Shownotes
Rip welcomes Jacque Salomon, founder of the Seeds to Inspire Foundation.
Jacque recounts the traumatic events that shaped her early life, including a challenging upbringing in New York City that was fraught with generational trauma, chaos, and food scarcity.
Jacque also shares the heart-wrenching experience of losing her son at just 11 years old, and how this tragedy sparked a profound commitment to transform her life and health through a whole food, plant-based diet. (Thanks, also, in part to a viewing of Forks over Knives.)
As she reversed her Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, GERD, and other ailments—all while losing an impressive 164 pounds—Jacque became passionate about sharing her message of hope and recovery with others by founding Seeds to Inspire, an organization dedicated to addressing health equity through 'food as medicine' initiatives, love, and compassion.
She now dedicates her life to educating others about health equity and wellness, emphasizing the importance of nourishing our bodies with love and compassion. By sharing her story, Jacque not only illustrates her personal recovery, but also highlights the collective need for community and support in overcoming trauma.
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Transcripts
I'm Rick Esselstyn and you're listening to the Plan Strong podcast.
Speaker A:Imagine experiencing one of the worst tragedies ever as a parent, the loss of one of your children, and then beginning your healing journey, thanks in part to a whole foods plant based diet.
Speaker A:We're going to have the resilient and beautiful story of Jackie Solomon right after this message from Plan Strong.
Speaker A:Today I am honored to introduce you to Jackie Solomon.
Speaker A:She is the founder of the Seeds to Inspire Foundation.
Speaker A:In this heartfelt and moving conversation, Jackie reflects on her challenging and traumatic upbringing in New York City and the profound grief of losing her son at a young age.
Speaker A:This devastating event, along with a fortuitous viewing of Forks Over Knives, was ultimately the catalyst for Jackie's own quest to reclaim her life along with her mental and physical health.
Speaker A:Since then, Jackie has reversed her type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and GERD while shedding an astonishing £164 and reclaiming her vitality.
Speaker A:But it's her calling to help others that has had an even greater impact.
Speaker A:Drawn to be closer to nature and Mother Earth, Jackie relocated to Phoenix, Arizona, where she founded the nonprofit organization Seeds to Inspire, whose mission is to address health equity through food is Medicine initiatives, garden programs, health interventions, retreats, and much more.
Speaker A:Talking to Jackie is like talking to a wise, beautiful and grounded soul.
Speaker A:And I can't wait for all of you to meet her as well.
Speaker A:Please.
Speaker A:Welcome to the Plan Strong Podcast.
Speaker A:Jackie Solomon.
Speaker A:Jackie Solomon, welcome to the Plan Strong Podcast.
Speaker A:It's a real pleasure to have you.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:It's such a pleasure to be here.
Speaker B:I'm very excited.
Speaker A:Yeah, well, so are we.
Speaker A:And you know, you came very highly recommended from your good friends and our friends Cersei Blue and Gigi Carter.
Speaker A:You know who they are, don't you?
Speaker B:Indeed I do.
Speaker B:They are wonderful.
Speaker B:Wonderful at what they do and beautiful humans.
Speaker A:Yeah, they appeared on one of our podcast episodes and they also were part of our Plan stock, our 12th annual plan stock a year ago.
Speaker A:And we, we love them and what they're doing.
Speaker A:And so I'm super excited to dive in and dig into all things Jackie Solomon.
Speaker A:So I think where I'd like to start is just by teeing up that you're currently the founder and executive director of Seeds to Inspire foundation, and you're a leader and a staunch advocate of lifestyle medicine initiatives.
Speaker A:So what I'd like to do is come around to talking about those things.
Speaker A:But first, I think it's really important that we understand your journey, where it Began how you got to where you are.
Speaker A:So my first question to you, Jackie, is you grew up in New York City, is that correct?
Speaker B:I did, yes.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So could you tell us about that?
Speaker A:Because, you know, in.
Speaker A:In doing my.
Speaker A:My research, I know that you've said that it was a treacherous, terrifying, lonely, and also very empowering and remarkable.
Speaker A:So I'd love to understand all those things and how it plays into you kind of finding your authentic self.
Speaker B:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:That is a beautiful place to start because we live cyclical lives.
Speaker B:And it was kind of going back and forth through my lives and through several ego deaths and discovering my purpose and my mission and why I'm here.
Speaker B:And it's going back to the origins.
Speaker B:So I do want to offer a trigger warning for anyone.
Speaker B:We may be discussing some sensitive subjects.
Speaker B:So I grew up on the Lower east side of Manhattan, New York, born and raised.
Speaker B:My parents are Puerto Rican.
Speaker B:My mom is from the island of Vieques in Puerto Rico.
Speaker B:I'm at Taino Indigenous.
Speaker B:And a lot of that has to do with how I discovered myself and how to heal my body, was discovering my indigeneity and what that meant and how that was lost to me growing up in a fabricated world, that was unnatural.
Speaker B:My mother was in her younger years, she was brought at six years old to live in New York.
Speaker B:And it was a shock and a trauma for her at six years old, living carefree, not understanding what poverty was, being out in the sun and in the sand and in the palm trees, and then being thrown into New York City where she lived in a tenement with tons of people, and she got sick for the first time.
Speaker B:So hearing these stories was really kind of indicative of there was something here.
Speaker B:There's something to the sadness and the sorrow and the trauma that we experienced that had to do with not only being raised in those conditions and going to New York City public schools and what that was like, but also access to the natural way of living and natural way of eating.
Speaker A:So did you just.
Speaker A:So I'm understanding this.
Speaker A:So did you come over at age 6 or your mother came over at age 6 to New York City from Puerto Rico?
Speaker B:My mother came over.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:And what was.
Speaker A:What was the reason for the move to the.
