my God, like, why isn't anyone telling me this? Why isn't anyone telling people that, well, you're here on this podcast, telling people now. I'm telling you now.

Thank God for you now. Yeah. Where were you 10 years ago? I don't know. I was crying, crying somewhere in a magazine. But yeah, I know. That's, I always think about that. There's so many tools now if you look for them of healthy ways of looking at food. And I just talked to another chef that lives in Nashville here about this and just the way you look at food and the way you treat food and the way you eat it or think about eating it. You know, it's just, it's, I love that people are starting to have that conversation around food now instead of these magazines. And I think the magazines are learning a little bit. I really hope so. And I think the conversation is changing. It's not about being skinny or body composition anymore. Right. It's about being strong and

feeling good. Yeah. And unfortunately, the health industry is a trillion dollar industry. So there are so many products and things that are still being shoved down our throats. Maybe they have paleo on them now or keto on them. But it's still kind of there. So it's just like my job. And I really try to do this with my Instagram is I'm like here's here's some grapes or a cucumber like things that are affordable that are accessible to everybody that you can do right now right I do love the title of that book because I think there are so many like okay I didn't go to college but I still went through that exact same thing where I moved away from home yeah do you want to know what I used to eat my day oh I'm so excited what did you eat I moved so growing up I'm not kidding I don't know like I just didn't have much knowledge about like proper nutrition because I just danced

six or seven days a week so you were just looking good just because you were moving around I was moving And every day, sweating all day, every day. So I would eat those, like, Michelina's, like frozen dinners, like the cheesy, Alfredo. Okay, so I always was used to eating like that. I used to eat McDonald's at least once or twice a day. Oh, boy. Yeah. But again, I was dancing, and I'm just a naturally smaller person.

So then I move to Vancouver, and I'm going down to dancing only maybe two or three times a week. And I'm living on my own for the first time. and I would make myself eggo waffles in the morning with like so much syrup and butter and then on my way to work I would grab a white mocha

Frappuccino with extra whip and then I would get to my restaurant that I worked at and for lunch I would have Pena Alfredo with extra Parmesan and this palm dip oh yeah I'd add extra parm dip on it

and I remember the chef being like Caitlin The chef was like, please don't make me make this. He was like, this lifestyle is not going to work for you for very long. And then I, on my way home from work or to the dance studio, I would grab Wendy's because it was on the way. Right. And that is what I ate.

Yeah. And I was cheerleading for a CFL team in Canada. And I'm going to show you a photo of what I looked like. Oh, I got to, I got to see. Because this was a result. And it wasn't like, I'm not, I wasn't like, I'm fat. I'm ashamed. It was like my body just.

was not healthy and I was puffy. Yeah. And it's very humorous. I've put this on my Instagram before, but I don't, like, it's always good to revisit it. It's good to, you know. It's always good. Okay, how do I get to my favorites? I'm sure I favored it.

Are you ready? I'm ready. Okay. I mean, God, you're still gorgeous, but, okay, I can't with you. That's so funny. But look, it looks like I had both of my wisdom teeth taken out, or all four of them. But you're still so damn. cute and i mean that a nice way it's still so pretty but you know what like at the end of the day

look you're still a gorgeous girl here but um you know for me it's like when i was eating that way i felt like crap and i had no idea because when i started eating healthy i'm like oh shit you i'm not tired every day my body doesn't hurt my skin's clear like i thought i was depressed i know because i had no energy i didn't want to get out of bed i was like i don't that's so true it's crazy how much food can just make you feel better i know and i was like oh my god i like i had no idea what i was like missing out on and it makes it so much easier i was buying all this skincare stuff to try to fix my skin when i was like oh just eat some vegetables and drink some water and then all of a sudden your skin is plump and healthy and you don't need to go crazy with the

product although it's fun but i mean but do you know how much i hate water do you hate it make me love water do you add do you ever like make infused waters with like yeah sure you do not Still, nothing? No. Do you ever blend things in your water? I mean, I don't mind a hot water with lemon. That's great. That's like the best.

