299. Peloton Launches New Social Media Channel Plus Our Interview With Liz Briones

Last Updated: March 2, 2023By Crystal OKeefe (#ClipOutCrystal)Tags: Biliopancreatic Diversion, Exercise, Gastric Sleeve Surgery, Peloton, pregnancy, Weight Loss Surgery

Peloton is launching a new social media channel.
New Voice commands on the Guide are live.
Peloton has made changes to the wait list policy for studio classes.
Hopping into a friends class via has tags on the home screen is gone.
Peloton is celebrating Women’s History Month.
Peloton was featured in ABC’s new show “Not Dead Yet.”
Retail Gazette takes us inside Peloton’s new Covent Garden store.
The Sounds Like A Cult podcast focused on Peloton.
The Guide gets an excellent review from Pocket Lint.
Peloton board faces insider trading suit.
Dr. Jenn – Workout tips post hip replacement.
Jess King & Sophia Urista are pregnant again.
Ben Alldis teased a new project.
It’s a book!
Ash Pryor talked to Yahoo about dealing with body shaming.
Selena Samuela has new partnership with PKG.
Becs Gentry is back in the office.
Alex Toussaint is a brand ambassador for Smartwater.
Alex hosted a Smartwater event.
Rad Lopez is working with Under Armour & Hypebeast.
Emma Loveweel spoke to the American Heart Association in Texas.
Robin Arzon ended her book tour with an event at PSNY (with other Peloton mothers).
Robin announced a Swagger Society event at ETHDenver.
Logan Aldridge had tips to improve your golf swing.
Kristin McGee was hanging out with past-instructor Chase Tucker.
Angelo answers, Can you lower cholesterol through nutrition?
The latest artist series features Kylie Minogue.
Anya Adams’ latest project “Prom Pact” is set to debut on Disney+.
Stacy Sims was featured in Self Magazine.
Dr. Jenn was featured in The Sun.
The Holderness Family is showing off the workouts they used to win The Amazing Race.
Rebecca Kennedy core program is now available on all platforms.
Kristin McGee is teaching her first yoga for cycling class.
Ben Alldis’ Stronger You program is now available on all platforms.
Row Challenge lowered its target goals…significantly.
Kristen Ferguson is doing a gospel Tread class.
There are some upcoming invite-only events: Jenn Sherman sing along (3/10) and Jess Sims (3/11)

All this plus our interview with Liz Briones!

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Watch the episode here

Listen to the podcast here

Peloton Launches New Social Media Channel Plus Our Interview With Liz Briones

It’s good to know that you’re feeling better.

It’s mostly concussion stuff. That’s mostly what I have.

It’s amazing how long that lingers. It’s not like you get better up to a point and it’s like a save spot in a video game. That’s not how brain stuff works at all.

Everything will be fine and then I will be like, “What is that word?” I’ve always been a person who multitasks well. It is very disconcerting to me to try to sit in a car and can’t look over at the screen because I’m trying to look at the traffic. My anxiety from the traffic is also way up, so that doesn’t help. I know it will all come back. At least that’s what they tell me, but it’s very disconcerting to not be able to hear two different people talking to me at the same time. I know they were talking but I didn’t hear them at all. It’s so disconcerting. It’s probably good to talk about because a lot of people don’t know how long concussions can last and how devastating they can be. I feel like I’m very lucky.

In the grand scheme of things, yours is fairly minor but it’s fascinating how disruptive it can be even when it is a minor one.

I am happy to report that we went to the ortho follow-up to talk to them about my clavicle.

He was like, “Why are you here?”

He said to me, “Are you sure you got hurt?” He pressed on it because it was so well healed on the x-ray. He’s like, “Does this even hurt?” I was like, “It does, actually.”

It’s like when your parents used to get mad at you for crying, “I will give you a reason to cry.”

He was very impressed with my range of motion, which I completely owe to physical therapy. I have been so impressed with all the things we are learning at physical therapy.

We need to take a quick moment to spotlight the level of restraint that I had when the doctor introduced himself as Dr. Wang.

I thought you might have gotten it all out of your system before. Apparently, you still felt like you needed to restrain yourself.

It’s hard. I’m not even trying. It has always been a point of pride for me that I don’t tend to make jokes about people’s names.

It’s beneath you because it’s too easy.

There’s no joke I’m going to make that this person hasn’t already heard, so I didn’t, but I wanted to. It’s like ten of them are all queued up. That’s how my head works.

I’m over here like, “Is everything okay? Am I going to be able to snorkel when I go on vacation in a few weeks?” Tom’s over here making dick jokes.

I was making dick jokes in my head. It’s like the wrong one of us got the concussion.

You’d be miserable. You’d be like, “I lost my ability to make the jokes.”

“There should be a joke here. I don’t know what it is.” I was just surprised he wasn’t a neurologist. That’s all. They said that you don’t need to go back for the clavicle part. We’re checking things off rapidly. Right now, it’s the lingering from the concussion so far.

I’m definitely going to have scars from the road rash. That keeps becoming more and more apparent every week. I still have my goose egg, although it’s getting smaller. You can’t see the black eye. I have to look for that.

I haven’t gotten a dirty look in public in a week now. That’s great.

I got a little tweak in my left knee still, but the physical therapist doesn’t seem worried about it. He said that if we can move everything the way it’s supposed to move, we don’t need to worry about it.

He does it for a living.

I’m going to let him tell me what to do.

It’s a pretty busy week.

I feel like that’s an understatement. There’s a lot going on.

They are not necessarily great controversies, but lots of stuff.

We’re ramping up. The spring season is going to be a big one over at Peloton.

What pray tell is all this exciting stuff we have in store?

Lots of new features. Little changes, big changes. There’s a lot going on at Peloton. We’re going to talk about all of that. I don’t want to get too into it here. We’re also going to talk about where Peloton is being featured. We’re going to talk about where all the instructors are. We’re going to talk about another lawsuit. There’s so much going on with the instructors. They’re everywhere.

We got to talk about artist collaborations. We have past guest updates up the wazoo. Apparently, not only the instructors are busy, but also people who have been on the show. We have a bunch of things for In Case You Missed It. Dr. Jenn is visiting us. We have a visit from Angelo at MetPro as well.

Before we get to all that, shameless plugs, don’t forget we’re available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, iHeart. Wherever you find a podcast, you can find us. While you’re there, be sure and follow us so you never miss an episode. Maybe leave us a review. That’s always helpful and appreciated. You can also find us on Facebook, Facebook.com/TheClipOut. While you’re there, like the page, join the group. If you like what you hear, share an episode or a post in your social media feed. That’s the easiest thing you can do to help us out, just to let people know.

You can find us on YouTube, YouTube.com/TheClipOut, where you can watch these episodes. You can also go to our Patreon, Patreon.com/TheClipOut, where you can get these episodes add-free. A lot of times, if we get them early, you get them early. You also, get the occasional bonus episode, which we pull one out a few days ago, giving you a more in-depth look into what Crystal has been going through, and some of our TV tips and things that we watch that we think you might like. There’s all that. Let’s dig in. Shall we?

We shall.

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A big change in how you will be interacting with Peloton on social media moving forward.

