When Anthony Masiello was denied a 20 year life insurance policy

before his second son was born, it all suddenly hit him. He had struggled with weight issues since he was very young, was always bigger than his friends and an outlier in his family. He tried all diets – calorie restricting, cutting out soda and sugar and had even gone vegetarian in the early 90s.

Anthony says it takes 3 things to change a habit and he was lucky that at that particular moment, all 3 things came together: Education, Motivation and Accountability. He had recently picked up Dr. Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live – there was the education. He was anticipating his son’s birth and knew he needed to get that insurance policy. There was no way he could argue with the algorithm that had labeled him as too risky. And that need to get insurance, also created an intrinsic accountability for Anthony.

Today, Anthony is striving on a whole foods plant based diet and through his work as community leader and coach, he is empowering others with tools to lead their own journey.

Anthony exemplifies the power of mindset and how we all, can adjust, evolve and grow. We are not doomed to sticking to our preconceived notions about ourselves and our own abilities. Anthony is a human, like all of us – he has done it and overcame a lifetime of weight issues and habits of unhealthy eating. We can all do it. We can all do what we set our minds to.

SHOW NOTES:

Check out Anthony’s latest endeavor, Plant Based Central, a platform for all plant based events near you as well as a one stop shop for the best podcasts, ted talks, books and more to help you on your own plant based journey.

If you are in the the NYC or NJ area, check out one of Anthony’s Plant Based Potlucks at Ethos Farm:

And check out his interview on Forks over Knives:

Healthy Human Revolution

Check out our new sponsor Nuzest and get a special deal of 15% top quality vegan protein powder on your starter pack here.

And a special thanks to Caleb Jones, our audio engineer and latest addition to the pod – thank you @partcalebjones !

Go Further and check out previous posts if you are new to the pod:

Check out our recent episode with Krisann Polito-Moller here about her vegan journey

TPP 022 with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, on beating his heart disease with a plant-based diet

TPP 024 with Registered Dietician Karin Gibson, a plant based lifestyle

TPP 026 with Dr Michelle McMacken, the science behind a plant based diet

Follow us on Instagram @theplantiful

Mindset is not something you are born with.

It’s like a muscle, you can train it, change it, make it evolve or decide to never alter it. It’s powerful to think that we are not stuck, we are not subjected to any pre given skills and abilities.  We are not powerless.

Fixed vs growth mindset can be found in any one human. Yes, some of us are more prone to think in one way than another. Some of us believe that we have a certain set of skills, and won’t be able to achieve more, so we try to prove ourselves at all times. That often leads to disappointment and unnecessary pressure. That’s called a fixed mindset. On the other hand, growth mindset embraces the conviction that nothing is static, that challenges can be tackled and that failure doesn’t mean that one has reached one’s full potential.

Carol Dweck talks in detail about these two concepts in her book Mindset, which we highly recommend to add to your booklist. Being aware of the concepts and recognizing our own tendencies, has helped us to reflect on ourselves a lot. We also learned to flex and work out the mindset muscle. What we noticed above all, is that our happiness levels have increased. Carol Dweck talks about that too when she links growth mindset to increased happiness. Approaching life with a growth mindset means increased ability for self awareness which also means more self compassion, And guess what, compassion means increased happiness.

Noah and I both went through phases of our lives where we felt stuck and certain ideas or challenges felt way out of our comfort zones. We also both have experienced the opposite: willingness to grow, improve and fail on the way there. We hope you love this very personal reflection episode and would love to hear some of your stories.

 

SHOW NOTES:

Check out a copy of Carol Dwek’s book Mindset

Check out our recent episode with Krisann Polito-Moller here about her vegan journey that began with a personal

Check out our new sponsor Nuzest and get a special deal of 15% top quality vegan protein powder on your starter pack here.

And a special thanks to Caleb Jones, our audio engineer and latest addition to the pod – thank you @partcalebjones !