That's the best. But I can only do like one of those. Yeah. That's like a morning or like a cold day thing. But like I don't know how I survive with the lack of water intake. That's one of the things. It's tricky. But like I always tell some clients like I like to make blended waters where I'll blend a

cucumber in my water with fresh mint or like a little bit of pineapple. Like no, still nothing. I mean, sure. That's great for like a half a glass. And then I'm like, and then I'm over it. Yeah, I think it's one of those things you're just going to have to, like, muscle through. Like, I know. And that's what I force myself.

I love coffee. Yeah, no, that's not water. I love tea. Yeah, still. Yeah. But then I convinced myself that I'm like, well, I made it with water. No. Yeah.

It's different. Like, most people need to drink at least half their body weight and ounces and water. I know. And it does every, it's crazy. You can speed up your metabolism. Not that it matters, but up to 30% just by drinking the appropriate amount of water. But then I'm so bloated. And I'm like, it's such an inconvenience to pee.

I know. But that's how we like, you know, keep it, keep things moving. Okay. I mean, so good for your skin. Make your skin nice and hydrated. I mean, I've got hydrated skin and I don't drink water. I was like, why is your skin so damn hydrated? I don't know.

I don't know what's going on at that. Indy skin care, man. Yeah, I don't know what's going on over there, but I'm interested. Yeah. But I know, you know, if you can, it helps. But the good thing is, is if you eat lots of vegetables, that is a form of, like, raw vegetables, they have a lot of water in there. I do. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables.

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So tell me, I mean, I think we kind of touch on this, but what people will learn a little, dive into that a little more when they read your book. like would you mostly recommend it to younger people who may be struggling and feeding themselves after moving out like we were talking about? Yeah, it's definitely all about college and navigating that in a healthful way. I do, I am writing another cookbook right now that's, you're gonna, I don't know if you like this.

It's a sugar-free cookbook. I'm in. You're in? Okay, cool, yeah, yeah, yeah. I wasn't sure. I'm like, you hate water. Like, I don't know. No, I still, like, anything,

like I'm obsessed with ketchup. Oh, sure. But I always get sugar-free. I try and do sugar. I'm totally into a sugar-free cookbook. Cool. Okay, great. So I'm working on that now, which I'm really excited about because I gave up sugar four years ago and that changed.

Holy shit. You've been at sugar four years? I have fruit. Does that count? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, so natural sugar. Natural sugar, but like no, like no. Did it change your life?

It changed my life. So you don't drink wine. You're telling and you don't drink wine. I know. I drink tequila. Does that do anything for you? Love tequila. Okay, great.

I'm glad we got there. Yeah. So I do that. Wow. And did it change your life, honestly? For me, and look, it's not for everybody, but for me, I was struggling for a long time about, like, I had, they did this addiction. Oh, my God. Yeah.

So they did a study and they found that sugar has the same addiction as cocaine. Yeah. For me, I would eat something. Love cocaine. Oh, I'm just kidding. You know what it's my favorite health food? Totally joking. But, yeah, I couldn't stop.

Like, I had this binge eating problem. And for me, when I took the sugar out, all of a sudden, it became so easy. But the best part about it was is it recaptuited. calibrated my taste buds. So when I have fruit now, even vegetables, I know that sounds like crazy, but like I can taste the sweetness of real food and it really made me re-appreciate natural flavor, like the real flavors of real food. And it changed my life. Yeah. So definitely doing a cookbook there. I just think it's really cool. And I'll tell this to you and your listeners, if you are interested in dipping your toes into like eating less sugar, the first thing I was

recommend is like what you said with the ketchup, like going through your cabinet and just looking and seeing what ingredients do you use daily and just looking to see if there's any added sugar in there. So how do you do it with like, like pasta sauces? You just like, there are companies out there. There are companies out there that don't add sugar. There's like, I'm sure you know a primal kitchen for their ketchup. They don't do sugar.

There's company, especially now because of paleo and keto, there is a lot more like products coming out that are made without sugar or make things from scratch. Like my Italian mother would want me to. Oh, yeah. That reeks of effort. Doesn't it? Yeah. I don't do that.

