CAPS LOCK

In this episode, Sam sits down with cultural expert, media personality, and entrepreneur Sara Jane Ho of Netflix's Mind Your Manners to learn for the first time what Traditional Chinese Medicine has known forever: Which directions your windows should face. Which foods nourish the feminine, and which nourish the masculine. How to prevent gray hairs. How to breathe (literally). How to poop (seriously). And how to bring the balance of eastern medicine to a chaotic western lifestyle.

Listen to this episode if you feel like there's a missing puzzle piece in your wellness journey that you just can't put your finger on. (Hint: it might be qi deficiency.)

Key moments:

00:03:54 How living in several countries as a child changed the rest of her life

00:05:44 Navigating both eastern and western culture as a child

00:08:27 The influence of feng shui throughout her life

00:09:45 When you’re actually supposed to feng shui your home

00:10:45 The most jarring aspects of western culture after living in China

00:15:05 The role Traditional Chinese Medicine has played in her life

00:16:21 The best hack for taking Herbal Chinese Medicine

00:20:03 The impact of western culture and habits on her body

00:25:14 Core principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine

00:26:55 What is qi and what role does it play in TCM?

00:31:36 3 ways to nourish and protect your qi

00:33:23 The relationship between qi and yin yang

00:33:58 Masculine (yang) and feminine (yin) foods

00:34:41 TCM says eat THIS to prevent gray hairs

00:38:14 Finding a healthy balance between eastern and western medicine

00:39:11 How to support your different organs, according to TCM

00:41:23 Energetic heat: inflammation, eczema, acne, and skin conditions

00:42:35 How the western diet is sooo opposite a healthy eastern diet

00:43:21 How to eat in a balance of hot and cold for health + digestion

00:43:53 The connection between your organs and emotions

00:45:11 Dampness in Chinese Medicine

00:47:18 Why rice is so important in Chinese culture

00:48:04 Postpartum confinement in China

00:50:27 Why she stopped doing HIIT workouts

00:54:09 How to incorporate eastern medicine into a western lifestyle

00:54:58 The top 3 reasons Americans get acupuncture

00:55:13 How to poop (no, seriously)

00:56:03 TCM views on coffee vs. tea

00:58:37 Common misconceptions about TCM

01:00:38 Her favorite feng shui practices and rules

01:01:21 How to feng shui your home for prosperity and abundance

01:02:22 Which direction your windows should be facing for ideal feng shui

01:03:32 Why you shouldn’t leave shoes at your front door

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In this episode, Sam links cravings and unhealthy eating habits to her worsening anxiety when she stumbles upon old research from episode #21: Gut Health 101. Turns out, the connection between your diet and your mental health runs wayyy deeper than just blood sugar spikes and crashes. So she explores the role of your microbiome, your vagus nerve, glutamate, GABA, and more to uncover the truth about food, anxiety, and depresion.

Listen to this episode if you've been eating like crap lately!

Key moments:

08:19 The truth about burnout

13:20 The gut-brain axis, explained

13:38 What is your enteric nervous system (ENS)?

16:12 How the gut-brain axis affects your emotional state

16:20 Which neurotransmitters are produced in your gut?

17:41 How the bacteria in your gut can cause depression, stress, and anxiety

18:25 The link between IBS and clinical depression

19:52 The vagus nerve’s role in the gut-brain axis

20:19 What does the vagus nerve actually do in your body?

23:44 WTF is glutamate, and what does it have to do with your mental health?

24:38 What does glutamate do?

26:48 Foods that have high glutamate

27:43 WTF is GABA?

29:10 How does our diet affect glutamate/GABA balance?

31:35 The vicious cycle of unhealthy eating, glutamate and GABA production, and mood disorders (spoiler: they all feed each other)

33:16 Other ways your diet causes depression or anxiety

36:15 The impact of alcohol on glutamate and GABA production

38:54 How to change your diet to improve your mental health

39:28 What is vagal tone and how do you improve it?

