Category Archives: Podcast

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Adventures in Humaning – Episode 12: Frustrated Forager.

Adventures in Humaning - Episode 12: Frustrated Forager | Frank Hults of Frankly Well & Meredith Rhodes of Forward Health CoachHello again!

Frank and I return with a follow up to our previous show about our familiarity with market foods vs the weeds outside. We’re both new-ish to foraging – but I have a year’s worth of paying attention AND a mentor to guide me… whereas Frank has a passion an understanding of the nutrient riches out there, but a crazy frustration because he feels lost in the weeds – so to speak.

In this show – we chat about some of those frustrations and get around to recommending resources and approaches to get you passed road blocks to collecting and eating wild foods.

I go off on a wild tangent about pollen in the rock record. I have a lot to learn about living pollen – having only experienced the fossilized remains (queue the massive googling).

Some resources mentioned in the show:

We have also received our first carrier pigeon! Jen asks about ticks and what we do about them. Frank refers her to a great episode that Daniel Vitalis does for one of his Rewild Yourself episodes with Stephen Harrod Buhner.

In the words of Frank – Peace out bipedals!

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Adventures in Humaning – Episode 11: The Weeds.

Adventures in Humaning - Episode 11: The Weeds | Frank Hults of Frankly Well, and Meredith Rhodes of Forward Health CoachClick here to go right to the show.

Well Hello! We’ve missed you…

Frank and I are back after a bit of a hiatus wherein we chose… to live our lives 😉 We’ve both moved into new homes and we’re both facing serious change.

Some would say, Adventure. That’s how I’m approaching life anyway.

Speaking of change – it’s Springtime. Things are most definitely changing outside. Trees have leaves, lawns everywhere are facing mowers, and farmer’s markets are in full force in my neck of the woods.

In this episode, we begin our journey into the relatively unknown by starting with what we do know, in this case, about veggies. I’d wager that most everyone can identify lettuce, broccoli, carrots, and potatoes. Why is that? Well, these are foods that our parents and teachers ate, foods that we can buy in the grocery store and at the farmer’s market. They are commonly cultivated in large quantities in a field, or even in small quantities in a backyard.

But why is it that when we look outside, all we can identify is grass vs. weeds? OK, maybe we have a few things down, like dandelions and pine trees and daisies… but, the rest of ‘nature’ is full of weeds?

Answer: We weren’t born into a society that uses them as food anymore. We are absolutely unfamiliar with the edible ‘weeds’ around us.

Frank and I chat a lot about this in this show. We’re both fledgling foragers – beginning to actually incorporate wild foods into our lives.

And there are sooo many reasons why.

This show is probably a Part 1 show – where we do a little compare and contrast between veggies in the store, and wild foods from nature (nutritionally, economically, ecosystem-ally). We hope to create awareness about the treasure-trove of free, nutrient dense foods that are probably in your yard (that you might be trying to get rid of). This show is begging for a Part 2 where we talk about where to start your foraging adventure.

I give a shout out to a show that I did with Sam Thayer on The Roots of Health. And I even butcher the titles of his books, Nature’s Garden and Forager’s Harvest (you can visit his store right here).

Have a listen – send us some feedback or tell us about your favorite wild food. We’d love to try it!

Cheers!
Meredith & Frank

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Adventures In Humaning – Episode 10: Movement Matters.

Adventures in Humaning - Episode 10: Movement Matters with Katy Bowman | Frank Hults of Frankly Well & Meredith Rhodes of Forward Health Coach

Click here to go right to the show on Stitcher, iTunes, Soundcloud, or Google Play.

Join Frank and Meredith as they fanboy/girl with Katy Bowman. They discuss topics from Katy’s book Movement Matters.

Those conversations include:

  • What is the conventional definition of nature?
  • Are we the single unique thing in the universe?
  • What is the Katy Bowman definition of nature? It’s all about the discordance of rates for change things these days.
  • Find out the round about way that Katy realized that she was part of an ecosystem.
  • How do you reconnect with your natural ecosystem? Short story: Transition. But… you could…
    Quantify things – Butt to chair ratio, indoor to outdoor time
  • Because we can’t see something, we can’t investigate those questions
  • We wanted to ask Katy about getting naked in nature. But ended up talking about her experience with cold thermogenesis…
  • “When you’re in the river, you’re part of the river for the time that you are in it” ~KBow, 2017
  • Think about how a butterfly adapts to its environment – not ready for flight when it’s out of the chrysalis. You are a butterfly 😉
  • We’re immobilized by our situation. Or so we perceive.
  • Movement is intrinsically linked to what it means to be human, but it’s never really considered…
  • Life is dynamic. Movement matters.
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Adventures In Humaning – Episode 9: Minimalism.