I don't do that. I would love to be able to do that. I love to think that I would do that, but I won't. And that's important because, like, if you're the kind of person, you're like, what will you do? Like, cool, then let's do some work and find some companies that make some good stuff that you can stock in your pantry and your fridge that you don't have to do it. Right. Yeah. Okay.

I'm into this sugar-free thing. Because you, there's, like, smart sweets. Are they sugar-free? Which one's that one? I'm pretty sure they're the sugar-free candy that's like. Oh, you know what? I was to, what I'm seeing now a lot with the keto companies is, like, like, you're not. companies that make keto products is you're seeing a lot of the sugar alcohols like erythratol and all of those those can be really irritating to the gut so for me I like to look for things that don't have any sugar in them at all or I make a lot of my I love desserts and I have desserts all the time and I make them from scratch I know okay so you do you are Italian you make desserts from scratch yeah well make like muffins or cookies or like all sorts of little desserts and you'll have those in your recipe book yes because like for me it's like if you're eat people are like oh like I have to give a

sugar can't have anything fun again like i don't want you just eating broccoli and chicken all day and crying yeah yeah yeah miserable but you know if you make i make a fudge that's really quick and easy to put in the freezer like to me you know i i i can enjoy that and it has health benefits to eating it and it also doesn't make me feel guilty and i think that's the most important thing is like you don't want to like walk away from eating a meal and feeling bad about it whether you eat something i'm doing air quotes healthy or not like i think that's the biggest thing is like you know especially women we just make ourselves feel like crap all the time like what did i eat that well that was me i so three years ago i gave up eating meat because it was making me feel like crap yeah and now my body

is craving it so badly and i'm like does that mean i should listen to my body because i'm also listening to my heart with animals but and i'm like like it's a lot i don't know what to do because are you taking b12 yes okay good yes i take b12 um but i just feel like i don't know why my body is just all of a sudden this year You know what it is? It's because I'm dating a freaking guy from Buffalo who only eats chicken wings. There you go. You know what? There it is.

He's just eating chicken wings in front of you and you're just like, oh, my. I just need to smother some cauliflower in the hot sauce and get over. Treat yourself. Yeah. Treat yourself. I'm still kind of hooked on the opera singing things, so you don't do that at all anymore? No. Like, I do karaoke?

But when you karaoke, do you really just ever bust out an opera? You know what? My go-to karaoke song is the, I dreamed a dream. So I had like a Susan Boyle moment. Yeah. So I do that. Oh, I love a Susan Boyle moment. You just love a Susan Boyle moment.

What is she doing now? I don't know. We should call her. Do you have her in your phone? I should totally have her on the podcast. You should. Does she have Instagram? I wouldn't be surprised.

I'm looking. Susan's got to have an Instagram. If she doesn't. I don't know. Oh, yes, she does. Oh, look at her. She looks like sexy. She met the Pope.

She met the Pope. That's what she's just hanging out with the Pope. Oh, my God. Well, there it is. That was indecat. okay she is crushing life she's great she's with um linal richie oh my god susan the pope susan is crushing susan is crushing it in case anyone wanted to know what susan's up to she's just hanging out with the pipe i'm just to remind you i'm playing at alphalick gala on the ninth of november

in miami hope to see you there she looks great she looks great oh oh her hair looks nice yeah Okay, Susan. Glow up, Susan Boyle. I hope people know who we're talking about because if they don't. Google it. Google it. You have to. Yeah.

Oh, man, that's good. Okay, I'm really glad we just... So there's that. Yeah. Susan Boyle, everybody. We're just here to educate. Okay, I have a little game to play with you. Oh, okay.

Not so much a game, more advice, but it's called Alexander's advice. Ooh, okay. So I want to know one food everyone should incorporate into their diets. Okay. Yes. I'm thinking, because I'm always like, there's not one food that works for everybody. I was going to say, you know, greens, whether you have them cooked or non-cooked because some people can't do raw food very well, some type of dark, leafy green is fantastic. Okay.

Because it has your, it has a natural occurring sugar that feeds your gut bacteria. Oh. I know. Gut health is so important. It's making a lot of press right now. It really is. It's so in right now. I know.

