The Rich Roll Podcast - Marco Borges’ Greenprint For Your Best Self & A Better World

Episode Date: February 5, 2019

“What is it all about? It’s about being healthier, happier, better to the animals, kinder to each other and the planet – and it all stems from what we’re putting into our bodies.” Marco Borges Last week, Beyoncé and Jay-Z made news across the world with a headline grabbing offer: take the plant-based pledge and you just might win concert tickets for life. When the most culturally significant and influential entertainment couple on the planet throws down like this, it’s a big deal. The tectonic plates of social culture shift. Conventional attitudes and habits around food change. And our social paradigm is nudged forward. So what's the story behind all this? The man behind this curtain isn't a musician. No, Marco Borges is a trainer and exercise physiologist. He's a family man and friend. He's the person who first inspired Jay-Z and Beyoncé to adopt a plant-based lifestyle. He's the entrepreneur that partnered up with the duo on 22-Days Nutrition. And he's the environmentalist who enlisted the global icons in his latest venture, The Greenprint Project — a plant-based “blueprint” designed to shift your mindset, improve your health and impact the planet for the better. In addition, Marco is the author of multiple New York Times bestsellers, including The 22-Day Revolution*,The 22-Day Revolution Cookbook*, and his latest offering, entitled (you guessed it), The Greenprint: Plant-Based Diet, Best Body, Better World*. An inclusive, practical primer on all things plant-based, it's a beautiful must read for anyone looking to lose weight, increase energy, boost metabolism or reduce your carbon footprint. Marco has been prominently featured in every major media outlet from Good Morning America to Vogue and today marks his third appearance on the podcast. If you're new to the show, please check out episode #195 for Marco's full backstory and episode #271, which features a panel discussion Marco and I conducted before a live audience at the Miami Seed Food and Wine Festival a few years ago. Today’s conversation pivots around the why behind Marco's new Greenprint book and app. We discuss transcending labels. Marco's focus on inclusivity over tribalism. And how mastering a few simple lifestyle changes can positively transform your life and the planet. Because I have grown quite close with Marco and his family, I can say with great conviction that he is the real deal. A man who walks his talk. A father, husband and entrepreneur who has devoted decades to empowering positive change in people from all walks of life. And so it is with delight and great enthusiasm that I share our latest conversation with you today. Enjoy! Rich

What is it all about? It's about being healthier. It's about being happier because I think they go hand in hand. It's about being kinder to each other, being better to the animals and kinder to the planet. And it all stems from what we're putting into our bodies. It's not about labeling it. It's not about vegan or not vegan. Let's just throw that out the window.

It's about understanding that the more you lean towards plants, the more you're going to benefit. it's about understanding that the more you lean towards plants, the more you're going to benefit, right? It's about understanding that the more you think about what you're putting into your body and understand where it's coming from, the healthier you're going to be. Every time you eat, you're either fueling disease or feeding health.

It's super simple. Like you have to make the choice. That's Marco Borges. And this is The Rich Roll Podcast. The Rich Roll Podcast. Hey, everybody. How are you guys doing? What's happening? How are you? My name is Rich Roll. I'm your host. This is my podcast. Welcome, for those of you that are in the East and the North. I hope you are surviving this polar vortex that we're experiencing right now. I'm in Los Angeles.

I got nothing to complain about. But it has been raining pretty profusely, which has been kind of awesome because everything is super green. It kind of looks like this mashup of Ireland meets Kauai. Very unusual for the desert in which I live, but I'm enjoying it. So if you hear a little bit of pitter patter on the roof, that's just me and my container trying to stay dry through this torrential winter downpour. Anyway, got a great show for you guys coming up in a couple few this week. Marks the return of my good friend, Marco Borges, New York Times bestselling author,

CEO and founder of 22 Days Nutrition, the plant-based nutrition products company that he founded in partnership with Jay-Z and Beyonce. And if you're new to the show, please check out my earlier conversations with Marco. They're great. My first one, 195, we get into his background. And then 271, which is a panel discussion that I did with Marco at the Miami Seed Food and Wine Festival a couple of years ago. Today's conversation is another great one. We dive into Marco's latest book, which just came out, The Green Print, which is essentially this plant-based blueprint that he has divined and designed to shift your mindset, improve your health, impact the planet for the better, all by following his proven effective guidelines.

This guy knows what he's talking about. And again, that's all coming up in a couple of few, but first. We're brought to you today by recovery.com. I've been in recovery for a long time. It's not hyperbolic to say that I owe everything good in my life to sobriety. And it all began with treatment and experience that I had that quite literally saved my life. And in the many years since, I've in turn helped many suffering addicts and their loved ones find treatment. And with that, I know all too well just how confusing and how overwhelming and how challenging it can be to find the right place and the right level of care,

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Okay, Marco Borges, exercise physiologist, founder of 22 Days Nutrition, New York Times bestselling author, plant-based living advocate, environmentalist, amazing human. I could go on and on and on. For some of you regular listeners of the show, you guys already know this, but I really love this guy. Julie and I have become very close with Marco and his family over the years. He's just a, he is the real deal. This is a guy who walks his talk, somebody who is devoted basically the last two decades to truly empowering people to make legitimate, positive, sustainable life changes. Marco is the author of The 22 Day Revolution, The 22 Day Revolution Cookbook. And his latest book that just came out is entitled The Greenprint, Plant-Based Diet, Best Body, Better World.

And the other day I checked on Amazon, it was number two of all books, which is incredible. Deservedly so. It's an amazing book. But the fact that a plant-based lifestyle primer is ranking that high on Amazon is just insane. And you're going to want to check this book out. It's inclusive, it's practical, it's accessible. Pretty much a must read if you're looking to do everything from lose weight to boost your energy and metabolism to reduce inflammation, combat the onset of chronic lifestyle disease, reduce your carbon footprint, This book has you covered. Today, of course, we talk about the new book as well as his new app, the Greenprint app.

You might have seen some press around this in the past few days. It essentially, at the outset, allows you to take this pledge to eat more plant-based meals as well as enter to win Jay-Z and Beyonce tickets for life, which is unbelievable. You can learn more about that at thegreenprintproject.com. And we talk about a bunch more stuff as well. Again, I love this man. I'm delighted he's back to share more of his delightful wisdom with all of you here today. So without further ado, please enjoy my conversation with the great Marco Borges. Good to see you, my friend.

Good to see you as well, man. Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me. Appreciate it. So delighted. I know. I think this has been on here like four times maybe, three or four times. But it's been a while, maybe like two years since we've sat down and done this.

