Stoic Wellbeing - All in Moderation: How to Eat Like a Stoic

Episode Date: December 11, 2021

Growing up, what were your family’s eating habits? Fruits and vegetables? Canned spaghetti and doughnuts? At our house, once in a while we’d have pizza, and maybe once a year for a crazy treat we could pick out a sugary cereal -- Booberry was my fav. But for the most part, we were a junk food-free house.Fast forward quite a few years, and now when I go home to visit, it’s like I’m entering Candy Land. Brownies, cookies, pies staring me in the face. Even though I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, I find these treats hard to resist, and I usually don’t, which is why my clothes felt a little too close for comfort after my last visit.So, I decided to try the Fresh Start: 21-Day Cleanse created by Simple Green Smoothies co-founder Jen Hansard. This was exactly the reset my body needed. I lost weight, gained a ton of energy, and my mind felt clearer. As we begin a new year, I thought you might be interested in a fresh start, as well, so I invited Jen onto the podcast to talk about how to improve your quality of life through clean eating. I also talk about what the Stoics think about eating well to improve your character, mind, body, and spirit.Hello! I'm your host, Sarah Mikutel. But the real question is, who are you? Where are you now and where do you want to be? Can I help you get there?Visit sarahmikutel.com to learn how we can work together to help you achieve more peace, happiness, and positive transformation in your life.Book your Enneagram typing session by going to sarahmikutel.com/typingsessionDo you ever go blank or start rambling when someone puts you on the spot? I created a free Conversation Cheat Sheet with simple formulas you can use so you can respond with clarity, whether you’re in a meeting or just talking with friends.Download it at sarahmikutel.com/blanknomore and start feeling more confident in your conversations today.

A lot of us say that we want more meaning in our lives to be part of something greater than ourselves, to feel more connected to other people in the universe. This begins with becoming more connected with who we are and more self-aware of what's unconsciously motivating us. Welcome to Stoic Wellbeing. I'm your host to Sarah Megatel, an American in England who uses stoicism and other techniques to help my coaching clients become more present, productive, and open-hearted. I am here to help you to visit Stoicwellbeing.com to learn more. When I was growing up, once in a while we would have pizza and maybe once a year for a crazy treat. We could go to the grocery store and pick out a sugary cereal.

Booberry was my favorite. But for the most part, we were a junk food-free household. Fast forward quite a few years. And now when I visit my home, it's like entering Candyland. There's brownies and cookies and the pies staring me in the face. And I will admit that even though. though I don't have much of a sweet tooth, I often find it really hard to resist, and I actually don't resist usually. So at the end of this summer, after spending a few weeks at my parents' house,

my clothes were not fitting the way I wanted. And I wouldn't call this rock bottom, but I felt pretty gross. And this motivated me to try the fresh start 21-day cleanse, created by Simple Green Smoothies co-founder Jen Hansard, and this was exactly the reset that I needed. I lost weight. I'm not sure how much because I don't keep a scale in my house, but I also gained a ton of energy, and my mind felt so much clearer. And as we begin this new year, I thought you might be interested in a fresh start as well. So I invited Jen from Simple Green Smoothies on here to this podcast to talk about improving your quality of life through clean eating. And in this episode, I will also talk about what the stoics thought about food and moderation as well. Let's jump right into my conversation

with Jen. Welcome, Jen. Thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you, Sarah. I'm so excited to be here with you and your audience. You're founder of Simple Green Smoothies. And I think this business came out of a need of something that was going on in your life at the time. So could you share that story with us? Yeah. So this all happened around 2011 when I had just moved across the country from Los Angeles to Florida with my family. And we had gone from middle class America, had great health insurance. Everything was pretty great for us. And we moved to Florida where we had no job, no health insurance. And we had two little kids who I was scared. They were going to get sick. we were going to find ourselves in the ER and the bill was going to crush us. And that was a scary

moment for me just every day, like feeling that. And I think I got that for my dad. The like whole worst case scenario is what you think about. And that's what I was doing. And so I decided, you know what, I can't just keep living in the space of like waiting for us to get sick. I needed to find a way to stop us from getting sick in the first place. And that's when I started looking into food and Googling like how to not get sick naturally. What can you do? foods to boost your immune system. And I stumbled upon green smoothies. And that literally was the pivotal shift in my life to where I realized how much food could do for you beyond just not getting sick, but helping me feel amazing at a time when I was already exhausted, hooked on caffeine,