I just went to this naturopath and she, it's called Nashville Brain and Body. and this woman, Dr. Melissa, is changing my life right now. She's also making me be like, oh, shit, I'm a terrible person for all these products that I use that are just definitely not natural. But it's you. It's such a thing because even if you're eating healthy, our skin absorbs everything. And so it's our largest organ. So it's like something to think about, you know, cleaning up that cabinet, putting some natural stuff in there. It's tough.

I'm trying. I mean, I made the switch to natural deodorant. Oh, okay. That's great. I'm there. It's, do you have a good natural? natural deodorant that it's hard it's hard because there is a while I was like damn I stink I still do yeah it's been like I know because you got to reapply it that's the thing

it's like doesn't work all like what do you are you using Schmitz or what do you yeah schmitz I like the rose that's what I use that's what I'm using see but it's so it hurts I'm like exfoliating my damn piss every day too because I'm like how it's so hard but but it is the one natural deodorant I found that works that one works I think I'm saying this wrong eco that's like they sell it a whole foods but they do like a lavender one that's a spray and you can kind of spray or willita makes like sprays which i kind of find easy because you just toss it in your purse and you just give a little spritz and then you walk out the door and who doesn't love a spritz moment anything like i spritz my face like you can't imagine i'm addicted

to spritz my boyfriend's like you gotta stop no my i've got my boyfriend addicted to his face um i got my boyfriend addicted to masking so yeah we both i feel like we're just out here doing the lord's work yeah you know what jason's on a three-step program right now for his skin care and i'm really proud of them. Yep, you're great. This podcast is brought to you by Shopify and Mookta Bean and Damn Handsome Grooming Co. And smile twice. Well, and a million other businesses.

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Best way to order a healthy meal when out of restaurant. Oh, great. One thing I'll tell everybody is I always like to do a little research ahead of time. So before you go to the restaurant and you're not being, you know, you're not like the waiters there and you have this pressure on people around you. You're like, oh, my God. So just kind of like pick up what you're going to have. have before you get there. That's a good idea.

Yeah, I think it makes a huge difference. And then, you know, I always tell people out of the sauces are where the hidden sugars are. So I always sub out olive oil. Like olive oil is such an amazing ingredient. It has really great therapeutic benefits. Really? Yeah, it's actually, it has the same therapeutic benefits as taking ibuprofen. So it's very good with inflammation.

Oh, good, because I'm also trying to not take ibuprofen. But girlfriend, my cramps. I know. It's a whole thing. Like, what do I do about that for being natural? You know, a lot of people say that doing cinnamon, like Ceylon cinnamon, like that's the true cinnamon, if you just have it all the time because it does have like, do you have to take it all the time can really help with women with cramping. Interesting. I heard a shot of gin. That's what I've been going to. You know what? I'm going to need a doctor's note for that, but I will go, yeah, I will get that. I definitely did hear that though. I don't know what. It was one of somebody from the show when I was on it way back when one of the women executive producers, which she swore by it. you know I think whatever works for you and you know it's because it's hard I was trying to

explain this to men I'm like it it can be uncomfortable for women you know it really hurts it really hurts it does not tickle okay so at a restaurant like so when it's a sauce like even a red sauce or any any sauce well I mean I'm not telling you can't I always tell people put it on the side so they're not smothering it all over things and you can kind of dip a little bit but you know when I was in college I worked in a restaurant and a lot of of times restaurants are using canola oil which is a really cheap oil so that's you know big in inflammation that would go in a sauce sugar goes in oh my god they put sugar in air because it makes it tastes good i get it um so yeah the sauce is like that's same thing even salad dressing some of them

have so much sugar in them that's i usually try and just do a lemon and some i love that olive oil but uh what was like is oh i worked in a restaurant too so i'm like also i find that they just add so much extra salt yeah like a simple thing is saying like um could you use like a little bit of olive oil instead of butter for the vegetables and like don't add any extra salt yeah that's what i try and do i try to do and it really helps because you know you when i go out to eat i'm like oh wow like i because i don't cook with i cook with a pink himalayan salt and i use it kind of sparingly i'm like whoa yeah yeah but one of my favorite things to do in nashville is go out to eat yeah so i'm like well and then i always tell people like 80 20 like 80 like 80 like 80% of the time you really