A lot of things happening since then. Yes. A lot of fun stuff going on. Empire building. No, in your world. I mean, you are just out there crushing it. Greenprint is the new book. It's unbelievable.

I checked the other day. It was number two on Amazon, a space that was occupied by David Goggins just prior. You guys traded places, and that is no small thing. Number two of all books on Amazon for what is essentially a lifestyle guide and sort of prescriptive program for adopting a plant-based approach to your diet and life. Which is, I mean, for that idea to occupy the number two spot on Amazon is insane. Yeah, no, it feels absolutely amazing. But I think it's really a testament to the time that we're living in.

I mean, people are just sick and tired of being sick and tired. People want a change. People want a change, and they realize that the old way, this obsession with animal-based protein that we've had for the past 70 years is really not leading them in the direction that they want to go. It's not helping them achieve their goals. So it's really, I think, the time couldn't be better. And we've had this conversation, you know, plenty of times about how, you know, how do you allow people to come into a space without making it feel like you're judging them right out the gate, right? So, for me, it's always been about that. Like, let's have a conversation that's really constructive but super inclusive, right? And that's what we wanted to create.

And the reality is that whenever you have a conversation and you start it with, like, oh, it's a vegan program or it's a vegan lifestyle, people immediately, you know, they're like, Right, I'm out. I'm out. Tap, you know, it's not for me. Yeah, exactly. I can't do it. It's too hard. It's too restrictive. It's too expensive. It's too, it's too, it's too.

Because it just feels very finite. It feels super, you know, defined. There's walls. It's, you know, very judgmental. And then you hear about people going plant-based and then they start getting beat up or, you know, going vegan and they start getting beat up on social because it's not truly vegan or they're still wearing leather or they still did this. They get shamed by that community because they haven't done it exactly the way that person would like them to do it. But I think that no one benefits from that. No, of course not. Because if you're truly passionate about the environment, you want people to lean more.

If you're truly passionate about human health, you want people to lean more. If you are doing it for your own selfish reasons, you want people. So, at the end of the day, it really is about allowing people to define it in the way that works best for them and fanning the flames of positive yeah absolutely absolutely for me it's always been you know i have friends that come up to me and like man i'm really i'm i'm really trying this thing and i'm uh you know it's almost like they're coming to me like i'm not going to approve and they're like, yeah, breakfast and lunch and almost always dinners. And then on weekends, sometimes I'll do whatever, X, Y, or Z. And I'm like, that's amazing.

And they're like, really? I'm like, yes, that's fantastic. Look at where you were before. Look at the direction that you're headed in. That's massive progress. And for me, it's always been about progress. It's not about perfection. It's about progression.

If you get people to think more about what they're putting into their body, where it's coming from, to become more conscious about how the food is grown, how it's treated if it's an animal. And you really, when you start to connect all the dots, you can't help but to want to become super passionate about the space. But you have to allow people to walk in. Yeah. Right? space, but you have to allow people to walk in. Yeah. You have to make them feel okay and comfortable about taking that leap, not afraid that they will be judged or that they will fail or be incapable of living up to some sort of impossible standard. And I think there's this sensibility that somebody like yourself or these other kind of icons of this movement made their transition in a magical

leap that was perfect in every regard and marked by rainbows and unicorns. And there was never a mistake had along the way. And it certainly wasn't my experience. I'm sure it wasn't yours. Not at all. It's not the case with anybody I've met with or worked with or spoken to or any of the people that perhaps you look up to as examples or models of healthy living. Yeah. And it's exactly that, right? When I decided that I wanted to do this for myself,

I thought, okay, well, I'm going to move away from animals. I had already ditched dairy and I ditched eggs and I'm going to move away from animals. I had already ditched dairy and I ditched eggs and I'm going to move away from animals, but I was still eating fish. And then one day I woke up and I was like, man, I don't know how this feels. Something, it just clicked, right? It just one day you just wake up and it happens. And I was like, hmm, I'm really trying to be conscious of what I'm putting into my body. And I'm really thinking about, you know, how the animals are treated.

And that's why I don't, because initially it was just just it was all for health reasons right it was like I saw disease all around me I see like everyone in my family either had diabetes or they had you know heart disease or pre-heart disease and it's like okay this is not normal right it looks like it's normal but it's really not normal and it's not well it's been normalized yeah but but we get used to this standard and we're just like we accept it for what it yeah but but we get used to this standard and we're just like we accept it for what it is but i'm not the kind of guy that just accept things because they are right like if we did that then i mean imagine what would you know how we would still be living in society so we we have to be able to push we have to be able to to to stop and

say is this right is this best is it best for? Is it best for me? Is it best for my family? Is it best for our communities? Is it best for the world? And when I started to lean in, I thought to myself, well, I'm going to do this because I don't want diabetes and I don't want heart disease and I don't want all of these other diseases that I see most of my family members suffering from. And then I started to say, wow, well, not only is it benefiting me, but there's like this beautiful benefit of the benefit, which is that I'm kind of like doing something for, you know, lessening the suffering of animals. And I thought that this is pretty cool that I could actually do something good for myself. And I'm also doing something good for the animals. And then I took

it one step further, but it had to start somewhere, right? So like, as I started to lean in, I decided this is something that I can't turn back. And then the more I educated myself, and the more I learned, and the more I saw, because you have to see to really understand, right? Like, most people don't know where their food comes from. It's just on the plate, they eat it, and they go about their day. But I think that it, you know, it's irresponsible to really live that way. Because if you did that, then you just put on any clothes without a care in the world if it came from a sweatshop or used or bought any device without knowing if it was something that was stolen or if it was...

So you have to have... There's a certain responsibility that come with our daily actions. And that's where it really started with me. Coming to terms with the fact that I had the power to affect change with my own daily habits, right? Yeah. It's difficult to come into that sense of personal responsibility, though, because, and I want to couch my words carefully, it's important to not shame people out there who perhaps have yet to take that leap of responsibility because we live in a system that is erected solely to prevent us from making that connection. The system doesn't want us taking personal responsibility for those choices. They would much rather have us make our

choices based on their recommendations. So you have to be able to cut through all of that marketing obfuscation just to see the truth. Once you do, then you can say, oh, I do need to take personal responsibility, but there's a little bit of a journey that has to take place. At least I'm talking about my own personal experience before you can even have that kind of dawning realization because so much money and effort goes into erecting walls so that we don't

know where our food comes from and we don't know where our clothes are made and we just think well if it's in the store if it's in the grocery store or if it's in you know at the mall like it must be okay yeah it should be good for me yeah but we know better right and and i mean social media um for whatever it's worth has has been able able to pull the veil off of a lot of things around the world. It's made the world a lot smaller. So when you look at what's happening and how information is shared today and what is available to us, you can't just sit there and say, well, I don't know any better. I didn't know. Now we can.