Episode 9 of Adventures In Humaning : Minimalism | Frank Hults of Frankly Well & Meredith Rhodes of Forward HealthMinimalism.

Does that word sound stark, terrible, emotionless, and sad?

I used to, to me (Me = Meredith in this case).

But today – I see crazy opportunity, and even health associated with that word.

Today’s show marks a starting point for me. Frank and I discuss our recent run-in with the concept / approach of minimalism. To us, minimalism is very ancestral. It’s about re-prioritizing relationships and experiences over ‘stuff’. It’s about recognizing consumerism and waste, and actively opting out. It’s also about discovering (we hope!) the personal health gains, more time, more sleep, less worry, easier health.

In this show, you’ll find out…

  • We kind of think we’ve been minimalists living amongst our stuff for a long time.
  • Minimalism invokes less – but maybe it’s really maximizing life. It’s a word of abundance.
  • From an ancestral perspective, minimalism feels right. The two approaches are really very congruent. Traditional ways were minimalist by nature.
  • We talk about consumerism… about that shirt or hat that you buy because it’s such a great deal. The one that isn’t made to last, has a huge carbon footprint, and you really don’t like anyway.
  • The cost of a thing vs. the value of a handmade craft.
  • I set the stage for my awareness of minimalism. Through divorce and christmas ornaments… and my want for a tiny house.
  • Recognizing that minimalism is a thing – a movement that you can join.
  • It’s a way toward freedom, control, toward declutter, toward creating time and space, saving money, toward elevating relationships and experiences in your life.
  • There is no object that should be more important than a relationship.
  • What to do with all of the old ‘sentimental’ stuff.
  • The idea to multipurpose things. I have an idea for a table/desk/bed thing.
  • Frank challenged to not research on google. PLEASE SEND IDEAS!
  • What minimalism means to me – clothes, thrift, outlets.
  • We chat about zero waste home.
  • Vitamin awareness (thanks to Katy Bowman for this phrase).
  • How much energy can you take on yourself instead of outsourcing?

Resources:

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Adventures In Humaning – Episode 8: Healthy Skepticism.

Adventures In Humaning Episode 008: Healthy Skepticism | Frank Hults of Frankly Well & Meredith Rhodes of Forward HealthThis show explores what it means to be a healthy skeptic. Frank and I argue this means using your critical thinking skills to question your relationship with… well, all things that you interact with on a daily basis.

‘Healthy’, in this case, means ‘informed’. Methinks.

How can this approach to your environment influence your health directly?

We talk about fat, dairy, wild foods, GMO’s, antibiotics…

And if you hang on ’til the end – Frank develops a pretty awesome analogy that can help you to identify some bias in your life.

Here’s a link to Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz.

“Be a healthy skeptic, but be skeptical about your skepticism” ~Frank said that.

You can avoid this ‘calf path’ lifeway if you question this ‘calf path’ lifeway.

 

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Adventures In Humaning – Episode 7: The Dangers of Critical Thinking.

Adventures In Humaning Episode 7: The Dangers of Critical Thinking | Frank Hults & Meredith RhodesAre critical thinking skills becoming a lost art? Are we outsourcing our thinking? How do we teach the next generation to think for themselves?

Is it too dangerous to be a critical thinker?

Can we have a society of critical thinkers?

Critical thinking means being responsive to information, not just accepting it. It doesn’t mean you can’t have an opinion, or agree with someone else’s opinion, it means that you can, in your own words, describe your own ‘why’.

How do you cultivate these skills? Well, if your child asks you, ‘Why?’ you might ask them ‘Why do you think?’. By comparing and contrasting ideas. By challenging your beliefs. By understanding that there are more than 2 options, and not falling for a false dichotomy.

Unlock your own intellectual independence. If you haven’t heard the Calf Path show – give it a listen. Forge your own path.

Also – I’m in love with Word Porn. I love this one:

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Adventures In Humaning – Episode 6: So You Think You’re Special? Bioindividuality

Adventures In Humaning - Episode 6: So You Think You're Special? Bioindividuality | Frank Hults of Frankly Well & Meredith Rhodes of Forward Health CoachThe concept of bioindividuality as applied to dietary approaches refers to the observation that there is no one-size-fits-all diet. Frank and I chat about what it really means and the idea that there is one human diet. What are the variables that give us our bioindividuality?

A couple of links/ideas of interest:

  • Institute for Integrative Nutrition
  • Pottenger’s Cats
  • There are many right ways… 
  • Your bioindividuality is crafted by things like, your family, genetics, epigenetics, gender, perceived stressors, age, current state of health, your preferences, seasons, geography, bacteria, movement habits, sleep… all of the ways that you interact with this world… create your bioindividuality
  • Locovore
  • How do you determine your bioindividuality? What diet is best for you?
  • They are called SNIGLETS. Subatomic Toasticles. Truth.