healthfully and then 20% you go on you have your hot wings or your hot cauliflower or whatever you want to do i have McDonald's like almost every sunday yeah great and there's nothing wrong with that like if you're feeling good and it you're i just want to empower people and put them in control where i remember what it was like when food had a control had control over me where i was like powerless to certain foods and i'm like no i decide when i have you hell yeah i decide when i stop having you yeah get it preach i totally i yeah i love that you're empowering people to do that because i think it is so tricky for people to think that that's okay because we've been told by magazines yeah but you know that that's not how it works yeah we're talking to you cosmo yeah

Cosmo. This is to you. Well, maybe they change. Who knows? They're totally taking away my blog that I'm supposed to do every... No, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

Okay, favorite meal to prepare when you need something now. Ooh, like, like food or... Yeah. Ooh, okay. What do I like? What do I like? I like. You know, I just love, like, doing like a big salad with lots of, like, grilled...

At home, I was do... That's what you do quick and you need it now. You just whip up a salad. Here's the deal. I always am grilling vegetables, like at night when I come home from work. So I always have, like, cauliflower and broth. Like, I love, like, cold, grilled vegetables. Like, because I always make, like, a bowl out of them.

And then I always have, like, I love one of my favorite ingredients is walnut oil. It's one of those oils that you don't heat. So it's got all these great omega-3s in them. It has this really cool nutty flavor. So I love to, like, whip up like a quick, like, bootable, almost all the grilled vegetables, a little walnut oil and maybe, like, dressing. And it's fantastic. Okay, that sounds amazing.

Yeah. But I always tell people, just grill a bunch of vegetables and keep them in your fridge. Because then you can toss them in an omelet. You can toss them in a salad. You can make a bowl out of them and reheat them. Do you have like a little grill? I just put them in my oven and I bake them. So I'll do like big sweet potatoes, big cauliflower, like whatever is in season, I think is great.

That's a really good one. Oh, cool. Okay. It's not like a pressing it first, but I'm like, no, no, hear me out. No, it's good. Yeah. Yeah, we stuck with you there. Yeah.

I usually do, like I love Ezekiel bread. Ooh, yeah. And I'll put that in the toaster, little almond butter. And then I slice up an apple and I put that on top with hemp seeds over it. You stop that. Yeah. There's something about apples and almond butter that I just feel like, there's something magical that happens?

Yeah. Yeah. It just changes your day a little bit. It does. It does. Yeah, it really does. I feel like I'm doing something right for my body. I do.

That sounds like combined those two things. One account, everyone should follow on Instagram for food inspo other than you. Ooh. Yes. Okay. Ma. You know, I love mind body green because they just offer like it's a, have you heard of it's like an online publication, but they have

so much, it's like they have their own Instagram, but they offer so much information and they introduce you to so many wellness wellness experts and they're great. Okay. A little smattering of everything. Love that. One food or diet

you might not have heard of, but now you should know. Hmm. I'm not big into like diets per se. Then you can say none. Yeah, I don't believe like there's one diet. I just think, the one thing I think of, it's like a holistic approach. So, you know, it's not just the food.

It's, you know, it's how you eat your food. It's how you go about your day. It's how you, you know, work out. It's all those things. So just a holistic approach, I think, is important. It's, it's so wild. It took me so many years to think about how to actually just listen to my body. Like I could not, I was like, that's stupid.

How am I, oh, is it telling me something? No, it actually is. No, it really is. Because I'm like, well, Cameron Dia says, I should do this, though. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's like, it's not working. like no no that's everybody thinks they should be doing what other people are doing yeah but have we not learned that lesson yet people that we aren't supposed to be doing

just things that other people are doing well because like you know why would my boyfriend who sticks too and I eat the same foods and eat the same way we move through our day completely differently yeah absolutely oh man does he eat a lot oh my god he's so expensive yeah well boys are in general food oh my god i'm like geez it's just like dating a garbage disposal i know jason was telling me about his like meal plan that he's on with how many calories he has to eat and all the stuff. I was like, okay, you do the grocery shopping. Yeah, no, I'm out.