Go Further and check out our 2018 posts if you are new to the pod:

TPP 022 with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, on beating his heart disease with a plant-based diet

TPP 024 with Registered Dietician Karin Gibson, a plant based lifestyle

TPP 026 with Dr Michelle McMacken, the science behind a plant based diet

Follow us on Instagram @theplantiful and @nme89

Krisann Polito-Moller is a plant based champion. One of the most tragic episodes in her life was also the catalyst for change that lead her to profoundly alter her and her family’s diet. Krisann’s father passed away just hours before she would go into labor with her first child. She couldn’t make it to his funeral as she was still in the hospital herself with her new born baby. This event moved her to her core and she made health, wellbeing and plant based nutrition the center of her life’s mission. 

A Coach, Personal Trainer and Yoga Teacher

A certified personal trainer, yoga teacher as well as health coach, Krisann believes in the most holistic and well rounded approach. It’s about a lot of little steps in a lot of little areas in your life. All these small changes will lead to exponential growth and health if only you embrace them every single day. 

Krisann Is Now Making an Impact at Bellevue Hospital

Most recently, Krisann joined Dr Michelle McMacken’s team at Bellevue Hospital in NYC as part of the first Plant-Based Lifestyle Medicine Program at a US public hospital. The program brings together doctors, dietitians and health coaches. They work one-on-one with patients to create a personalized plan for healthy plant-based eating. 

Krisann is unstoppable and is also the co founder of the Tulsa Veg Fest which will take place on May 4 for the first time. 

We hope you enjoy our conversation with this power house!

SHOW NOTES:

Check out Krisann’s website here.

Check out our new sponsor Nuzest and get a special deal on your starter pack here.

And a special thanks to Caleb Jones, our audio engineer and latest addition to the pod – thank you @partcalebjones !

Come and see Isabelle speak at the NYC Veg Fest on May 18 and get 40% off here with PLANTIFUL40.

Go Further and check out our 2018 posts if you are new to the pod:

TPP 022 with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, on beating his heart disease with a plant-based diet

TPP 024 with Registered Dietician Karin Gibson, a plant based lifestyle

TPP 026 with Dr Michelle McMacken, the science behind a plant based diet

Follow us on Instagram @theplantiful and @nme89

 

Why Food as Medicine?

Food and medicine can seem like two utterly contradictory terms in today’s world. We learn that medicine is all about medications that most of the time just create new challenges and issues, leading to tons of side effects that can then be treated by… yes, more medicine!

Dr Rob Graham has always been one to challenge the status quo and as such, he deeply believes in using food to prevent and cure disease. We all know that what kills us today is mostly lifestyle related – that means most of our health issues are preventable through adjustments to that very lifestyle.

Dr Graham walks his talk and most recently added another specialty to his tool kit: chefing! That’s right, he went to culinary school at the natural gourmet institute and is now more equipped than ever to heal his patients through the most holistic approach to health.

It’s often still hard to believe that most disease is not just happening to us. It’s not ‘normal’ to die of diabetes, cancer or heart disease at 60. Dr Graham has made it his mission to empower his patients with this knowledge. Between scientific evidence and the simple skills it takes to feed yourself, his approach is unique and yet incredibly accessible. You are what you eat – no easier way to sum it up. And more than that, most of your health is a personal choice and not an uncontrollable burden.

We hope you enjoy our conversation with Dr Graham, a second time guest on the pod.

SHOW NOTES:

Dr. Graham ‘s website Fresh Med NYC

Check out our new sponsor Nuzest and get a special deal on your starter pack here.

And a special thanks to Caleb Jones, our audio engineer and latest addition to the pod – thank you @partcalebjones !

