Who's Dat Phat Girl with Brooke Hoover

Raise your hand if you're a burnt out caregiver. The two seem to go hand in hand. I'm sharing some self care tips that are working for me and/or that I'm putting into place as a caregiver and while self care has almost become a nails on the chalkboard type of expression to my ears (because it's so overused) the message behind it is important. Listen to those flight attendants y&#39...

What do Danny from the hit boy band New Kids on the Block and Banana Pudding have in common? Well, they were initially rejects at the pot luck party in my brain. Banana pudding for its texture and banana flavor and just not being a super Louisiana type of dessert. Danny from New Kids on the Block for not being, well, not being the cutest one. And, for my allegiance to Donny - no wait Jordan - no w...

Because I have a summer birthday, I've never been a HEY LOOK AT ME IT'S MY BIRTHDAY type of person which is SO not Leo of me but I guess it's because I never wanted to set myself up for disappointment. I usually use my birthday as a reflection time and I thought it was fitting to share with y'all a note I wrote to my younger self when prompted to do so for a writing submission. The...

Both Megan Gaul, a Staten Island, NY based health coach and Brooke share in a journey of 100 pound weight loss and reshaping (ha! pun intended) how they approached food, conversations around food and their mental health and they're just a bridge away from each other. (The Bayonne Bridge - or Goethals Bridge, if there's construction, to be exact.) Megan helps empower peeps with one on one coaching...

If you've been listening to this here podcast for the past nine months or so, you know I've been going through the process of getting a dental implant. First off, I know I'm one of the lucky ones in that regard to be able to have the insurance (and the credit card) to be able to even get such an implant. But why is dental health equally luxury AND agony? Why are we so terrified of dent...

Cheri Paige Fogelman, Brooke's long-time friend and a personal trainer with a background in modern dance and overall PHAT girl doesn't believe that we should beat ourselves up if we show up with only 10% to give to a workout or, heck, even life on any given day. How many times have you heard THAT from a personal trainer? Usually it's "NO PAIN NO GAIN" and who wants pain? And especially who wants t...

The notion of SELF CARE has become a marketing ploy (much like shaving our legs and painting our toe nails). The idea behind it is great : take time for YOURSELF. But, in my HUMBLE yet PHAT opinion, it has now translated into : do all of this time consuming and oftentimes expensive beauty care stuff instead of take time for yourself to just BE. Combine that with the notion of a SUMMER BODY (from i...

The ups and downs of life have often been compared to a roller coaster. Amusement parks are bipolar mofos. The day after, it's always super depressing. Or is it just me? I used to LOVE amusement parks : the lights, the colours, the almost dying. That was FUN. Or is it just me? Amusement parks were also scary, death traps where you could get kidnapped? Or is it just me? From Disney World to Dol...

Today's special guest HUYEN VU (a Functional Health Pracitioner AND Certified Physician's Assistant) was SICK AND TIRED of feeling SICK AND TIRED. After dealing with many health issues including IBS, Huyen knew there was more to feeling better than simply feeling like she was being bounced back and forth like a ping pong ball in a broken health system. So, she took CHARGE of her health usi...

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 res...

Friend and Fashionista Jacqui Getz is telling tales with me today about her journey from high school principal to personal style curator. (You may have seen her on Vogue's Street Style Series - if not click HERE !) Jacqui went back to get her SECOND master's degree in her 60's. Jacqui also has studied at FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) and she now specializes in helping women over 50 find an...

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 indi...

"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 muc...

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...

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 a...

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...

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....

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...

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...

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 tale...

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...

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 variet...

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...

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 HER...

(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...