Best food to eat before or after working out. Oh, you know, I always like a little protein, you know, so whether that is a smoothie with like some collagen protein, I feel like that's really good or some bone broth. I feel like that's nice. Yeah. I just, yeah, a little protein I feel like is great. Biggest overall piece of advice when it comes to being healthy. Yeah, listen to your body.

Listen to your damn party. Yeah, it's yours. It's yours. If it ain't working, stop. Yeah, I think that's, I think that's huge. It's, you know, it's such a, it's such an important thing. And I always tell people, you know, if you eat something you don't love, you have the opportunity at the next meal to get back on track. Because some people go like, screw it.

Friday through Sunday, I'm party in a Monday. Yeah. I'm going to get it together. I'm like, no, no, no. Breakfast wasn't great or it wasn't what you were proud of. Lunch. Lunch. Yeah.

Yeah. Balance. Yeah, balance. Yeah. I think that's what that's called. Yeah. Okay, so from the creator of Riverdale comes a sparkling adventure in the Big Apple.

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only on the CW app. Did I say last one was the last one? Because this is the last one. I really am interested to hear all people's perspective on this. But fasting, should we be eating? Everybody says breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Can that meal be at noon? you know i really think it's it depends upon the individual like um there's a great book um you should

have her on if she's around uh elissa viddy she wrote a book called woman code yeah actually that'd be great for you when it talks about cramps because i feel like really yes she talks a lot about that and and different ways to eat and to kind of help that but essentially you know she doesn't love it for women because our hormones are different yeah however me personally like the idea of eating in the morning just isn't appealing to me like i'm not hungry i don't really get hungry until 12 over one. So it's really like I would play with it, you know? And also play with it, especially if you're a woman listening to this, like when it's your cycle. Because we all know there's certain times when I'm hungrier and I'm not hungrier. And there's certain foods that you can

kind of work into that. So I say, just kind of test it out and see if you're hungry, eat. Because I would hate for someone to be like, I got a fast and they're starving. And then lunch comes and you'll put anything in your mouth after that. That's a good point. Yeah. That's, it's so hard for me because I was like I could try it but like I love breakfast and then you should have it I know great and I feel like you're getting good results so well thanks yeah yeah I just try that's again I try to just if I'm like sitting like right now my stomach is growling I was like I'm gonna go pick up a protein smoothie before I come here just so I'm not like so the mic is like roo my stomach we'll be back with more off the vine with Caitlin Bristow

And I'm Jenna Ashkowitz. We became best friends on the set of Glee. And now we're doing the Glee Recap podcast you have been waiting for. How romantic. Each week we'll take you behind the scenes. Spill all the Glee tea. And break down episodes from season one with former cast, crew, producers, and writers that brought the show to life.

I think everyone needs a little more tardy in their lives. Get new episodes of Showmance every Thursday on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Podcasts, and Podcasts. Fine with Caitlin Bristow. You're also a two-time TEDx speaker, which is very cool. I, myself, of a TEDx speaker. No way. I did. Yeah, I did one in Vancouver.

That's so cool. It was. It was really cool. But how did that come about for you? Have you always wanted to do? I've always wanted to do that. Amazing. The opportunity came up to do one.

And when I did the first one, one of the other speakers fell in love with TEDx talks. And she created her own. And she was like, you've got to come do one again. So I did it again. But let me ask you this. I have a hard time. memorizing stuff and I'm the worst that's why I did it as a conversation piece with somebody else so I had somebody interview me TEDx style you smart cookie because let me tell you something I had

night sweats yeah I was like I was trying so and I remembered everything but it was so stressful I was like I hate memorizing stuff because public speaking does not phase me yeah it's it's that am I going to remember what I'm going to say like you can put me in front of and I could do like I'm going to tell you a few jokes I'm trying to be funny or like do a podcast but for like a memorizing a speech or like, you know, trying to captivate an audience for that long. It was, you know, a lot. And you've got all your points to go through. It's like, you know what you're talking about,

but just to, like, do it in the proper way that you want people to hear it. Totally. And then you get on stage and you're like, it says TEDx in those red letters. Yeah. I got to get it together. Totally. Yeah. Those TEDx letters are intimidating.

