Shownotes
Meet Erin and Dusty Stanczyk—a Nebraska couple who transformed their health and family life by embracing a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle. After struggling with anxiety, panic attacks, and acid reflux, they found inspiration from Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. and never looked back.
Now, at 38, they’re raising three plant-strong kids and sharing their journey on Eat Move Rest and in their new book, The Happy Healthy Plant-Based Cookbook. In this episode, they reveal three key pillars to thriving as a plant-based family and recipes from their colorful plant-based cookbook.
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Transcripts
I'm Rheb Esselstyn and you're listening to the Plan Strong podcast.
Speaker A:Today on the Plan Strong podcast, I am thrilled to introduce you to a wonderful and vibrant plant based couple, Erin and Dusty Stanczik.
Speaker A:They not only are going to share their personal plant based journeys from paleo to plants, but they're also going to unveil their secrets of creating a happy, healthy plant based family with three pillars that you don't want to miss.
Speaker A:I'm going to have their story right after these messages from Plantstrong.
Speaker A:My guests today are Dusty and Aaron Stanczic.
Speaker A:They grew up in Nebraska, the land of corn, but also the heart of cattle country, which played a major role in their lives.
Speaker A:However, towards the end of college, multiple health scares for both of them, such as anxiety, panic attacks and acid reflux, made them question their lifestyle choices.
Speaker A:It then took a few years and with the inspiration from this guy named Dr.
Speaker A:Caldwell B.
Speaker A:Esselstyn Jr.
Speaker A:They transitioned to a whole food plant based lifestyle and haven't looked back.
Speaker A:Now, at the age of 38, along with three young children, the Stanzyks open up about how they thrive as a family on their YouTube channel, eat, move, rest.
Speaker A:It's also the three tenets that we discussed today from their first book, the Happy Healthy Plant Based Cookbook.
Speaker A:Let's meet this wonderful couple, Dusty and Erin Stanczek.
Speaker A:Erin and Dusty Stanczik.
Speaker A:I want to welcome you guys to the Plan Strong podcast.
Speaker A:It's an absolute pleasure to be looking at two young, beautiful faces with a young, burgeoning family.
Speaker A:Congratulations.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:We're glad to be here.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:When Aaron said that we're going to be on your podcast, I was pretty excited.
Speaker C:It's a big deal for us, so thanks for having us.
Speaker B:Definitely.
Speaker B:I think your father was kind of our entry point into this crazy diet and lifestyle that originally we had thought we were going to wither up and blow away on.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, that's hardly the case.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:No, no.
Speaker A:Withering or blowing up.
Speaker A:That's interesting.
Speaker A:So I can't wait to dive into your stories, talk about your.
Speaker A:Your new book that just launched earlier.
Speaker A:Earlier.
Speaker A:Earlier this last month in January.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you do mention, you know, I read the book.
Speaker A:You guys have done a phenomenal job with this right here, that happy, healthy plant based cookbook.
Speaker C:Thank you.
Speaker A:Kind of says it all right.
Speaker A:Very right.
Speaker B:It doesn't get more hashtag friendly than that.
Speaker A:No, no.
Speaker A:Was that.
Speaker A:So was that intentional?
Speaker A:Like, how did you come up with the.
Speaker A:The name for this Book.
Speaker C:Oh, man.
Speaker B:Honestly, we didn't.
Speaker B:Our team was just like, guys.
Speaker C:They were like, how do you describe this?
Speaker C:And we're like, you know, we're.
Speaker C:We're a happy, healthy family.
Speaker C:And they were like, stop right there.
Speaker C:Stop right there.
Speaker C:That's the title for the book.
Speaker C:So that's about as far as it went.
Speaker C:And we, to be honest, we weren't sure that we loved the title.
Speaker C:We thought it was kind of cheeky, but they were like, no, this is great.
Speaker C:And so we're like, hey, whatever.
Speaker B:And honestly, I feel like everything was taken.
Speaker B:It's crazy.
Speaker B:Like, there's no such thing as an original idea anymore.
Speaker B:It's like everything's already been done.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, yeah, just when you think that's the case, something new and exciting springs forward.
Speaker A:But this is.
Speaker A:This.
Speaker A:I think this is perfect.
Speaker A:And where am I talking to you guys from?
Speaker C:Yeah, we're in.
Speaker C:We live in southwest Florida, a little bit south of Sarasota, kind of between Tampa and Naples over here on the west coast, so.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:So have you been hit by any of the.
Speaker C:All of them.
Speaker A:All of them.
Speaker C:We just keep having to evacuate.
Speaker C:It's crazy.
Speaker B:Hurricanes.
Speaker C:Yeah, I'm guessing that's.
Speaker B:Well, we moved down here from Tornado Alley in Nebraska right to Hurricane Central, apparently, which I never had paid attention that closely to hurricanes before.
Speaker B:And everyone had told us, oh, they mostly go to the East Coast.
Speaker B:Well, yeah, they decided to shift directions and hit us in the Gulf.
Speaker B:And we got hit head on with Hurricane Ian just months after we had moved down to Florida.
Speaker B:And we're like, what are the odds of anywhere we could have picked to live in the United States or in the world?
Speaker B:This awful hurricane passes right over our home and sustained 200 mile an hour winds, which was crazy.
Speaker C:Crazy.
Speaker B:And we're still here.
Speaker B:So apparently it wasn't quite crazy enough to scare us off.
Speaker A:And so you mentioned Nebraska.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So is Nebraska is where you two grew up and met?
Speaker A:Yep.
Speaker C:All of our family's still there.
Speaker C:We were born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital, you know, Cornhusker Nation, Husker football.
Speaker C:The license plate is the beat says the Beef State, Omaha Steaks.
Speaker C:You know, it's.
Speaker C:That's us.
Speaker C:That's where we grew up.
Speaker C:And Aaron's brother played football for the Huskers.
Speaker C:And it's.
Speaker C:It's very much a culture there.
Speaker C:It's a.
Speaker C:It's a nice place, you know, nice people, nice city.
Speaker C:But we were tired of the cold.
Speaker C:And so when we started.
Speaker C:When we started, you know, earning A living with.
Speaker C:With our YouTube and retreats and all these things.
Speaker C:We were like, let's get the heck out of here for at least for a while.
Speaker C:Let's try someplace warm.
Speaker C:And so, yeah, we've.
Speaker C:We've been here for three years and.
Speaker C:And we like it.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:So you mentioned YouTube and retreats and, you know, Instagram and now this.
Speaker A:This new cookbook.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:So was it fair to say that you guys are plant based.
Speaker A:Plant based, influencer family?
Speaker C:I think so.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:I think so.
Speaker B:You know, the word, the term influencer can sometimes have a negative connotation, but I'm like, I guess essentially that's what we are doing is having an influence on others.
Speaker B:Let's, let's, you know, use this platform as a way to spread a good message, a wholesome, happy message, because there is so much dark in the world, and a lot of people are like, oh, why do you have your kids on the Internet?
Speaker B:Where we're like, we.
Speaker B:We feel almost like we owe it to others to be like, hey, this is what's possible.
Speaker B:You know, like, even people who feel like they feel good, I.
Speaker B:I felt good, but I didn't realize I could feel great.
Speaker B:And I didn't realize that, like, same for our kids.
Speaker B:You don't have to be raised on Skittles and all the different, you know, processed packaged foods.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, what I love is that seeing you guys, seeing your beautiful family, seeing what you guys are doing, I love seeing all these new faces that are now carrying the torch and being amazing representatives for what this lifestyle can be.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:The Carly Bodrugs, the Jackie Ackerberg's, the Dominique Thompson.
Speaker A:Gosh, Max Lamana, Desiree Nielsen.
Speaker A:And now, you know, you guys, we need a huge wave of people showing other people what is possible y.
Speaker A:Because we're drowning in our own sickness right now, as you guys all know.
Speaker A:So speaking of that, everybody has their own personal journeys, and I'd love to hear about Aaron and Dusty, your stories, you know, where you came from.
Speaker A:Because everybody has a beautiful journey story.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah, totally.
Speaker C:You want to.
Speaker C:You want to start kick us off?
Speaker B:I feel like that's what, you know, how we got into this influencer position is because they always say the wound is where the light enters.
Speaker B:And I feel like our mess has become our message, so to speak.
Speaker B:And so it's started kind of for both of us in college when we did the typical college thing where you.
Speaker C:I was in a frat and I worked in a bar.
Speaker C:And, you know, it was Tailgates on the weekends and beer and pizza and.
Speaker C:Yeah, it was, it was that whole thing for both of us.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I think Also in your 20s, I mean, most 20 somethings are led to believe that they're invincible and we were definitely believers of that until one day we.