Now we're living in a time where we're really able to see what's going on. And again, for me, it's never been about shaming anyone. It's been about looking at it from a perspective of like, wow, once I know something, I want to share it with people. If I find this really great restaurant down the street from your house, I'm like, hey, have you been to that spot down the street? That's so cool. I went there. I mean, I don't want to keep that to myself. I want to share. That's the beauty of life is to be able to share with the people you love. So for me, it's always been about how do I share this in a meaningful way, but without making people feel bad. Because when you start to share your knowledge, sometimes you can come across the

wrong way. Sometimes people feel like you're preaching to them or that you're trying to convert them. And the reality is that I'm just trying to share information to help people live a healthier life. Because I see, I see it. I've done this for so many years. This is all I've ever done in my life. Like I've been in this space for 25 plus years. And I'm very, very familiar with the way people live their lives

and how, I mean, how much we medicate ourselves. how we have to take something to get up in the morning, take something to get down at night, use something to – I mean, it's just like I look at it and I'm just puzzled and I'm like, do people ever stop to wonder if they can do better just by living a little bit differently? better just by living a little bit differently. And when you see that people take that leap of faith and they go, you know what, I'm going to give it a try. And then they start by adding one plant-based meal a day or by adding two plant-based meals a day, or by going all the way in, they immediately say, oh my God, thank you. Right? Like I had no idea. And obviously you know this, you know, from personal experience, but there's no better feeling in the world than to have someone say to you, you helped me take control of my life or you helped me change the way that I was thinking or living or feeling by just what I was putting into my body. And there's such profound, I mean, like profound impact by you just taking one extra second to stop and to think, is this best for me? And I tell my friends all the time, I'm like,

man, it's really simple. Every time you eat, you're either fueling disease or feeding health. It's super simple. Like you have to make the choice. It can't just be an automatic reaction, you know, that we continue to condition ourselves to just move around because we don't want to stop and take the time or put the effort in to really consider that we may be able to truly take agency over our health and not delegate it over to someone else? Well, we think we want that, but also we're terrified by that prospect

because then we are responsible, right? And a lot of people perhaps aren't ready for that yet. And I think as much as social media has done in a positive way to fuel the flow of information about this lifestyle and other positive beneficial ideas for people that are empowering, it also serves to tribalize us, you know, to place us in our respective silos. And a lot of the arguments in the food and health space kind of devolve into virtue signaling to our own groups. It's not about helping out somebody else. It's about making sure that the group knows that you're a member in good standing of that group. And it's become very tricky to have those conversations online without sounding preachy, without virtue signaling, just being neutral and positive and encouraging because it can be like this toxic place where productive dialogue has been thrown out the window.

I see in the health space conversations that are very similar to what I see in the political space. So is that your experience or no? I think for me, it's a little bit different because I stay a bit away from it in that I don't have like a personal- You have more of an arm's length relationship with all of that. Yes. Which is healthy. That's good.

Yeah. And it's by design, right? I love... I'm the eternal optimist. I love to see the good in everything. So I take the good out of that. It could be great for finding phenomenal restaurants, great hotels, cool things to do here or there. We're finding phenomenal restaurants, great hotels, cool things to do here, there.

But if you go deep into it without understanding who you are or what it is that you want out of you, you could get really lost. I mean, it's a wormhole. So for me, it's really understanding that there shouldn't be any walls. And again, that's the premise of this. It's not about labeling it. It's not about vegan or not vegan. Let's just throw that's the premise of this, right? It's not about labeling it. It's not about vegan or not vegan. Let's just throw that out the window. It's about understanding that the more you lean towards plants, the more you're going to benefit, right? It's about understanding that the more you think about what you're putting into your body and understand where it's coming from, the healthier you're going to be.

The healthier your family is going to be because they're going to follow your actions, right? My kids, I have four kids, and they do what I do. They don't do what I tell them to do. They do what they see me do, right? So if I ate junk food all day and I came home and said, hey, guys, here are some steamed carrots, what do you think they're going to do? They'd laugh at me, right? But so the reality is that I think that we draw way too many lines.

We're constantly putting ourselves, you to your point in boxes and little silos and and and trying to you know uh create tribes around anything and everything that we do and i i'm saying we need to get away from that yeah we're all one we're all living on this planet together you know we have a really um great way of always putting lines around everything oh you're in the vegan group or you're in the group that's American. I mean, it's like these are all lines that we've created ourselves. We're the most advanced species on the planet, yet sometimes we do things that are not so advanced.

You would never see that in the wild, but yet we do that on a daily basis, openly to each other. And I'm saying, let's just throw that out the side. And let's just love more. Let's judge people less. And let's let people come into it in a way that makes them feel really empowered. Because the truth is that you may think you're alone, but 99% of the time you're not. There's other people that are going through the same thing you're going through.

You have no idea how many people walk up to me like, man, I never thought I could do this because I X this because i xyz and then i talked to this person and i found out that they were doing the same thing and i'm i'm now living you know 90 plant-based or i'm doing this or i'm doing that and i found you know what works best for me and it's only because i allowed myself to not feel like i was confined to that you know standard textbook definition of what I had to do in order to be accepted into a certain group or a certain whatever category, which really makes no sense, right? At the end of the day, what is it all about? It's about being healthier.

It's about being happier because I think they go hand in hand. It's about being kinder to each other, being better to the animals, and kinder to the planet. And it all stems from what we're putting into our bodies. When I look at it, it's a lifestyle that checks all the boxes. So, if you are concerned about the welfare of the planet, the welfare of the animals, the manner in which we treat these other beings that we share the planet with, if you care about your own personal health, if you care about the health of those that you love, this is a lifestyle that addresses all of those in an incredibly favorable way. And

as somebody whose opinion is the truth will eventually out, we've seen the incredible explosion and growth of this lifestyle. The adoption rates are massive. People all over the world are realizing the benefits of a way of living that you and I know quite well. And I want to transcend this whole conversation about groups and tribes and all of that, but we do have to say at the same time that we are seeing the ascension of this lifestyle. We're also seeing like the low carb, high fat movement, and now this carnivore movement that's happening. And I'm sure as a trainer who somebody steeped in physiology, people must come up to you all the time and say, well, I know you're doing the plant thing,