We’re getting some iTunes reviews! Thank you… thank you muchly… If you are so moved… please send us some love on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher… or our Facebook page.

Cheers!

Meredith

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Adventures In Humaning – Extreme Indoor Environment Series: Part 2 – Circadian Rhythm

Adventures In Humaning with Frank & Meredith | Extreme Indoor Environment Series | Circadian Rhythms | Frankly Well | Forward Health Coach

Welcome back to another episode of Adventures In Humaning. Once again – we’re discussing why our indoor environment might be pretty extreme.  Last week, we discussed how the bacteria in our indoor environment might be pretty extreme and what that means to our health. This week, we chat about home living inside disconnects us from the natural circadian forces that influence the life of all living organisms.  We are no longer used to being in the sun, natural light and dark cycles, and daily and seasonal temperature fluctuation. This disconnect affects important things like our hormone signaling and sleep cycles.

Ironically – the comfort zone provided by our indoor environment – is what makes it so extreme to our bodies.

You’ll hear Frank & I talk about things like:

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Adventures In Humaning – Extreme Indoor Environment Series: Part 1 – Bacteria

Bacteria 03-01This week, we delve deep into an interesting topic.  We challenge you to expand your definition of what you consider to be an extreme environment.

Normally, we consider extreme environments to be those that test the very limits of human survivability. We take this perspective, twist it around, and pose a new question. What if the environment that we normally consider most safe, docile and mundane, is actually the most extreme environment?

We are talking about our modern, updated, sterile, climate controlled homes. Our artificially lit, heated, cooled, cleaned manufactured and furnished home environment.

We encourage you to join us, in this meandering conversation with an open mind and a curious spirit.

Join the conversation on Twitter on Facebook or carrier pigeon. I think Frank would dig that.

 

Here are the show notes, references, and other tomfoolery:

In case you were wondering about our intro… Cats purr, a biological explanation

Extreme environments that bacteria live in:

Humans have existed in the indoor environment only relatively recently in the evolutionary context of the entire species. 

“You adapt to what you do physically 100% of the time” ~Katy Bowman

How hospitals create superbugs. 

Are we inadvertently suporting an environment where we create a catalyst for superbugs?

Geologic time scale perspective. 

We have a long-standing relationship with bacteria.

The microbiome and clothes…

Infrared  and ultraviolet  disinfecting and or cleansing effect on bacteria, skin water bottling.

Kombucha 

The dangers of over washing And over sanitizing your hands

The story of the doctor and the handwashing fad. 

Soil bacteria – Spores,

Soil based probiotics – Megaspore probiotic.

Bacteria spray for litter boxes. Mother dirt?

Polyface farms and sustainable biomimicked agricultural systems

Natural household cleansers

Conventional raised store-bought eggs the case for refrigeration.

The shells of eggs are porous, nature has already devise and implemented incredible safety and preservation techniques. 

If you like anything you heard here if it intrigued you, resonated with you, got you thinking changed your perspective where you found value in the information provided, or if it moved you in someway. Please give us the pleasure of a personal review and or rating and iTunes.

We may even read it on the podcast.

We would also like to encourage you to join the conversation get involved in the meandering discussion by way of social media whichever is your favorite.

We have Twitter

We have Facebook we will see you there.

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Adventures In Humaning – Episode 2: The Calf Path


Calf PathGo right to this episode on soundcloud here.

Adventures In Humaning goes literary this week. We read and discuss a poem by Sam Foss (1895) called ‘The Calf Path‘. This is a poem about how it’s in our nature to take the path. Frank and I have a meandering conversation that includes references to and the topics of:

  • Escape Adulthood
  • Credentials
  • Science in general – how we tend to science the heck out of life
  • And how we receive the conclusions of ‘science’
  • Question even what you believe to be a credible source
  • Even though you might not want to be the expert…
  • It’s sometimes valuable to get your hands dirty to understand something better for yourself.
  • Kids & school. Our education system is a calf path.
  • Medical doctors, their path, and their constraints.
  • You are put in a box, risked for insurance, and medicated like others despite your uniqueness.
  • We tend to create solutions with no problems. Especially around the topic of cholesterol.
  • But there is value to the calf path, it is our human nature, maybe a simpler, more ancestral path would be easier on us.
  • Frank mentions the Weston A Price Foundation.

Come on over to the Adventures in Humaning Facebook page to introduce yourself, or leave us a review on iTunes… much appreciated!

Cheers!