Speaker B:We're not anymore.
Speaker B:And we weren't, we weren't even together at this point.
Speaker B:But from my side of the story, I started to, you know, went above and beyond the freshman 15.
Speaker B:And of course that was the first thing that was kind of disheartening to me.
Speaker B:I was no longer this straight a high school student who was also an athlete.
Speaker B:I wasn't eating healthy.
Speaker B:I was staying out late and eating all the fast foods, processed foods, and probably just partying too much, sleeping in.
Speaker B:And, you know, on top of that, I started to experience my first bouts of real anxiety and depression and not really sure what to do with all of that, and began to like, kind of self medicate a little bit with alcohol.
Speaker B:And I felt like I was also this shy, anxious person that was very awkward.
Speaker B:And so that was kind of like the band aid for me.
Speaker B:And it just, it just snowballed very quickly to the point where I was experiencing so many disheartening symptoms, you know, from a lot of brain fog, which made me even more socially anxious and awkward.
Speaker B:And then it was a lot of issues with like, breathing where I couldn't get a good enough breath.
Speaker B:And I felt like I had, you know, some rare lung disease.
Speaker B:That's what Dr.
Speaker B:Google had told me.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker C:Never Google anything.
Speaker B:Yeah, numbness and tingling.
Speaker B:I had hormonal imbalances and irregularities and acne and mood swings and just like, it was just all so much all at once that seemed to snowball at the same time.
Speaker B:And my.
Speaker B:I come from a family of physicians.
Speaker B:My dad's a family medicine doctor.
Speaker B:And so it was very, very easy for me to, you know, go into his practice and say, dad, you know, I've got this, this and this going on.
Speaker B:You know, like, he lined me up with all the specialists to see.
Speaker B:And after coming out of MRIs and CT scans and everything coming back fine, you know, you kind of feel like, oh, wow, what a relief.
Speaker B:And then at the same time, you're like, but the symptoms don't just disappear because you don't have a diagnosis.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so I'm like, okay, so, you know, what am I going to do?
Speaker B:I go back to the Internet and it's like, let's stop searching symptoms, let's start searching for Solutions.
Speaker B:That's kind of along the same time Dusty and I had reconvened.
Speaker B:We knew each other from high school, but then at the end of college, we kind of, we literally, we literally.
Speaker C:Bumped into each other at a bar after finals.
Speaker C:I think we maybe had one year of school left, but it was, that was the end of probably our junior year and we started talking, catching up, and we, we, we kind of agreed that while we were at a bar right then, we were, we were both sick of it.
Speaker C:And so that summer, we spent, we spent the whole summer on our bikes, you know, buying groceries, cooking good food, you know, better, better food.
Speaker C:I, you know, I was still very much the, we need meat at every meal and I'm grilling and, you know, fish and steaks, but we were going to Trader Joe's getting, you know, the grass fed stuff and the healthy free range, the healthy meats.
Speaker C:And, you know, we thought we were doing good and probably were doing better than we had been.
Speaker B:You introduced me to the protein obsession, I will say that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And so that was us.
Speaker C:And we, we kind of, well, we had fun, obviously.
Speaker C:And so we spent the next year, you know, finishing college and kind of eating this way, eating better, but still, you know, not.
Speaker C:Still not eating great.
Speaker C:And then I think it really changed when you went in for a regular physical checkup and your, your cholesterol was high.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:So we had been, you know, eating this supposedly cleaner diet with clean proteins and my cholesterol.
Speaker B:And my dad said, well, you know, it runs in my side of the family.
Speaker B:Heart disease is very prevalent.
Speaker B:Same with your mom's side.
Speaker B:So, you know, unfortunately, we're just dealt kind of a not so great genetic hand.
Speaker B:And so I, the nurses were like, it'd probably be best for you to go on a statin.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And we were what, 24?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I'm like four or five, you know, so for how long and, and getting the news that possibly forever, I thought, well, that doesn't seem right.
Speaker C:No way.
Speaker C:Same time I had gone into the clinic to talk to your dad because I had acid reflux, indigestion.
Speaker C:I just didn't feel good.
Speaker C:But the reflux was so bad that he put me on one medication.
Speaker C:Then I felt great and I continued to eat whatever I wanted.
Speaker C:Of course, I didn't change any of my eating habits.
Speaker C:I just took the pill, felt good.
Speaker C:And then it got worse again.
Speaker C:He's like, well, take another one then.
Speaker C:So now I'm, you know, you're, you're looking at a Statin drug in your mid-20s.
Speaker C:I'm, I'm on two heartburn medications.
Speaker C:You know, like, you see the funny commercials of the guys eating the chili dogs and you know, they take their Tums or whatever, but I'm like, I'm 20 something years old.
Speaker C:I, I, we should feel better than this.
Speaker C:And so again, we, we kind of both decided, all right, let's, let's look harder at what we're eating.
Speaker A:It's gotta be for context.
Speaker A:How old are you guys today?
Speaker C:38.
Speaker C:Both of us.
Speaker B:Y.
Speaker B:Got it.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker A:So, so, all right, so this, this journey started about, yeah, 15 years ago is probably, probably.
Speaker C:Yeah, we've been married, we've been fully.
Speaker B:Fully plant based for a little over a decade now.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's what the hell.
Speaker B:Yeah, the, you know, we kind of felt like, okay, now we've, we've gotten rid of all of our unhealthy lifestyle habits and we're going to bed at a reasonable hour and cooking at home.
Speaker B:But my, you know, plethora of symptoms were not dissipating.
Speaker B:And then, you know, going back to like being the, these straight A, straight A type individuals, very type A and getting that bad report card or, you know, the blood work that says, hey, this isn't so perfect.
Speaker B:Really, really was eating at both of us, I think.
Speaker B:And actually my uncle, who's a cardiologist, ended up, ended up my dad's brother.
Speaker B:He had decided to go vegan and the whole family basically thought he had gone off the deep end.
Speaker C:Oh yeah.
Speaker C:Uncle Steve had officially lost his mind.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:And they're like, wow, if there was ever something as a, as a midlife crisis, this is it.
Speaker A:Dusty, your uncle was a cattle rancher too?
Speaker C:Actually is.
Speaker C:Yeah, actually is.
Speaker C:And so we've got this like duality.
Speaker C:It's family though.
Speaker C:So, you know, you know, we love you love them all and you talk about it and I grew up hunting and doing all the things and you know, yeah, that's, that's a whole nother story that, that side of the family.
Speaker C:But Steve we looked up to because he was the healthy, cool, he was.
Speaker B:The long distance marathon runner who decided to go vegan.
Speaker C:And so we were like, okay.
Speaker C:He invited us to this, to this thing, local hospital.
Speaker C:He's like, hey, I think you guys would dig this, this speaker.
Speaker C:We show up and this old guy's talking about bean sprout quesadillas and you know, all, all the, all the things we had never heard of.
Speaker C:Showing us echocardiograms and lo and behold, it was your dad.
Speaker A:Wait, so this was where, in what year can you remember?
Speaker B:It was in Beatrice, Nebraska, about 20, 30 minutes outside of Lincoln, where we're from.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that had to be like, had to be like 10 years ago, right?
Speaker C:No, yeah, 20, 14, something.
Speaker A:So, so getting back, getting back to what you said at the top of the, the podcast.
Speaker A:So you guys were on the struggle bus, as you guys like to say, on the struggle bus.
Speaker A:And then it was.
Speaker A:So was it this talk by my father that somehow kind of shook the tree to the core to where you're like, wow, let's.
Speaker A:Let's do something about this 100.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And I had my degree in biology thinking that I was going to go pre med and join the family business.
Speaker B:And I didn't do that, but I did have a very good understanding of biology.
Speaker B:So actually seeing like the echocardiograms and the statistics, like, spoke to my, the way my brain is wired.
Speaker B:And I was like, if I see something, that's a fact, I, I have to follow suit.
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker B:And then, so, you know, we, we're.
Speaker C:Both a little bit that way.
Speaker C:And so we're finding out, you know, we're.
Speaker C:We're learning the news that we were kind of upset to be, you know, the reality of what we were eating was possibly hurting us and maybe obviously what, what we needed to change.
Speaker C:And so again, like Aaron said, being type A, we're like, well, we got to do this.
Speaker C:We got it.
Speaker C:We got to do it.
Speaker C:So Lent was coming up.
Speaker C:It was just around the corner.
Speaker C:We were like, let's go.
Speaker C:Let's go plant based for 40 days.
Speaker B:We all did it.
Speaker B:My parents and my Uncle Steve and us decided, let's just try vegetarian for 40 days.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:We did.