like crazy. And yeah, it just changed my family's life. Could you please talk about the power of the green smoothie? Like, why is that so transformational? I mean, you named your business after it. Yes. So, I mean, we've all had smoothies our whole lives. I mean, I grew up drinking some form of a smoothie. Usually it had yogurt in it or bananas and lots of fruit and tasted amazing. The thing with a normal smoothie without greens is that it's really high in sugar, it can trick your taste buds into thinking that if you're drinking it every day that you're going to need all that sweetness to keep you satisfied. Whereas a green smoothie, you're taking that delicious fruit that you love, but adding tons of kale, tons of spinach to that. smoothie to actually lower the fruit sugars overall as you're drinking it. So you're not going to taste of it strongly. And you're getting extra fiber, extra plants in your body. And honestly, you're drinking spinach. And for me, I was a vegetarian for 16 years at that point. And I had never enjoyed spinach. I never ate it. I would buy bags of it at the store and like have hopes, like, okay, I need to eat this because it's healthy. I know I can probably find a way to enjoy a

spinach salad, but it always go bad. And so when you put it in your smoothie, you're actually getting in the greens that you most often are not getting in your diet. And that's really essential to digestive issues. It keeps things moving through your body. And it also helps with your skin. It's pure nutrition getting into your body in ways that you haven't had before. Yeah, I have loved spinach for most of my adult life. However, I had like this block when it came to making smoothies for a really long time until I did your 21-day cleanse actually because I just thought, oh, this is like going to be so messy. It's going to be such a pain to like make and then have to clean up. And then I did it prompted by, you know, the challenge. And I realized it was

much easier. But then I was also reflecting on my behavior. And I was like, Sarah, can you really not spare five minutes to do something that's really good for your health? Yeah. Well, I think we, I mean, there's days where I, it's halfway through the day and I'm like, oh my gosh, I did not get my smoothie in. And it happens to all of us where we just, no matter how often we do it, we think we can't. It's not, we don't have enough time or it's not going to be worth it that day. But I have never regretted blending a green smoothie in all my years. Like every time you do it, you feel so much better. And why does it make us feel like we have more energy?

Because before I did that cleanse, I was a coffee addict. Yeah. I still like coffee, but I'm not drinking it right now because I've replaced it with smoothies. So what is that about? Yeah, well, it's more about the nutrition. And so if you're like I was and you too, Sarah, where coffee was the thing that got us through the day, it was the driving force. I'd wake up and think about coffee. It's what got me out of bed.

But there's really no nutrients in that cup of coffee. And usually after I'd have a cup of coffee, I'd go to a bagel or a muffin or something carby. And the nutrients aren't even in that thing. It's just calories and carbs is what you're eating. And so your energy levels aren't going to be there because your body isn't nourished. So when we swap that with a morning of green smoothies, you're getting, one, you're getting hydrated because you're getting each smoothie that I drink is about two cups of water in it by the end of drinking it all. So you're getting hydrated, which is good for your body. That actually does help you get more energy too.

And you're also getting all these nutrients such as vitamin C. There's vitamin D. There's iron, which helps our energy levels too. And so all of that is coming in through that drink. And so your body is actually, it's like a gas tank. You're putting the high quality gas in it, so it's going to perform better. And that's what the green smoothie does. Seneca said that what we do is who we are, and creating good habits will help us become better people.

And sometimes we have to wheel ourselves into doing the right thing until it feels like the only thing. that we want to do. So here is a quote from Seneca. You have to persevere and fortify your pertinacity until the will to good becomes a disposition to good. End quote. So if the thought of drinking your spinach sounds a little strange to you, just try it. What's good for you can make you happy. Here's Seneca again. Quote, how much better to pursue a straight course and eventually reach that destination were the things that are pleasant and the things that are honorable finally become for you the same. What's your favorite smoothie right now? What's in it? I love pineapple. And I always say,

like, pineapple is my jam. So anything with pineapple makes me happy. I love frozen peaches. I do cherries too. I'm all into the frozen fruit right now because it's pretty much all you can find and not have to worry about. Baby kale has been really good. I have, I had trouble with kale when I tried to make it with a smoothie. I felt like I was definitely eating it, eating my smoothie, just like, there's so much chewing. Yeah, it's your blender. If you get a high, I don't know what you're blending with right now. Nothing fancy.