Peloton is launching a new social media channel on Instagram and it’s going to be called Peloton Studios. Our understanding is that this is very different from One Peloton and Peloton Apparel because this is going to be focused on the member experience, the behind-the-scenes, the VIP, and the things you would be seeing if you are at the studios. This is a way for Peloton to bring all of the things that happen backstage to us. I’m pretty excited about it. I think it’s going to be pretty cool.

It’s smart to delineate them that way. The One Peloton account is more like the front-facing account for people who maybe haven’t fully entered the world of Peloton yet. This is for the people who are already completely on board and can’t get enough. It will aggregate a lot of instructor content. It used to be that there were 12 instructors you can follow. Now there are 58 instructors to follow. That can overwhelm a feed.

People can follow just that and handpick their favorite instructors. I also think it’s smart that it forces people to see instructors that they wouldn’t see normally because they are locked into a ride with Robin and Cody. That’s it. When they go to do a ride, they just want to get their workout out of the way. They’re not hunting for a new experience. It’s Robin and Cody, and they’re done. This is a good way for people to see some of the other instructors that they wouldn’t normally think to ride with, run with, or follow on the Gram.

This is going to be a great place to highlight things. My favorite backstage experience ever is the love-hate relationship between Jess Sims and Matty Maggiacomo, and the teasing that goes on, especially in Halloween with the way that Matty likes to scare the crap out of Jess Sims. This would be a great way to keep track of that, or whenever Peloton went to the Row event. To be able to have a place to livestream what’s going on not just through the instructors but through the social media team, that’s a great way to do that as well. I’m excited to see what they do with this. I’m excited to see what all these mysterious posts mean that they posted up here.

They already came out hot with a post about Homecoming.

All it says is, “This year, we’re bringing Homecoming to you.”

Do you think that means it’s going to be another virtual homecoming or they’re going to certain cities to set things up?

I don’t think it means either of those. I think they are going to use this channel to bring Homecoming to the people who can’t go. It’s going to be an in-person event. They know not everybody can go. This is a way to share it with everybody.

That’s an interesting interpretation. We shall see if that ends up being accurate.

We got lots of time. It’s only March. That’s only eight weeks away.

It’s not that far away. We will be talking to the person that will be overseeing that project in the next episode.

We’re going to talk to Caitlin. She is going to give us all the details. We all want to know what’s going on with the new social channel. We will have that up for you in the next episode so you can listen to her directly and hear it right from her.

The Peloton Guide has taken voice commands out of beta. You can now fully utilize them.

They had some that were already being used. What this beta was doing was taking a bunch of new voice commands and working on them in the background. There are a whole bunch of new things that you can do. After you get done with your workout, you can be like, “Peloton, search for all the 15-minute upper-body Rad Lopez classes.” Peloton will do that. It will search and bring it up for you. You could already use it for things like, “Increase my weight to 10 pounds.” It would do that. Now you can do a whole bunch of searching and things like that. That’s amazing. I like this feature with Guide. It’s a great addition.

Can you think of other things that you can do with it?

After you’ve picked a class, you can say, “Search for the classes,” then you can say, “Peloton, select the third one.” You can tell it to go to weights and then you can tell it other things about the search. The big thing that people are going to find is the searching. Also, while you’re taking the class, you can play, pause, and change weights. You can go forward movements. You can go back to movements if you miss something. Those are all great features to have because you might be laying on the floor in the middle of a yoga pretzel move, or you might be on the floor trying to do some move with weights and you have them lifted above your head, and you don’t want to get up to go do that with the remote. This is a lot easier.

We should also remind people that not only does it have new features like that but it’s also cheaper than ever.

That sale that went up, actually they didn’t say it was a sale, but the new price was $195. It’s a great time to get it.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner.

It’s March. If we’re going to have Homecoming soon, that means Mother’s Day is right after Homecoming. Be prepared, people.

I already got something picked up.

Really?

I do. I already purchased it. You’re going to love it.

I feel a lot of pressure now because Father’s Day is right after that.

I know. That’s why I do it that way. I’m not dumb. Besides, Father’s Day is always a rip-off because, on Father’s Day, the kids are in school. They will have all the kids do things for Mother’s Day. On Father’s Day, you get nothing. That’s how it works.

Some moms do more than other moms. Let’s say that.

I am painfully well aware. Moving right along, there have been changes to the waitlist program for people who want to attend studio classes.

I’m hearing about it everywhere. They’re seeing people ending up in these classes. How is this happening if they have these class limits?

Because they’re greedy jerks.

They are. I love how they get on social media and brag about what jerk they are. They think they’re cute. Instead, people hate them. Keep posting it. Even though there are class limits, you can still use the waitlist. Tom, let’s say we’re going to New York. I’m trying to manifest this by saying it. When we get to New York, I am in four classes over a weekend. I get there and I’ve already used up all my spots, but I’m at the studio. What do I do?

You hang out in the lobby the whole day.

Now, what I can do is get on the waitlist for as many classes as I want. Does it mean I’m going to get in? I’m not saying that’s a guarantee. Peloton is always going to make sure they have every seat filled before all else. If you’ve already taken all the classes that had been allowed to you and you’re still at the studio, get on the waitlist.

You might as well throw your name on there.

You might get in. I am under the impression that this is going to evolve over time. At some point, there’s probably going to be a priority given. Tom, let’s say that you signed up for one class. I signed up for four, and then you and I both get on the waitlist. The way this is going to work in my understanding is that you are going to be next in line for the wait list over me.

That’s because I haven’t taken as many classes or I’m not on the books for as many classes.

This doesn’t matter when you signed up for the waitlist. This is about being in the studio. If you’re not there, you can’t get on it.

They’re going to try and wait it to make it more equitable.

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Also, if the class has a last-minute cancellation or a no-show, then they can pull somebody from the studio even if they weren’t on the waitlist. That means you didn’t even get on the waitlist, but you’re just standing there talking. They could pull you in. You could be on standby.

I’m not going to be on standby. Also, if I get a class and then someone who is taking fewer classes shows up, they have a giant hook and they can pull you off a bike like a showtime at the Apollo. They grab a hook and you’re off the bike.

This also means that you’re going to want to have credits in your account in case this occurs. They’re going to still charge you for that if you’re on the waitlist. To get on the waitlist, you need a credit in your account. If you get pulled in from the standby or when you’re standing there and they grab you randomly, you’re not going to use a credit. That is a gift. If you are on the waitlist, then you’re going to still use it.

If for some reason you get on the waitlist and you don’t get into the class, you will get the credit back into your account. We want to make sure we make all that clear. Also, for those of you asking, the same jerks keep getting on the same bikes. That totally happens. How that happens is they may or may not lie and say they have a milestone every single time. They then get priority to get into the studio, shove everyone else out of the way, and get onto their favorite bikes. We haven’t figured out a way around that because we rely on the honesty policy, and some people aren’t.

Some people take a penny and leave a penny. Others just take a penny. They’re like, “This is my 347th ride and 347 was my address growing up. It’s my home address milestone.”

“I’ve been here this weekend. While I’ve been standing here in the studio, I took ten classes. They were all five minutes on my phone. It’s now my hundredth.” It happens, people.