Speaker A:40 days is no joke.
Speaker C:It was a big deal.
Speaker C:It was huge.
Speaker C:And I, again, I've, you know, my.
Speaker C:I had buddies saying, dude, you're going to shrivel up and blow away.
Speaker C:You know, I've always been a lean guy.
Speaker C:I, even though I didn't feel good, I would never had issues with weight or anything.
Speaker C:And they're like, you're going to blow away.
Speaker C:You know, you can't.
Speaker C:What do you mean?
Speaker C:You're not going to be eating eggs and meat or, you know, all these things.
Speaker C:But I felt great.
Speaker C:We both did.
Speaker C:And I was like, dang.
Speaker B:And more importantly, we were still alive at the end of 40 days.
Speaker B:I think that was our main concern.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:How are we going to survive?
Speaker B:But we did bounce back and Dusty's always like, you know, tells the story of going through the drive through and.
Speaker B:And rewarding himself with the juicy burger.
Speaker C:Day 41.
Speaker C:Day 41.
Speaker C:I went back to the drive through to celebrate and slowly but surely started feeling lousy again.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:But I needed that.
Speaker C:I needed that.
Speaker C:That to see, like, it was right there in front of my face, and I was like, I ate this way and I felt good.
Speaker C:I started eating crap again, and I feel crappy, and it's like, wow.
Speaker C:And that's.
Speaker C:No book can teach you that.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:No other person can teach you that.
Speaker C:Like, you kind of have to do that for yourself.
Speaker C:And I was like, wow.
Speaker C:Okay, now I get it.
Speaker C:And now it's solidified.
Speaker A:Let's.
Speaker A:Let's dive into the book.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which you basically have three pillars, which they're.
Speaker A:They're simple and they're brilliant.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Just like the title of your book.
Speaker A:Basically, you're saying, hey, guys, let's do these three things.
Speaker A:Let's eat more plants.
Speaker A:Let's move daily, and let's rest intentionally.
Speaker A:So let's.
Speaker A:Let's walk the plants through the plant.
Speaker A:Strong listener through those three things.
Speaker A:And let's start with.
Speaker A:With eat.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:Because as you guys say, what you eat can make you or it can break you.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So let's.
Speaker A:And I've got a bunch of questions, but is there anything you want to say around eating?
Speaker B:I think especially coming from the Midwest and the vegan or the V word, as we like to say, can have a lot of negative connotations with it, and you automatically feel judged or isolated.
Speaker B:We try to steer clear of it and instead be more inviting and say, look, nobody can argue with more fruits, more vegetables, more fiber, essentially, just more color on your plate.
Speaker B:Because the way we were eating before and the way most people are eating is a lot of beige, bland, you.
Speaker C:Know, used to say, you're feeding me bait.
Speaker C:You're giving me another beige dish.
Speaker C:And I was like, what a beige.
Speaker C:I'm like, oh, yeah, there's no color here.
Speaker C:I get.
Speaker B:And so, like, by the content we.
Speaker B:We create, you know, we bring the color.
Speaker B:Even in our.
Speaker B:In our kitchen here, everything is just bold and bright and beautiful.
Speaker C:And there it is.
Speaker C:There it is.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:We say, you know, eat the rainbow.
Speaker B:So I think that nobody can really argue with that.
Speaker C:Um, it's.
Speaker C:It's started to seep into, like Aaron said, even our house and our kids and everything, and.
Speaker C:And maybe even moving to Florida.
Speaker C:It's just we live a very vibrant, colorful life, and it's and it really does.
Speaker C:You know, they say you are what you eat.
Speaker C:My grandma always used to say, you've always heard it, but it becomes true.
Speaker C:And it's the portal.
Speaker C:Food is the portal for, I think, all of us.
Speaker C:Right?
Speaker C:You know, so it's like, oh, we could, we could yell at people till they're, till we're blue in the face, you know, saying they need to run and rest and all these things.
Speaker C:But, but food, well, food, food can be fun and food is delicious and it can be rewarding and it's a good place to start.
Speaker C:So yeah, we're like, we need to come up with a book that has amazing, delicious and easy recipes and foods.
Speaker B:That energize you to make movement possible and enjoyable.
Speaker B:So you have the energy.
Speaker B:And there's so many different modalities.
Speaker B:We always just tell people, do what moves you, what, what excites you, what do you enjoy?
Speaker B:Especially when you're getting started.
Speaker B:Like, don't have somebody write you up this really intense weightlifting plan if you've, if you would rather be out on your bike or dancing.
Speaker C:It's kind of like the eat, move, rest locomotive too.
Speaker C:You start your morning with a healthy green smoothie.
Speaker C:We say for sure, you, you have the energy, you feel good, you're clear.
Speaker C:So you actually do want to go out and move your body and less inflammation also.
Speaker C:Totally you poop, Right?
Speaker C:My dad's always like, well, I don't need a smoothie and my coffee makes me poop.
Speaker C:I'm like, yeah, this is a better type of poop, Dad, I promise.
Speaker C:So we feel good, we go out, we exercise.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:We're lifting weights or we're just playing with the kids or walking the dog or whatever.
Speaker C:We're so active all the time, landscaping, you know, whatever it is for you.
Speaker C:Like Aaron said, do what moves you.
Speaker C:And then you're tired at the end of the day.
Speaker C:You're worn out because you had the energy, you used the energy.
Speaker C:Now you're tired.
Speaker C:Now you sleep like a baby because you eat a healthy, non inflammatory dinner earlier in the evening.
Speaker C:You sleep like rock and you wake up ready to do it all the next day and it just repeats and it snowballs.
Speaker C:And that's where eat, move, rest, just, just rinse and repeat.
Speaker B:And really I'll, I'll top that by saying that it's not like the end all be all.
Speaker B:Because we get so many people asking like, well, what about prayer and spirituality?
Speaker B:And we're like, that is part of rest.
Speaker B:Actually.
Speaker B:It is the rest.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And the reason why we want to get dialed in with all three of these things is so that we are clear and we can access those higher, you know, thought processes and really find this, like, fullness of life and beauty in life and find meaning.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, you're right.
Speaker A:I mean, at all, all three of those, they feed on each other.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:To allow you, as you guys say in the book, to be basically the best, most authentic version of yourself, which is a beautiful thing.
Speaker A:I'd love to.
Speaker A:I'd love to move back to.
Speaker A:To eat and then, and then.
Speaker A:And then spend a little more time with move and rest.
Speaker A:Because I can tell you rest is something that I don't do intentionally.
Speaker A:And you guys really focus on intentionally, you know, resting, moving, eating.
Speaker A:But I want to come back to, to movement and, and rest.
Speaker A:So with eating.
Speaker A:Aaron, you.
Speaker A:You've.
Speaker A:You've got three absolutely gorgeous babies.
Speaker A:You and Dustin, but you gave birth.
Speaker A:Know Max, Liv and Zoe.
Speaker A:Zoe's not on the COVID of the book.
Speaker A:Is that she didn't make the cut.
Speaker B:We definitely.
Speaker B:I told Dusty, I was like, you know what's going to happen?
Speaker B:We're going to finish this book and then we're going to have another baby.
Speaker B:And she's not.
Speaker B:Or he or she is not going to make the cut.
Speaker B:And it happened just like that.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker C:And we tried, but the.
Speaker C:The team was like, hey, the cover's been printed.
Speaker C:Sorry, guys, We.
Speaker C:We couldn't do it.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker B:But we did squeeze a newborn picture.
Speaker C:Of her in there at least once.
Speaker C:I think think somewhere in the book.
Speaker B:I just think that means there's more to come.
Speaker A:More books.
Speaker A:If you really want to see Zoe and her insane head of hair that she got right, just go to the Eat Eat Move Rest at Eat Move Rest on Instagram.
Speaker A:And it's awesome.
Speaker C:Yeah, three.
Speaker A:Three pregnancies.
Speaker A:All right, do you guys.
Speaker A:Let's.
Speaker A:Let's take a step back.
Speaker A:Do you guys refer to yourselves as whole food plant based?
Speaker A:Plant based vegan.
Speaker A:What's terminology?
Speaker B:Definitely whole food plant based and.
Speaker B:And high raw, I would say, but less and less so with the kids because, hey, we got waffles and pancakes to make.
Speaker C:Oh, daily.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, I think.
Speaker C:But definitely we, we try to steer clear like Aaron said earlier of the V word because it can be a little divisive and there.
Speaker C:People can politicize that word.
Speaker C:And you know, you can be a vegan and eat canned peaches and smoke cigarettes.
Speaker C:I think maybe your dad even said that once and it's true.
Speaker C:You know, you have a vision of what a vegan is.
