Black Iron Radio
by Black Iron Nutrition & Training
Welcome to Black Iron Radio! The Black Iron team is here to cut through the noise and give you real, no-BS advice on feeling, performing and looking your best. Every week we share practical nutrition, training, and wellness strategies and tips to help you succeed. Join the party!
Episodes
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Cholesterol: The Good, The Bad, & How to Lower Yours Naturally
Cholesterol in your food doesn't automatically mean high cholesterol in your blood. Amanda, Joyce, and Jess Gordon break down what cholesterol actually does in your body, the difference between LDL and HDL, and where triglycerides fit in. They also cover how a lipid panel works and why one result...
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So You Want To Manage Stress Without Using Food
Stress eating is normal, but when the snack is gone, the stress is still there. Ryann, Joyce, and Nic talk about managing stress without leaning on food. They start with the difference between good stress and the kind that wears you down, then get into why your brain heads for the pantry when...
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How to Read a Nutrition Label Like a Pro
The front of the package is there to sell you the food. The nutrition label is where you find out what you're actually buying. Amanda and Jess Gordon break down how to read a nutrition label, what matters, and what's just marketing, so you can stop getting fooled by food packaging. They start…
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Travel Workouts That Actually Deliver
You won't lose all your fitness and strength in a week. A few extra drinks and a lot of good meals won't undo your progress either. Enjoy the trip. Morgan and Jess Gordon get into what coaches tell clients about training while traveling. Most of the time it's "skip it and don't feel bad about…
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Setting Goals for Longevity, Not Just Today
The habits you build for this year's goals are shaping what your body can do at 60, 70, and 80. Ryann, Joyce, and Rachel get into how to set goals that hold up over decades, not just the next few months. They cover why muscle loss can start in your 30s, what menopause means for muscle and bone…
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Insulin Resistance, CGM's, & Blood Sugar Spikes: Breaking Down the Confusion
Somewhere along the way, the internet decided your blood sugar going up after you eat is a problem. It isn't! That's your body doing exactly what it's built to do. Amanda, Joyce, and Morgan break down the confusion around insulin resistance, continuous glucose monitors, and blood sugar spikes.…
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Learning To See Progress Beyond Just Looks
Somewhere along the way, most of us learned to measure our progress by what we see in the mirror. But the mirror leaves out almost everything cool and interesting. Ryann, Jess Gordon, and Nic get into why looks are so easy to nitpick, where all that pressure comes from, and how to start measuring...
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Optimization Culture: Why Aiming for Perfect is Getting in the Way of Your Progress
We're living in a culture obsessed with optimization. The perfect diet, the ideal workout split, the most productive morning routine, the exact right supplement stack, tracking every metric a wearable can give you. The irony is that chasing optimal everything can make it harder to do the basic...
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How to Get Back on Track After a Vacation
You know that feeling where you need a vacation to recover from the vacation? Going grocery shopping and into your normal routine feels like a chore, and one more day of takeout starts to sound pretty reasonable. Ryann, Sabrina, and Nic get into how to get back to your routine without the two...
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Weekend Nutrition Strategies That Actually Work
You're dialed in Monday through Thursday, then Friday hits and it all comes undone. Ryann, Brooke, and Jess Gordon get into why the weekend trips up almost everyone, and it's usually not willpower. Your weekdays have a built-in rhythm and your weekends don't, so with no plan, one meal out turns...
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Kathy's Story:400 Pounds to a Decade of Showing Up
Kathy was close to 400 pounds at 19, but her weight is genuinely the least interesting thing about her, and that's kind of the whole point of this episode. Morgan and Brooke sit down with Kathy Novak, Brooke's client of many years and a friend for over a decade. Kathy was close to 400 pounds at…
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So You Want To Work on Skills You Suck At
There's a certain grace we give kids while they're learning that we completely stop giving ourselves as adults. Morgan, Brooke, and Jess Gordon get into why being bad at something is worth leaning into, not avoiding. As adults we tend to stay parked in the areas where we're already competent, so...