They are. There's something about, yeah, I don't know what it is. But it scared me. Because you see so many people doing these talks that are, you know, like, Renee Brown. Yeah. And they're like. And me. And me.

And I, you know, you and I are both silly little people. So it's just like, you know, I'm like, oh, God, I don't know. So because you've probably been told your whole life that, you know, you're just cute instead of, you know, that you have something important to say. I have something important. So we have important things to say. Yeah, we do. And now we have the damn like. We do.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So my last question for you, it was kind of on the same topic as, you know, magazines with now we have social media, which those things are still there. Yeah. So what do you think some of the biggest reasons why we struggle? with with food so much is it that we're following the wrong accounts because there seems to be so many out there that can help us instead of hurt us but it's like it's almost like we go

looking for the opposite of what our bodies really need yeah I mean it's it's a lot because if you look like there's just a lot of products out there and look I'm not going to bash there's some products that are great that make it like really simple to kind of eat the way you want but I always tell people you know one thing I strive to do with my account for the most part is just really try to push like have you heard of parsnets like you know like you know just I think finding accounts that make it that inspire you and make you feel good as opposed to make you feel like you're not doing enough and you know like just certain it doesn't mean one counts better than the other just certain people speak to us differently than others and you want something

that's going to inspire you that is constantly giving value and information and how to enhance your life so was that the question yeah I don't know what I'm talking about yeah I went on I literally was looking deep into your soul with everything you were saying. Okay, good. Yeah. That's what I like about your account is like you're like a friend. You know what I mean?

Like I don't know you, but I felt like I know you because I was like, oh my God, she's just like this wonderful, positive, fun, human being. I can be super negative sometimes. I don't believe you. Oh, ask Jason. He thinks I'm a pessimist. I think all boyfriends don't. Yeah, I don't.

Yeah. I'm like, well, that's because you, like, okay, seven days out of every month, I am a raging bitch. But you know what? Aren't we all? Yes. Yeah. That's the problem.

I know. I am confused. I am irritable. I am in pain. Oh, my God. I am dealing with being a woman. Yep. And, yeah, in that week, I'm probably a little bit more on the negative side.

But then the other couple weeks, I'm great. But could you imagine if men had their, I mean, no. Oh, my. They would be like that the whole month, all right? And Jason's like a different human. He is the most positive, like, happy, go lucky, positive guy. I love that. positive guy I've ever met.

But then it makes me look like I'm I'm, and I'm actually, I feel like I'm pretty like I'm pretty happy overall. I'm pretty content. You're like this brave sunshine. Well, Jason will tell us differently. But yeah. Jason's like, oh, you know, no. He's like, yeah, sometimes.

Yeah. Sometimes she is a dark, vicious, bitchy cloud. You know what? It's nice to have both. You can't have too sunny people all the time. No, that would be, it would be way too much. And he would like it. No.

He thinks he might, but he wouldn't. He wouldn't. He absolutely would not. So there's that. Okay. Last thing we're going to do is a fact. versus fiction oh okay cool yeah so eating carbs causes weight gain i think it's i think it's fiction i think it depends upon the kind of carbs like you know like are you eating carbs from vegetables or like healthy

sources are you eating you know cookies very good depends upon the carb you found a loophole i did portion sizes have increased over the years yeah really well it depends well because now you're doing it it people are just so people love going to restaurants and people love doing these, like, social things where I feel like restaurants give you bigger portions than they should. Yeah, I always tell people, if you're concerned about portion size, you always feel like you overeat, have the restaurant wrap up half and you can take it home before you even get it. Ooh. What a hack.