Yeah, literally it's going to change your whole game. It's crazy. I remember, I mean, for about a year, just over a year, I used the blender that we had, which was a margarita blender. Like it was meant to make more great it. And then I burned it out because I used it so much. And so I remember saying like, okay, I know I need to get a good blender, did all the research. And it was between Vitamix and BlendTech. And both of them are over $300 each.

And it's hard to even justify spending that kind of money on a kitchen appliance, in my opinion. But I rationed it as or rationalized it for myself as I can either spend this $300 $300 up front on my health and make it so easy to make a smoothie that my whole family likes, or I can put $300 towards medical bills when we're stuck in the ER or getting sick and needing cold medicine. And so that for me was what did it. And I've never once regretted having that blender. Yeah, putting your health as a priority is really important.

When you think of like other things you spend $300 on, like getting coffee every day or you could get a blender and make smoothies. So green smoothies started out more with smoothies, but the company since evolved and you offer recipes for other things. What exactly is simple green smoothies all about these days? Yeah, it's definitely been a really cool journey where it started with that smoothie and my addiction to having one a day, creating as many random recipes as I could that would taste good. I'd always taste it with my kids. And my friend Jada too, she was a big part of the company from the beginning. And so we would bounce recipes off of each other. And then over the first year, we realized that not only did we want a daily green smoothie,

we wanted to eat healthier beyond that. And I didn't know how. Like I was still eating bagels, still doing my pizza. And so I deep dove into this world of plant-based nutrition and recipe tested, read books, watched documentaries like fork over knives, and just really saw a different way of eating that I wasn't familiar with, but that really made sense to me because it was taking out the marketing, taking out all the products in the stores and focusing on plants, literally, like, stay in the produce section, eating things that come from the earth that haven't spent much time

getting recreated and losing their nutrients. And so that's where we shifted into doing plant-based recipes as well. And my whole goal is it has to taste good. Otherwise, I'm not going to stick with it. Like that's the thing. Like when I was younger and you get in this like diet mode where you're like, oh my gosh, I need to lose weight. You put your body and your taste buds through hell trying to find food. Like that's going to get you the results, but you are not enjoying yourself the whole time. And so for me, I was like with simple green smoothies, every recipe has to taste good,

has to be clean and has to help our bodies. And so that's how we've shifted from smoothies to meals to snacks and now even desserts that we create that tastes good, but they're also good for you. Vegetarianism and veganism is gaining in popularity in the world, but it has ancient roots. Epictetus's stoic teacher, Masonius Rufus, was a vegetarian who believed that we should keep our meals simple and nutritious and exercise self-control when we eat. This means not eating until our bellies feel like they're about to burst and paying attention to what we're eating while we're eating.

rather than mindlessly chowing down while we're working at the computer or watching a show. In a paper on stoicism and food, William O. Stevens wrote, Masonius argues that the proper diet is lacto-vegetarian. These foods are least expensive and most readily available. Raw fruits and season, certain raw vegetables, milk, cheese, and honeycombs. Cooked grains and some cooked vegetables are also suitable for humans. whereas a meat-based diet is too crude for human beings and is more suitable for wild beasts. Musonius thought that those who eat relatively large amounts of meat seem slow-witted.

End quote. Personally, I think that Mousonius' diet sounded great and I believe in his ethics. And some other Stoics agreed, but there's no evidence that vegetarianism or veganism was a common diet amongst the ancient Stoics, like it was for the Pythagoreans who came way before them and influenced stoicism. Can you talk to me more about plant-based and why you chose that for all of your recipes? So I know you did some research and you were watching documentaries. I'm vegetarian and mostly vegan these days myself. But for other people who are curious about the health benefits of it, what would you have to say to them?

Yeah, and I don't ever, we make plant-based recipes, but that doesn't mean you, you have to live a plant-based lifestyle. We say we're plant-forward when it comes to how we eat. And so I am not vegan. I am not 100% plant-based. I'm a vegetarian for the most part. But the thing for all of our recipes is the more plants you eat, the better you're going to feel.