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So You Want To Build Endurance Without Losing Strength
Adding endurance doesn't automatically cost you your strength. Bad programming, under-fueling, and no recovery cost you your strength. Amanda and Jess G. get into how to build endurance while holding onto the strength you spent years earning. The good news up front: maintaining strength takes far...
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So You Want To Stop Procrastinating Your Workouts
Wanting to be fit and talking yourself out of a workout can very easily coexist since the hardest part of a workout is usually the part where you decide to do it. Amanda and Christin get into why procrastinating a workout is almost never a discipline issues. It's usually a friction, expectations,...
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How Lifting Builds Confidence Outside the Gym
The confidence you build under a barbell doesn't stay under the barbell. Morgan, Christin, and Manders have a front row seat to it: watching timid, unsure people walk into a gym and slowly turn into someone who volunteers for the hard thing, cheers on strangers, and signs up for the boxing class...
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Trusting Your Taper: Why Feeling Worse Means You're Getting Better
You spent months believing more work equals better performance. Then someone tells you to train less right before the biggest day of your season. Your brain hates it. Your body needs it. Amanda, Dr. Chris, and Chelsea get into why the taper is the most misunderstood part of a training block. The...
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Training During Your Cycle: What the Research Says Now
Cycle syncing is all over your feed right now, wrapped in a lot of intensity and a little bit of fear-mongering. So we looked at what the research actually says. Morgan and Jess Gordon get into the difference between the real, legitimate hormonal changes that happen across your cycle and the...
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Supporting Health Goals That Aren't Yours
Watching someone you love struggle with a habit that's hurting them is genuinely hard. The instinct is to fix it, but that's almost never what helps. Amanda, Joyce, and Jess Gordon get into the psychology of supporting someone else's health goals, especially when that person isn't ready yet. They...
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Mindful Eating Beyond Buzzwords
Mindful eating got buzzword-ified into something rigid and complicated, which is was never meant to be. Ryann, Christin, and Sabrina cut through the noise on what mindful eating truly means. It's not chewing every bite for 90 seconds. It's not only eating when you're hungry and stopping the…
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Introducing The Method
Krissy, Ryann, and Amanda sit down to break down The Method, BIN's new 4-month program built for active people who want real nutrition support without the price tag of 1:1 coaching. They walk through what's included, how it works, what Krissy and Kelsey are covering in the weekly education…
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From Comparison to Confidence: Social Media & Body Image
Comparison itself isn't the problem. It's that you're comparing yourself to something fake and not even realizing it. Ryann, Brooke, and Joyce get into how social media reshapes your body image, why the algorithm isn't showing you what you love but what you can't look away from, and how the whole...
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Raising Kids Without Food Guilt
You can care about your own nutrition and still raise a kid with a healthy relationship to food. The two aren't in conflict. The language you use is what makes the difference. Amanda, Christin, and Kelly come at this from three stages of parenthood: hoping to start a family, brand new mom, and…
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The Great Big Costco Episode
We made a whole episode about how we shop at Costco, plus a free guide so you don't have to take notes. Krissy, Ryann, Joyce, and Chelsea break down how they shop the warehouse: the proteins, carbs, and fats that end up in their carts every time, the stuff that seems like a deal but goes bad…
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So You Want To Bounce Back After Injury
The athletes who come back strongest are not the ones who heal the fastest. They're the ones who respect the biology and rebuild with patience. Amanda, Jess Saxon, and Whitney (DPT) get into why you genuinely cannot cheat code an injury. They break down the phases of tissue healing and why...
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The Voice in Your Head: Why Self-Talk Changes Outcomes
You hear your own voice more than anyone else's. Eventually it becomes the environment your brain lives in. Amanda, Christin, and Jess Saxon get into how the story running in your head shapes your performance, your body image, your confidence, and your ability to build anything that lasts. They...