Speaker C:So we say whole food, plant based because it really is different, you know, it's different than just a vegan diet.
Speaker C:You know, you can eat impossible burgers and you know, some of these things that I probably wouldn't recommend if you call yourself a vegan.
Speaker C:So we, we say whole foods.
Speaker C:Yeah, as much as possible.
Speaker A:So as a whole food, you know, kind of plant based family, are there any, any foods that you avoid in the plant based kingdom, like oils or I don't know, coconut or something like that?
Speaker B:Yeah, we are oil free.
Speaker B:We do put it like in the kids dishes a lot of the times just for the sake of caloric density.
Speaker B:But we both find that our digestion is better without the oil, personally and.
Speaker C:And heartburn again for me, I, I haven't had any of my reflux medication or anything in 10 years since eating this way.
Speaker C:But if we go out, we were in New York City and just over the holidays and went to Little Italy and got, you know, had a feast there and it was so much fun.
Speaker C:But I, you know, too much oil gives me reflux, you know, and it's like I just.
Speaker C:So we don't cook with it.
Speaker B:And I found that my cholesterol level stays in check and you know, doctor, Dr.
Speaker B:Greger's heart attack proof zone when I don't consume it.
Speaker B:And then as far as other things, I would say I kind of fell victim personally to like the gluten, the fear around gluten and wheat products and then also soy products.
Speaker B:And then I thought eventually I was like, you know what, I'm gonna try those foods for myself personally and just trial and error, see how I feel.
Speaker B:And I've, I've never had an issue with either one.
Speaker B:We just buy organic, as good as possible.
Speaker B:You know, with wheat containing foods we buy like the Ezekiel bread and the kids love it with their PB and Js and seems to be fine for all of us.
Speaker B:And then with, we have a lot of soy products now, I would say organic, you know, tofu, tempeh, even the one ingredient or two ingredient, soy milk.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I find that it's a really incredible source of protein and iron, especially for the kids.
Speaker C:And if you're a parent, you know, we get this question all the time, what type of plant milk to use.
Speaker C:We say soy milk, pound for pound.
Speaker C:It's got, you know, eight grams of protein, it's got a similar fat, fat content to cow's milk.
Speaker C:You know, if you're trying to transition so you know, I.
Speaker C:Again, I'm stronger at 38 than I've ever been.
Speaker C:I don't have man boobs.
Speaker C:That's that.
Speaker C:I think that myth has been busted.
Speaker C:In fact, now they're saying soy can be preventative against things like breast cancer and, and things.
Speaker C:So we don't steer clear of soy.
Speaker C:We don't steer clear of wheat.
Speaker C:We just make sure to eat organic.
Speaker B:And as far as.
Speaker B:I guess another thing is like, refined sugars.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We don't really do.
Speaker B:I sweeten almost everything with dates and date paste.
Speaker C:Yeah, we eat a lot of sweet.
Speaker C:We do eat a lot of sweet foods now.
Speaker B:Baked goods and things like that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:With the kids, we have pancakes and waffles every morning.
Speaker C:Of course, we're making them from scratch with.
Speaker C:And they're.
Speaker C:They're not even.
Speaker C:They're.
Speaker C:They're not like, we, we had a friend, Aaron, makes these brownies.
Speaker C:Actually, we had a party over the holidays and your friend was like, shying away from the brownies, and we're eating them.
Speaker C:Like, I bet I had five brownies.
Speaker C:But they're like a meal bar, right?
Speaker C:They're not like a brownie.
Speaker C:They're, like, healthy.
Speaker C:So that's how our, you know, our kids, they're.
Speaker C:They're lucky kids, you know, man, they get to eat this way and grow up and they're.
Speaker C:Oh, I'm.
Speaker C:Yeah, I'm jealous, right?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:And as you guys talk about, there's nothing limiting about this.
Speaker A:You're walking into this world of abundance, but everybody's like, oh, what are you going to be eating?
Speaker A:Carrot sticks and salads?
Speaker A:And it's like, come on, I want to go back to the three pregnancies.
Speaker A:So how were they smooth?
Speaker A:No issues, no deficiencies.
Speaker A:Everything good?
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I mean, my dad always is like, you had the most uneventful pregnancies I've ever seen.
Speaker B:I'm like, well, dad, you know what?
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I do this diet perfectly, but I still have this nausea and this morning sickness.
Speaker B:And that was very frustrating for me.
Speaker B:But keeping it real and keeping it honest, you know, like, hey, thanks, hormones.
Speaker B:Unfortunately, you can't really escape some aspects of pregnancy.
Speaker B:And being plant based doesn't necessarily make you invincible, but I definitely like my odds best.
Speaker B:And I, I never once had a craving for any sort of animal product, which was another thing I was kind of wondering, oh, my gosh, am I going to be like Phoebe on Friends, who is craving the cold cut sandwich?
Speaker B:But never anything like that and just really smooth sailing.
Speaker B:Honestly, I was able to have completely unmedicated natural childbirths.
Speaker B:And this last one, Zoe, was born here at home and on purpose.
Speaker B:But, you know, honestly, I would say, like, if any, any mamas are expecting, mamas are struggling with any of those, you know, aversions or nausea.
Speaker B:Just do your best version of what you can with, you know, the healthy whole foods.
Speaker C:Your diet definitely looks different when you're pregnant.
Speaker B:Yes, definitely.
Speaker B:But just do your best version.
Speaker B:Like, I just wanted noodles and pasta because it was just bland and simple.
Speaker B:So I would do, you know, like the lentil or chickpea or brown rice.
Speaker C:Pasta, which the kids and I were thrilled about.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's really good.
Speaker B:It's like, if I'm going to crave pasta or ramen, like, do the rice ramen, do something that's got a little bit more protein and iron, a little more sustenance to it.
Speaker B:So that's kind of how I navigated things like that.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's interesting you, you brought up the Phoebe where.
Speaker A:Because I actually, my, my family is so into watching reruns of Friends right now.
Speaker B:We would all have a good time then.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that scene you're talking about, Joey's like, well, I won't eat cows for, you know, however long.
Speaker A:And they're trying to bal.
Speaker A:The whole, you know, how many cows are going to be killed.
Speaker A:Phoebe is now eating, you know, eating meat.
Speaker A:It was hilarious.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's.
Speaker A:I love hearing that.
Speaker A:You know, my, my wife, same thing.
Speaker A:Three children.
Speaker A:All.
Speaker A:All whole food plant based during her pregnancy.
Speaker A:All home births.
Speaker A:No, no problems.
Speaker A:You know, easy peasy.
Speaker A:Yeah, all good stuff.
Speaker A:You, you mentioned how you do a thing with your children because everybody asks, are your kids like also whole food plant based?
Speaker A:And I'm like, yeah, ever since they were born.
Speaker A:But you would do something called baby led weaning.
Speaker A:Can you describe what that is?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So as opposed to like, you know, making everything into a puree and spoon feeding, which, oh my gosh, that takes forever.
Speaker B:And we do that from time to time.
Speaker B:But what makes a lot more sense is to just feed them like a baby safe version of whatever you're already eating.
Speaker B:Something that they can grasp that's like, you know, like a long shape of like our pancakes or something like that.
Speaker B:Or even just like a bell pepper they can chew on.
Speaker B:So things that they can feed themselves essentially.
Speaker B:And it's like we can be eating as a family of five.
Speaker B:Yeah, I can be enjoying my meal while Zoe is nibbling on her own version.
Speaker C:Because we, we have a little PA that comes to the house.
Speaker C:And she.
Speaker C:One of the first questions she asked that.
Speaker C:Now Zoe is nine months old.
Speaker C:Does she have her.
Speaker C:What do they call it?
Speaker C:Pincer.
Speaker B:Pincer grass grasp.
Speaker C:You know, that's a thing.
Speaker C:And they want to check to make sure.
Speaker C:And so besides teaching herself how to eat, learning what she likes, she's.
Speaker C:It's good for their brain.
Speaker C:It's good for dexterity, you know, for them to be, like, actually feeding instead of just sitting there with food dripping down their face.
Speaker C:You know, even though I was guilty of that yesterday, I was shoving smoothie in her mouth because she was loving it.
Speaker C:But I think it's good for him.
Speaker C:You know, I think it's.
Speaker C:It's good for them.
Speaker B:And then we're not having to make a separate recipe or meal.
Speaker B:She's just eating some form of whatever we're eating and.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:You know, feeling acclimated to all of these healthy whole foods.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker A:So do Max and Liv.
Speaker A:Are they acutely aware that they eat differently than most of their friends and families?
Speaker A:And are they, like, cool with it?