Peloton has removed hashtags from the home screen.

No, they didn’t get rid of hashtags. What they got rid of is the class that is currently taking. For example, we have a hashtag for The Clip Out. What was happening on the screen is that before you could see which people were using The Clip Out hashtag and currently taking a class, and then you could jump into that class with them. That is gone now.

Peloton is always looking at data. They’re not going to remove something that people were using frequently. There are people that are telling me they’re upset about this and I got to call BS. You were not using it enough, or they were but not enough people were. Aggregate-wise, we were not using it enough. They did replace it. You can still see what classes that were taken by The Clip Out but you can’t hop into a current class with them.

If you’re following that person, you can still see what classes they were taking. You’re not getting rid of that ability. You can still see your friends and see what classes they were taking, just not separated by hashtag. I personally am very glad that they are looking at these things. If there is a finite amount of resources and people aren’t using the resources, then by all means put the resources where people are using the things.

It’s got to go. There’s a reason we don’t do recipes on this show anymore.

It’s taking up my time and nobody cared.

It went away. I’m glad I’m still around.

You’re still worth my while, Tom.

For now. For the moment.

Forever because I love you more.

ABC has a show called Not Dead Yet, and it had a big Peloton mention.

I heard it’s episodes 1 and 2.

I’m not familiar with the show. I know it stars the lady who was on a show called Jane the Virgin. I’ve heard it was a good show, but I’ve never watched it.

I didn’t watch Jane the Virgin. I didn’t watch Not Dead Yet. People are saying good things so we might get around to it.

Retail Gazette, which is in the UK, took us inside the new store at Covent Garden. They had an article that’s showing off what the new store looks like. If you can’t make it over that way, it’s a good way for you to see what it looks like.

For those of you wondering why Cody was in London, it was to do the 241 Ride with Leanne. He was also there to celebrate the new store opening and this is right outside of the studio. Do you know how in the New York studio they have part of it that is dedicated to the boutique?

It’s a little retail area.

They are doing the same with this. That is why that was such a big deal. Congratulations to the UK store and the UK studio. It is a big deal.

Peloton is celebrating Women’s History Month.

All the month of March, there will be Women’s History classes. They will be spread throughout. There are going to be some special ones coming up. We will talk a little bit more about some of those special rides and runs, or classes in general. If you are eager to get started and don’t want to wait until they show up on your calendar or your schedule, they have a collection for Women’s History Month. You can go back to the prior year’s celebrations.

There are some amazing classes. My favorite ever Women’s History Month class was a run with Becs Gentry when she talks about the first female who ran a marathon. It is Kathrine Switzer. I love that story. I love that run. It is so empowering. I remember very clearly running outside on the road, which I will never do again. It was amazing. It pumped me up. If you haven’t taken that, I highly recommend that you go do it, regardless of how many amazing classes we have this month.

You can take all the time you need. It’s Women’s History Month. I’m not going to interrupt you. There is a podcast called Sounds Like A Cult. I guess they talk about things that sound like they could be cults. They finally got around to spotlighting Peloton. I’m surprised it took this long. Apparently, one of the people on the show loves Peloton. They were probably fighting it. They were probably like, “The cult I’m in is not a cult. It’s all the other cults that are cults.”

That’s probably true. I’m glad that it got highlighted. I’ve been hearing good things about the episode. It’s apparently good and a lot of fun. If you get a chance to check it out, please do so.

The website Pocket-lint has a review of the Guide and they were fans.

“Strong proposition for strength training.” Doesn’t that sound so proper? It’s a good review though. The longer the Guide is out, the more I’m seeing its benefits. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to be sticking with my Tonal. I love my Tonal.

The Tonal is a major investment.

There’s a huge difference between $4,000 and $195. Those are two different things.

Also, your monthly fee already covers this. We love Tonal, but we also get that if you’re looking for strength training, but you don’t want to spend that money to augment your Peloton workouts, that’s not a crazy place to land.

I do hope that Peloton continues to double down on this and continue the creation of programming and helping people get to the next level of things. That’s the one thing that I feel they need to have a little bit more. They need to have their arms around it more to make it easy for people. They’ve made huge strides on that this year but I’d like to see even more because I’m greedy.

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We have yet another Peloton lawsuit. They’ve been knocking them back left and right, but we got a new contender to enter the ring.

Those are slow whack-a-mole popping up.

Is that what it is? Would you play whack-a-mole where the moles are way up here by your head?

They were popping up toward me. I couldn’t see exactly where my hand was.

Those are giant whack-a-moles. Where are you playing whack-a-mole?

Giant Land.

I’m a little worried about these moles. It’s more like whack-a-bear. Is it Cocaine Bear?

Can we go on a little on Cocaine Bear? First of all, it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I was not looking forward to seeing that movie.

How can you not look forward to a movie called Cocaine Bear?

It’s called Cocaine Bear. We have very different views on that.

It has a bear and it has cocaine. It has something for everybody.

I was dreading it and I thought, “How dumb is that?” A lot of times, when people have a dumb movie, they can’t pull it off. This one could have been dumber.

I wish it had been a little crazier actually.

For any of you out there who have ever had road rash, there’s a scene in this movie that might be a little triggering for you.

You did not like that scene at all. We should also warn people that if you’ve ever had a Cocaine Bear, this movie will also be triggering, but you probably already surmised that.

If they’re alive because apparently, it’s pretty touch and go.

If you want to hear more about Cocaine Bear, you can hear that on this week’s episode of Reel Spoilers.

I wasn’t on it. You can hear everybody’s opinion except mine.

They heard yours. I promise you, more people heard your opinion of Cocaine Bear than they will hear our opinion of Cocaine Bear. I see the data. It’s definitely true. Anyway, who’s suing Peloton now? That’s what people are screaming at their phones.

I honestly don’t know who is suing them. Is this a class action lawsuit?

This is behind a paywall. We only get the first paragraph and then we have to surmise.

The usual attorneys in my inbox didn’t send me the Law 360, which they got lives. That’s okay.

The headline says The Peloton Board Faces Insider Trading Suit on Pandemic Hype Claims. It seems like the claim they’re making is they knew that the stock was going to tank when the pandemic was over so they sold a bunch of stock. Why would anyone know that? It seems obvious looking back, but at that moment no one was saying that. I don’t know why they would have any better intel than the people at Zoom. There were lots of stocks that were impacted when COVID “ended.” I don’t know why we would expect the people at Peloton to have any better prognostication tools that they’ve been hiding from the public than any other corporate board.

I think it’s a bunch of nothing. That doesn’t mean it won’t settle and get a bunch of money. We’ll see. We’ll Keep an eye on it. We will fill you in because these are such great details.

I’m sure this will be resolved in time for Cocaine Bear 2.

That sounds like a good time.

Coming up after this. Dr. Jenn will have workout tips for someone who had their hip replaced.

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Joining us is Dr. Jenn Mann, licensed marriage, family and child therapist, and Sports Psychology consultant. She’s also a five-year national team member in rhythmic gymnastics and sports psychology for USA gymnastics. It’s Dr. Jenn.

Hello.