Speaker A:To the States?
Speaker A:Do you know?
Speaker B:It was part of the diaspora.
Speaker B:It was part of starting over and opportunities and family members came first, took roots, and then invited, you know, other family members.
Speaker B:And my mom was one of the latest ones to come, and that had an effect on her.
Speaker B:And she became a mother at the age of 15 for the first time.
Speaker B:And so we were raised by teen mothers, you know, in a public school system and with parents that worked three jobs each to make sure that, you know, me and my four siblings, you know, had what we needed and we were taking care of.
Speaker B:And part of that was not feeling safe being outside when our parents weren't home.
Speaker B:So there wasn't a lot of movement.
Speaker B:There wasn't a lot of activity.
Speaker B:You know, we were in our apartments, we were being safe and taking care of one another, eating what we could, and that took a toll on us.
Speaker B:And now I understand how most of these diseases take root right there.
Speaker B:That's when they start, if not when we're in our mother's womb.
Speaker B:So a lot of my work was really healing from what started then.
Speaker B:And then understanding the empowerment that I have to heal myself, where it starts having compassion and not judgment, because that was harsh.
Speaker B:When I realized that I, you know, after I became married, you know, I went to college, I, you know, I came back home, I got, you know, married, divorced, and I got remarried, you know, had my children and started realizing that these diseases started taking root in my children.
Speaker B:And I was like, wow, I didn't realize I was.
Speaker B:I had something to do with that.
Speaker B:And what did that mean?
Speaker B:And that's when I had to go all the way back to say, how did all this start?
Speaker B:And a lot of my work and the personal work I do as a coach was taking what I learned and wanting to go back and be that person, the community that I needed.
Speaker A:What do you think?
Speaker A:Like, what was it that initially allowed you to start this reflective work?
Speaker A:Because that has to start somewhere.
Speaker A:And most of us, I think, for whatever reason, aren't.
Speaker A:Aren't willing or don't want to look in the mirror and then do that hard work to kind of, you know, set.
Speaker A:Set things straight, to free ourselves from the, you know, the straitjacket that we are in almost unknowingly.
Speaker B:Yeah, you know, I have a lot of compassion for that.
Speaker B:I have a lot of family members that really don't understand me, can't relate because are in that position.
Speaker B:It.
Speaker B:I believe that everyone knows that there's more to themselves, that there is.
Speaker B:That they're.
Speaker B:We're all humans walking on as question marks, like, why am I here?
Speaker B:That's really what I'm supposed to be doing.
Speaker B:Like, is I.
Speaker B:I know I'm smarter than this.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:All these questions.
Speaker B:It takes a lot of courage to sit down and go deep, because a lot of it goes Back to our childhood.
Speaker B:And so responsibility is not just on understanding, you know, the.
Speaker B:The environments and the conditions within our bodies that, that, you know, wove that tapestry of who we are.
Speaker B:But a lot of it has to do with the parenting that we received.
Speaker B:And so all of a sudden, we have a responsibility to look at that really closely and address that.
Speaker B:And that sometimes is overwhelming.
Speaker B:And if we're not in community of people that we can have these share these introspections and kind of help synthesize these things in community, it's very lonely.
Speaker B:It's very challenging.
Speaker B:So it's easier to just turn away, just say, you know, I can barely figure out how to pay my bills.
Speaker B:I could barely figure out how to keep my boss happy.
Speaker B:You know, and then our bodies are not healthy.
Speaker B:You know, when we're not feeling well, how can we possibly take on another burden?
Speaker B:And we're burnt out and we have no energy, we're not sleeping well, we're not exercising, we're not eating foods that, that support our immune system, our regeneration, you know, then how can we take on something else?
Speaker B:And that's.
Speaker B:That's the conditions that we live in.
Speaker B:So to answer your question, I just, like every other human, you know, was faced with those.
Speaker B:I was doing the best I could and trying to be the best I could.
Speaker B:And it wasn't until my eldest son passed away.
Speaker B:When he passed away, my world crashed and I was left with the rubble.
Speaker B:And I had to discern what pieces of me became the new foundation of my new life and what I left behind.
Speaker A:What year was that?
Speaker B:2009.
Speaker B:He was 11 years old.
Speaker B:And all my children learned differently.
Speaker B:And we were very challenged with the school systems.
Speaker B:And that's another part of my story.
Speaker B:But having to navigate public school system with children that are all learning differences, especially education, is deeply painful.
Speaker B:And my son was placed on a pharmaceutical for a mood stabilizer.
Speaker B:And it was that pharmaceutical that he became allergic to and eventually wound up in a burn unit and passed away in a medically induced coma.
Speaker A:Sorry, if we could backtrack for a sec.
Speaker A:So you said you're one of five.
Speaker A:Is that right?
Speaker A:One of five?
Speaker A:And so what did a typical day of, like, nourishment look like for you growing up, if you can remember, while you were still living in those apartments in New York City.
Speaker B:My body just went way back in time.
Speaker B:Now, let me add that my great grandparents, who actually raised my mom, lived next door my entire life almost.
Speaker B:They live right next door.
Speaker B:And when we were younger and they were still younger and had energy and had actually manifested the diseases that would later help take their lives and elderhood.
Speaker B:There was Mama and Papa.
Speaker B:They were there.
Speaker B:We have family coming over and making arro con gandules and chicken.
Speaker B:And there was coffee in the morning.
Speaker B:It's bustelo, which is espresso.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:No wonder we were jumping all over the place.
Speaker B:But there was my great grandfather with arepas, and he would take the flour, and he'd teach us how to roll it and how to make them in the oven and how to stab it with a fork.
Speaker B:And you could smell them from the outside.
Speaker B:We knew when they were ready.
Speaker B:He always made us mash potatoes with eggs when we got hungry.