but like I'm getting down with the low carb, high fat thing, or I'm doing ketosis, or what do you think about the carnivore diet? So it's interesting that you see these counterbalances and the rise in popularity of these diets that are seemingly quite opposite from the plant-based approach that you and I are all about. Yeah. I have a lot of thoughts about that. For me, the easiest thing is we've had this protein obsession for, if you look back, it's probably like 70, almost 80 years now. Look at high protein, high animal protein, low carbohydrate. Call it Atkins, call it caveman, call it paleo,

call it whatever you want. At the end of the day, we have to realize that for me, it's common sense. We can get into the whole academic side of it and we can get into the research and we could argue and you've got the guys out there, our buddy, Joel Kahn, know all the you know dr esselstyn and the dean ornish's but for me it's like let's not even go that far let's make it really let's make it about common sense because i think that most things in life when you apply common sense you realize what it is that you're

looking for the answer is right in front of you right like we've had this obsession like look at it right for the past 60 70 years now heart disease is still the number one killer. It's on a rocket ship to the moon and it's about to be overpassed by cancer. And it's not because heart disease is slowing down. It's because cancer is moving up that much quicker. It's not working. It hasn't worked. It's not going to work, right?

It's not going to change, right? And's not going to change, right? And when you look at it, it's like, man, it makes sense. Something that is good for me is also good for the animals. It's also good for the planet. It's just pure common sense. It just feels right. That's the only one thing we haven't tried. So, why not give that a try for just a little while? Common sense? how dare you for just for just a little while like we have to try something different right because if you don't change the process the outcome will never change we've got to change the process if we want to change the outcome like we want to change heart disease we want to eradicate heart disease there's

a way to eradicate heart disease go 100 plant- way to eradicate heart disease. Go 100% plant-based. We know it. The data proves it. The research proves it. There's no other diet on the planet that has been proven to not just prevent, you know this, but arrest and also reverse heart disease. It's a 100% plant-based diet. Dr. Kim Williams said it best. There's two types of cardiologists.

There's either vegan cardiologists or the ones that refuse to read the data. I mean, it's that simple, right? So like when you look at it, you're like, man, I mean, we could go back and forth and bring in 100 experts on both sides and we'd make the argument so compelling on both sides that people would just be dizzy. And that's what's happened. There's so much noise that everyone is confused. Well, is this really right for me? Well, I'll tell you what, what you've done to get you to where you are today has not worked. Are you willing to try something different?

Because people always come and tell me, oh, well, you know, I was doing the, how did that work out? Well, you know, I lost some weight, but then I gained it back again. Oh, my cholesterol went up, but my XYZ, I'm like, did you find what you were looking for? No. So what are you afraid of? Try something different for just a short period of time and see if it works. Because you've got to be willing to do something different if you truly want to change how it is that you're living. If you want to take back your health, if you want to reclaim your life, you have to do something different. Because if it's not working for you, if you want to reclaim your life, you have to do something different because if it's not working for you,

it's like the person that overspends all the time and then winds up trying to figure out why they're always living check to check. It's not that you don't make enough money, it's that you spend too much money. That's the issue because I know plenty of athletes that have retired without any money and I know quite a few firefighters, police officers are

retiring and have a million bucks in the bank. It's not about what you're making. It's about what you're spending. And the same goes for what you're putting into your body and how you're living your life. If you're not happy with the outcome, you got to change the process. And a lot of people aren't willing to do that because they don't want to stop to think about it. It takes work. And we've become so accustomed to delegating everything, right? Like somebody washes your car, somebody cleans your house, somebody cleans your clothes, somebody cuts your grass, somebody cuts your hair. All this is you go to the doctor once a year and you feel like if they give you a thumbs up, you're good to go. And you just go, how is this person that you're going

to see for five minutes going to know more about your health than you know about yourself? And you wake up every single day and know exactly how you feel, when your elbow hurts, if it rains, why your knee clicks. I'm just saying, apply a little common sense, and you will have the answer to everything. It's so simple. People don't want to do the work. They do want to delegate it.

They want to hire somebody to either do it for them or tell them what to do as a trainer. Look, trainers have their place, of course, but there's nothing preventing somebody from going to the gym by themselves or making that dietary switch on their own. But I think people really are afraid of being uncomfortable. And that speaks to a malaise about our society in general. You know, a common theme on this podcast is, look, if you want to change your life for the better, then you have to be willing to get uncomfortable. And it's not so scary. It's actually empowering. What are you so afraid of?

People are so freaked out by a plant-based diet. They're so intimidated by it. They perceive it as so limiting, like you mentioned earlier, but I don't see that same reluctance when it comes to trying a ketogenic diet, which in my perspective is far more restrictive and difficult and specific and narrowing than eating the bounty of plant-based foods that are available to you wherever you go yeah well i think it's because they see it as a quick fix right they don't think i'm going to be eating keto for the rest of my life they think i'm going to do this for the next you know because we've because weight loss is really the motivating factor behind all of this.

That's it. And that's what makes it so confusing because while it shouldn't be, it actually should, right? Because... That's what actually gets people to do something. Yeah. Yeah. A and B, while you may think that it's just, you know, something that, you know, is sort

of external, it is the first symptom that manifests itself outside the body, right? So obesity is $2 trillion business, right? So yes, we want people to think about living a healthier life and it's attached, very direct correlation to the weight, right? But a lot of times what happens is that we've conditioned people to believe that a diet, right? The word diet is something you get on and you get off. So like, oh, I could do that for whatever, two weeks. I could do that for three weeks. But there's been this negative association to veganism or to plant-based because of all of the restrictions for so many years that people don't fully understand what it truly means.

You could ask a lot of people, what is your definition of whatever, vegan? They don't know. Yeah, one person will say throwing red paint on a storefront window, and the other person will say growing a garden in your backyard. Exactly. Not wearing deodorant. a garden in your backyard. Exactly.

Not wearing deodorant. You know, like... Right. Yeah. So, it's, you know, I think that it's understanding what it is, what it can do for you, what it can do for your family, what it can do for the planet, and what it ultimately does for the animals. And when you think of it that way, you can't help but to stop and say, man, I could do this one meal a day.

And that's what I love about what we created with the Green Prince, that we created three different tiers and that we say, look, man, if you want to go in one meal a day, awesome. That's fantastic. Like if you divided your day into three meals, that's a 33% improvement. Who doesn't want that? Like, boom, day one, right? Like we could do that. If you want to go two meals a day, make it happen. If you want to go three meals a day or go, right? Like, we could do that. If you want to go two meals a day, make it happen. If you want to go three meals a day or go all the way in, we could help you.