Speaker C:All of a sudden, they're like, grandma, is that vegan?
Speaker C:Is this, like, are you vegan?
Speaker C:And, you know, it's weird because we don't.
Speaker C:We don't.
Speaker C:Again, we try not to say that word.
Speaker C:We don't want to make it.
Speaker C:We don't want to be dogmatic.
Speaker C:We don't want to be weird.
Speaker C:You know, Max is a heck of a baseball player, and they passed out cupcakes after one of the games.
Speaker C:This was last season.
Speaker C:And, you know, it wasn't vegan.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:And he had half of it down before I could.
Speaker C:Before I could take it from him.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker C:But he told me himself.
Speaker C:He's like, dad, I don't.
Speaker C:I feel too sugared out.
Speaker C:I don't feel very good after that.
Speaker C:So, you know, I tell him, well, hey, man, that's got a lot of stuff in it that we usually don't eat at home.
Speaker C:And so he has now started putting it together.
Speaker C:And, yeah, they.
Speaker C:They obviously, whether they're watching our YouTubes with us or something, they picked up on the fact that.
Speaker C:That we are.
Speaker C:We are vegan, even though we don't use that word.
Speaker B:It's really difficult to let go of that control because on one hand, you know, we want to limit their intake and exposure to those kinds of foods, but on the other hand, like, I don't want to be the food police that, you know, gives them this disordered perception of, like, this is healthy.
Speaker B:This is not.
Speaker B:This is good.
Speaker B:This is bad.
Speaker B:Like, we try not to label the foods and freak them out too much.
Speaker B:And so I think a healthy way to do it if you're a parent, especially with young kids, is like, give yourself grace for that 1% of the time when they're at the birthday party or the baseball game or whatever it might be, and focus more and harness that energy around like the 99% of the time that you're providing at home.
Speaker B:Like, how can you make the best possible, possible choices there with, you know, doing with what's in your control, in your hands.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And make it, you know, make the other, the other opportunity, the other times.
Speaker C:Opportunities for, for a lesson, you know, like, Max, we picked my mom up from the airport, you know, a few months ago and we went to a taco place and Max and I got our bean and rice burritos and grandma wanted fish tacos and he had a lot of questions for her, you know, and I was, he's six now and, and I was like, you know, buddy, you want to try fish?
Speaker C:While we would probably get a lot of heat from a lot of our vegan, hardcore vegan friends for allowing that, I think it's important, especially as they grow.
Speaker C:Like for myself, I had to recognize that this made me feel not so good and this made me feel like I want him to come to this conclusion somewhat on his own because it's going to stick then as opposed to being like, oh, my parents are crazy vegans and they don't let me eat this.
Speaker C:You know, I think, I think the other way is going to be better.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker A:Yeah, no, I got a feeling that you guys are doing it the right way and they're gonna.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:There's not gonna be, I think, resentment.
Speaker A:There's gonna be more of admiration and respect.
Speaker A:And I want to follow in my parents footsteps because everything that it represents, that's how my kids are.
Speaker A:And I, I sense it with you guys.
Speaker A:And I agree.
Speaker A:I don't, you know, I've never presented it as, you know, this is bad.
Speaker A:Like, you know, meat and cheese and dairy is, is bad.
Speaker A:It's just, I say that you, I mean it's, it's, it's just a weaker food.
Speaker A:Like, and we like strong food.
Speaker A:So you decide you want a strong food or weak food and.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's how I like presenting it.
Speaker A:Let's move on.
Speaker A:Let's move on to move.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:And you guys, you know, you touched upon it already and, and how it's an important part of the, the, your three pillars.
Speaker A:But give Me an example of how do you guys move during the day?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:I think for me personally, being this, like, crazy busy mom and always present with the kids working from home, it's the way that I sustain.
Speaker B:It is with our garage gym that Dusty and I have been, like, adding pieces to over the years.
Speaker B:So we've got, like, a full weight set.
Speaker B:I could be okay with that alone.
Speaker B:It doesn't have to be crazy if you want to do it yourself at home and like a yoga mat, you know.
Speaker B:And so I spend almost every late morning out there with the kids who are bouncing on the rebounder.
Speaker B:And now Max has figured out that on my peloton, there's this, like, lane break that's like kind of a video game where you turn the knob and the little wheel moves.
Speaker B:And so he likes to get on the peloton and pedal, and so we can all be out there together.
Speaker B:And it makes it possible for me to stay consistent with it.
Speaker B:So that's kind of where I'm at with movement.
Speaker C:I think we always say, too, whether it's food or movement, make the healthy choice, the easy choice.
Speaker C:And so for us, you know, yeah, we could.
Speaker C:You know, first of all, it's hard to get to the gym.
Speaker C:If I have time, I.
Speaker C:I love an hour away from everybody at the gym.
Speaker C:It's great.
Speaker C:But let's be realistic.
Speaker C:Max is, you know, we're always chasing kids.
Speaker C:He wants to be out in the yard throwing the ball or whatever.
Speaker C:The home gym, like Aaron said, you know, it.
Speaker C:It's a little expensive.
Speaker C:Get on Facebook, Marketplace, get on, you know, ebay.
Speaker C:You can find rowers and bikes and weight sets for.
Speaker C:For so cheap and start collecting, you know, because it's a lot easier to just step outside in the garage barefoot in your underwear on a Saturday morning, you know what I mean?
Speaker C:And get some weights in, especially with kids.
Speaker B:And there's so many guided.
Speaker B:There's guided workouts for free on YouTube.
Speaker B:So that's usually what we're up to.
Speaker C:Yep, yep.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:What, in your opinions, is the best type of exercise that any.
Speaker A:That somebody can do?
Speaker B:Yeah, I think something that couples cardiovascular exercise with strength training because they both have their place.
Speaker B:But if you can get a little of both in, I think that's going to be the best case scenario.
Speaker B:So I like to do, like, 30 minutes of.
Speaker B:Of heavy lifting, and then, like I said, get on my peloton for 20 or go out for a jog.
Speaker B:We'll do it.
Speaker B:Like, I'll run and Max will ride his bike with me.
Speaker B:So I think a little bit of both is.
Speaker C:Yeah, best.
Speaker C:Same thing.
Speaker C:If I, if I had my, my ideal workout.
Speaker C:And I, that being said, I have been going to the gym lately, I think, more than anything, because I need a, a timeout from the chaos of work and home and kids.
Speaker C:That hour away is awesome for me and I do, I'll do the same thing.
Speaker C:I'll do 10 minutes on the rower.
Speaker C:It's great for cardio, but it really warms up, you know, my back and my upper body and then I lift, you know, I lift as heavy as I can, as much as I can.
Speaker C:And I just.
Speaker C:You hear about bone density and you hear about balance and you hear about so many things in regards to weight training.
Speaker C:So we, even though Aaron and I are pretty long in lean, we do prioritize heavy lifting.
Speaker C:I think so.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, that's wonderful.
Speaker A:You know, I like, I tell people the exercise that's best is the one you're going to do.
Speaker A:And then we all know that everybody's in a different circumstance depending upon where you live, access to, you know, gyms, whatever, walking.
Speaker A:I mean, there's so much wonderful research showing the benefits of walking.
Speaker A:And so let's, let's not, let's not, you know, deny ourselves one of the greatest forms of movement that we as hominoids were meant to do.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:Walking vegans, right?
Speaker C:Aren't walking vegans, like the healthiest, most long lived something.
Speaker C:Did Dr.
Speaker C:Greger say something like that?
Speaker B:I think so.
Speaker A:Yeah, maybe, maybe.
Speaker A:But anyway, and I love the way you guys are just preaching, be consistent, be consistent.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:And that's something that I've done Now for over 40 years with my swimming and biking, so.
Speaker C:Love it.
Speaker A:Good stuff.
Speaker A:Let's move on to rest.
Speaker A:You guys really had a lot of great things to say about rest.
Speaker A:You know, you open up that chapter, you know, Benjamin Franklin or you said, I think it was Benjamin Franklin that said, well, we'll be able to, you'll be able to sleep when you're dead in your grave.
Speaker A:But, you know, that's not the right mentality.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:So what is, what's your definition of, of rest?
Speaker C:Oh, man, there's, like Aaron said before, we often say it's the rest, you know, so for years I would not wear my, my fitness trainer, my Apple watch, because I just either wouldn't put, I forgot to put it on or I didn't want the Wi Fi or I didn't want the text message constantly getting me, but now I really love It.
Speaker C:It reminds me to breathe.
Speaker C:If for no other reason, my apple watch reminds me to breathe every two or three or four hours.
Speaker C:And that alone has changed my life more than anything, simply slowing down, taking breaks throughout the day.