Speaker B:And that was just a basic thing that we ate.
Speaker B:It was food that looked like food.
Speaker B:It was the man that came once a week in a van and brought all our indigenous, our island produce.
Speaker B:And I remember walking with my great grandparents up there, and they would look around and they would pick up all the vianda yucca and sweet potatoes and just take them back.
Speaker B:And that's what I remember.
Speaker B:Younger.
Speaker B:And then they got older and less and less family came over, and my parents worked more, and that's when it became more like mashed potatoes in a box and, you know, frozen.
Speaker B:Frozen ground beef and Hamburger Helper.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And probably cereals, Sugary cereals.
Speaker B:Lots of cereal.
Speaker B:Yeah, lots of cereal.
Speaker B:And when we were younger, my mom was on wic, and so I remember there was two cereals that we were allowed to get.
Speaker B:It was King Vitamin and Kaboom.
Speaker B:And those are the.
Speaker B:We, like, think about it nostalgically.
Speaker B:And I just remember going, yeah.
Speaker B:I remember having feeling like I needed to brush my teeth after I ate the cereal because it was, like.
Speaker B:It was so sweet, I could still taste it.
Speaker B:So, yeah, lots and lots of sugar.
Speaker B:Let's not forget the tang.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Well, those cereals sound like they're right up there with Captain Crunch.
Speaker A:I don't even know if that's still a thing.
Speaker B:Apple Jacks.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Apple Jacks.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:So, you know, you.
Speaker A:You basically had to build back yourself after your.
Speaker A:Your son's death.
Speaker A:And so where did you start?
Speaker A:Where do you.
Speaker A:Where do you.
Speaker A:Where do you go after that to start rebuilding?
Speaker B:That first year is a blur.
Speaker B:My twins were seven, and at the time, they were just shot turning eight.
Speaker B:And where I began was.
Speaker B:And I remember that first week shifting everything in my house around because I felt if I didn't, that I would be creating a tomb that I would have to live with every day.
Speaker B:And that's, that was not going to be my story.
Speaker B:And that I was not going to live with the memory of my son.
Speaker B:That felt like a dagger.
Speaker B:And I refused to accept that that was our story.
Speaker B:And I chose to celebrate his 11 years and figure out what my role was going to be as his mother now, because I was always going to be his mother.
Speaker B:And what was that responsibility?
Speaker B:To celebrate the 11 years.
Speaker B:And I live in agony of his last days and to make certain that my twins knew that they were enough, that I could live for them and not want to die with him.
Speaker B:And that was, that's where it started for me.
Speaker B:How did, how do you do that?
Speaker B:And in order to do that, I had to figure out, well, how can I be the best parent I could be?
Speaker B:And that's when I started understanding that my family was very dysfunctional and there was a lot of pain and hurt and trauma and it was, it revealed itself very deeply and very transparently when my son passed away.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And so, but did you have, were you able to get any therapy, any help?
Speaker A:Or is this all kind of self induced therapy?
Speaker B:Self induced?
Speaker B:A lot of it was self induced.
Speaker B:I went, I went through medical professionals and I was put on pharmaceuticals for diagnoses of depression and bipolar and went through all these, you know, all these things.
Speaker B:And you know, a year later we were in New Jersey at the time, but we moved to Arizona.
Speaker B:We had kind of been scoping out Arizona to see, like, is this a place that could really be possible?
Speaker B:And I remember having been 12 years earlier driving through on a girls trip, the Grand Canyon and saying, I left my heart in Arizona.
Speaker B:I one day will be back, I will live here.
Speaker B:I don't know how I'm going to make this happen.
Speaker B:And we started scoping out.
Speaker B:Would that be possible?
Speaker B:And a year later we decided to move because this was Joshi's favorite place in the world.
Speaker B:He loved Arizona.
Speaker B:You know, my ex husband, his parents at the time had moved and retired here and we would come to visit in the summer and he loved it here.
Speaker B:And I just felt like I would be closer to him here.
Speaker B:And so we moved a year later and that's when I started going back to school and I went back to learn psychology.
Speaker B:And I felt that if I could understand why I wasn't angry at the world, if I could understand why I wasn't angry at God, if I could understand why there was no blame in my heart.
Speaker B:There was just so much pain that I had to understand and why was my family acting this way?
Speaker B:Who are these people?
Speaker B:Like, what is happening?
Speaker B:So I wanted to learn for myself so that I could compassionately heal myself and going back to school.
Speaker B:And then I started studying, studying conscious parenting, and my children started understanding them, how to be a better parent for them.
Speaker B:So it was a lot of studying and seeking community, seeking out understanding.
Speaker B:I'm like an avid student.
Speaker B:I love learning, and I just want to be the best human I can be.
Speaker B:And that's kind of where that led me.
Speaker B:And there was more trauma happened and we had to go.
Speaker B:No contact with family, and it was more deep learning.
Speaker B:And the diseases really started manifesting with the school systems and the treatment my children were getting, and the lack of support that they were getting was very traumatizing.
Speaker B:So we had a lot of stuff going on, and that's when all the diseases just blew up and the obesity happened in all of us.
Speaker B:And the diseases just took over.
Speaker B:The diabetes, the high cholesterol, the hypertension, the gastric reflux, the sleep apnea, all of it.
Speaker A:And so what.
Speaker A:What years did those really start to kind of pile on and become.
Speaker A:Become, you know, front and center in your life?
Speaker B:I can speak for myself.
Speaker B:I've always had body image issues since I was a little girl.
Speaker B:I developed early, and I didn't understand what that meant.
Speaker B:And I had lost body autonomy as a very, very, very young girl and developed a very unhealthy relationship with my sexuality and boundaries and empowerment.
Speaker B:And so there was a lot of my body that I really despised about her.
