Roll With The Punches

Burnout... Imagine if the fix was as simple as just pee when you need to pee.
Well, Cait Donovan (who I adored chatting with) has landed on the hypothesis that it very well starts right there. Cait's spent years pulling apart the research on burnout after the seemingly unlikely reality of landing there herself as a passionate Chinese Medicine practitioner.
And what she discovered is that burnout is a whole lot more complicated than simply doing too much and needing a holiday.
We get into why some of us become so disconnected from the signals our bodies are sending us that we don't even realise we're ignoring them, how the pathways we've spent a lifetime building become the easiest ones for our brains to keep taking, and why recovery isn't about finding one magic answer.
We talk resentment, self-abandonment, boundaries, trauma, athletes, emotional regulation, and why sometimes the thing that finally helps isn't THE answer... it's just the next piece of the puzzle.
And honestly, there were a few moments where I thought, well f*ckety f*ck... that's uncomfortably familiar.

SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au
CAIT DONOVAN
Website: caitdonovan.com
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben Vasiliou is back to chat with me today about boys, men, masculinity, algorithms and, lo 'n' behold, we even throw a lil' politics on the table... very un-Tiff-like indeed, huh!
Ben's spent years working with young people and now leads The Man Cave, so he's in the thick of these conversations every single day. And I dare say, I found myself nodding along for most of it.
His new book, Better Man, was what prompted me to ask him to come on for this chat about what healthy masculinity actually looks like when we stop looking at it through the loudest voices on the internet...
But I reckon this conversation is about way more than men.
It's about all of us, really. What happens when we stop trying to win arguments and start getting curious instead. About finding connection in a world that's becoming more divided by the minute.
SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au
BEN VASILIOU
Website: www.simonandschuster.com.au
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I knew this one was going to be an absolute ripper, but I was so not prepared for just how much I'd laugh.
If you've ever wanted to learn about Yucatan micro pigs... and the breast implants Dr. Chris Winter gave them in the name of groundbreaking sleep research... then, boy oh boy, you're in luck. Because, as it turns out, when I hunted down one of the most reputable sleep experts I could find, little did I know he's also the world's foremost expert on the sleep habits of said pigs. Naturally.
Somewhere amongst all the glorious shenanigans and completely unnecessary detours that unfolded, we actually did manage to unpack an absolute stack of sleep gold. So hold off on the melatonin, kids, and stick with us...
We talk about why chasing the 'perfect' night's sleep often backfires, why one rubbish night doesn't mean tomorrow's ruined, what actually changes in women's sleep as our hormones start doing their thing, and why so many people spend years trying to fix their sleep, when what really needs fixing is the panic they feel about not sleeping.
Chris has a brilliant capacity to make complicated science feel ridiculously simple and remove the unnecessary overwhelm that often comes with this whole 'optimisation' saga.
I reckon you might just come away from this chat wanting to sleep better... but caring a whole lot less about trying to get it perfect. And lo and behold, I dare that's the magic sleep elixir right there.

SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au
DR. CHRIS WINTER
Website: wchriswinter.com/
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I loved this conversation... partly because I learned a stack, and partly because it reminded me that no matter how much time you spend in health and fitness, you're never too experienced to discover you've been doing something a bit... dumb.
Marie-Pierre St-Onge, PhD has spent decades studying nutrition, sleep and weight regulation, and thankfully she isn't in the business of selling magic foods, miracle supplements or "this one weird trick..." nonsense. We got into why one crappy night's sleep can have you eyeing off every biscuit, chip and carb within a five-kilometre radius, why your brain basically turns into a dodgy wingman when you're sleep deprived, and why the answer is almost always less exciting than we'd hoped.
Then, as always, I accidentally turned the microphone on myself.
I've been down a proper nutrition rabbit hole lately while building a new strength program, and despite boxing for years, working in health and fitness for decades and generally feeling quite smug about how well I fueled this biological Ferrari of mine... turns out I dare say I've been running it on fumes. Specifically, not nearly enough carbs. Which is a little embarrassing to admit publicly... but ah well, here we are.
I reckon that's why I enjoyed this chat so much. It wasn't another conversation trying to convince us that seed oils are plotting our demise or that blueberries will solve all our problems (unless we combine them with banana #FML). It was about staying curious, looking at the evidence, questioning our own assumptions and remembering that sometimes the body has been trying to tell us something for years... we're just busy arguing with it.
So, if you've ever demolished the pantry after a rubbish night's sleep, wondered whether meal timing actually matters, or just enjoy listening to me discover, in real time, that I don't know nearly as much as I thought I did... I reckon you'll love this one.

SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au
MARIE-PIERRE ST-ONGE
Website: marie-pierrest-onge.com/
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ooooh look out... this one is going to make your brain itch!
This week I'm joined by the incredible evolutionary psychologist Professor Steve Stewart-Williams as we dive balls deep into one of the most fascinating, misunderstood and polarising conversations out there... sex differences.
What evolution itself might have to say about why men and women are different? Where does biology end and culture begin? And why do these conversations make people so uncomfortable? Are we really just arguing with millions of years of evolution without even realising it? Lots of interested questions to ponder here... and if we can just manage to put our bias's aside for a second, it makes for a much more compelling chat!
I also hit Steve up for his take on dating, attraction, masculinity, femininity, parenting, ADHD, gender identity, workplace differences, consent, mental health, and why understanding human nature isn't actually about 'limiting people'... it's about understanding ourselves a lil' better.
You don't have to agree with everything... which is kind of the point. But if you're curious enough to question your own assumptions, I reckon you're going to LOVE this one.

SPONSORED BY TESTART FAMILY LAWYERS
Website: testartfamilylawyers.com.au
STEVE STEWART-WILLIAMS
Website: stevestewartwilliams.website/
TIFFANEE COOK
Linktree: linktr.ee/rollwiththepunches
Website: tiffcook.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.