And so with plant-based eating, it's really focusing on simplicity and eating plants and making them taste as good as you can. We all know how to eat meat. We all know how to cook pasta. like all the other ways of eating are pretty easy at this point. Like, so we focus on how to make plants taste good so that you can succeed in the hardest thing to make taste good.

And then you can add whatever you else that you want to it. So like I'll make granola recipes that use just clean plant-based ingredients, but it's up to you if you want to use dairy milk in it or oat milk. Like we always say like you can take it where you need to go, like make it work for you. Yeah, I love all of what you're saying. And also it's kind of quite a stoic way of. eating as well where you're doing what you can, you're choosing simplicity. I'm guessing local ingredients when that is possible. And also, it's not about just losing weight, which you can do if you're

having like a plant-based mindful diet, but also feeling better, thinking better. You're going to think a lot more clearly when you're treating your body right. Yeah. Most diets and lifestyles are short-term results. Like the goal is to lose weight, fit into your wedding dress, get ready for your summer vacation. But with plant-based eating, it's really just the beginning. It's how it makes you feel is actually the beginning. And it's really what it allows you to do that, keeps you going. And so for me, it started eating plants because I needed the energy. I needed the immune support. But what it's allowed me to do has been amazing. Like I have so much more energy that I love to be outside. I love working out. I don't get tired like I used to. I can say yes to

so many more things with friends and my kids and work than I used to. I really do feel like because of how I take care of my body and the foods I eat, that I can do anything that I want to at this point in life. And that feels pretty crazy cool to me. Let's geek out a bit more on what the ancient Stoics said about food. So in a nutshell, they advocated eating mindfully, not overindulging and not letting your basic instincts rule your life. In an article on stoic eating, Donald Robertson, whom you've heard on previous episodes, said, for stoics, the main reason for eating healthy food isn't just to improve our health. Paradoxically, it's to strengthen our character by exercising self-awareness and the virtue of self-discipline. That's important today

because we're bombarded with contradictory advice about the healthiest way to eat. The stoics would say that we shouldn't allow that to confuse us. We should make a reasonable decision and stick to it in order to develop self-control because that's fundamentally more important than losing weight or becoming physically healthy anyway. To be clear, both goals are of value, but for Stoics, the primary goal is strength of character

and physical health, while preferred, as they phrase it, is of secondary importance, end quote. Related, if you study the Enneagram, you'll know that each of the nine types has a driving emotion or passion that's helping us survive this world, but it's also getting us stuck in certain emotional patterns like anger and fear. According to the Enneagram, we also have three basic instincts that are unconsciously dictating our life. They are the self-preservation instinct, our social instinct, and sexual, also known as the one-to-one instinct. And I will

probably talk about this more in a future episode, but for now, just know that there is so much driving us that we don't pay attention to or are not aware of. And the enneagram and stoicism helps raise awareness of these unconscious motivations that are driving what we do and think and feel. And we can use tools like the enneagram and stoicism to take control of our animal instincts and break free from those unhelpful emotional and behavioral patterns. You're really into running as well, right? Yeah, I love to run. I've never been fast and like I will never make it on like a magazine cover for being like an awesome runner. But I get so much joy out of it. But it has to be outside. Like I do not like treadmills. As long as I'm on trails or running around my neighborhood and listening to the birds and smelling fresh air, I'm happy. You would love where I am. I like to go jogging as well. And I'm at the beach and we've got this beautiful coastal park. So every morning I go, running along the water. It's lovely. Yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, but like just like eating healthy, working out can also be something that's very easy to like fall off of. I went through a period of

workaholism where I wasn't treating my body well like in any sense. I'm diet we're working it. But I feel like once you, I think diet is just like such a great foundation for everything because once I started eating well again, then I felt like more motivated to just do everything. And everything else, like starting to jog again and even cleaning my house more. Once you start building like one healthy habit, everything just cascades. Yeah. And what people should realize is like with eating more plants, instead of a diet that's restrictive and you're like, all right, here I go. It's time to give up everything I love and like be miserable for two months. Like when I get in this mode of our cleanses or just really

trying to eat healthy. And I think for you too, Sarah, it's exciting. It's like, oh my gosh, I get to eat all these great foods, fruits and vegetables that I love. I get to roast them and season them the way that I like to. It's actually like something I look forward to. And not just because of how it tastes, but also because how we feel because of it, like you're saying, like we know we're going to feel good, but we're also going to get a lot done and we're going to enjoy the process. That's a really great mindset shift because I think so many people don't feel good in their bodies. They just feel like they're not treating it well and they want to do better, but then feel so overwhelmed about the thought of changing their diet. Like it's going to be so much work, so much deprivation.