I have a question I know you’re going to enjoy answering. This is from Andrea, aerobically, she feels she is very strong, but she had her hip replaced recently. She is looking for ideas on how to get into a workout regimen that regains flexibility. I know this is something you feel very strongly about.

You know that I am all about the stretch before the workout and after the workout. Obviously, check with your doctor. Check with the surgeon who did your hip replacement. Make sure that you are okay to do all of your previous activities first before you do anything. In terms of flexibility, I come from a super flexible background. The gymnastics that I did were rhythmic gymnastics except for the ribbons, hoops, clubs, and balls where you have to be able to do over splits and super flexible fix.

What’s an over split?

When we did splits, my coach would put our front foot on the bleachers. It would be about a foot high or 2 feet high, and our back foot on a folding chair and push us down.

Is that legal? It seems you should have contacted the authorities.

She would say that it makes champions.

She was right.

I come from a flexible stretchy background.

Do you break out into a cold sweat whenever you see a folding chair now?

I don’t because I associate it with success.

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Nicely done.

We have a different relationship with athletics.

I’m paying for sure. I think that it’s important that she start to integrate stretching classes and yoga classes as her baseline. Since her aerobics are good and she’s not worried about her endurance, she wants to make sure that she is able to have that flexibility. There are some great yoga classes that are specifically about hips. I don’t know if you guys have seen them. Tom, you won’t stretch no matter what I do. Crystal, you’ve probably seen them. They’re good. Some of them focus on flexibility, some on strength, some are a combo platter. Also, doing some floor stretches. A lot of the floor stretches are very geared towards hip flexibility and leg flexibility, but creating a regular regimen or a regular plan for yourself each week that includes stretching as the base.

I saw somebody recommending Kristin McGee’s hip mobility for stretching out your hips. If somebody’s looking at that, you can find it easily because it has hips right in the title. That’s an excellent suggestion.

Until next time, where can people find you?

On all social media, especially Instagram. I post my Peloton workouts on Insta story, @DrJennMann. You can find me on InStyle.com. I have a weekly column called Hump Day With Dr. Jenn.

Thank you.

—

Jess King and her wife Sophia are pregnant once again.

This time, Sophia is the one having a baby.

That seems fair. I bet you there are lots of women out there that are like, “Yeah. You have the baby now.”

I think it’s awesome because one person can have it close to the other one. They will have the kids close in age. You don’t have to feel like you’re pregnant that entire time. Not one person has to feel pregnant the entire time. If it’s important to you as a woman to carry a baby, what a great way to do that as well. I like a lot of things about this.

It makes sense the division of labor. Someone at People Magazine right now is like, “That’s the headline.”

That’s funny that you think People Magazine listens to us.

That’s fair. Ben Aldis was teasing, a new project.

He was saying that he’s got a new thing coming up. It’s going to be out of the studio. It’s going to be off the bike.

By the time you hear this, you should probably be aware that it’s a book.

It’s going to be called Raise The Bar. How exciting. Another Peloton instructor joined the ranks of the Author Club. How many Peloton instructors can be bestselling authors in one year? We shall see.

It’s interesting since he’s a UK instructor, the American instructors are very popular, but they haven’t been in the UK for as long. He’s already a big enough name over there that he can get a book deal.

It’s crazy to me that Ben and Leanne have been part of Peloton since 2018. I don’t know when they actually started. It might have been 2017. It’s crazy to me because that’s a long time. Ben and Leanne have been around from a Peloton standpoint for quite a while. If you think about how many instructors that started in the last two years versus those who started in the UK, he’s on the very early end of that.

That’s fair. A lot of people won’t even look at the UK instructors sometimes. They want the American ones. They’re like, “That’s for there. This is for here.”

I think those barriers are coming down. I hear a lot more people talking about the UK instructors than I did a year ago. Some of that is because Peloton has been so careful about how they’re programming time. I know people have a lot of issues with how they do the schedule. Let me be clear, I am not always 100% loving it either so I get that. I do think that there is a lot of thought that goes into it that some of us don’t realize at the moment. I think it’s important to see.

I believe this is already up at Amazon. You could probably go and try to make a pre-order if you are so inclined. Ash Pryor talked to Yahoo Life about dealing with all the body-shaming comments that came along with being announced as a Peloton instructor.

I love her. She’s so funny. I love her energy. She’s so blunt but with a smile. She’s non-apologetic for being who she is and I love that. The fact that she can do it with a smile is my favorite part.

That can’t always be easy.

I love her energy on the rower, and I cannot wait to be able to take rowing classes again. I miss the rower. That’s very cool for Ash. Congrats.

Selena Samuela was teasing a big announcement.

If you’re watching on YouTube, you will see that she is in the picture with a PKG hat and clubs behind her. She announced on the 1st that she’s going to be teaming up with them this spring to do a collaboration. She’s loving their new spring line. Congrats to Selena.

You’ve been hearing about the Chat GPT. I plugged it into Chat GPT and said, “What is Selena Samuela’s big announcement,” then the artificial intelligence grabs all the Peloton information. It compiles it and gave us an answer. Based on all the other things that are going on with Peloton, it said that she was writing a book and that book was pregnant.

That seems accurate, and Chat GPT too.

Becs Gentry is back in the office.

I’m so glad to see it. Tunde snapped a picture with her. I love seeing that. If you wanted to see more, Becs had a whole video where she did a reel of all of the first-day things back. She will be on the schedule soon. I am so excited to have her back. I love Becs. It’s wonderful to have her. Maybe I will even get to take a class. That would be nice.

As you are probably already aware, Alex Toussaint is a brand ambassador for Smartwater. He hosted an event for Smartwater.

He was the host and he was very excited about it. I love how he’s like, “Stay hydrated.” He did a whole story and he showed a bunch of different people that he was hanging out with there, and people who seemed to have a lot of fun with him. It’s very fun that he got to do that.

That’s the coat he was wearing when he accidentally photo-bombed an engagement photo.

You now know Alex Toussaint’s entire wardrobe, Tom.

At least in the winter. Rad Lopez is working with Under Armour and Hypebeast. I don’t know what Hypebeast is.

I think it might be those things you put on the shoes to tighten the laces, but I’m not sure. I don’t know. It’s cool that he’s part of it.

Emma Lovewell spoke at the American Heart Association event in Texas.

As a side note, Tunde is doing pieces for them on social media too. They’re doubling down on the Peloton instructors.

It’s very important for the American Heart Association to have a chapter in Texas because so many enlarged hearts in Texas.

Because everything is bigger in Texas. I saw where you were going with it.

Robin Arzón wrapped up her book tour week and she was at the Peloton studios.

It was the only event she did on her book tour that was specific for Peloton members only. It sold out incredibly fast because it was an invite-only event. If there were spots left, people got to come.

Of course, there weren’t spots left.

It was also cool because several of the new moms came out, Becs, Jess King, Chelsea, and Anna Greenberg. They all had their babies and then they did a little panel. I know that all of the Peloton members that got to go were completely stoked. Very cool event.

Speaking of Robin, she’s going to have a Swagger Society event at ETH Denver.

This event in 2021 was the very first DAO event. I don’t know what any of this means. I can’t even pretend that I know. It’s another language.