Speaker B:And we fought a lot on what body image should look like.
Speaker B:And a lot of times I lost that battle, and obesity would set in, and then I would take it back in very unhealthy ways.
Speaker B:We're going to do this diet and we're going to do this, and we're going to be forceful in this.
Speaker B:And then I would traumatize her so she could look the way I wanted her to look.
Speaker B:And it was a very unhealthy relationship with my body.
Speaker B:So when Joshi passed away, I think it was really easy for that pattern to just be like, I don't even care what I look like.
Speaker B:I could barely figure out how to get through the day, and my body had no idea how to handle the stress, how to be healthy.
Speaker B:And I just went back to, like, the program of what to eat, what's easy.
Speaker B:You know, my body was just trying to feed me and make sure that I kept going and didn't have any other learning how to do that.
Speaker A:You had type 2 diabetes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:So were you on, were you on medication for that?
Speaker B:I was on metformin and on lysopro for that.
Speaker B:I did have hypertension with an arrhythmia.
Speaker B:I was on medication for that.
Speaker B:I did have gerd.
Speaker B:So I was on medication for that.
Speaker B:I had restless leg syndrome.
Speaker B:I was on medication for that.
Speaker B:I was diagnosed type 2 bipolar with chronic anxiety.
Speaker B:I was medicated for those as well and so were my children and so was my ex husband.
Speaker B:All medicated for these things.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:So that's incredible.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so basically yourself, your husband, and then the two twins.
Speaker B:Well, the twins were diagnosed prediabetes and one of them was diagnosed with high cholesterol.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:That's when that second bomb of my life, the first time was when my son passed away and it was a huge bomb and I had to start over.
Speaker B:It's when the doctor wanted to put my 14 year old on a statin.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker B:That's when it was another, like huge explosion and I was in the rubble and saying, yeah, that's, that's not an option, but.
Speaker B:And there was no future.
Speaker B:I didn't know what to do, but I knew I wasn't doing that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so what was.
Speaker A:I know that you saw a documentary that basically kind of opened your eyes and was the impetus for a lot of change.
Speaker A:What was that documentary?
Speaker A:What year and what did you do after you saw it?
Speaker B:This is the genesis of everything that comes after it is right here at the root of it.
Speaker B: So In May of: Speaker B:And to this day she has honored that and so have they all.
Speaker A:So can you, can you, can you just to clarify, you said no contact.
Speaker A:So is that right?
Speaker A:So does that mean you just.
Speaker A:There's no communication whatsoever with, with your mom?
Speaker B:Very heated evening of trying to gather food.
Speaker B:Truth and facts and understanding and accountability.
Speaker B:She decided, she said we were disowned, grabbed her bag and walked out and has never turned back.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And that was the pinnacle for me of healing.
Speaker B:That's when I was like, yeah, I'm done with pain.
Speaker B:Love doesn't hurt.
Speaker B:Love shouldn't hurt.
Speaker B:I know what love is.
Speaker B:I have children.
Speaker B:I know what Love feels like.
Speaker B:And love's not supposed to hurt it.
Speaker B:I will figure this out.
Speaker B:And I started just studying, studying, studying and researching and studying.
Speaker B:And it was in that where I started understanding that, you know, being healthy was a requirement for my mental health.
Speaker B:And that led me into figuring out what's being healthy.
Speaker B:And I started taking away animal protein here and there.
Speaker B:Just like.
Speaker B:Because they weren't the best options.
Speaker B:Let's take away the worst animal options back then.
Speaker B:And then I came across Forks Over Knives.
Speaker A:Aha.
Speaker A:Yeah, I've heard of that one.
Speaker B:And I remember sitting and watching that documentary and bawling.
Speaker B:Bawling.
Speaker A:Can you remember what.
Speaker A:Was there any particular?
Speaker A:Because there's a lot of different, you know, stories in there.
Speaker A:Can you remember any in particular that really resonated with you?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Cancer was not a condition that my family been faced with yet.
Speaker B:So I really appreciated Dr.
Speaker B:Campbell's wisdom and his research, and I felt so empowered then.
Speaker B:But it was actually watching your fathers sharing the research and the work.
Speaker B:My great grandfather had had, if I'm not mistaken, three or four heart attacks.
Speaker B:And with each one, excuse me, they were like, we don't know how he's here.
Speaker B:We don't know how he's making it.
Speaker B:His heart is hanging on the string.
Speaker B:And he passed away when I was 17, and it was the first time I went to Puerto Rico, and it was to return him home to his mother Earth.
Speaker B:And I was watching.
Speaker B:He didn't have to go through all that.
Speaker B:We know.
Speaker B:Didn't have to go through all that.
Speaker B:And that's ice.
Speaker B:Just started bawling.
Speaker B:And I started realizing, you know, how we eat and how we treat our bodies.
Speaker B:Like, we don't know.
Speaker B:We don't know.
Speaker B:And that's really painful.
Speaker B:I just couldn't get what I was feeding my children out of my head.
Speaker B:The guilt.
Speaker B:And had to work through all that guilt.
Speaker B:It's like, Jack, you didn't know any better.
Speaker B:You do the best you could, and now you know.
Speaker B:Now you know.
Speaker B:So let's do this.
Speaker B:Let's figure this out.
Speaker B:And I enrolled myself in the center for Nutrition Studies, plant based nutrition program.
Speaker B:And what I discovered there changed my life.
Speaker B:And season Aspire was born.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:And what.
Speaker A:What year did you launch seeds to inspire?
Speaker B: July: Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:Incredible.
Speaker A:I want to talk about Seeds to Inspire, but before I do, I want to ask you.
Speaker A:So you saw Forks Over Knives.
Speaker A:You started down this.
Speaker A:This path, and if you had the support of your husband and your children, is everybody on board with this?