But if you start thinking like, no, actually, this is something to be excited about. I love that frame of mind. Yeah. When we do the 21 day cleanses, we do well, to a year of the 21 day. And whenever we market it to our audience, it's always, it's called a 21 day cleanse. I think you go into it thinking like, okay, this is going to suck. Like it's going to be hard. I'm going to eat really healthy gross foods all the time. And then, but people are willing to commit because they realize they need the change and they think it's going to be miserable. But once you become a part of it, you realize it's really a party. Like we're all having so much fun during the cleanse. We're in it together. We're sharing our recipe changes. We're sharing

our shopping cart. And so it's even if it takes you thinking it's not going to be great. When you get in the right group of people and the right mindset of how to eat healthy, it can be a really fun thing. I agree. And so for when you host those challenges, you've got like a little Facebook group, I think where people can chat. When I did it, I just formed a WhatsApp group with my friends. But that accountability was so helpful because every day we would post what we ate for that day. And I'm still food journaling. That's a cool idea. I had the idea to do right down what I was eating in the past, but until I did the cleanse, I just didn't do it. Well, it just makes you more mindful of what you're eating. And that's a big part of our life. Like, we need to be more present and mindful of the things that we're doing, the things that we're saying or not saying or the things that we're thinking. And also what we're eating. I know for me the first time I did the cleanse, I realized how many times I was eating the food off of my kids' plates right before. I would like wash the dishes. I'd be like, oh, there's like a corner of a grilled cheese sandwich. I'll finish that off. And like during that, I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm eating so many random like things all day. I felt like a garbage disposal. And so like it really helped me like, okay, no, I'm choosing to eat what's on my plate. And I'm not hungry. So I don't need to grab that goldfish on the ground and put it in my mouth. I can throw it away. Yeah. So listen to your body. Right. I'm not hungry. So I don't need to be eating less right now. It sounds like you practice mindful.

eating, are there any other food practices that are you into intermittent in fasting or anything like that? The biggest thing that I'm into is just progress over perfection. And that's for everything when it comes to food. And so if whatever I'm doing, I'm just going to try to do it a little better each day. Or if I have a setback one day, it's okay. I move on and say the next day I'm going to do even better. When we start a diet because we want to lose weight, we often fail because our instincts get the better of us, we give in without thinking. And plus, losing 10 pounds is not that inspiring of a motivator. When we change how we eat because we're putting a steak in the ground to take control of our minds and our lives, knowing that how we eat is the foundation for living a good life and being

good people, that is so much more inspirational. You're eating well to think better, to feel better, and to act better toward yourself and other people, you are in charge of your life and you have more power than a bag of potato chips. Having said that, we all fall off the wagon. All the Stoics did, everyone else does too. The difference between Stoics and the average person is that Stoics will dust themselves off and calmly get back on the ride without berating themselves. Marcus Aurelius said, not to feel exasperated or defeated or to sponsor. because your days aren't packed with wise and moral actions, but to get back up when you fail,

to celebrate behaving like a human however imperfectly, and fully embrace the pursuit that you've embarked on. End quote. I myself broke my arm right before the holidays, and then I visited my parents, and I ate way too much and I can't run right now because of my arm, so I'm feeling pretty gross, but I'm getting back up.

I've been eating health. pretty much most of my adult life, unless I'm visiting somebody else who has tons of snacks around. But I don't think I was paying any attention to portion control until I was actually like looking at the cleanse. And now I'm a lot more mindful about that. And so when it comes to moderation, what are your thoughts on that? How can we be mindful and moderate about our eating? Yeah, it gets hard. I mean, next week for us is Thanksgiving week. my brother's visiting with his family. And I know we're going to do what we did as kids.