Speaker C:So I consider stuff like that rest every evening, max and I lay down on the floor and we stretch.
Speaker C:Whether I got on the bike that day or whether I went to the gym that day or not, I stretch.
Speaker C:And I think that's also a time for he and I to kind of connect, you know, whether we're speaking or not.
Speaker C:It's kind of, you know, me and the kids.
Speaker C:Usually I'm like, being tackled and pushing the kids off of me, but it's.
Speaker C:It's a.
Speaker C:It's a fun time, you know, besides being really good for me and for everybody to stretch, you know, I consider that also rest and then for sure, sleep with the kids.
Speaker C:Sleep can be hard, but, man, I don't think there's a night that we don't get at least eight hours of sleep, you know, and we.
Speaker C:We really.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:We're fortunate to have a little bit of that flexibility.
Speaker C:You know, we're working from home, but if we go to bed at midnight, we don't get up till late.
Speaker C:You know, if we go to bed at 10, we can.
Speaker C:We can get up.
Speaker C:You know, we'll get up earlier.
Speaker C:Like, today we were up.
Speaker C:We were up early, but, you know, we're like eight hours.
Speaker C:Let's just prioritize it.
Speaker C:Hormone, you know, just.
Speaker C:That's everything.
Speaker B:We decided when we were naming our business Eat, Move, Rest.
Speaker B:We can't call it Eat, Move, Sleep, because there's so much more that comes into play besides just sleep.
Speaker B:And I feel like so much of it happens throughout your day, like those moments of 60 seconds to breathe.
Speaker B:And so many of these practices are free also.
Speaker B:Like, I think of when I go outside barefoot in the grass to get grounded, and I'm looking at the sun, and this is like getting my circadian rhythm dialed in.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Yeah, and it's getting everything.
Speaker B:Just getting rid of all the EMFs and the negative buzz in your brain.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And all of these things help at the end of the day when it comes time to lay down to sleep.
Speaker B:And, you know, and it's free.
Speaker B:Simple.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's all free.
Speaker C:So you can buy that.
Speaker C:You can buy the EMF mat and the red light and all the.
Speaker C:Before you know it, you spent $10,000 on contraptions.
Speaker C:Or.
Speaker C:Yeah, you can take your shoes off and stand.
Speaker C: at the sun, you know, before: Speaker B:Of course, you know, family time and just slowing down, the spirituality, you know, higher power, all of that good stuff, it all comes into play.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, you also, you have the seven types of rest, which really, you know, and going through that list, really, I was like, wow.
Speaker A:I mean, I'm not, I'm not resting all those different ways.
Speaker A:And I, I, I, I could benefit from focusing on, like, one of your types of rest is sensory rest, right.
Speaker A:From all the screen time and all the conversations and all the people and creative rest.
Speaker A:And you have social rest, I think, about how social I can get during the day and spiritual and emotional and physical and mental.
Speaker A:So each one of these are wonderful, different individual kind of types of rest that can benefit us.
Speaker C:Yeah, you know, like, like the Benjamin Franklin quote, or like Gary Vee, if anybody's familiar with Gary Vee, he's got a podcast and he's like a loudmouth businessman.
Speaker C:He's probably, you know, a billionaire, whatever, but he's like, sleep when you're dead.
Speaker C:I'll sleep when I'm dead.
Speaker C:You know, and he talks like this, and I'm like, dude, you're going to be dead before you know it.
Speaker C:You're probably going to be dead before the rest of us if you don't rest.
Speaker C:And so I say, forget about that, man.
Speaker C:Get your rest.
Speaker C:You know, again, whether it's any of those seven types or simply just more, more sleep, man, my life has changed for the better.
Speaker B:We focus less on pace and more on just the direction.
Speaker B:Keeping our feet pointed in the right direction.
Speaker A:Yep, that's, that's good.
Speaker A:Get a lot of, a lot of really profound quotes there.
Speaker C:Wound.
Speaker A:The wound is where the light enters.
Speaker B:That's a good one.
Speaker C:That's Aaron's specialty.
Speaker A:What was the other thing you said?
Speaker A:Our mess is your what?
Speaker C:Message.
Speaker B:Message.
Speaker C:Message.
Speaker C:That's good.
Speaker A:That's really good.
Speaker A:So I got one more question for you on this little section, and then I want to move on.
Speaker A:Talk about some of the recipes.
Speaker A:You talk about building a relationship with a higher power.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:What is your higher power?
Speaker A:What's you two and your family?
Speaker C:Yeah, we're, we're, we're Christ followers.
Speaker C:We're, we were born and raised, I guess you could say cradle Catholics or Christian.
Speaker C:Even though we sometimes struggle with, with being Catholic.
Speaker C:We definitely are Jesus people, I think, you know, I've, I've we both have, have taken the courses and, and met with the people and attended the churches from our honeymoon in Italy.
Speaker C:And you know, all these things, we've, we've really dug in to our faith and learning more about that over the years.
Speaker C:And there's, you do research on religion and there's so many religions that, that have a common denominator of like the people seeking after God.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And we're, we're supposed to be doing things to please God and searching for him and finding him.
Speaker C:And then I heard a pastor and an author, one of my favorite guys, say Christianity is completely different.
Speaker C:He turned, it gets turned, it turns that idea on its head because God made himself man in the form of Jesus and sent him to find us.
Speaker C:And I was like, that hit me one day really hard and I was like, wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And so you study, you know, was Jesus a real, even a real person?
Speaker C:Did he actually walk this, this planet?
Speaker C:And there you find more accounts.
Speaker C:There's 10,000 accounts of, of the life of Christ compared to the two written accounts of the life of Caesar, who we never question, or George Washington.
Speaker C:You know, we never question whether or not these men were who they actually were or whether they did what they said.
Speaker C:We don't question them.
Speaker C:But there's so much more proof and cross referencing about, about Jesus Christ.
Speaker C:And I'm like, I find it harder to not believe than two.
Speaker C:So I guess that's where faith comes in and yeah, that's where we are.
Speaker C:We struggle, you know, with kids, you know, whether, whether we make it to church or don't make it to church or do church at home or, or nothing at all.
Speaker C:Sometimes, you know, where we do our.
Speaker C:I probably can't even say we do our best, but we're always learning and trying and then we think it's super important for sure.
Speaker C:So.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:I read a quote somewhere recently.
Speaker A:It was like I, I looked high and low in every church, synagogue, mosque, and I found God in my own heart.
Speaker C:Love that, love that.
Speaker C:It's so true.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's, I went on a retreat years ago in the Rockies, of course, and it was just a bunch of worn out church, church guys.
Speaker C:And they said, you know, I'd rather, and I'm sure you've heard this quote.
Speaker C:It was, I'd rather, I'd rather be on a mountain thinking about God as opposed to in church thinking about the mountains.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I'm like, dude, that was me, that was me as a kid.
Speaker C:You know, all these just poking fun being the worst kid in Church, you know, doing all the things.
Speaker C:And now here I am in the mountains and.
Speaker C:And this is the most pure connection I've ever felt.
Speaker B:Except there are no mountains here in Florida.
Speaker B:It's actually flatter than Nebraska, believe it or not.
Speaker B:But we'll go to the beach.
Speaker B:We do these, like, church and beach, we call it.
Speaker B:We go to church and then hit the beach right afterwards.
Speaker B:Because our church is right there.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I find, like, for the kids especially, like, I'll take.
Speaker B:We've each got one of them in our arms or two, three now.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Out into the water and we're like, look at the clouds in the sky and like this beautiful clear water.
Speaker B:And these fish, like, talk about how God created all of these things.
Speaker B:And I feel like that's their church and that's where they're really learning and soaking it all in.
Speaker B:Literally.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:I think our diet, like we said before, last thing I'll say about this is we are.
Speaker C:Yes, we eat this way, but in the beginning, we wanted to get healthy.
Speaker C:You know, we wanted to continue to get healthy.
Speaker C:And now, after our retreats and connecting with people and now being on the spiritual journey, I almost.
Speaker C:What keeps me on this diet more than the health and the saving the animals and all the things that are great about it, it really does feel.
Speaker C:Feel to me like I am on a heightened level.
Speaker C:You know, I don't.
Speaker C:Not every day, of course, but I really do feel like.
Speaker C:Like this.
Speaker C:This way of eating has paved way or opened up something inside of me.
Speaker C:Whether it's just more.
Speaker C:Less harm, more love, or, you know, I can't put a finger on it always, but it really does seem to be real to me.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, you're definitely glowing.
Speaker C:I wouldn't say that.
Speaker A:Let's go.
Speaker A:So you guys, your challenge in this book is you challenge people to eat this way for 40 days.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:You know, I've written four books.