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So You Want To Stop Chasing Perfect Nutrition
Perfectionism with nutrition is one of the fastest ways to make sure nothing sticks. Ryann, Jess Gordon, and Joyce get into where the pressure to be perfect actually comes from, why restriction works about as well as holding a beach ball underwater, and what balanced nutrition looks like when...
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Experience vs. Education: What Makes a Great Coach?
Lots of great coaches have a formal education, lots do not. The point is that a degree isn't necessarily the thing that makes them so good. Krissy, Dr. Chris, and Ryann come at this from completely different backgrounds. They get into what makes a great coach, why formal education is often…
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So You Want To Involve Your Kids in Health Habits
The goal isn't just to raise healthy kids, but to raise adults who can walk into a room full of food choices and trust themselves. Morgan, Joyce, and Jess Saxon get into how the way you talk about food and movement in front of your kids shapes their relationship with both for the rest of their...
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How to Truly Listen to Your Body (Recovery Edition)
Most athletes do not have a recovery problem, they have a listening problem... Morgan, Amanda, and Brooke get into how to listen to what your body is telling you without needing a Garmin, Oura, or WHOOP to tell you first. They break down the difference between productive discomfort and pain that…
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Strength vs. Endurance as We Age: Your Athletic Prime Might Last Longer Than You Think
Everyone talks about your athletic prime like it is a cliff you fall off at 30. It is not. Amanda, Nic, and Jess Gordon get into how different athletic qualities age at completely different rates, why sprint and power sports peak young while endurance keeps rewarding you into your 40s and 50s…
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Embracing the Heat: How Summer Training Makes You Faster
If your pace fell off a cliff the second it got hot out, you're not losing fitness. You're adapting! Amanda, Chelsea, and Dr. Chris break down the summer slowdown, the very real reason your easy runs suddenly feel brutal and your heart rate spikes for no obvious reason. They get into what is...
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So You Want To Stop Falling for Nutrition & Fitness Misinformation
We have more health information available to us than ever before, and somehow people are more confused than they have ever been. Amanda, Chris (PhD exercise science), and Jess Gordon get into why nutrition and fitness misinformation spreads so easily, what makes it so believable, and how to build…
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Cutting Back on Alcohol: What to Know and What to Try
Alcohol consumption in the US just hit its lowest point in nearly 90 years, and the conversation around drinking has gotten a lot more nuanced. Ryann, Sabrina, and Nic get into why people are drinking less, what is actually driving the change, and what the growing market of alcohol alternatives...
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So You Want to Improve Your Body Comp Without Sacrificing Performance
Wanting to change your body composition as an athlete is common. Knowing how to do it without tanking your performance is a different story. Krissy, Kelly, and Kelsey get into what body recomposition means for performance, why being your leanest is almost never the same as performing your best…
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Deep Dive on Sleep Hygiene: Past Tips & New Hacks
You already know you should be sleeping more. This episode is about actually making it happen. Morgan, Ryann, and Nic get into both the fundamentals you need to have in place and the newer research most people have not heard yet. They cover why poor sleep does more damage to your nutrition…
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So You Want To Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable
Feeling uncomfortable when you try to change something is not a sign you are doing it wrong. It is a sign your brain is working exactly as designed. Amanda, Brooke, and Kelly get into the biology and psychology behind why behavior change is so hard, why your brain is literally wired to talk you…
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Celebrating Non-Scale Wins
The scale is capable of doing exactly one thing well: telling you your relationship to gravity. It cannot tell you how much muscle you have gained, how much fat you have lost, how your sleep has improved, or why you finally stopped stress eating at 10pm. And yet most people use it as the only...
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So You Want To Eat Healthy While Road Tripping
Road trips and good nutrition do not have to be mutually exclusive. But they do require a little more thought than just hoping there is a Chipotle at the halfway point. Ryann, Kelsey, and Nic get into the real barriers that make eating well on the road so hard: the f*ck-it mentality when your...