Go Further and check out our 2018 posts if you are new to the pod:

TPP 044 with Dustin Harder on traveling vegan

TPP 043 with Jennifer Sun on healing with Chinese medicine

TPP 022 with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, on beating his heart disease with a plant-based diet

TPP 024 with Registered Dietician Karin Gibson, a plant based lifestyle

TPP 026 with Dr Michelle McMacken, the science behind a plant based diet

Follow us on Instagram @theplantiful and @nme89

Did you know that roughly 10% of the US population has tried to go plant based at some point of their lives? Crazy right!? You probably also guessed that most of these people didn’t stick to their plant based diet, when remembering that only 2% are currently following a plant based lifestyle.

Clearly drop-off rates are high. It’s tough to stay vegan because of a combination of reasons: the feeling of not being on top of your health and social pressure are often the main ones. And we get it. We know exactly how these challenges feel and how change can be daunting and overwhelming at times.

A few weeks ago the vegan YouTube world blew up when a vegan YouTube celebrity, who has built a business on her raw vegan cooking and lifestyle videos, declared she was no longer vegan. What we find tough about this, is not the fact that she is changing her diet or dropping veganism. What’s tough about it, is that extreme eating patterns like raw only, low fat high carb, low carb high fat and the list of restrictive eating habits goes on and on, gets thrown into the same bucket as a whole-food plant based diet.

Eating whole, plant-based foods is the opposite of restriction, it’s abundance. It’s not about cutting out or focusing on isolated macro nutrients (fat, carbs, protein) but rather about eating food (all sorts of plants: starchy veggies, green veggies, nuts, seeds, beans, grains, fruit, mushrooms etc) in its most minimally processed state to benefit from the complex and rich nutrition profiles of all of these plants.

And guess what? It’s totally ok if you can’t do it ‘perfectly’ or 100% all the time. There are many reasons why we chose to eat plants only. And we don’t believe that it’s about pushing this mindset on another but rather about sharing why it works for us and how we overcame hurdles. Want to know more? Listen to the latest podcast episode…

SHOW NOTES:

Check out our new sponsor Nuzest and get a special deal on your starter pack here.

And a special thanks to Caleb Jones, our audio engineer and latest addition to the pod – thank you @partcalebjones !

Go Further and check out our 2018 posts if you are new to the pod:

TPP 044 with Dustin Harder on traveling vegan

TPP 043 with Jennifer Sun on healing with Chinese medicine

TPP 022 with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, on beating his heart disease with a plant-based diet

TPP 024 with Registered Dietician Karin Gibson, a plant based lifestyle

TPP 026 with Dr Michelle McMacken, the science behind a plant based diet

Follow us on Instagram @theplantiful and @nme89

 

Connecting The Dots

The path toward a healthy and conscientious life can begin anytime, anywhere.  For many of us, change comes through sweeping social shifts and broad trends.  For others, change begins on a more personal quest.  Discovering your own journey enables fosters personal growth, and becomes the answer to “why” you choose to change for the better.

A wonderful case in point is Nil Zacharias, who through environmental research projects, traced it all back to dietary decisions. He connected the scientific proof of his research with the social norms of today.  Putting two and two together, he developed his fundamental convictions that through eating animal products we are not only killing ourselves, but also killing our planet.  A few of Nil’s key pointers:

* “23 percent of the world’s freshwater goes to animal agriculture system, while nearly 700 million people suffer from water scarcity, and 40 percent of the world’s grain is fed to farm animals, while nearly a billion people go to bed hungry every night.

* Not only is meat production the leading driver of climate change, but is also responsible for air and water pollution, land degradation, deforestation and is pushing several species to the brink of extinction.” (source)

If you like expanding your mind and connecting the dots, Nil is your guy.  One thing is for sure, Nil will challenge you to question your food choices.  Enjoy our conversation with Nil, a man who thinks outside the box to change our habits for a better, cleaner, happier planet.

 

SHOW NOTES:

Visit Nil’s website Eat For The Planet and follow him on at twitter @nilzach and check out his podcast

And a special thanks to Caleb Jones, our audio engineer and latest addition to the pod – thank you @partcalebjones !