It says, “2023 is the year of the SPORK. The SPORK is the go-to tool that the Bufficom family uses in their everyday life.” This is a word salad. I have no idea what I read.

I will say this. Robin’s whole point is that there is a new lifestyle occurring and we are being left behind. Regardless of what you think about all of this, and I am not exactly sure what I think, there is stuff happening. She’s trying to make sure people know about it and to be inclusive of it. Regardless of your feelings on everything else, at least she is trying to make sure that every type of person is represented in this. Clearly, there are a lot of us, myself included, who have no idea what is happening.

I have no idea. This could be something that in 30 years, people will play back. If you’ve ever seen that clip of the Today Show where they’re talking about email and they’re like, “There’s a little a with a circle around it. What am I supposed to do with that? Where do I even find it on my keyboard?” Maybe I will sound like that in 30 years. For the moment, I have no idea what I’m saying.

There’s some SPORK event. They are the SPORK.

Apparently, it’s Web3 and SPORKs. That’s all you need to know. Logan Aldridge was giving people tips to improve their golf swing on the Gram.

I love that he gave specific exercises that you could do to help with your golf swing. It’s not as easy as people think. I know this from Tonal because there’s a lot of golf programming over on Tonal. I love that Logan is making sure that people are aware of it over on Peloton. Also, there are a ton of golfers who use Peloton. This is some good information for them to have.

In fact, in the coming weeks, we’re going to talk to somebody who’s very prominent in the golf world about his love of Peloton. Kristin McGee was hanging out with former Peloton instructor Chase Tucker not too long ago.

I thought it was a nice little picture of a nice moment. I wanted to share it. That is all.

They’re still friends.

That’s nice.

Coming up next, Angelo is going to answer the question, can you lower your cholesterol through nutrition?

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Joining us once again from MetPro, it’s Angelo here to answer all of your fitness and nutrition questions. How’s it going?

Thanks for having me back.

I have a curious question from Maria. She says that she has borderline cholesterol. Her doctors tell her that it is familial. Is it possible to lower the cholesterol on her own without a statin? Right now, she works to keep her weight down and she does monitor her blood work every three months. She’s like, “This is not a medical question.” She just wants to know if there is a way to do it through nutrition.

There is. Of course, disclaimer, I’m not a doctor. Ask your doctor about this because they’re the ones that are going to know all of your medical circumstances. In any circumstance, diet and lifestyle will improve. The term familial refers to a genetic predisposition. Here’s what I want to address with that. What does that mean? Does that mean because it’s heredity, there’s nothing I can do? No. What it means is it’s even that much more important that you implement the tools that you have. That means it’s even more important that you are regularly exercising. You’re going to want to do some cardiovascular exercise. It doesn’t have to be brutish. You don’t have to sign up for a bootcamp to get the benefits when it comes to blood work improvements.

This is across the board, not just cholesterol. Regular consistent aerobic activity has been absolutely linked to improved cardiovascular health and improved blood work. When you decrease the amount of saturated foods, sugars, processed foods, and junk food in your diet, that is clearly linked to improvements. The degree when it comes to cholesterol is not fair. There’s no parity across the board. That’s the reality. I would encourage you, Maria, to talk to your doctor about it and ask them what degree they feel you can improve it.

I had a client once with exceptionally high cholesterol. He was in the 900s. That’s exceptionally high. It was heredity. It’s familial because I knew what he ate, and he exercised regularly. What’s the point? The point is how high would it have been if he was not eating well and wasn’t exercising regularly? Talk to your doctor about a multidisciplinary approach to this. Is this something appropriate to handle with just lifestyle modification or is the best route to have a medical intervention? That’s between you and your doctor. I want to encourage you in any way I can to exercise regularly, eat clean, and make it a habit.

Don’t take a shotgun approach. I have lots of people all the time say, “I’ve heard that going vegan is the best thing for this.” They would ask me, “Should I go vegan?” I say, “No, just do this.” They say, “Why? Is it not good?” I say, “It’s great for stuff like that. Why? Because I’d rather you implement changes you will actually follow through with ongoing than go vegan for ten days of your life and then go right back to where we started.”

If there is something within you or if you have a history that says, “I can go plant-based. I can do this,” and you believe you could follow through with that, then there are even more tools in your court to attack something like this. For the average person, this is my blanket approach. That is figure out what small improvements we can make over time that will stick ongoing. That’s what you’re looking for. Hopefully, that’s helpful, Maria. Talk to your doctor about it.

Definitely good advice.

I would think also that if you make that small change, then that becomes normal and then you can make the next small change.

That’s how we sneak up on you.

That’s what you did to me.

Slow and steady. It’s how we get Tom.

If people would like you to sneak up on them, where can they find you?

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The latest artist collaboration features Kylie Minogue.

Give cycling a chance and stay with it. You will see gains and feel better mentally and physically. Share on X

I’m excited about this.

It’s a name I know. I don’t think I know one Kylie Minogue song and I’ve heard the name for years.

She has a lot of dance songs. I bet you know. You just don’t know you know. There are a lot of things that got played. I feel like Kylie Minogue is one of those artists whose name isn’t memorable or connected to songs. I feel this way about a lot of artists. I feel like Kylie Minogue is one of them. I happened to know it only because there was a brief time in the ’90s when I listened to a lot of dance music, and then I got hooked on her music. She has a lot of fun stuff. She continues to make music forever. As you said, you’ve listened to her name for years. I think this will be a good one. It’s a lot of instructors that I enjoy that are doing the classes. I’m looking forward to it completely selfishly as well.

You can also look forward to some Kylie Minogue Lanebreak.

DJ John Michael teased that there are going to be two new levels.

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We have plenty of past guest updates. We will start with an Anya Adams, who you might remember is a big-time TV director. She directed episodes of Blackish.

I remember her talking about this new project she was working on. She couldn’t tell us what it was. Now it’s out and it’s called Prom Pact and it’s going to be debuting on Disney Plus.

On March 31st. It is almost upon us.

I’ve also seen a lot of her stuff pop up because I have been watching Ginny & Georgia. That’s something else that she produced and several of the episodes she had done. It was fun to see her name pop up when I was watching that.

I remember the first time it popped up, we were like, “We totally talked to her.” Stacy Sims is featured in Self Magazine.

I love this for Women’s History Month. I love that she is talking about things that I feel like I need to learn more about. She always gives such great information. You definitely want to check that out in the issue of Self Magazine.

I wasn’t sure where to file this, but she’s technically a past guest.

She’s a past and current.

Dr. Jenn Mann was featured in The Sun.

She was talking about the whole Hailey Bieber, Kylie Jenner, and Selena Gomez issue. I don’t exactly know what’s going on, but I know it’s drama. She had words to say, but my favorite in Dr. Jenn’s style is, “These women who have millions of dollars and have successful careers and are grown-ass adults.” I love her.

She actually says that they’re developmentally stunted.

It’s very immature. You get them, Dr. Jenn.

I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m agreeing with her. Finally, for past guest updates, we talked to Kim Holderness a while back from the Holderness family. You might know their viral videos or the fact that they won the Amazing Race.