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Rewriting the "Summer Body" Story
Every year around this time, without fail, the summer body messaging is in full-force. The "last chance to lose 10 pounds before beach season" ads, paired with the implication that you have to earn the right to be seen in a swimsuit. It is the same story in different packaging, and it has been...
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So You Want To Enjoy Dessert Without Guilt
Dessert is not the problem. Guilt aorund it is. Morgan, Christin, and Jess S. get into why so many people have a complicated relationship with sweets, where that relationship actually comes from, and what the science says about what happens in your brain when you restrict something you actually...
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Why Quick Fixes Fail: The Psychology of Dieting
If you've ever wondered why you can be a disciplined, structured person in most other areas of your life and still feel completely out of control around food the second you try to lose weight, this episode is going to explain a lot. Amanda, Christin, and Joyce get into the psychology of dieting…
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So You Want To Crush Your First Competition
Signing up is the easy part. Showing up prepared is a different story. Ryann, Christin, and Jess G. break down everything they wish someone had told them before their first atheltic competition. How to pick the right competition, meet, or race for where you actually are right now, how to build…
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What Happens When Your Identity Gets Too Wrapped Up In Being Fit or Strong
Most people don't notice their identity has gotten too wrapped up in fitness until it is already somewhat of a problem. Krissy, Kelsey, and Kelly get into the signs it's gone too far, what it costs you when it does, and how to loosen the grip without losing the thing you love. They talk about…
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So You Want To Learn More About Back Health
Back pain has a way of making you terrified of the exact movements that would actually fix it. And at some point, a lot of people develop a complicated relationship with their back because of this. Morgan sits down with Whitney, doctor of physical therapy, and Jess G. to talk about why back pain…
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Stress Eating vs. Stress Movement: Rewiring Your Stress Response
Stress eating isn't a discipline thing. It is your nervous system looking for the fastest route to relief, and food is really good at providing that, at least temporarily. Ryann, Sabrina, and Chloe get into why we reach for food when we are stressed, what is happening in the body when we do, and...
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So You Want To Rebuild Your Confidence After Weight Gain
Weight gain is not a moral failure. But we live in a culture that treats it like one. Ryann, Brooke, and Jess get into the identity shift that comes with a body that looks or feels different, why comparing yourself to a previous version of yourself is one of the least useful things you can do…
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Hybrid Training: Balancing Endurance & Strength
Hybrid training is trending right now, and so is the confusion about what it actually means. Spoiler: doing 20min of cardio at the end of your lift does not make you a hybrid athlete. Morgan, Sabrina, and Kelly break down what hybrid training actually is, why your body is being asked to adapt to...
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So You Want to Stop Starting Over Every Week, Month, or Year
Starting over is exhausting, and at some point, it starts feeling like nothing works. Krissy, Sabrina, and Kelsey break it down in three parts: why you keep ending up back at square one, why that cycle is doing more damage than you realize, and how to knock it off. They get into all or nothing...
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Protein Variety: Beyond Chicken & Shakes
If your entire protein strategy is chicken breast and protein shake, we need to talk. Manders, Sam, and Ryann get into why protein variety matters. And no, it is not just about hitting a number. They talk about the protein ick (it is real, it will find you), how to stack protein sources so you…
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So You Want To Build Better Breakfasts
Most people know they should eat breakfast. Actually doing it (consistently, with enough of the right stuff) is a different story. Ryann, Kelsey, and Chelsea dig into why breakfast matters, what a balanced morning meal looks like, and how to make it work for your life (even if you're out the door...
About this show
Welcome to Black Iron Radio! The Black Iron team is here to cut through the noise and give you real, no-BS advice on feeling, performing and looking your best. Every week we share practical nutrition, training, and wellness strategies and tips to help you succeed. Join the party!
Hosted by
Black Iron Nutrition & Training