Go Further and check out our 2018 posts if you are new to the pod:

TPP 044 with Dustin Harder on traveling vegan

TPP 043 with Jennifer Sun on healing with Chinese medicine

TPP 022 with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, on beating his heart disease with a plant-based diet

TPP 024 with Registered Dietician Karin Gibson, a plant based lifestyle

TPP 026 with Dr Michelle McMacken, the science behind a plant based diet

TPP 028 with Chef Made, everything you wanted to know about raw vegan food

Follow us on Instagram @theplantiful and @nme89

User our code THEPLANTIFUL to get 10% off on your Nutpods purchase.

Travel and veganism can seem like an impossible compromise. When we travel, we want to experience and feel the culture that we immerse ourselves into locally. That often means eating local food. Travel also means discovery and open mindedness. So how is that compatible with sticking to your convictions around eating, especially when you refrain from animal products. We know that lots of places in the world use animal ingredients in their traditional cooking so how can you travel and experience the real thing, without breaking veganism?

Dustin Harder, the “Vegan Roadie,” has answers for all of these questions. Initially motivated by health, his vegan journey pushed him to combine his passion for entertainment, stemming from his work as an actor, with his love for food. Dustin ended up going to culinary school in between two acting jobs and then decided to take it all on the road. The Vegan Roadie was born – a YouTube travel show, in the style of the Foodnetwork show Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, explores vegan options at vegan and non vegan places across the country.

In his latest season, Dustin took it across the pond to Italy. We talk about the cultural obstacles of this adventures and we chat about how to overcome family resistance in your own home. Dustin is deeply inspiring as he brings together two of his biggest passions. And ultimately, he conveys the joy and deliciousness of eating plants in the most accessible way. Stay tuned for his latest cookbook, Epic Vegan, hitting the shelves this July (click on the link to pre order) and find his best easy recipes in his first cookbook, The Simply Vegan Cookbook. 

 

SHOW NOTES:

Visit Dustin’s website and blog.

And a special thanks to Caleb Jones, our audio engineer and latest addition to the pod – thank you @partcalebjones !

Go Further and check out our 2018 posts if you are new to the pod:

TPP 022 with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, on beating his heart disease with a plant-based diet

TPP 024 with Registered Dietician Karin Gibson, a plant based lifestyle

TPP 026 with Dr Michelle McMacken, the science behind a plant based diet

TPP 028 with Chef Made, everything you wanted to know about raw vegan food

Follow us on Instagram @theplantiful and @nme89

User our code THEPLANTIFUL to get 10% off on your Nutpods purchase.

 

 

 

As a child, Jennifer Sun did not appreciate the bitter herbs her dad would prescribe her against any types of physical aches and sicknesses. Her father, both a Western MD as well as a traditionally trained Chinese doctor, immigrated to the US in his 20s and established his acupuncture and Chinese medicine practice in NYC – decades before it was hip and trendy.

Eventhough acupuncture is having a moment, Chinese medicine is still far from mainstream and the truth is, most people don’t even know that acupuncture is just a part of the century old holistic science.

Jen Sun is here to change that and demistify Chinese Medicine. She does that through tasty and accessible nut and seed butters – perfect for the US market – that are spiked with traditional herbs. So you can eat your peanut butter toast and get a dose of healing? Yep, that’s right. 

In our interview with Jen we chat about how it was growing up as the child with the weird smelling herbal teas and what pushed her to leave her traditional career in consulting to pursue a non traditional career of stepping into her father’s footsteps in the most millennial fashion.

Don’t forget to check out Jen’s delicious product selection (we can’t get enough of the nut butters!) as well as some fun recipes here.

 

At first view, you would never associate Remy’s colorful and vibrant food pictures with eating disorders. The truth is, Remy’s healed herself from it. But eating disorders used to be very much a part of her life as a young teenager. The combination of what she describes as being some genetic pre dispositions and the fact that she moved to Taiwan as a young child, and felt like having power over her food was a way to keep control, could be some of the reasons why she fell into this unhealthy spiral of being obsessed with food and weight.