Speaker A:My first book, it was the Texas Firefighters 28 Day Save your life challenge.
Speaker A:Burn away the cholesterol and drop the pounds.
Speaker A:My third book was the Engine 2 seven day rescue challenge, where I challenge people to rescue themselves by eating this way.
Speaker A:40 days is no joke.
Speaker A:So how did you pick 40?
Speaker A:Is that because of something with.
Speaker C:It was because of our.
Speaker C:It was because of our 40.
Speaker C:You know, it just.
Speaker B:It seems to be a very symbolic number.
Speaker B:I mean, you see it all over in the Bible and it just.
Speaker B:It just felt right because, I mean, you get about 30 days in a month.
Speaker B:But, like, how often do we do something for a month, and then we're like, all right, I'm done.
Speaker B:I'm gonna move on.
Speaker B:But, like, let's go a little bit.
Speaker B:Let's push the envelope a little bit more.
Speaker B:And so those last 10 days of the plan, it's kind of like where the training wheels are off.
Speaker B:You kind of have to, like, piece it together and do the eat, move, rest thing yourself.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker C:So, that being said, we're.
Speaker C:We have a group right now, a private Facebook group.
Speaker C:If you go buy the book.
Speaker C:We just started it, what, four days ago.
Speaker C:You joined the Facebook.
Speaker C:We got a couple questions on there.
Speaker C:Join the group.
Speaker C:And it's as much as you are alone, you're not.
Speaker C:We're all there in a community, and we're doing the challenge together, which makes it easy.
Speaker B:So we'll be doing a lot of those challenges throughout the year now, I think, with this book.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Good.
Speaker A:Well, let's.
Speaker A:Let's dive into some of the recipes, because you got 75, as you say here, colorful recipes, and, boy, are they colorful.
Speaker A:To nourish your whole body, feed your family, and have fun along the way.
Speaker A:I'm in.
Speaker A:Sounds good.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And you guys, you.
Speaker A:Each one of these is either like a K, it means it's kid friendly.
Speaker A:You have an R, which means it's raw, or no cooking kind of friendly.
Speaker A:And then diy, which is what?
Speaker A:Do it.
Speaker A:Do it yourself.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Make your own.
Speaker A:So what I'm gonna do right now, I've selected of these 75, about 10, 11 recipes.
Speaker A:And I'm gonna hold it up so everybody can see how beautiful the photography is and just get a little taste of these recipes.
Speaker A:So, Aaron, Yeah, that is, I think, your banana oat waffles, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Yes, it is.
Speaker B:Those are a family staple.
Speaker A:Yeah, they're.
Speaker A:They're gorgeous.
Speaker A:And there's no.
Speaker A:There's.
Speaker A:I mean, no dairy in there.
Speaker A:What.
Speaker A:Do you know what, like, some of the main ingredients besides banana and oats are.
Speaker B:Yeah, we've also.
Speaker B:We like to do chia and flax for those healthy omega 3 fatty acids.
Speaker B:And I think usually we'll put in some soy milk as well.
Speaker B:Just a little extra protein in there and iron.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:Yeah, they're just.
Speaker B:They're really simple and straightforward, and we actually use the same recipe to make pancakes or sometimes we'll do buckwheat pancakes just to change up our.
Speaker B:Our grain.
Speaker B:So, yeah, the kids.
Speaker B:The kids eat them up.
Speaker B:Their favorite way to have them is with a spread of cashew butter on top, which Is definitely not a.
Speaker B:Not cheap.
Speaker C:But which one is it the waffles?
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, the banana oat waffles.
Speaker A:But on the next page you've got the flip free pancakes.
Speaker A:Why are they flip free?
Speaker A:Explain that to me.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:How do you do a flip free pancake?
Speaker B:Yeah, we do them in the oven on parchment mostly because you know, a lot of pots and pans are non stick and they're with laden with the forever chemicals, the PFAS and pfoa Netflix.
Speaker C:Documentary that killed it for us.
Speaker B:So then we're like, let's find a way to not have to flip them on that.
Speaker B:And then also.
Speaker B:Or you use stainless steel and then you've got to use oil.
Speaker B:And then we didn't want to do the oil.
Speaker B:So anyway, that was our creative way to do it.
Speaker B:But we have since found a good griddle that's ceramic coated and non tox, so we kind of use that too.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:You guys have done your homework.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So here, this is so one of my favorite things in the whole wide world is building bowls.
Speaker A:No, recipe.
Speaker A:Recipe bowls.
Speaker A:Yeah, this is your better for you burrito balance bowl.
Speaker A:And it looks like one of my bowls.
Speaker A:It just caught my attention.
Speaker A:Look at that, people.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:Those are our favorite type of meals to eat.
Speaker B:You know, it's, they're very easy to make if you, if you like to do meal prep, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like you make it all in the fridge.
Speaker B:You make the brown rice, the instant pot beans, the tofu sofrita or scramble.
Speaker B:You slice and dice your veggies and then you pop everything in those individual containers in the fridge.
Speaker B:And then you can just throw those together however you want each day and put them in a wrap for the kids.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker A:And you've got about I think 10 different sections in the, in the recipe book.
Speaker A:Everything from juices and drinks all the way to delectable desserts and everything in between.
Speaker A:This is page 128.
Speaker A:This is your pineapple un fried rice.
Speaker A:And I just look at, look at how creative this is.
Speaker A:Let me.
Speaker C:Delicious side note, that's a kid favorite.
Speaker C:All the photos and everything ourselves.
Speaker C:So this book took a long time, but it's because we, we made, we photographed and we ate every single one of these recipes.
Speaker C:So it did, it took us a long time, but it was fun because you know, well, you see little kid hands in the photos and most of.
Speaker B:The time it wasn't me being like, hey, hand model, come here.
Speaker B:It was me batting them away.
Speaker B:Don't eat it until I'm done photographing.
Speaker B:So it was like just, it's fun.
Speaker B:It was natural and organic.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, that.
Speaker A:One of my favorite things is pineapple stir fries.
Speaker A:Pineapple fried unfried rice like that.
Speaker A:And I'd never have thought to serve it in the pineapple.
Speaker C:Yeah, we stole that from a restaurant back home.
Speaker C:We being.
Speaker C:Even though we're in Lincoln, Nebraska, it's a decent Lincoln and Omaha, good sized cities and they've got great restaurants.
Speaker C:One of our favorite Thai restaurants, I would say we eat Indian and Thai food more than anything.
Speaker C:And they serve, they make a dish in, in the pineapple.
Speaker C:And it was, but it wasn't, it wasn't vegan, you know, it was, I think it was a chicken.
Speaker C:Something that I used to get all the time.
Speaker C:And I'm like, you know what, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, we're gonna flip it and we're gonna, we're gonna make our own inside the pineapple.
Speaker C:So we sold that idea.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:So I'm on page 144 right now, and this is the stacked veggie sandwich.
Speaker A:And I'm showing this because, you know, when I first came out with my book the Engine 2 Diet and the recipes in there, I had people say, these recipes are man tastic.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker A:Fantastic.
Speaker A:I look at this and I'm like, who it can get there?
Speaker A:Let me, let me do this.
Speaker A:Who in the world besides Dusty can get their mouths around that?
Speaker C:No, it's, it's.
Speaker C:I think that's actually Max holding it too.
Speaker C:It's a massive, it's a massive thing.
Speaker C:You know, Aaron and I used to eat sandwiches like crazy.
Speaker C:We would eat, we would meet for sandwich sandwiches at lunch.
Speaker C:Lunchtime.
Speaker C:And so we were big sandwich people and still, still love sandwiches.
Speaker C:But when you, when you get rid of the cold cuts and the cheese and stuff, and then you're kind of like, oh, what the heck, you know what?
Speaker C:Now what do I have left to put on a sandwich?
Speaker C:Well, turns out you can still make epic large sandwiches.
Speaker B:We used to live off of Subway until I realized eating a massive loaf of bread with iceberg lettuce, unripe tomatoes and cheese and then like your carcinogenic cold cuts.
Speaker B:So what was the point of that?
Speaker A:No, exactly.
Speaker A:So in the soups, curries and stew section, you've got on page 152, 53, you got this.
Speaker A:And one of my favorite things in the world is a kind of curry cauliflower dish.
Speaker A:This is your creamy cashew cauliflower curry and air fried Spiced potatoes.
Speaker A:I mean, wow.
Speaker B:That one is an absolute favorite.
Speaker C:It's so good to make something like that for dinner.
Speaker C:We had a friend actually send us that one.
Speaker C:The coolest thing about the cookbook is we've, We've had a YouTube channel now for years and you know, you, we don't know if anybody's ever watching, you know, friends, family members, etc.