39:52 Symptoms of poor vagal tone

40:10 5 things you can do RIGHT NOW to improve the health of your vagus nerve

42:36 Foods and eating techniques to beat anxiety and depression

44:00 HOW to eat (not just WHAT to eat)

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In this episode, Sam shares her food, exercise, and wellness tips for feeling and looking better in just 4 weeks, deep dives into the reality of bulking and counting macros (spoiler...it's not fun), and gets super vulnerable about the state of the pod in 2026. Chatty bestie time on 100.

Listen to this episode if you just realized summer is around the corner, or if you're a fan of CAPS LOCK.

Key moments:

04:31 Sam’s highly effective program for getting snatched ASAP

06:56 Which foods to cut out if you want to look and feel better 30 days from now

12:37 Why you should eat all your meals within this timeframe

14:51 Sam’s exercise routine when she needs to tighten up on a quick turnaround

18:26 Sleep routine, sauna routine, and the drink that makes you live forever! (jokes, kinda?)

19:54 An anti-inflammatory life hack that has multiple health benefits

21:45 The best and healthiest way to doomscroll lol

23:05 Does counting macros ever get easier???

24:41 The “ratio and order” methods for eating healthy at restaurants

28:49 Sam’s bulking journey: updates, learnings, etc.

31:49 Sam’s current diet and workout plan

33:58 Gym and nutrition advice if you want something between a Pilates bod and a gym physique

36:02 Sam’s favorite athleticwear brands and pieces

38:36 What’s coming up for CAPS LOCK listeners in 2026

47:32 Which foods trigger cortisol spikes

51:24 Sam personal life updates! Getting engaged?? Travel? Summer???

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In this episode, Sam has to rewatch an episode of Loot three times because she can't lock in for the life of her. Problematic! So she decided to embark on a mission to understand her inability to concentrate one one task for more than 90 seconds at a time. Ultimately, she attributes her lack of focus to a two-pronged problem we ALL face every minute of every day, and discovers eight actionable strategies for exercising and improving your attention span that we can implement starting right. Freaking. Now.

Listen to this episode if watching TikToks on 2x speed STILL isn't fast enough.

Key moments:

(Lots of yap intro today lol)

22:07 Why our attention spans are so short right now

22:16 The age of information overload

24:51 Why we’re all doing phone-free time wrong

26:13 The 3-level phone-free challenge (see if you can get to level 3)

29:46 Sam’s favorite entry-level meditation app

32:58 How single-tasking can extend your attention span (and productivity!)

36:05 How much caffeine is good for your attention span vs. needed for energy/productivity?

38:15 You can exercise and strengthen your attention span, and it’s actually fun :)

40:12 The best practices for amazing sleep hygiene

42:19 How sleep apnea affects your concentration and focus

43:45 How your vision and hearing affect your attention span

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In this episode, Sam is inspired by her family's interest in fasting for autophagic response to do some research. Autophagy is sold to us as a cancer-killing agent—according to some Healthtokkers, a single autophagy-boosting caloric fast can halve your risk of developing cancer. Is that true? Are there limitations or variables? And how does it affect your pace of aging? All questions this episode will address.

Listen to this episode if you want to know how to safely trigger autophagy, and whether you're even a candidate.

Key moments:

03:36 How Sam found out about autophagy

05:09 Fasting and autophagy

05:56 Sam’s mom and her experience with fasting

09:05 What is autophagy?

18:07 The part of autophagy that allegedly kills/prevents cancer

19:43 How to trigger or ramp up autophagy intentionally

21:06 4 things you can do to try and boost autophagy

21:20 How fasting might trigger heightened autophagy

21:55 How long do you need to fast to trigger autophagy?

23:00 Caloric restriction vs. fasting

23:16 What is a keto diet and what does it have to do with autophagy?

25:24 The easiest way to trigger increased autophagic output

27:41 Wait, is autophagy even a good thing???

28:29 World-renowned doctors and their conflicting conclusions about autophagy

29:26 How to use autophagy to achieve your health goals

29:49 The #1 danger of autophagy, and why you’d want to be VERY careful before trying to trigger it

31:03 The bottom line on whether autophagy is a good or bad thing for disease prevention

32:40 The bottom line on whether autophagy is a good thing for aging and metabolic health

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