Speaker A:Where do they Stand.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I laugh because if anyone knows me, like, my best friend from childhood always says, jack, when you're passionate about something, you just jump in the deep end of the pool.
Speaker B:And it was like, yeah, we're not doing this anymore.
Speaker B:Sorry.
Speaker B:Sorry, guys.
Speaker B:We're not.
Speaker B:I can't.
Speaker B:I can't do it.
Speaker B:It's just not happening.
Speaker B:I saw poison, I saw toxins.
Speaker B:I saw agony, I saw distress.
Speaker B:I had almost lost my life twice at that point to the diseases, you know, twice.
Speaker B:My body broke down and I almost orphaned my children.
Speaker B:There was no way that I could ever see these food products, which I thought were food in my kitchen.
Speaker B:So I just started cleaning things out.
Speaker B:And it was right before Thanksgiving, and my twins were like, mom, please can we just have one?
Speaker B:We just have one more.
Speaker B:One more turkey leg.
Speaker B:And I was like, that's it.
Speaker B:You have a turkey leg.
Speaker B:But I made that Thanksgiving.
Speaker B:I made everything from scratch, which is a funny term now that I think about cooking from scratch, which is just cooking.
Speaker B:Like, what was even that about?
Speaker B:We made a special term for actually cooking food that came from the ground.
Speaker B:But I went and I cooked Thanksgiving from scratch.
Speaker B:I made the bread to make the stuffing.
Speaker B:And I just practice and practice and practice.
Speaker B:And it was from then that I started just making everything for my family whole food plant based.
Speaker A:And so what has happened to yourself, your husband, your kids since going whole food plant based?
Speaker A:I hope the whole family isn't still on medications and, you know, morbidly obese and all that.
Speaker B:So my ex husband now, but he.
Speaker B:We all lost a significant amount of weight.
Speaker B:I am on no medications.
Speaker B:I have reversed all of my chronic diseases.
Speaker B:I live pain free, pharmaceutical free, and I love life and I love myself.
Speaker B:My children were also on ADHD medication, and they were on medication for anxiety and depression, and they're not there.
Speaker B:They do the introspection work, they watch what they eat, they live compassionately, they make certain that they use their voice.
Speaker B:They're discerning with whom they share their heart and their energy with.
Speaker B:So all of that shifted, and we all live more conscious lives and very aware of the consequences of what we put in our mouths.
Speaker A:It's incredible.
Speaker A:And since that 300, and I think you said 320 or 332 pounds, how much weight have you lost?
Speaker B:164.
Speaker A:That's almost exactly half, right?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:And I've actually gained a few pounds since then.
Speaker B:When menopause started setting in and living in Phoenix, Arizona, in the summers, there's a lot of mobility issues.
Speaker B:But that comes right back off, starting the fall and the winter and just keep moving forward because our bodies, we acclimate.
Speaker B:But, yeah.
Speaker B:So altogether, it's £164.
Speaker A:Tell me, as having lost half your body weight, how is life different being that much lighter than you were?
Speaker A:Like, tell me, tell me, for somebody that's trying to lose the weight that's, you know, 150 to 200 pounds overweight, what do they have to look forward to?
Speaker B:You know, I didn't realize the weight was coming off because I was so focused on reversing the diseases.
Speaker B:It was like, my family and friends were like, girl, you think, you know, you want to go shopping?
Speaker B:Like, how much.
Speaker B:How much more are you going to try to make that belt?
Speaker A:Like?
Speaker B:And it was like, oh, this is one more thing to do.
Speaker B:I really didn't realize it.
Speaker B:What I realized was I was waking up in the morning in a good mood.
Speaker B:I was able to dance.
Speaker B:I forgot how much I missed dancing.
Speaker B:I was, you know, Puerto Rican kids.
Speaker B:We were doing sales in our diapers, and I couldn't dance.
Speaker B:And I remember picking up my babies.
Speaker B:I mean, they're big boys, but I remember picking them up and dancing with them.
Speaker B:So Marc Anthony and Celia Cruz.
Speaker B:And I was like, I forgot what that was like, I can dance again.
Speaker B:And I remember my surrogate niece, a dear, dear family friend.
Speaker B:She wrapped her arms around me.
Speaker B:She was like, auntie Jackie, I can touch my hands.
Speaker B:And I was like, all these things that I just kind of took for granted, that it's just, well, this way it's going to be.
Speaker B:And it was like, no.
Speaker B:And I don't have to beat myself up.
Speaker B:I can do it by loving myself.
Speaker B:I can do it by really appreciating the toll my body has taken and all the beating that I've put on myself.
Speaker B:And again, very compassionately, I can acknowledge that.
Speaker B:Really, really mean to my body.
Speaker B:Blaming her for a lot of things.
Speaker B:You're making her do things that were unnatural so that I could feel safe in a world that made me feel unsafe, you know, and not being genuine and authentic, doing patterns of eating and behaving and dressing things that were not authentic to me.
Speaker B:And when I realized that I have this unhealthy relationship with my body, and I was like, you know what?
Speaker B:I love you and you love me this whole time, no matter what I did, you've been there for me, and now I want to take care of you.
Speaker B:And I was giving my body what she needed.
Speaker B:And she responded.
Speaker B:She started losing weight and she had energy.
Speaker B:And I remember being in the kitchen and just like, moving.
Speaker B:Like, what was the last time I started shaking my hips when I was making food?
Speaker B:You know, walking.
Speaker B:Walking without losing my breath, walking without.
Speaker B:I remember the first time I took my dogs for a walk and I was listening to a lecture and I had gone twice as far, and I was like, wait a minute.
Speaker B:I'm not out of breath and I'm not tired.
Speaker B:My feet don't ache.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:Is this what it's going to be like?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:All great stuff.