We're going to feast like all the way. And so, yeah, I'm going to eat more than I should. What I do is I make sure I work out so that I can only eat so much that I can still go for a run is kind of how it works. Or afterwards, take a walk if we're going to eat a big meal. And so I think just knowing that after I eat a big feast, I'm not going to sit down and watch TV and like, get lethargic, I'm going to move my body. We're going to play a kickball tournament. So it's putting food with fitness so that they really go together. So it balances out what you're doing. And also, I mean, if you start your day with that green smoothie and then the feast

comes later, at least you've done something right to start the day and just be okay with that. And the more that you eat healthy, the less room there is for the unhealthy. And so you could even start whatever meal you're having, if it's really full of decadent foods, make sure you start with the salad or the vegetable soup or something. Make yourself eat those things first to like put something in your stomach before you pound down the rolls or whatever else you're having. So there's less space for it. So for like first steps of people wanting to eat healthier, it sounds like maybe start with a smoothie for breakfast. Maybe replace your breakfast with that and then maybe what's the next step? Yeah, I would say next step is get in your water. You should

be drinking at least eight cups a day and really forcing yourself to do that. One of the things is a lot of times you think you're hungry and you're actually thirsty. And so your body, the sensor and the trigger is the exact same. And so as long as you are getting your eight cups of water and then your body still says you're hungry, then you actually are and you should eat. So that's important. And then also move your body every day. Get outside and something. form. It doesn't have to be a run. It can be a walk, can be some pushups, can be jumping jacks, but you need to be moving your body. Like that's, it's meant to do that. And so we need to like put that into our routine. So I think those are the three things. Like if you do those three,

you have a solid foundation to like build upon as you feel ready to move forward. But you can't do it all at once. Like you can't just completely overhaul and say, I'm going to be this completely different person and it's going to work and I'm going to be happy because it's going to going to be too hard to stick with it. And so commit maybe these three simple habits to start with. Give yourself a couple weeks. And then once that becomes your new normal, see what else you can add in. That would be fun for you. Maybe it's eating plants until 2 p.m. And so whatever food you're going to have that day, it's just going to be plant-based. So smoothies, you can even do oatmeal, like avocado toast, things like that. And then do the, like, your dinner can be your meat meal if you don't want to

about me completely. I love what you said about habits because my next question was going to be, how can we make this stick, like once we start eating in a more healthy way? And I think the thing is, we're building healthy habits a little bit at a time rather than going in with the mindset of like, oh, this is a diet that I really want to stick with, building healthy habits and giving yourself like a few weeks to settle in and not killing yourself if you fall off the wagon, just get back on the wagon. Exactly. And it's a snowball effect. Like if you start small but with the right things, it's going to change your body. Like it's going to work. And your body's, it wants to work with you. So put the right foods in it and let it do what it needs to do. And then keep listening to it. So for me, it started with that smoothie. Every morning, I drink one green smoothie. And within weeks, I was like, I want more. Like I need more greens. I need more fruit, more vegetables. And it wasn't. me forcing myself to it was my body was actually craving it. And so just giving yourself time to get there is going to be important. Yes, listen to your body. The stoics say to do things because

they're right, not because they're easy. But that doesn't mean that we can't explore ways to make living a good life more sustainable for ourselves and easier for ourselves. Life will throw all sorts of challenges our way. So when we can make things easier, let's do it. Jen gave us some great advice in this episode. And here is what's worked for me. One, the Fresh Star 21-day cleanse, which we've been talking about. For three weeks, I ate entirely vegan and abstained from coffee and alcohol. I invited friends to join me so we could help keep each other accountable, which was so helpful. And I had an end date that was totally doable. So if I only had to do it for 21 days, I knew I could do it. Result, I continued the cleanse after the three weeks because I felt great and this motivated

me to do other positive things like be more tidy and declutter my flat. And I now follow this way of eating five or six days a week and I'm open to doing whatever I want on the other days, especially if I go out with friends. I mean, I usually follow healthy eating all the time anyway, but I'm not going to be like crazy rigid if I'm out with friends and we want to go out to eat. I'm going to go enjoy a nice meal when I'm out to eat. Two intermittent fasting. So to give my body a break from food. I generally eat from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. And if my body craves a snack after that, then, oh well, I think of it almost like a game of self-control. Who will win my higher self or my most basic self that's calling out for something that I don't need and probably don't even