I love this video. They’re going to be doing a four-part docu-series where they talk about the Amazing Race and how they got in shape for it. There are some intense workouts, including carrying kettlebells seven flights upstairs daily. I enjoyed this and they are going to be doing several parts to this. Make sure you check it out.

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Some Guide programs are finally being released into the wild.

If you will remember, seven weeks is the magic number. These Guide programs came out seven weeks ago. Rebecca Kennedy’s Straight to the Core, and Ben Alldi’s Stronger You. Both of them are now out for everybody. The seven weeks are up. They’re out there and go get them. People are raving about both. I know both instructors have lots of ways they’re interacting. They have thoughts behind their programming and why they did it. Rebecca Kennedy has a challenge that you can follow. She’s even got screenshots. You can check off all the classes as you take them. You definitely want to check all that out.

Kristin McGee is teaching her first Yoga for Cycling class.

This is going to be a new series. The yoga is specific to those who take a lot of cycling classes. We want to make sure people get to check that out as well.

There is an upcoming Row challenge that they made some adjustments to.

The challenge tiers in February were as follows. The bronze was 20,000 meters, silver was 50,000, and gold was 80,000 meters. In March, they changed it to 2,000 for bronze, 5,000 for silver, and 8,000 for gold. I feel like that was an oopsie. Somebody hit an extra zero.

That’s my guess as well because it’s so even.

Based on how they do the running tiers, 15 miles a month is gold. I can’t believe they’d be like, “80,000 meters for gold on the rower.” Row your ass off.

That’s a lot. I don’t know the metric system but that’s too much.

I thought it was cute that it was like, “Oops.”

They were like, “Why is nobody joining this challenge?”

We’re sharing a screenshot that says that the person can’t wait for Total Strength 3 from Andy. Somebody else replied and said, “Andy mentioned in an Instagram live a week or so ago that there will be a Total Strength 3. He did not mention when but we’re hoping it’s this year.” We wanted to make sure we shared that with you. If you are a fan, and a lot of people are, it’s coming.

Kirsten Ferguson is doing a Gospel Tread class.

People absolutely went crazy for it. They loved it. We haven’t seen Gospel in the tread classes. We’ve seen Cliff do them for the bike classes. People are super excited about it and I think that’s lovely.

Finally, there are some upcoming invite-only events. Jenn Sherman has a sing-along class on March 10th. Jess Sims has one on March 11th.

In case you’re not sure what that means, that means that you had to be invited to be in the studio. A lot of people got these invites and are not able to go. Maybe some other lucky people are going to get in. Of course, you can take them at home live. That’s great. There is a little bit of a rumor that potentially for the Jess Sims one, it’s going to be timed out for her upcoming clothing launch.

In this photo, you can see Nicole Babiak with Jess Sims. Jess Sims is wearing a Saturday 60 sweatshirt that I’m going to guess will be sold out in less than 60 seconds because these ladies buy the clothes quickly. When Jess Sims clothing goes online, you’re not going to get it because these ladies will already have it. That’s what’s going to happen so don’t bother. I’m kidding. I don’t know how quickly this will get sold, but I know it’s going to be fast, and I want that sweatshirt.

Coming up after this, we’re going to talk to Liz Briones. She lost 185 pounds. We don’t normally sit there and get super caught up in weight loss, but that’s a major achievement. She’s going to talk about everything that went into that and the choices she made. We’re going to do all that coming up right after this.

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Joining us is Liz Briones. Liz, how’s it going?

I’m good. How are you guys?

We are so excited to have you. Thank you so much for being here.

Thank you.

I always like to start with a background of how Peloton came into your life. Tell us when you first found out about Peloton and decided, “I got to get this thing.”

I did spin classes at my local gym. I’m a teacher so I’d go super early in the morning and they canceled their 5:00 AM classes. I’m like, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I want to keep spinning.” This was back in 2019 and I didn’t know much about the Peloton then. I knew a little bit that there’s a studio store at our local mall in Virginia. I kept seeing it there and I checked it out. I was like, “I want this bad,” but I don’t know. I was like, “I’m going to do it.” I bought it back in the fall of 2019 and just fall in love with it.

You were before the pandemic. I feel like there have been so many folks that have joined after the pandemic.

It has become the new dividing line of when you joined.

Exactly and it’s crazy that it has been so long at this point. You said you were doing spin classes. Were you doing spin classes a couple of times a week? Was it a daily thing? Were you pretty fit in general at that point or were you struggling to get fit? What was your background in fitness before that?

I have a lot of answers to that question. I was always an athlete. Running was my big sport, cross-country and track. I started running with a private coach when I was eleven years old because my older sister Victoria was a good runner. She was an NCAA champion and ran for Nike. Since she’s older than me, my mom would take me with her and be like, “You are running too.”

Luckily, I ended up falling in love with it and I ran at NC State back in the early-2000s and then had some medical issues later in which I gained a ridiculous amount of weight. I ended up weighing over 400 pounds. I couldn’t do any exercise. I couldn’t do anything but I still loved it and I wanted to do it. It took a toll on me mentally and physically.

In 2019, I had gastric sleeve surgery and I had lost some weight leading up to it from walking and diet and stuff like that. I did the gastric sleeve in January 2019. I dropped a good amount right before I got that Peloton. I was nervous about hopping on weighing so much, but never had a problem with it. I continued to lose. It was great with the Peloton and then after being told I would never have kids, I ended up being pregnant with my second son. I gained some weight again being pregnant. Since I weighed so much, I had a second weight loss surgery because I’m only 5’2’’ so it’s a lot of weight on a little frame. I had a second one called the biliopancreatic diversion with a duodenal switch which is very rare.

I feel like that’s the first test. I know that they like to give you tests to see if you are ready for stuff like that. The first test is like, “You go home and learn how to say this. If you have enough commitment to do that, we will think about it.

They call it the switch. It’s much easier with that name. The sleeve is more the size of the stomach. The switch is more about how you digest food. Since then, it has been dropping more.

What does that do? How does that function if you don’t mind me asking? I don’t know about that.

I was going to clarify. The gastric sleeve is the one that puts a band on the stomach.

The gastric sleeve removes 85% of your stomach. They take it out and they stitch it up. I don’t know much about The band. I’m not sure if my particular surgeon does that one. The sleeve takes out 85% of your stomach. You end up eating less food. You are not as hungry. The switch has to do with how you digest food.

I don’t know if I can explain it the right way, but it’s the way the food goes down. It almost makes it so that you don’t take in nutrients. I will forever be on a certain type of vitamin. It’s called ADEK bariatric vitamins because I’m not as nourished as the average person is through that surgery. It’s 2% of all weight loss patients. Weight loss surgery patients have this particular procedure. It’s very rare.

I will just ask why is it rare.

That’s a great question because I don’t know. My surgeon is one of the only surgeons in the area that does it in the DC Virginia and Maryland areas. I’m not sure why it’s so rare. I know the sleeve and bypass are the big common ones. This one is much more invasive. They talked to me when I first was doing sleeves that I might have this as a second procedure. Some people do them both at the same time, the sleeve and this one. Because I was so incredibly obese, this is the one that was for me. I’m down 185 pounds now.