What a hack. Yeah. So there's that. That's good. Okay. Everyone should be taking nutritional supplements. I think it doesn't hurt. Even though I love the idea that we can get all of our nutrition from our food, you know,

the soil is a little bit more depleted than it used to be. So, you know, vitamin D, magnesium, those are the ones. I see a lot of people are deficient in. So I think those would be great. And somebody like you who doesn't eat meat, B12 would be fantastic. Magnesium, is that help you sleep to you? It does everything. It does over 300 biochemical functions in the body.

It helps you sleep, helps with muscle soreness, energy levels. Doesn't it break down, like, certain kinds of food for your body to digest? It does. It does everything. It does damn everything. So I always tell people, you know, I like a powder that I take at night called, I think it's calm is the brand. It's very, yeah.

You see it everywhere, but I just take that. You put it in hot water. It doesn't come in a pill form, which is why I like it so much. And you just drink it and go to bed, then you get your magnesium. Okay. Yeah. Easy enough. Eating healthy is a lot more expensive than eating unhealthy.

It depends. Okay. You know, because I always tell people, like, if you're going out to eat all the time, that's expensive. You know, buying, you know, fresh organic fruits and vegetables now is, sure, it's a little bit more, but it's way cheaper than eating out. And also, there's a lot of great companies, like, I'm sure you've heard of threat. Thrive Market. Brandless is fantastic. They have organic things that are like four or five bucks. And then Imperfect Produce is great, too. Wow, we are just giving so much free advertising. I know. I need to stop. No, they're not paying us. No, I'm just kidding. I love giving people advice. But yeah, that's, I really actually do love Thrive Market. Yeah. Okay, eating small meals throughout the day will boost your metabolism. Fact or fiction.

There's a lot of studies now that's, you know, we're just eating too much, reading constantly. And so I think it's better to just have two, three meals, Like for me, I have two meals a day and I'm totally fine with it. But again, I'm the size of a small child. So like a normal person, like three meals without snacks, I think would be fantastic. And just constantly hydrating in between those meals. With water. Damn. I'm like, hydrating with water.

With water. With rosé. Yeah, exactly. I'm like, yeah, I've got some in the fridge. Oh, great. Okay. So that's all I have for you. Did we miss anything that you wanted to talk about?

No, I feel like you're great. Where can people get the book? Yeah. Where can people follow you on Instagram? where like how do we learn so much about you yeah if you go to my Instagram at eat cute i'm always on there so if anybody has questions after this episode i love to answer questions so you can just message me and i will answer them and i post a lot of free recipes and content there and then um i do virtual nutrition coaching so i can work it's great and i love it because i

rarely work with people in l.a i work with people all over the country which is cool because i just want to make sure everyone can get a hold of me so that's through my website which you can also find through my Instagram. Okay. And yeah, that's, that's me. That's about it. Well, you were really fun. I enjoyed having you here.

I had such a blast. You were delightful. Well, you are delightful. And your skin is just glowing. Just glowing with that rosé or whatever it is that you're eating. Yeah, I don't know what it is. Yeah. You know, it's, it's Elizabeth Smith over at Indy.

I'm like, Elizabeth, I got to come see you. I really, I swear she is like just, she's, she changes the world. That just might be your skin, though. I mean, yeah. I've seen the picture from whenever you were eating all sorts of fun things. So I feel like maybe that's just your face. I mean, I'll take it. Yeah.

It's also Instagram filters. No, there's no filter right now. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We're still in a world where we don't have contact lenses in that gives everybody a filter. Oh, yeah, but soon. Don't get me started. Okay, well, thank you so much.

And everybody go check her out. And I just, let's do it again sometime. I love you. Okay. Thank you for listening to Offa Vine with Caitlin Briscoe. Get new episodes every Tuesday exclusively on podcast.com, the Podcast One app, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Who's on with OTV? This week's Off the Vine is sponsored by Baked by Melissa.

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and a million other businesses. Why so many? Because we're sponsored by Shopify and they do everything they can to support the independent businesses on their platform. Shopify, supporting independence. And the CW. Katie Keen.

From the creator of Riverdale, Comes a sparkling adventure in the Big Apple. High Style has a new name, Katie Keen, the fashionable news series, premieres February 6th on the CW or streams free the next day on the CW app.