Speaker A:I want to talk a little bit about the food for a second because you have a way of communicating that to me is very unique.
Speaker A:And so I'm going to read something that I wrote down that I read from your website, from Seeds to Inspire.
Speaker A:And you say that, you know, eliminate.
Speaker A:I wanted to eliminate items from my plate that were sourced from suffering, pain, disease, and greed.
Speaker A:And I don't think most of us look at it that way, but in.
Speaker A:In reading that, I'm like, exactly.
Speaker A:That's exactly right.
Speaker A:And so can you just talk a little bit about that?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:You know, I'm also in education, you know, advocate.
Speaker B:You know, I work with community on education initiatives all the time.
Speaker B:This is my passion, is to really take care of the children.
Speaker B:And in doing so, we all get to support our own inner children.
Speaker B:We get to heal.
Speaker B:We get to go back to the roots of our pain.
Speaker B:And a lot of that is understanding the choices that we've made unconsciously.
Speaker B:And how do I share that with my children when I'm changing the way they eat from something that I taught them what to do, how do I do that?
Speaker B:And the way I thought to do that was how I learned just to be genuine, just tell the truth.
Speaker B:This is where the food comes from.
Speaker B:This is how it's made.
Speaker B:And I did not know.
Speaker B:And looking at my plate as a source of nourishment and regeneration and vitality, the way I was eating, nothing was matching who I thought I was in this world, what I was putting on my plate and feeling.
Speaker B:My children, these humans that were.
Speaker B:It's my responsibility.
Speaker B:They were born through me.
Speaker B:It is my role to do the best I can for them.
Speaker B:So it's my moral obligation to tell them the truth and hold myself accountable for not knowing and doing the best I can now.
Speaker B:And what that means is to understand that our food system is a colonized food system that is rooted in human supremacy, suffering, and our loss of connection with Mother Earth and our.
Speaker B:Our siblings on this planet and the way humans have dictated themselves to be the moral highest.
Speaker B:And that way we can do what we want with Mother Earth, with all of her children, that we could treat the Earth the way we do, that we can slaughter babies despite whether they're coming from human mothers or cow mothers or pig mothers or chicken mothers.
Speaker B:We're mothers.
Speaker B:And when I, I learned what happens to my sisters, I've lost a child.
Speaker B:I know what that's like to hold a child at my bosom.
Speaker B:I could never look at them the same.
Speaker B:And I had to teach my children that I was, I was raising young men and it was their role in this world.
Speaker B:This is a, this is a male dominant, patriarchal world.
Speaker B:They will walk in truth and dignity and compassion and do what's right based on their moral ethic.
Speaker B:And my role was to teach them the truth.
Speaker B:That's the truth of the way we eat.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Boy, you, you faced a lot head on and you did.
Speaker A:Incredible.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:You know, hearing you talk about all this, it's like, it's like, it's like we need to pull back this curtain and expose, as you so I think eloquently put it all, the, the suffering, the pain, the disease that's created not only in our world, but also in the animal world, in these animal factories.
Speaker A:And then of course, the greed, the incredible greed that surrounds it all as well.
Speaker A:And if we can do that, as you have said in some of your writings, we can then shine this light on foods that actually allow light and life and love, and it's just so much healthier and so much more powerful.
Speaker A:So I just, I love the journey that you have been on, that you're on, that you're, you know, how you're sharing now with seeds to inspire.
Speaker A:And I want to talk about seeds to inspire.
Speaker A:Before I do, though, I want to ask you this, and you have a quote and you say, I've been vegan my whole life and I just didn't know it.
Speaker A:So I'd love for you to expound upon that.
Speaker B:So I've been asked to speak in several different platforms and arenas around veganism.
Speaker B:And what I find interesting is that I'll be invited to speak at animal rights events and share my healing journey about how I restored my health.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because that, you know, it incentivizes people to go plant based.
Speaker B:However, what's very painful is that the social justice piece is the one that is not held to the same in the same space.
Speaker B:And when I say vegan, I say anti oppression.
Speaker B:I say anti Genocide, I say anti patriarchy, paternalism, all of that.
Speaker B:That's to me what the vegan ethic is.
Speaker B:I just expanded to be radically inclusive, to be radically aware that I have healed enough, I'll spend my entire lifetime healing and learning.
Speaker B:But I feel enough to know that the intersections that almost took my life, that took the life of my child, that caused the trauma in my family, generationally, it's all the same thing.
Speaker B:And if we want people to go plant based, then we have to understand how the way we treat the animals and the way we treat Mother Earth through animal agriculture, industrialized farming, what we do to the oceans, it is the same lens with which we decide who is a standard of human and who is not and how we treat them.
Speaker B:It is all the same lens.
Speaker B:It's just different perspectives.
Speaker B:So I'm anti oppression and I am pro love and pro understanding and connection and education and awareness and humility.
Speaker B:To me, that is a vegan standard and that's what I hope to radiate to my children and to my community.
Speaker A:Well, you radiate a lot.
Speaker A:And I can tell you one of the things that you don't radiate is anger.
Speaker A:And for somebody that used to be, as you said, pretty darn angry, I think at the world and maybe even at yourself, I just, I sense an immense amount of compassion, gratitude, humbleness, and just love.
Speaker A:And so that to me emanates from every pore of you and especially what comes out of your mouth.
Speaker A:It's really wonderful.
Speaker A: ou founded Seeds to change in: Speaker A:Tell me a little bit about the, this nonprofit and how can, how can we help and like it?
Speaker A:What's it all about?
Speaker B:Oh, thank you.
Speaker B:So I smile because Seeds to Inspire was kind of like the idea of like, okay, what have I learned?
Speaker B:What are we doing?
Speaker B:How do I help people?