So, the idea is that you start somewhere, but that you start because you can't get there if you don't take that first step. And we're hoping that this will serve as a beautiful guide to help people take that first step in the direction of the life that they truly want to live, not just remain satisfied with a life that they're living and think, well, it's just my genes, or I'm not supposed to be that way, or I'm not supposed to have that, or my dad, you know, heart disease is running my family, so I guess I'm just next in line. It's really about empowering people with the information so that they can do what they need to do to get where they want to go. Yeah, the empowerment piece is huge. I mean, I see it as twofold.

A, momentum, creating momentum. And momentum creates a cascading acceleration of this sense of empowerment. And I think when you kind of scale up and look at our society from 10,000 feet, it's pretty clear that in general, we feel very disempowered. We feel like our vote doesn't count. Who am I to have an opinion? I can't make a difference. I'm just trying to pay my bills. Why even cast your ballot? It doesn't matter anyway. And when you can connect that individual with that sense of empowerment through those choices that they're making every day, three times a day about what ends up on their plate, it really is empowering

because it actually does make a difference. If you go to the grocery store or to the restaurant and you say, you know what, I'm not gonna get that dairy product or that animal product. I'm gonna get this. The downstream impact of that decision is significant and it's real. And it feels good to say, you know what? I did something that was right for myself. It was right for the environment. And I'm just not gonna participate in this system that's trying to prevent me from understanding

how it actually goes down. And it involves the suffering and slaughter of all these animals that I've now found out I don't need to be healthy. In fact, that's moving me in the direction opposite from my health goals. Yeah. And these small actions, you know, they're compounding over time. And it's not just your actions, but it's the actions of everyone else. But I think you hit on something super powerful there because what happens is when people throw their hands up and they're like well it doesn't matter my vote doesn't count they wind up just moving around without really putting a lot

of thought you know you're reactive in your life yeah it's almost like just walking around with blinders and not really truly understanding you know the power that you have as an individual to make a difference right like when you start and, and it starts with something as small as we vote every single day. Like you complain about your vote not counting. You vote every single day with your dollars, with your money. You're voting every single time you go somewhere. You're either saying, give me more of this or give me more of that. But you're not thinking about it.

It's just happening. And you could sit there and you can complain. The world that I agree with and that I want to see. Yeah. Or you could not thinking about it it's just happening and you could sit there and you can complain the world that i agree with and that i want to see yeah or you could do something about it i'm all about let's do something about it let's not just talk about it let's be about it let's let's put this money to work i'm the first that will say let's go out and buy organic produce because when you buy more organic produce there will be more produce that's organic because guess what organic produce needs less to grow than non-organic. But the non-organic is less expensive because we make more of it because we've gotten to the point where we've gotten lazy, right? So, if you think about

how the conventional produce started to really come about is by understanding that people just got tired of raising crops that would, you know, need more tending or need more watching after because there was bugs. And so we got to a point where we just became so accustomed to it being conventional that we're okay with that now. And if you're okay with it, then that's fine. I'm thinking, like, I want to put my money to work. I want to put my money in a place where it's going to feed my health. It's going to fuel me with what I'm looking for. And when you do that, you're actively changing the landscape. You're doing something to change the space that we're living in. And you're right. We all have to do that because if we do that as

a collective, everything changes from the suffering of animals to the quality of the food that's in front of us to the food we get in restaurants. You're like, oh, you know, I go, whatever, I go to fast food restaurants because it's all there is. Well, that's all there ever will be if that's all you ever choose. Right. And meanwhile, fast food chains are adopting plant-based options. Carl's Jr. now has the Beyond Meat Burger. And I think that's something to be celebrated. These organizations are not

going away. They're not going away overnight. We need to celebrate movement in a positive direction within the system, disruption of the system from within. And the fact that you can get a vegan burger at a fast food chain is a massive move forward. Yeah, no, I couldn't agree more. And I've always been of the mindset that I don't believe that these big corporations are trying to help hurt us. I really don't. They're just responding to market demand.

That's it. That's it. If everybody goes into Carl's Jr. and everybody orders that Beyond Meat Burger, they're going to make more of that. They're going to create more options for that. They're going to crowd out the real beef. Without a doubt.

And ultimately, this is how you win. These 5,000, 10,000, 20,000 door fast food restaurants that are chains are not going anywhere. They're not going to disappear overnight because we stop going to them. What's going to happen is we say, oh, wait, people are not coming as often as they used to. What's happening? Well, oh, the industry's moving towards plant-based. Well, let's offer more plant-based options. And that's exactly what's happening, right? They're looking for profits. They're looking for profitability. We have to guide them in the direction that we want them to go. We can't expect for them to do that if we continue to basically buy into

their standard. We have to change the standard from the outside, and we have to do that, if we continue to basically buy into their standard, we have to change the standard from the outside. And we have to do that by voting with our dollars, by saying, no, we're not going to do that. We're not going to buy that. We're not going to buy junk because we know and we understand what it takes to put that together. But more importantly, the effects that it has on my health, the health of my family and the health health of our communities, and then more over the planet. So when you start to do that, everything changes. And I think that we've hit a really beautiful tipping point that it's all coming together in a really beautiful way.

Because when you see that hitting fast food, when you look at the amount of organic produce that Walmart is selling, and when you look at the amount of plant-based options that there are today compared to what there was five years ago, let alone 10 amount of, you know, plant-based options that there are today compared to what there was, you know, five years ago, let alone 10 years ago, you understand the power and the impact that this has. And it's just, it's growing by the day, you know, and I think we just need to continue to guide people so they can continue to vote in the right direction. Yeah. I mean, even in the last year, it's exploded. It's amazing. And it may sound daunting and idealistic, but I was just in the grocery store two days ago, and I was struck by the dairy aisle a couple years ago. Well, 10 years ago, it would be all dairy and then maybe like one brand of soy milk.

all dairy and then maybe like one brand of soy milk. Five years ago, all right, some almond milk, some maybe a soy milk, a rice milk. But what I saw two days ago was an aisle that was about 75 feet long and well over two thirds of it was plant-based milk options. That's amazing. And then the small corner of it was dairy. So that is a massive change from even, I don't think that would have been the case even a year ago. Yeah. To see the proliferation of these options and varieties doing well enough that they're gonna occupy.

I mean, that shelf space at grocery stores, there's a lot of money and science that goes into what ends. You know this as somebody who's in consumer products. It's not random. No. That's that way because that's what's selling and that's what's working and that's what's most profitable for that organization. Yeah, that's what we're asking for. And I think that most of the big brands are well aware of it.