To be clear, we are not questioning your choices. We are trying to figure out, “We are not familiar with this one.”

It’s good to educate the public about it because it’s not very known. When it is known, it can be frowned upon or known as an easy way out when it’s not at all.

We have talked about that before. I can’t remember.

We had other people over the years but Sarah Clark talked about her weight loss surgery. Every time we hear these stories, I’m like, “This is the easy way.” This doesn’t sound easy at all.

It doesn’t. I would love to hear your thoughts on why it was so hard. Whatever details you feel sharing, do not be all up in your business. As you said, it’s good to educate people that this is not something that is taken lightly.

It’s hard mentally. It was almost harder mentally than physically for me because a lot of the issues for me with gaining weight and everything is my mentality of food, overeating, and eating disorders. It’s hard because, all of a sudden, you can’t eat much but you are in this routine and you are used to it. We had to go through at least six months of a pre-op where you meet with a dietitian every month for six months.

I had to lose a little bit of weight. I met with a weight loss physician, the surgeon, and all these other different things you have to do before you can even get approved to have the surgery to make sure it’s something that you can sustain and have a positive effect from. You work a lot on the mental part of it. That makes it hard.

Physically, it’s hard on the body. You can get sick easily and many different things. I found it harder with the sleeve one, but that might be because that was my first time having weight loss surgery. The second time, I’m like, “I have done this once before.” There’s a two-week pre-op diet of only liquids. Post-op, you got two weeks again and then it’s purees for two weeks. You go six weeks without having food. You can have food but it’s protein shakes, jello, broth, and stuff like that because you are healing. No solid because you are healing. It takes a lot mentally but it was needed for me. I have zero regrets about doing it. It brought my life back.

I did a liquid diet for a week once and it was rough. I was part of a weight loss study. They lock you in a hospital room for a week because they wanted to make sure since it was for a study. It was easier because I didn’t have a choice once I signed on. I could have said, “I’m done,” and they’d let me go like I wasn’t being held hostage. That was rough to go a week just drinking the shakes that they would bring you and they weren’t big shakes either. They are bringing you what felt like a shot glass size of vanilla shake. The plainest stuff.

I think it would be hard afterward too when you are healing. This is very fresh on my mind since I’m going through the healing I’m going through right now. I have always been one to reach for food as comfort. It’s like when you don’t feel good. When I was pregnant, I always felt like this too. This is before they used to say, “You can keep exercising.”

Back then they didn’t care. Do whatever, just take care of yourself. I know that I ate not great when I was pregnant and that was because I was used to eating comfort. There were so many things I couldn’t do comfortably that food was a comfort food like being able to eat. I would think you are going through this healing of this major surgery that happened to your body and you can’t even do the thing that you would normally do to make yourself feel better. That would be hard.

That’s part of why it’s so hard too because you are used to grabbing something to make you feel better or as a pure habit, eating late at night and breaking those habits. That’s why we have those six months beforehand to work with a dietician. We have a weight loss surgery psychologist that we work with. Being able to do all that. They work as a team to help us.

Do you continue to see the psychologist after your surgery? Is that something that continues aftercare?

I haven’t met with the weight loss surgery psychologist yet. My appointment is coming up. I have done support groups with her because we do monthly support groups. I have met her that way but I haven’t had an appointment with her since. You do have to be approved by a psychologist before the surgery, but I have my own and he was able to do it for me.

I would think even though it’s a joyous occasion on some level, it must have been very disconcerting to get pregnant knowing that weight gain comes along with that. Was that troubling even though you are glad?

I wasn’t too nervous because I lost a good amount before it, but it was on my mind knowing that I could gain weight and then not take in as much food. How was that going to affect me being pregnant? I did gain a good amount when I was pregnant, probably 80 or 90 pounds between that. For me, exercise was an issue during pregnancy.

For anyone thinking about having weight loss surgery or has had the weight loss surgery, getting on the bike will be easier as time goes on, but you got to stay with it. Share on X

My first son was born three months early because I’m so high risk when I’m pregnant since I had a premature baby earlier. I know exercise is good for you when you are pregnant, but it made me nervous being on the bike so I walked. Going from exercising so much to nothing and then not always eating the best during that time, and then being pregnant alone, I put on a lot of weight. I was able to get that plus more off. I’m happy about that.

It seems like it would be a lot of very hard work even after the surgery. Do you have anything you’d like to share about what that has been like after you did the second surgery and were able to get that weight off? 185 pounds is a lot of weight. What does it feel like mentally?

Honestly, I feel great. I still have a long way to go, so I’m not quite there yet. I have about 100 more to lose but I know it’s going to come. I just need to be patient and take it day by day. Consistency is key. I don’t have to hop on every single day, but do the best I can to do something active. One of my goals is to do something active even if it’s five minutes every single day. It could be meditation or running 5K. There’s a variety and I think variety is very important too. I’m not saying that you get bored doing one thing, but it’s good for your body to constantly switch up different types of exercise both mentally and physically. I feel wonderful.

Before I couldn’t go upstairs. I was talking to a friend about how I couldn’t get off the floor and I would have to go on the floor to do speech therapy for my son. My legs would fall asleep and then I’d try to stand up. I couldn’t get up and all this when I was over 400 pounds, and it was sad that I couldn’t do the littlest stuff with my son. Now, I have two boys and I’m running around after them and being able to live life.

If you think about 185 pounds, that’s basically how much I weigh. That’s like carrying me around all day. That’s a lot. Unlike your body, I would say things that irritate you.

That’s an incredible amount of weight loss and to stick with it. We have known people in our personal life that have done weight loss surgery, and it’s hard to stick with it for long periods of time. They have had some situations where they have done some backsliding on that. That’s another thing that’s contrary to popular belief that you just flip a switch and it’s super easy, and all the weight just flies off, and you don’t have to work hard ever again. It’s not like that. That’s something you are going to struggle with. When I say struggle with, I mean you have to stay focused on those foods. You said that vitamin. That’s something you are always going to have to think about. It’s not an easy choice. I commend you for making that choice and doing the hard work. That’s amazing.

Thank you so much. I’m fortunate that I love to exercise and being able to get on the Peloton. I did the Peloton Go. I did it for seven hours straight. I did the 100 miles. I could have never walked half a mile before, let alone ride 100 miles in 1 day. I love being able to go hard and being able to do different types of activities. I don’t have a peloton tread as much as I’m dying to have one but I do the app. I use the app and I go out on runs and walk outside with it. I do strength training and everything. I love it.

I can see how you light up when you talk about it. That’s cool.

I’m very passionate about exercise. I love it. Fortunately, I always have since I was a little kid. I was the tomboy that would get dressed up in a dress and then go beat up all the boys in ice hockey. I’m from Chicago, so that’s more our sports and I love it.

You like to exercise so much. You have a walk that you are getting ready to do, the Suicide Prevention Walk. Tell us about that.

The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention every year does one huge event where you walk through the night. You start at sundown and you walk until the sun comes up. It’s anywhere between 16 and 18 miles depending on the city that year. It raises funds and awareness to help prevent suicides and the stigma of mental health. This is the fourth one that I have done it. I have done 2 previous in DC and 1 in Boston. It’s a life-changing event. It’s incredible. Every person has a story and has some meaning to it. Everyone comes together and they know they are not alone. It’s a phenomenal event.