Today, her message is simple: eat real plant based food, with no restriction, no limitations. It wasn’t always that way: food used to be an enemy and Remy used to use the term ‘vegan’ – although neither she nor anyone else knew what that meant – as a way to disguise her eating disorder and restrict herself. In middle school, when she started feeling overall weak compared to her peers, she started facing how she felt and what she was doing. It wasn’t until college when she totally healed herself. She found true veganism, that was now a ‘celebration of a good choice’.

Remy is beyond inspiring. She is only in her early 20s and decided to follow her passion. She quit her stable consulting job to pursue her love for vegan food and share it with the world. She is a recipe developer and yoga teacher and through Veggiekins, her website and instagram account, she inspires thousands to follow a plant based lifestyle, in a healthy, sustainable and ethical way.

We hope you enjoy this conversation with Remy and all the wisdom she has to share!

<3

Isa + Noah

 

SHOW NOTES:

Visit Remy’s Blog.

Check out Remy’s Instagram account.

And a special thanks to Caleb Jones, our audio engineer and latest addition to the pod – thank you @partcalebjones !

Go Further and check out our 2018 posts if you are new to the pod:

TPP 022 with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, on beating his heart disease with a plant-based diet

TPP 024 with Registered Dietician Karin Gibson, a plant based lifestyle

TPP 026 with Dr Michelle McMacken, the science behind a plant based diet

TPP 028 with Chef Made, everything you wanted to know about raw vegan food

Follow us on Instagram @theplantiful and @nme89

User our code THEPLANTIFUL to get 10% off on your Nutpods purchase.

It’s January and January means New Years resolutions, right? A lot of times, we find our selves excited about the new year and come up with a list of things that we want to change or be better at. Health and money are usually among the top 5 New Years resolutions. While we generally agree that eating more plants is better for our health, unfortunately, eating vegan and plant based has the reputation of being expensive. But did you know that Ben Franklin for example went vegetarian for a while because he knew it was cheaper than eating animal products?

Long Term Health Care Bill Savings

The truth is, there is no need to break the bank when eating plant based. Not only will you benefit from long term savings on your health bills: yes, eating a whole foods plant based diet can prevent and/or reverse 14 of the 15 leading causes of death in this country. Most health issues today, in 21st century America, are lifestyle related. Heart disease, cardio vascular disease, diabetes type 2, stroke and the list goes on. All of them can be countered by eating more plants. But also, you will experience direct savings if you switch your focus from animal to plant products.

How We Reduced Our Bills By 3/4

In this reflection episode, we will tell you all about how Noah cut his breakfast and lunch spending, reducing it to 1/4th of the cost. All while eating healthy, high quality, vegan meals. And without spending much more than 10 minutes on meal prep.

We will also chat about some other ways to save money on a plant based diet like eating seasonal and checking out local farmers’ markets.

For anyone out there who is on their own journey, and not 100% vegan, this podcast is for you too! We don’t think savings can only be achieved if you are religiously vegan. We don’t want this to be binary but rather inclusive and meet everyone where they are.

Comment below and let us know how you like to save money on a vegan diet! 🙂

SHOW NOTES:

Find the Dirty 12 and Clean 15 list on the EWG website.

And a special thanks to Caleb Jones, our audio engineer and latest addition to the pod – thank you @partcalebjones !

Go Further and check out our 2018 posts if you are new to the pod:

TPP 022 with Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, on beating his heart disease with a plant-based diet

TPP 024 with Registered Dietician Karin Gibson, a plant based lifestyle

TPP 026 with Dr Michelle McMacken, the science behind a plant based diet

Follow us on Instagram @theplantiful and @nme89

User our code THEPLANTIFUL to get 10% off on your Nutpods purchase.