You see the acquisitions. You see them buying into the smaller brands are well aware of it you see the acquisitions you see them buying into you know the smaller brands that are offering plant-based options and the economist you know named uh 2019 the year of the vegan i don't know if you saw the article or not yeah and you look at all of the trends in natural food products or the natural markets or even the big box. And it's the biggest, most rapidly growing sector is plant-based, which is, to me, it's fascinating. And it's an amazing, it's a really amazing time to be alive because of what's happening in the industry.

But it's also a time where we have to be super aware and empower ourselves with the information so that we don't fall prey to junk packaged as plant-based foods, right? Yeah, I just say this all the time. It's never been easier to be a junk food vegan, to delude yourself into this idea that you're eating healthy when you're actually just eating a bunch of processed junk. You may be doing better, but you're not doing- Better for the planet, better for the animals, not better for your personal health. No.

And I think that people get confused there. And they're like, well, at least I'm not. I'm like, well, wouldn't you rather do something that benefits the entire, you know, the whole? The triangle. That's it. The trifecta. Like do something that's good for you, that's good for the community, that's good for the animals, that's good for the planet. Because, yeah, we could all live on nachos and, you and you know vegan melted cheese but the reality is that wouldn't be so

healthy for us i don't think a lot would change maybe some things would change but not a lot so it's really about yes celebrating the growth of the space but also understanding that with that growth come a few you know temptations um in the wrong direction because the big brands are obviously going to take advantage of the explosion in the space and they can call anything now vegan or anything plant-based as long as it's not produced with any of the animal byproducts. So we have to be careful, but at the same time, it's a really exciting time because if you want to indulge, you can indulge and never feel like you're going backwards. So it's kind of cool well listen marco i get all this plant-based thing i know you you're a nice guy you seem cool

but like you don't get like i'm an athlete like i i need my gains in the gym you know i you don't get, like, I'm an athlete. Like, I need my gains in the gym. You know, I just don't think this lifestyle is for me, buddy. Yeah. You know, fortunate for me and for you, there are, every day I see and hear about new athletes, elite athletes coming out, that they're on a plant-based diet or that that's their secret weapon or that it has been for quite some time. And, you know, we see guys like Lewis Hamilton. on a plant-based diet or that that's their secret weapon or that it has been for quite some time. And, you know, we see guys like Lewis Hamilton, we see guys like Tom Brady, you know, we see guys like, you know, Kyrie. I mean, there's just so many really amazing athletes that are living their best life that are 100% plant-based, right? That we know without a shadow of a doubt. And don't just take it for what is

said or because these three athletes, look at the academic side of it. Look at the research, right? Look at how much protein we need to survive and how much more protein we're taking in and what animal protein does to the body and the inflammatory reaction that the body has to animal protein. And look at the elevated risk factors for the heart disease and the diabetes and the obesity. And when you look at performance and you look at recovery, one of the quickest ways to recover faster is to mitigate some of that inflammatory response, right? So if you want to train harder, if you want to be able to recover faster is to mitigate some of that inflammatory response, right? So if you want to train harder, if you want to be able to recover faster, without a shadow of a doubt, a plant-based

diet is head and shoulders above any other diet on the planet. So again, luckily for us, we now have these beautiful examples that we didn't have maybe five years ago where people are like, yeah, but does it really work? Because I've never really seen a professional athlete at their highest level. The highest of the high. And they're there now. You used to have this one equestrian that was a vegan or this one jouster. It's new. It's so new. And in fairness, to ask an athlete, hey, listen, you should adopt a plant-based diet when this guy's training for the Olympics or he's trying to go pro. That's a risky proposition for somebody whose entire life is ahead of them. What's on the line is either making it or not making it, getting on that podium or getting the contract.

You're telling them, look, everything you've been taught about diet your whole life might be wrong and you should go this way, like hats off to the person who actually says, okay, I'm going to try that. And I don't begrudge the athlete who says, yeah, I don't know, I'm going to do what these 99 other people are telling me to do. And I think that's one of the reasons why it's taking a little bit longer for us to see athletes at the very highest level who are performing on a plant-based diet. Yeah, you're so right. But at the same time, this is another one of those areas where I say just apply a little bit of common sense. Because when you look at the most powerful animals on the planet, they're plant-based, right? Like when you look at gorillas, elephants, rhinos, cows, I mean, like think about it, right?

Horses. That goes back to the common sense thing. Horses, just use a little bit of common sense and just think about it. Like so many people tell me, well, but, you know, aren't I going to be missing? I'm like, when was the last time you heard someone had, was hospitalized because I had a protein deficiency? Like, I've never heard of that in my life. I've been in the space my entire adult career. Never heard of that. I've never heard of, I have heard of heart disease, which is not, which is the exact opposite of a animal protein deficiency, right? I have heard of tons of diabetes. I have heard of dementia,

stroke, Alzheimer's, and a bunch of other inflammatory diseases. I have never heard of someone being protein deficient. I have heard of people not having enough fiber in their diet. I mean, it's an $80 billion business constipation. And it exists because we don't eat enough plants. Right. We're fiber deficient. We're not protein deficient. Protein deficiency, to be protein deficient, you have to literally starve yourself. You have to not eat because all plants have protein. And that's the thing that most people don't realize is that all plants have protein.

All plants have at least 14% protein. All plants, everything from a blueberry to spinach to a macadamia nut, everything has protein. All plants. Everything from blueberry to spinach to macadamia nut. Everything has protein in it. So if you consume, forget about the math. Don't do any math. If you consume the right amount of calories during the day on 100% whole food plant-based diet, you will have more than sufficient protein. You will not be deficient in protein. You don't have to go backwards and be like how many you know grams per kilogram but you don't

have to do any of that right it's done it's it's almost like nature rigged it oh really it's like finding a really cool packaging for fruit that doesn't like a banana comes perfectly packaged you know like you don't need to put cellophane around it I've seen those cups of plastic cup with a lid on it with an orange peeled and the wedges just thrown into the cup they sure already took care of that wait a minute

you took the covering off of it to just cover it back up again what the hell is going on here I mean again common sense I know sometimes it's asking a lot of people but don't just assume. Don't just take it for what people are. And again, question everything. I'm not here to tell you this is the only way.

