Who's Dat Phat Girl with Brooke Hoover

I have an episode for King Cake, an episode for Beignets and an episode for Biscuits. But, I didn't have an episode for something that I eat every day...until now.

My beloved Overnight Oats needed a special episode for many reasons:

They're easy to make - LEARN how to make more oat-based recipes and how to add in more protein with a few more "hacks" I have for ya.

They're resistant starch - HEAR WHY resis...

I've you've ever experienced chronic pain (which is most likely, considering over 51 million Americans experienced chronic pain just last year) then you know is a real pain in the YOU KNOW WHAT.

Today, I'm speaking with Mandy Ryle, a Chronic Pain Specialist and a Certified Nutritionist.

Mandy has been a movement instructor for nearly two decades and it is her mission is to empower individuals challenged by persiste...

"You Gotta Get a Gimmick" can hold true for burlesque, cabaret and Broadway musicals but WHY oh WHY is it the case for health and wellness?

I used to be a sucker for a good marketing campaign. I used to be a sucker for anything that told me it would provide me instant relief, weight loss and enlightenment. I used to be a sucker for fat sucking (stay tuned to hear more).

And, after so much drama and too much mone...

Today I talk with long-time friend, fellow actor/writer/comedian Ken Perlstein about his road to recovery. Ken and I met two decades ago when we were part of an improv troupe called 8 Is Never Enough during the Bush Kerry era, doing political and non-political comedy sketch, improv and standup. I admire Ken for his fearlessness in being vulnerable about his recovery journey and his ability to help others. We are talking about Ken&#...

While Café du Monde in New Orleans is known as the OG of making and selling beignets (fried leavened dough that becomes a golden angel's pillow topped with powdered sugar) and café au lait (coffee with hot milk), there's another beignet place that I hold near and dear.

I grew up having beignets (a fried dough treat, native to Louisiana) every Sunday with my dad after early morning church at Coffee Call in Baton Rouge, Loui...

New Year, New You Yadda Yadda Yadda

If your New Year's Resolution has gone by the way side already then, yay! Welcome to the club - wait I haven't done a resolution in YEARS. (Side bar, did you listen to the Season 2 Episode 28 about New Year's Words Vs. New Year's Resolutions???)

Here are FIVE EASY and TANGIBLE organizational tips that are OH so January - and that are easy enough to do in "chunks" that...

I set out to do this podcast in order to share, entertain and inspire. I didn't realize it'd also help me bring up some of my own sh*t including trauma and patterns. Losing the literal weight, the 100 pounds, has only been a minuscule part of the healing journey. The journey (for all of us) gets easier when we start realizing that the physical and the mental health aspects go hand in hand. I think we are always on a healing...

Ah, the new year, 2024 is upon us. For SO long, my new year's resolution was "I will lose weight this year" or "I will not eat cake this year". Too vague, too much punishment and, at the end of the day (at the end of the year?) would those resolutions really make me a better person?

So, I started choosing a "word of the year" instead of a New Year's Resolution. Last year, my word of the ye...

Growing up in South Louisiana, all I wanted was a White Christmas and WASPy cut out sugar cookies with a perfect presentation. But, we were usually wearing shorts and t-shirts on Christmas Day and because my Momma is 110% Rajun Cajun, we never did those cute little holiday cookies. We made Cajun candy (pralines and gold brick fudge) which tasted great but looked like alligator poop.

After years of fighting my heritage and wan...

Coach Rita Savoia and I talk about the importance of breath to help with stress and this season is arguably one of THE most stressful times of year so we could all use a little BREATH. Something so simple and yet many of us are doing it incorrectly - including yours truly! Learn some techniques to breathe optimally and to help find peace - even in the line at the airport or mall. We also tell tales about random things from Mariah C...

The Universe, God and/or a Facebook Algorithm connected me with a kindred spirit, Shaele who lives completely across the US (Props to us for handling time zone conversions with ease.)

Initially, we connected because have both had success stories in our PCOS journeys, but we also realize throughout this episode that we have many more similarities as well. Sometimes, social media can be a good thing (and I think Martha Stewart would...

We've all heard of the concept of SPRING CLEANING but what about cleaning up and reorganizing that cave before a few months of hibernation ?!?! (Or, for my Louisiana folk, why not do something productive other than the usual holiday stuff between LSU Football and Mardi Gras?)

As an actor, I've had many "side hustles" but my main one is a PERSONAL ORGANIZER. I've seen a variety of types of situations - from hoa...

Come trick or treat with me and play connect the dots (with all my face moles) in this week's episode, y'all!

Halloween inspired me to talk about one of my dirty little not so secrets - my chin mole (which sprouts hairs on command) that I'm not so proud of along with my other more strategically placed by God moles that I've come to accept.

I'm telling tales about moles through the ages and why it seems easier to...

If you're like me and all the Basics, then you love FALL. Everything about FALL. Especially FALL FOODS. But, ain't it a shame that so many of the fall foods which naturally pack a lot of nutrients are full of inflammatory causing foods (white flour and sugar) that aren't good for insulin resistance ?!?! If you want to enjoy that apple cider donut or that PSL, go for it !!! NO SHAME HERE - EVER! However, add these princi...

(or, Woes of a Private School Kid & Her School Cafeteria)

For years, my momma brought me my school lunch HOT AND FRESH every day - EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Until I changed schools to the school of hard knocks which also had a cafeteria whose food was DEFINITELY NOT Louisiana caliber. When Momma's invited to my school cafeteria to "see how bad the food really is", will I have to eat my own words? Listen to the tale and ...

I'm telling tales with one of my best pals who's also a yoga teacher, Amy Fulgham!!!

Amy and I met at 4:45 in the morning en route to a brothel over a decade ago (Well, the SET of a brothel) 'cause we were portraying HOOKERS in a beloved HBO show about the Prohibition Era (name to remain anonymous due to the SAG-AFTRA strike) and we've been friends ever since.

Amy has transitioned from actor to yoga instructor and I...

While we're in that back to school time of year, I thought I'd tell some tales about my uniform woes in school. While navigating wearing a uniform (and all the criteria that came with it) while being a FAT girl wasn't easy, I learned some uniform loopholes to make my uniform more fitting for a PHAT (pretty hot and tempting) girl. We all still wear uniforms in a sense even after we graduate from school. My uniform of cho...

For me, working as a Standardized Patient became more than a good side hustle for an actor or a way to make a quick(ish) buck and definitely more than that episode of Seinfeld, it is how I learned to see doctors as human and how I got over (or at least learned how to handle) my fear of doctors.

If you prefer to READ the FULL TRANSCRIPT of this episode, I transcribe them all myself and they're available for download at: www...