Speaker C:But now all of a sudden we've got friends that are sending us the recipes are like, hey, I'm cooking my way through, through your cookbook.
Speaker C:And I'm talking friends that I never expected would, would buy a plant based cookbook.
Speaker C:And that's been really exciting.
Speaker C:And somebody actually just sent us that recipe.
Speaker C:Recipe.
Speaker C:I think it was our friend Amelia.
Speaker B:I think we are those people.
Speaker B:There's so many of our recipes hidden all over on different places on social media.
Speaker B:And now it's really nice to have all of our favorites in one pot because we still have to refer to our own recipes to make them a lot of the times.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker A:So one of my favorite dishes in the whole wide world besides a curried cauliflower potato dish, is a shepherd's veggie pot pie.
Speaker A:Oh, that one is really, is something that I want to make tonight at.
Speaker C:Home with the potatoes on top.
Speaker C:I think the potatoes might have been your idea, Aaron.
Speaker C:On top.
Speaker B:I think that crust, yes, it doesn't get more comfort than that, but it's, it's good for you too.
Speaker B:It loves you back right out loud.
Speaker C:We got to open this thing up.
Speaker C:We just, we get lazy with the kids.
Speaker C:We forget we need to make.
Speaker A:So one of the things that you guys have, it's really creative and I love some of the things that you've done that I've never seen before.
Speaker A:And this is on page 187.
Speaker A:This is under the sweet and salty snacks section.
Speaker A:It's banana sushi.
Speaker A:Who knew?
Speaker B:I mean, it's like you got to get fun and creative with the kids and.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Aaron got invited on Fox News, believe it or not, New Year's Day.
Speaker C:Unfortunately the, the bit got cut.
Speaker C:But we, we flew all the way there and we prepped and I think they, that was their request was they wanted the banana sushi.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:We got bumped because of breaking news, otherwise you would have seen that one on.
Speaker A:So, so what, how do you, what, how do you put a hole through the banana or what have you done there?
Speaker B:To get something, slice it lengthwise and then kind of spoon or scoop out the middle of both sides and then Fill it with whatever you're going to fill it with and put it back together and slice, slice, slice.
Speaker C:Yeah, you have to get creative with kids, man.
Speaker C:Otherwise, they like something one day, and the very next day, they decide they don't like it.
Speaker C:So you got it.
Speaker C:You got to surprise them.
Speaker C:You got to.
Speaker C:You got to throw curveballs at them.
Speaker A:Tell me, what are you.
Speaker A:What do you have on top of the bananas and what do you have inside of them?
Speaker B:Yeah, on one of them, it's chia seeds.
Speaker B:I think I spread, like, some nut butter on there and then put chia seeds, and then the other one is, like, a homemade jam in the middle, which is just, like, chia and raspberries or any other type of fruit.
Speaker B:And there's some hemp seeds on another and shredded coconut on one.
Speaker B:So, yeah, you can get super creative with all the little seeds and superfoods.
Speaker A:Can't wait to show that to my youngest daughter, who is our creative chef in the house.
Speaker A:Yeah, let her figure that out.
Speaker A:So page 227, this is in the section of delectable desserts.
Speaker A:You've got a raw rainbow fruit pizza.
Speaker A:And this.
Speaker A:This photo just isn't that nice for me.
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:Yeah, well, that was my absolute favorite thing to make with my mom.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Growing up as a kid.
Speaker B:So I'm like, I have to veganize this because it's just so, so good and so pretty and fun to make, too.
Speaker B:Like, that's a fun one to let the kids decorate and have.
Speaker B:Get creative with.
Speaker C:Yeah, yeah, it's sweet like a dessert.
Speaker C:But, of course, you know, it's.
Speaker C:It's not gonna.
Speaker C:It's not gonna make you feel like most desserts do.
Speaker C:So it's.
Speaker C:It's great.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:We need that, too tonight, I guess.
Speaker A:Well, let me tell you and everybody that that is a avid listener of the podcast knows one of my weaknesses.
Speaker A:My true weakness is chocolate and peanut butter.
Speaker A:And, you guys, one of the last recipes in the book under delectable desserts is peanut butter chocolate rice Krispie bars.
Speaker A:Help me Lord.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker B:That's another childhood classic that we had to figure out how to make a little bit better.
Speaker C:Gosh, you know, I wish now.
Speaker C:I just wish we had somebody to make these for us now that we're seeing them.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You guys.
Speaker A:I mean, you guys have out outdone yourselves with.
Speaker A:With this book.
Speaker A:Well, what's.
Speaker A:What's the next big thing in your lives that we should know about the ch.
Speaker C:Well, first, we just mentioned the challenge.
Speaker C:If you haven't already.
Speaker C:Go buy the.
Speaker C:Buy the Cookbook, join the the 40.
Speaker B:Day challenge, and then jump into our online community.
Speaker B:Honestly, Eat, Move Rest Club.
Speaker B:It's kind of like nobody talks about Fight Club.
Speaker B:Nobody.
Speaker B:We don't talk about.
Speaker B:Yeah, we don't talk about what goes on in Eat Move Rest Club.
Speaker B:I'm just kidding.
Speaker B:But it's so much fun.
Speaker B:It's just a great place to get that accountability and that community piece which, you know, like Dusty said, like, I don't know, back in Nebraska, we kind of found, like, we went away, like, hiding because a lot of our old playmates and playgrounds fell by the wayside.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then we started building it back up with this online community, and then we started hosting retreats and getting to meet people who knew everything about us.
Speaker B:And so another thing that's on our radar is picking back up with our.
Speaker B:Our worldwide retreats.
Speaker B:We'd love to continue doing more in Costa Rica, but also we're looking into Italy and Portugal.
Speaker B:Portugal.
Speaker C:We've got a friend in Portugal who is.
Speaker C:She's.
Speaker C:She's gung ho, and I'm like, hey, if you're.
Speaker C:What.
Speaker C:If you're going to help us plan it, let's do it.
Speaker C:So possibly Portugal in October, so stay tuned.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's exciting.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, so where can people follow you on Instagram and how can they purchase the book?
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker B:On Instagram at Aaron Stanzik, at DB Stanzik, and then at eatmoverest.
Speaker B:But we're very active on our personal accounts.
Speaker B:We answer all of our dms and, and all of that stuff.
Speaker B:And then as far as the book goes, eatmoverest.com book has many different places you can select from or just get on your favorite online retailer and you'll be able to find it.
Speaker C:Yep.
Speaker A:Well, you, you, you too.
Speaker A:It's been great to meet you.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, I think we've met your.
Speaker C:Dad at least a couple of times at various conferences and things.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker C:But like I said in the beginning, have always listened to every podcast that you've been on and, and we.
Speaker C:We've got your food in our freezer, the product.
Speaker B:The kids devoured the cornbread the other.
Speaker C:Night, by the way, so thank you.
Speaker C:Thanks for having us, man.
Speaker C:This has been fun.
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker A:You know, and I'm glad that you guys were wounded so badly back in the day, because the light is shining through.
Speaker C:Good stuff.
Speaker A:All right, you guys, so do me a favor, on the way out, if you could give me a virtual plan, Strong fist bump.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker A:Ready?
Speaker A:1, 2, 3 Plan strong I can't tell you how gratifying it is for me to hear stories of people, especially young families like the Stanzaks, who have been influenced and inspired by the work of my father.
Speaker A:He was most certainly my inspiration, and I'm so thrilled that his legacy for building healthy lives and families continues on.
Speaker A:To learn more about all things Dusty and Aaron, I would encourage you to go to their website eatmoverest.com there you'll find links to order their book, the Happy Healthy Plant Based Cookbook, as well as links to their YouTube channel.
Speaker A:And I'll be sure to put all that information in today's show notes to make it super, super easy.
Speaker A:As we chatted about today, don't forget to move your body daily in a way that feels good to you.
Speaker A:Rest and connect with your source.
Speaker A:And of course, always, always keep it.
Speaker A:Plant strong.
Speaker A:Thanks so much for listening.
Speaker A:The Plan Strong podcast team includes Kerry Barrett, Lori Kordowich and Amy Mackey.
Speaker A:If you like what you hear, do us a favor and share the show with your friends and loved ones.
Speaker A:You can always leave a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
Speaker A:And while you're there, make sure to hit that follow button so that you never miss an episode.
Speaker A:As always, this and every episode is dedicated to my parents, Dr.
Speaker A:Caldwell B.
Speaker A:Esselstyn Jr.
Speaker A:And Ann Krile Esselstyn.
Speaker A:Thanks so much for listening.