This is the absolute best way. I'm telling you, challenge me because when you do the work, when you do the research, you're going to realize that everything I'm telling you is 100% true. The more you lean towards plants, the more you're going to benefit. The more your family's going to benefit. The more the planet is going to benefit. The more we're going to lessen the suffering of animals. It's going to be better for your health. You're going to live a longer, healthier life. You're going to have more energy. You're going to sleep better. You're not going to be constipated. You're going to get the right amount of fiber in. You're going to get the right amount of fiber in. You're going to get the right amount of protein in.

You're looking at these massive athletes that are kicking ass, doing their best, leaning towards plants. And every day, I think I'm in a unique situation because I'm in a place where I still speak to a lot of athletes. And I still get to see a lot of people that are performing at their best. And everyone is leaning. There isn't a single athlete that I've spoken to in the past two years that isn't like, yeah, I'm doing... I have athletes that during their off-season, they go really, really hardcore, 100% whole food plant-based.

And then when they're in season, they may dabble because they're on the road or they have this or they have that. But they're predominantly plant-based, yet what's happening is that most people don't want to talk about it because then they become the poster child and they don't want to become the poster they don't want that and because the minute they maybe they change their mind or they do something different and then they get attacked they have fish one day and they're like ah you're a phony and they get attacked and they're like you know what i'm gonna do me i'm not i don't i don't need to be that guy i don't need to be the poster on the side of the bus.

I'm cool with it. And it's unfortunate, but at the same time, it allows us to look at it from a different lens and change the perspective and say, you know what? Why is that happening? It's happening because we judge people too much. So it was, we like purposely moved away from vegan. We purposely moved away from, because we want people to really feel great about what they're doing.

I don't want you to feel guilt. Like people, when they're eating healthier, they're like, oh, I cheated today. Well, was it really a cheat or was it a treat? Because if you put the power in the word, that's, I mean, it can take you in a different direction. You think about a treat, you're like, I deserve this, man.

I've run 40 miles this week and I've been lifting four days and whatever. I biked 150 miles and I felt like I wanted to have something a little extra and you did and it was a great treat. You think cheat, you're like, oh man, now tomorrow I have to do this. Oh, I'm not going to bike. I have to atone for my sin. Yeah. What is that? And then you go down that path of destructive behavior. And I think more often than not, that's what winds up happening because no one ever really gains 300 pounds from eating a donut or even eating a box

of donuts. It's from the behavior that follows thereafter, right? That guilt, that remorse that sets in, that self-judgment like, oh man, I did it again. Why did I do that? I can't believe I did that. Why do I keep doing this to myself instead of just going like oh well all right tomorrow's a new day the next meal is a new opportunity you know to really do it and let's just keep it moving let me dust myself

off and let me love myself no matter what let me keep going it's really us being so hard on ourselves that we don't allow ourselves to really move past it right right i can't do this i'm a failure see i told you you wouldn't be able to do it it's move past it, right? Right. I can't do this. I'm a failure. See, I told you you wouldn't be able to do it. It's too hard. It's too restrictive. One mistake, I'm giving up completely. Yeah.

You know, when the truth is, if we can be neutral about it, oh, that's interesting. Like, I planted my face in the Haagen-Dazs last night at midnight. I wonder what that was about. Like, did something happen at work? Did I have a fight with my boyfriend or my girlfriend? Did I become upset? Deconstructing what led you to making that decision is ultimately the education and the information required to know that signal when it happens next time to choose a better way. It's part of the process. Absolutely.

And I think that most people think that success is quite linear, right? And they look at someone. And it happens quickly. Yeah, yeah. It's like, boom. It's like, Rich was here, and now all of a sudden, he shot to the moon.

It was just a rocket to the moon. And they don't realize that it was more like an EKG graph than it was a rocket to the moon. And it's not until they realize that there are ups and downs and there are some setbacks. But as long as you keep moving in the right direction, you're going to be okay. And that's what this is really about. It's okay, man. You may think that it's too restrictive today. The more you get used to it, the more you start to change your behavior the more you wire

yourself with new habits you empower yourself with new habits to be able to truly live this way that empowers you that fuels you with health the easier it becomes it's one day at a time right it's just every single day trying because the truth is that we're just a collection of habits our life is but a collection of habits you sleep on the same side of the bed every day. You wake up and either brush your teeth before breakfast or you brush your teeth after breakfast. You don't like, oh, one day I'm going to brush my teeth in the morning. The next day you brush your teeth. It always happens.

Almost always it's kind of exactly the same. And if we can find a way to add new habits so that we can start to change the behavior, because there is no behavior modification without you changing your habits right there is no sustainable change without habits so we want to make sure that we're we want people to know that it's not a linear graph straight to the moon that it doesn't happen overnight but that you have to put the work in to create new habits to really live this life to really live the life that you want to live the your best life because that's what it is at the end that you want to live, your best life, because that's what

it is. At the end of the day, it's living your best life. Because if you're living your best life, then you could be the best friend, you could be the best husband, you could be the best dad, you could be the best, you know, whatever, citizen. Yeah. Mastering new habits is the key to the new life. And it does require a level of discomfort that most people are afraid of. And there are things that can be done to like mitigate that discomfort by mastering tiny little changes over time. But I would just encourage people

to like embrace that discomfort and that challenge. It's part of what it means to be human and it's okay. You're not gonna die. You may feel a little weird for a couple weeks at most, but once you master one of those new habits, it becomes rote. In the same way that you brushing your teeth doesn't cause you stress or anxiety, it's just something that you do. Both of us have been plant-based for a very long time. I really just don't think about it that much. And it's not like people think, oh, you're going out of town. Oh, the planning, you must, there must be days of planning trying

to get ready for being in a different city. And it's like, no, it always works out. I know, you know, it's like, there's a couple things that I can do. It takes no time whatsoever. I've never had a problem. It's just not that big of a deal. Yeah. I don't think about it either. You's funny because when you look at all of the benefits of a plant-based diet and then you couple it with intermittent fasting, which we've done, and you think about how much – and that's one of the cool things that I love is when you start to think about intermittent fasting, you think about how much we eat and how often we eat. So, Marco, you're about how much we eat and how often we eat. And I was like- So Marco, you're flying from Miami to LA. What are you going to do? You can't eat the food on the plane. What are you going to bring with you? Listen, I can't tell you how many times I-

Dude, it's five hours. No, exactly. That's exactly where I was going. Rich, I can't tell you. And I'm sure you see this, right? I'm sure you've seen this a million times. I can't tell you how many times I jump on an airplane, and the minute the plane takes off, people start to like, because they've been conditioned, right? It could be 1 in the afternoon. It could be 9 o'clock at night. It could be 8 o'clock.

