No-Bullsh!t Vega‪n‬ Karina Inkster

K.I. team members Karina Inkster, Izzy Pope-Moore, and Zoe Peled unite for a tri-force podcast episode to discuss some “trends” of the fitness/athleticism industries and problematic tendencies of “weight loss first fitness”. Throughout the discussion, the team debunks a few myths about veganism and BMI, shares their diverse- and impressive- training goals, and much (much) more.

In Part 1 (of 2) of our K.I. team member series, Izzy Pope-Moore shares what it’s like to work in a hospital during a pandemic as a vegan. We chat about whatever comes to mind, including her efforts to make the hospital cafeteria more vegan-friendly, strength training, her work fostering cats, and her new Main Street Vegan Academy certifications.

Tobias returns to the show to bust myths about the “new year, new you” concept. We both love nerding out on tracking progress, optimizing our habits, and setting goals, so we had a freestyle discussion about all of this. When are goals useful? When *shouldn’t* we set goals? How do we best track progress? Tobias leads Athlegan, a team of passionate vegan athletes who are trying to change the world by helping more people become strong and fit vegans.

Stephanie Dreyer of Batch Cooking Club joins me to discuss three myths about vegan meal prep: Preparing homemade vegan meals is time consuming and difficult, following a meal plan takes too much work and effort, and being vegan in a non-vegan family is impossible. Stephanie shares her method for making weekly plant-based meal prep simple and stress-free.

Raydel's new book passes down traditional Cuban family recipes -- in vegan form. He shares his story of coming to veganism from the typical meat-heavy Cuban diet, and the resulting transformation in his health. We also discuss how he's passing down his grandmother's family recipes to the next generation, and keeping the traditions and memories of "old Cuba" alive via its food -- but veganized. Raydel Hernandez is a first generation Cuban American, home cook, and culinary author.

How is "processed food" defined? Why does the term have such a bad reputation? Where do vegan processed foods fit in? Why is the black-and-white view of “all processed foods are bad” problematic, and what message might this send? How do we assess the healthiness of a food? We take a look at a few food package examples from Chana's fridge. We also discuss bioengineering; it’s much more common than you might think. And, at the end of the episode, I have a very special holiday surprise for you!