Speaker B:Like, people need to know this, like, you know, like what I'm experiencing.
Speaker B:Everybody needs to know, like, how do you do this?
Speaker B:And I was very, very afraid of public speaking.
Speaker B:And I was encouraged to do more of that.
Speaker B:Just talk about your story.
Speaker B:And it was in that stepping out of my comfort zone, because it wasn't my story.
Speaker B:Cease to Inspire was born of taking my son's journey in this life and his role in my life and to do him justice and spread the love of him and everything that I learned from being his mother into the world.
Speaker B:And that's what the Cease to Inspire was born.
Speaker B:It was seek to inspire awareness and hope and healing and started there.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:What you said it once, but I didn't catch it.
Speaker A:What was your son's name?
Speaker B:Joshua.
Speaker B:Joshua Noel.
Speaker A:Joshua.
Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker A:Okay, so what are some upcoming initiatives that you have that we should know about?
Speaker B:Well, we are so excited.
Speaker B:We just started a pilot program working with a community after school center and we're starting a garden and we're teaching nutrition education to these babies.
Speaker B:And what's a beautiful thing is that we're collaborating with community initiatives that serve the marginalized communities.
Speaker B:The marginalized or the marginalized.
Speaker B:So we're working right now with children that come from food insecurity, that eat at the after school center, get snacks there after school and some of them that'll be the meal that they have for dinner, you know, every day.
Speaker B:And we're teaching them about how to grow food and eating from the rainbow and what seeds look like and yeah, you can mangrove food in Arizona heat.
Speaker B:And what is that like?
Speaker B:And so it's such really exciting and it's so much fun.
Speaker B:And we're also working on our Jumpstart program which we are working with a community kitchen and we're teaching how to cook plant based and we're providing plant based meals so people can experience what it feels like to live this for 10 days.
Speaker B:And we give them lifestyle medicine education and coaching and I do the lifestyle medicine coaching and we give that experience to community and then we're also partnering with other community members to hopefully start garden soon.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And the name of the jumpstart is that the.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Save a jumpstart.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Hindu for service.
Speaker A:Well, isn't that a.
Speaker A:That's beautiful.
Speaker A:Very beautiful.
Speaker A:Can you, can you tell us about some success stories that, that you had at seeds to inspire?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So I will tell you about this one in particular.
Speaker B:One that these two.
Speaker B:I'll tell you about these two.
Speaker B:So the first one is someone that has started working with us peripherally and was informed and really, really was reaching out for support and gave the support that I could, being that, you know, she's within the medical school, medical system and just taking that advice and changing the way she ate.
Speaker B:Her dream at the end of the year, because she was obese was to be able to stand by her birthday.
Speaker B:That's all she wanted to do, was to stand by herself.
Speaker A:Stand.
Speaker A:So why could she not stand because.
Speaker B:Of her chronic pain, her obesity, if I'm not mistaken, she did have a pain disorder and it was chronic and her knees were very, very bad.
Speaker B:So her dream was by the end of the year for her birthday was to be able to Stand.
Speaker B:And the next time I saw her, she hugged me and she was with a walker and she was actually walking.
Speaker A:And what do you think it was?
Speaker A:Do you think it was the all the anti inflammatory properties of a whole food plant based diet that helped alleviate the chronic pain?
Speaker B:It was the hope that she could make these changes and that they would do something despite the condition that she was in.
Speaker B:She made the choices.
Speaker B:She invited me in to learn, she invited me in to bring whole plant foods.
Speaker B:She made the decision to stay away from that and choose this.
Speaker B:That takes not just the physical action, it takes that deep, deep change within oneself to say, I can do this, I will do this, it's going to happen and I love myself.
Speaker B:That's what she did.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Deep change.
Speaker A:Loving yourself, I think not being afraid to go there.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It's pretty gutsy to turn down and turn away from something that's become your friend and is very comforting.
Speaker B:Yes, absolutely.
Speaker B:And to trust there's so much myths and disinformation out there.
Speaker B:To trust that this is evidence based that these, this will make changes, it will not take that long.
Speaker B:That this.
Speaker B:I know it's going to be difficult.
Speaker B:I know it's not easy.
Speaker B:I know this is so foreign, it sounds so French.
Speaker B:I know it may be challenging everything that you think you know about culture and food.
Speaker B:I know that.
Speaker B:But if you just trust this evidence, trust the science, trust your intuition, just do a little bit of research.
Speaker B:Feeling your body, if it feels right, give yourself three days and see how you feel.
Speaker B:Feel when you all start moving, when you start feeling a little better, when you're not as hot because you're not as, you know, as inflamed, you know, all those things, they start, you start experiencing that pretty quickly.
Speaker B:So if you just trust to make the change step by step, those steps will start growing, growing, growing.
Speaker B:And before you know it you're like, oh my gosh, why did I do this sooner?
Speaker A:So that was.
Speaker A:That's one story.
Speaker A:Did you have another story you wanted to share?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:So I do have a story about a gentleman that went through our program twice, two of our SEVAs and he was diagnosed with non alcoholic fatty liver disease.
Speaker B:Chronically was experiencing part of the condition.
Speaker B:He gets chronic nosebleeds and was in the emergency room constantly with nosebleeds and meaning being in the hospital and having to take off work.
Speaker B:And the stress was building up on his family.
Speaker B:His wife encouraged him to do the safer jumpstart again and he has not had one return to the emergency room.
Speaker B:His Blood pressure has dropped through meditation because regularly he is not.
Speaker B:His blood pressure has not exceeded 142.
Speaker B:When he was doing that, it was over 167, over 120, and has not had any more emergency room visits.
Speaker B:That's the power of really understanding the power of food and the power that we have.
Speaker B:And again, no blame when you understand that I'm doing this to myself.