really want if I wait five minutes? It is fun to cheer for your higher self and it helps to have these intermittent parameters in place. I do want to note that this is about healthy, eating and, you know, eating good food and treating your body well and exerting healthy control. It's not about extreme deprivation or eating disorders. And so if you do have a history of eating disorders, then definitely check with the doctor before, you know, embarking on any sort of meal changes. Three, I've been a vegetarian my entire adult life, primarily eat vegan at home. and like Jen, I have made an effort to drink more water this year. My sister and I often joke that we're like camels because we will like not think about drinking

for it seems like a week. And then all of a sudden we're like chugging ten glasses. So I'm definitely a lot more mindful about drinking water. And the first thing that I do when I wake up is I'll go for a walk or a run and then come home and have a glass of water. And then point four, I don't keep drunk in my house. As I mentioned, the world is going to toss plenty of challenges our way. to test our willpower. We don't need to invent our own challenges with unhealthy food at home,

I think, which is not to say that I don't have anything pleasurable at home. I cook good food. If I want to get some dark chocolate, I do that, fair trade, of course. And I enjoy not having the temptation of junk at home and cooking real food when I'm hungry. All right, you have some really beautiful recipes on your website, and I think you changed them quite a bit. So what are some of your favorite recipes right now? Oh, I mean, I think my favorite of all favorites is the buffalo cauliflower wings because they are so good. I've never liked hot wings. Like, meat always gross me out, especially on bones.

Like, that's just not okay. So these are, but I love the spiciness. I love like the feel of eating like cauliflower or eating buffalo wings. Like it just has like a good party feel. And so these are made with cauliflower and they're breaded with a gluten-free flour. and then you roast it and put some on Franks hot sauce on it. And it is so good. Like, it's way better than Hot Wings. Like, it's the best thing out there to me. I love them. Well, I'm obsessed with your cauliflower popcorn. May I share? How did me? So I make this all the time. And also, you got me into coconut oil.

And so you heat up some coconut oil, chop up your cauliflower, and then mix it up with the coconut oil and then add some paprika and nutritional yeast and salt and I chop up some garlic and then roast that. Oh my God, I love it so much. I eat it for like a meal. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, it's so good. And cauliflower is so versatile. Like it works so many. Like you even put it in smoothies and it makes it super creamy. So cauliflower is like king for plant-based eaters. I know that you love to travel. What is your eating style when you're traveling around, do you just go crazy and throw caution to the wind and detox later? Are you eating mindfully? What does that like for you? I was just a little of both. It depends if I'm able to find good choices around.

It's really easy when I'm in New York City. That's like the most fun city to eat through. But I'll go to a grocery store. Usually I'll check into the hotel, get to the grocery store and get a couple things to have at the hotel like dried fruit, trail mix. If there's a fridge, I'll definitely get some hummus and guacamole and then some chips too. So that's kind of like what I'll start with. And then I love to eat out. I think part of traveling is experiencing new flavors and places. And so if I am not going to break out of my strict way of eating, I'm going to miss out on a lot of opportunities. And so for me, it's being willing to just say yes and go for it. I agree. I think experiencing the food is one of the best. ways to experience the culture of wherever you are. So do you have any memorable meals or any favorite foods that you've experienced on your travels? I love going to the Grand Canyon. That's my favorite place in the world. It's just magical there. And we go up through the North Rim when we go

and there's this place called River Rock Roasting Company. And I think it's about an hour and a half outside of the North Rim. And it's this little cafe that sits over a gorge, so there's outdoor seating. And they have the best pizza I have ever had in all my life. And it's really like fun flavors, like Thai, Thai fusion stuff, like crazy flavors on this pizza. And the view is beautiful. So that is definitely my favorite food I've ever had traveling. All right, Jen. Well, it has been so fantastic talking to you. Where can we find out more about you? Yeah. I mean, our blog, simple greensmovies.com, is a great place to start. That's where I, every week I'm posting new recipes that I create based off of my cravings at that time. And we have a free seven-day

smoothie challenge if you are brand new to smoothies and want to just take that first step. I promise you, they all taste so good and that it's a great place to be if you're just starting out on this journey. And if you're a little further along and more interested in meals, we do have a free 14-day trial to our meal planner, which is, it's the most amazing tool that I've built so far. And it has all of our plant-based recipes in it. And you can customize your week how you want it. And you add smoothies into. And it's really helped hold me accountable and just make life easier with shopping too. Well, I will share all of those links and the show notes. And thank you very much. Oh, thanks, Sarah. That's all for now. Have a beautiful week.

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