Would you like to share your story of why you did it?

I have struggled with mental health issues. About ten years ago or so, I was driving home. I was going through a hard time and this commercial came on the radio for it. It was in DC that year and I’m from DC. I heard it and I was like, “This is me.” Immediately, I pulled into my house and signed up on my phone. I was like, “I’m going to try this.” “You do have to fundraise to do it.” I’m like, “I don’t care. I will figure this out.” I made some close friends through it. We made a team. I have raised over $30,000 now for them throughout the last several years because I have done The Overnight. They do community walks every year in different local communities.

They have done hiking stuff. I have done hiking stuff. It’s a phenomenal organization that means a lot to me and they are very supportive. Not to plug this in because it’s around the corner, but I’m so excited that I’m having a fundraising event. It’s a drag show with a huge raffle and drinks specials at our local restaurant, Clarendon is my favorite restaurant. They are so supportive.

We do all these fun big fundraising events that it’s not just about raising the money for them but bringing it to the community. This is going to be a huge event and it gets people talking. It gets people learning about how to prevent suicide, learning about mental health and mental illness, and getting people talking, which is the thing. You break your leg. They tell you to go rest. If you have issues with mental health, they say to push through it. Getting that out the window and getting the help that people need.

The marketing guy in me is like, “That commercial, what did it say?” That’s a very effective call to action.

They are starting to go again now so I love it. Just driving here and I hear it and I’m like, “It’s happening again in DC,” but they pick a different city every year. It’s so cool.

What can the Peloton community do to support you in this? You said it’s money raising, so can we get some money set up for you or have you already met your goals?

I haven’t met my goal yet, but I also make my goal bigger than the required goal. If you go to TheOvernight.org and you search Elizabeth Briones, my fundraising link comes up, but fundraising to anyone would be great on there. For me, it’s TheOvernight.org and then there’s a search area and you search Elizabeth Briones. That’s where we do a lot. I have done a lot with local businesses. This raffle I have going has over 40 prizes which makes it so much fun. Getting the word out there is the best part.

Back to Peloton, what’s your leaderboard name?

My leaderboard name is RunMamaRun22. I used to have a different leaderboard name in the beginning. It was what my email is before when I was beforehand. It was in NC State Cross-Country Runner, but it was all different abbreviations. At my 100th ride, Cody tried to say it and was like, “Screw this,” because he couldn’t understand what he said. I was like, “That means I need to change my name.” My son is at races because I love doing local 5Ks and 10Ks. When he was little, he’d go, “Run mama, run.” That’s where I came up with the RunMamaRun22.

I assumed you said it 22 times. He’s very supportive. Do you have a preferred instructor or are we going to assume it’s Cody? He’s off your list now because he screwed up your leaderboard name. He craps the bed on your shout-out. That’s what we will call him. When somebody screws up a shout-out, they are now called crap-out. That’s a long way of saying, “Who’s your favorite instructor?”

I like several of them. I like Cody a lot because he gets me laughing. I love Robin because it’s intense. Camila just makes me laugh so hard. She’s my new favorite. I got to meet Matt Wilpers at Tyson’s. I’m a dork if you can’t tell. I go into the Peloton store all the time and I have made friends with a lot of the employees there.

One of my friends who works there was like, “Come early. Bring the kids,” because she knew I had sons. I was like, “I don’t know if I can go. I want to go.” She’s like, “Come early. We are going to take care of the kids. You will get to meet him behind the scenes,” and I got to be one of the few people that would hang out with him for an hour and a half before he met the public. He was so nice. He became one of my favorites because he was such a cool guy and so kind. There’s not a teacher I have had that I don’t love.

How about when you take the running classes and other things? Do you have any that you’d like to make sure get a special mention?

I like Selena a lot. I like Robin’s running classes and stuff because I love the music, and then Matty makes me laugh too. He does a lot of countries and I love country music, so that makes me happy.

I love Matty too. He’s so funny.

Do you have any advice for people who are just now getting a bike?

Stick with it, take it day by day, build gradually, try the low impacts, and find teachers that work well with you. For me, music is a big thing, which is why I like Cody and Robin a lot. Give it a chance and stay with it. You will see gains and you will feel better mentally and physically. Give it time and don’t give up.

I know this is hyper-specific but do you have any advice for people who are getting weight loss surgery that is incorporating Peloton? I would think you would have a very unique perspective on how to utilize the platform.

The same with not giving up. I know that every day is going to get easier. The weight will drop faster doing exercise. It helps me make better food choices when I exercise. Mentally I’m more in it, so then I’m like, “I’m going to set up this plate for dinner and I’m going to make sure I have my proteins and the different types of stuff.” I’m more on track when I do that. It helped me that way as well.

For anyone thinking about having weight loss surgery or has had the weight loss surgery, getting on the bike will be easier as time goes on, but you got to stay with it and consistency is key, and the community. Get with the community. I am on a team called Unbreakable Weights that has taken me in.

We are in a group message that goes constantly every day about rides and stuff like that. It’s been great working with them. I have made such good friends. One was a friend from a running club. Her name is Ashley. We became close. We connected over Peloton and so we talk about it all the time and we hang out, and we motivate each other.

I made friends with another girl from the other side of the country named Alana who writes me all the time to check in with me and see how I’m doing, how am I feeling, and what am I doing. It’s not always about the Peloton, but it’s about life. Being able to make these connections with people through an app or through the bike that I have never met before has been life-changing.

That community is a game changer. It makes a huge difference. I completely agree.

Thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it. Before we let you go, remind everybody of all the places where they can find you and your stuff.

If you are wanting to donate, which you don’t have to, but if you want to support The Overnight, it’s TheOvernight.org and you search Elizabeth Briones. If you want to follow me on Instagram, it’s @NCST8XCRunner.

Why would Cody have a problem with that?

It's not always about the Peloton, but it's about life and being able to make these connections with people through an app. Share on X

That’s my Instagram. It’s NC State Cross-Country Runner, but it’s spelled differently because that would be way too long otherwise. Follow me on there. I post food stuff all the time. I am a vegetarian. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out foods and so I try to have a wide variety of different types. I do post food stuff, which some people find obnoxious, but other people have reached out being like, “You stop posting. I want to see more food.” I’m like, “Okay.” Some people like it, so that’s good, but motivational stuff is another thing.

That’s a lesson we learned a long time ago here, which is you will never make everybody happy.

Sometimes you learn that the hard way, but it’s so true.

Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to join us. We appreciate it.

Thank you so much.

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I guess that’s it for this episode. Until next time, where can people find you?

People can find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/crystaldokeefe. They can find me on Instagram, Twitter, and I’m back on the leaderboard @ClipOutCrystal.

You can find me on Twitter @RogerQBert or on Facebook at Facebook.com/tomokeefe. You can find the show online on Facebook.com/TheClipOut. While you’re there, like the page and join the group. Don’t forget, the next episode is our 300th episode. We got some big surprises and some things that we have planned. You want to be tuning in for that. Until next time, keep pedaling and running and rowing.