Speaker B:There's reasons why it's not all my fault.
Speaker B:But that means that I can do something different and I can change my body in a positive way, too.
Speaker A:I want to say three things that I think are really important takeaways from the conversation that we've had today.
Speaker A:And then I'd like for you to just kind of add some color around each one of these statements that I'm going to make.
Speaker A:So the first is you believe that all trauma can be healed, is that right?
Speaker B:I do.
Speaker B:Healed.
Speaker B:Our trauma lives in our bodies and through somatic practices.
Speaker B:Trauma informed mental health professionals that truly do understand specifically how parenting and how generational trauma and acculturation affects our mental health.
Speaker B:We can heal our trauma.
Speaker B:We can come together.
Speaker B:Love always wins.
Speaker B:Self love.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:That was going to be my second thing was love always wins.
Speaker A:And you truly believe love always wins?
Speaker B:It's been my experience, yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, I can tell you that love certainly feels good.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And that to me is.
Speaker A:It's a winning feeling.
Speaker A:And then we deserve to be the humans we were born to be.
Speaker B:We're one family.
Speaker B:We have forgotten that we are a family.
Speaker B:I see humans as distinct cousins that I haven't met yet.
Speaker B:We're all related.
Speaker B:We're all related to one another as a human family.
Speaker B:We're all related to the trees and the birds and soil and the air.
Speaker B:We are one family.
Speaker B:And as children of this beautiful, beautiful planet, the sentient being, as her children, we have the power to destroy as we've seen.
Speaker B:And we have the power to create beauty and love.
Speaker B:That's who we deserve to be.
Speaker B:We deserve to be free of the pain and the trauma and just go through the pains of life, through lessons and growth opportunities as they're supposed to be suffering.
Speaker B:Do we really have to suffer?
Speaker B:I don't believe so.
Speaker B:I believe that we all know that we're meant for greatness and we can keep our egos in check and we can heal the things that hurt us.
Speaker B:And we can stop projecting and love ourselves.
Speaker B:Ourselves.
Speaker B:We can love one another and we can.
Speaker B:We can live the lives that we deserve to live.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Well, what I.
Speaker A:What I Love about everything you're saying.
Speaker A:And I had a conversation a couple podcasts ago with Chris, Chris Carr, about trauma and grief and healing and how the wonderful thing is if you're willing to do the work, if you're willing to look at it and understand it and have these difficult conversations, on the other side is so much love, freedom and beauty.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:But you got to be willing to do the work and look at it.
Speaker A:So I love everything that you just said there.
Speaker A:How can people with seeds to inspire?
Speaker A:What's the easiest way for people to help or donate or help the cause?
Speaker B:Oh, wonderful, wonderful.
Speaker B:It would be lovely if people would sign up for our email list so we can start sending out some updates and really supporting us through financial blessings.
Speaker B:So please share, you know, your abundance, share your blessings and support us to do the work that we're doing.
Speaker B:The community.
Speaker B:We want a world of equity, we want a world of healing.
Speaker B:We want a world where everyone has access to organic, locally grown, whole plant foods so everyone benefits.
Speaker B:And in order to do that with our communities, we need support.
Speaker B:So please share your blessings and share your abundance and your compassion and your support.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I would like to close out today, Jackie, by reading.
Speaker A:This is something that you wrote and I found it to be really powerful.
Speaker A:So I'm gonna, I'm gonna read it.
Speaker A:It'll take about 45 seconds maybe.
Speaker A:I have been vegan my whole life and I didn't know it when I became aware of how devastating my food choices were.
Speaker A:Not only to the health and well being of my family, but to my community, my culture, my ancestral legacy, earth, non human animals, the planet.
Speaker A:I chose health.
Speaker A:I chose truth and I chose the right to be healthy for myself and for the whole.
Speaker A:That's really good stuff, Jackie.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you so much.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Yes, thank you, Jackie.
Speaker A:I can't even tell you how much I've enjoyed getting to.
Speaker A:This is not the first time we've met because as you said, we once said, I think it was a whole foods and someplace else, but just having this conversation with you, learning more about your journey, all the great work you're doing with seeds to inspire and the light and the love that you are emanating, emanating forth into this world, we, we need more.
Speaker A:We need more of it.
Speaker A:We mean we need a lot more.
Speaker A:Jackies, thank you.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker B:There's a.
Speaker B:There's a lot of us out there.
Speaker B:We're just finding each other.
Speaker B:There's a lot of us out there and you included, your producer includer included.
Speaker B:Beautiful beautiful souls doing this work.
Speaker B:So thank you for the reflection.
Speaker A:Oh yeah.
Speaker A:Thank you.
Speaker A:So on the way out, can I get a virtual plan strong fist bump?
Speaker B:Heck yeah, brother.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:All right, Jackie, keep it playing strong.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you everyone.
Speaker B:Take care.
Speaker A:Bye bye.
Speaker A:Emotional healing and spiritual growth is possible, especially when supported by a whole food plant based diet.
Speaker A:And I know that you'll agree that this episode stands as a testament to the strength of the human spirit, the importance of compassion, and the undeniable bond that ties us all together in the journey towards healing.
Speaker A:To learn more about Seeds to Inspire, visit Seeds to Inspire.
Speaker A:That's spelled S E E D S T O I.
Speaker A:And I'll be sure to put a link in the show notes for you as well.
Speaker A:Thanks as always for listening to the show.
Speaker A:Please be sure to share it with your friends and loved ones who you think may benefit.
Speaker A:Food is medicine and we're here to share that message with the world.
Speaker A:Until next time, always, always keep a plant strong.
Speaker A:The Plan Strong podcast team includes Carrie 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 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 and Anne Krile Esselstyn.
Speaker A:Thanks so much for listening.