It could be 7 o'clock in the morning. The minute the plane takes off, people want to eat. They feel like they have to be eating because it's like they're going to die. It's like they're on this deserted island, and if the food doesn't come fast enough they start to panic and i'm like and then and then people ask me like you're not eating i'm like no the the i don't know the plane was at whatever 11 o'clock i had breakfast at you know five in the morning at my house or six or whatever you know whatever have i had breakfast before like i'm good and the flight attendants are like they they're so worried about you.

They're like, are you sure you're not going to eat? Are you sure I can't get you something? Are you sure I can't? And they're so sweet and they're so kind, but the truth is is that because people panic. And I'm like, think about it. How often during the day we're eating, and it's like when you eat, your body has to digest it.

So your body's always working. It's always in overdrive. And I love to tell my friends, imagine going to the dealer and picking up, like, what's the coolest car that you could think of? You want to buy a Ferrari? Okay, imagine buying a Ferrari, turning it on, and then getting in the car and just putting the foot on the gas slightly and going. And just leaving it on there forever. Like, those are our bodies. We're constantly eating.

And we have society telling us, oh, you've got to eat six times a day. No, no, you have to eat eight times a day for your metabolism to be really revved up. Well, your foot is on the gas. If you don't let that car rest, you're going to blow that engine out. And it's like, that's what we do with fasting. We allow the body to do its housekeeping. You just stop eating for 12 hours, 14 hours, 16 hours, whatever amount of time you want, even if it's 10 hours. Just stop for a second, allow your body to do what it needs to do to take care of, because imagine if you had someone taking out, you know, if you were, somebody was putting a garbage bag in front of you and you took that garbage bag and walked it

outside to the bin and then came back inside the house and there was another garbage bag there and you grabbed it and you took it back and put it in the bin and every time you came inside the house there was another garbage bag there when would you ever really be able to pick up the house or take care of any you know nicks on the wall or you know scrapes of paint or pick up the kit you could never you couldn't ever do anything except for just grab that garbage and take it outside because that would consume all of your time. So I'm saying stop putting the garbage bags there. Stop eating for a certain amount of time every single day and let your body repair itself. It does wonders.

I know you do it. I mean it's like how does it feel? It's the greatest feeling. It's empowering. Yes. It's empowering to realize like, hey, I don't need to. First of all, I don't need to be eating as much as I'm eating. I don't need to be eating all day long.

And then to feel better, to test yourself in that regard and come out the other side actually feeling better with a little bit more mental clarity, with some enhancements in your sleep, et cetera. I mean, downstream, there's all kinds of benefits, and the science is only becoming more and more robust on why this is advisable to do. But what does that protocol look like for you? Like what is your practice? I love to do minimum 12 hours every day at the very least, and then I shoot for 16. of hours every day at the very least and then i shoot for 16 so you finish you you're somebody who probably is done eating by like eight o'clock latest right yeah the latest and eight o'clock would be like if i took in saturday friday and saturday let's say into consideration as we went out and we ate something but we typically eat earlier like you know so whatever yeah uh-huh

6 37 and then and i won't know so no breakfast so then you're not eating until like two or three in the afternoon the next day if i go 16 hours yeah so what i'll do is i'll wake up and then i'll go to the gym i'll work out um i'll go for a run go lift and then i come back shower shave change do whatever i have to do go to my office and then 16 hours have gone by you don't have to think about it. Honestly, you think, oh my God, 16 hours without eating. You must be starving yourself. By the time you eat, you must be. And the exact opposite happens.

Does that happen to you? You're almost not hungry when you go to eat your next meal. You're not hungry. You don't feel like, and in the beginning, Marilyn would be like, oh my God, how are you going to do that? You're probably going to wind up losing weight. I didn't lose any weight.

Everything was fine. I've been fasting on a regular basis for years in that I would pick a day of the week or I'd pick a couple days of the month. But it wasn't on a regular basis. And then in the last couple of years, I really kind of just kicked it up a couple of knots. So it's basically every day then you're doing that? Yeah, every day. So I'll finish eating at a certain time and I'll wait at the very least 12 hours.

But I'm pushing, my standard is 14 and then there's some days that I can get to 16 if I'm not too busy or whatnot. And what are the positive benefits that you've experienced just in, you know, kind of anecdotally with your health? I, you know, what I've seen in myself and what I've seen in the, you know, my friends and some of the clients that I've used it on is that you just feel this heightened sense of awareness, energy, clarity, focus.

You just feel better. You feel lighter. Your skin starts to feel better you're you almost feel like any little nagging pain any little thing that you had going on that might have been something that you didn't really put a lot of thought to but it was kind of there and you just kind of learned to live with it it's like you're like oh wait that you know my you know when i start running my you know the back of my right you know crest is not you know kind of tender anymore for the first 30 steps. Now I feel like, hmm.

So it's one of those things where you feel the effects of it immediately. And it's all just like your body's rested. Like you're really taking care of yourself in a good way. And then obviously we've seen all of the science behind it and you know the the um the benefits on longevity and on telomeres and you know you know kind of turning on telomerase and all of the stuff that happens to promote um you know sort of anti-aging if you will inside the body which is fascinating to me um because i we all want to live forever right of course yeah course, yeah. You do whatever you can. I had Walter Longo in here talking about all that stuff. Yeah, he's a rock star.

It's pretty crazy. I love his work. It's amazing. Have you tried his fasting mimicking diet protocol? I haven't tried his protocol. I know Joel did. Yeah, he did. I was at a, and I saw Joel there, I was at a convention at an anti-aging convention in

Vegas a couple of, I want to say a couple of weeks ago. No, it was more than a couple of weeks ago. I think it was in December and he was there he gave a really great talk but I haven't tried his particular food but when I think about you know how he put together that protocol

and what it entails I mean I do it all the time it's basically what you're already doing your version of it so it's my own sort of 16 hour modified fast. But I do love the science that's coming out of that space of picking the five days and doing this 800 calories or whatnot.

I love it, and I can't wait to see more. And the space is right now exploding, so I can't wait to see more of that stuff really come to the surface so as somebody who's worked with a lot of people one-on-one individually over the years what what is one of or some of your favorite kind of transformation stories of of people who have really you know grabbed on to the to the to the leash and run with it and dramatically altered how they're living um there are a lot of stories because uh i mean i've been in the space for quite some time but i think my favorite has to be uh my buddy raymond garcia um that you um you kind Raymond Garcia that you kind of know who he is. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I kind of know him. He was a guy that was the kindest guy, nicest guy in the world, absolutely brilliant. We met sort of in the publishing world. He was the publisher to my first by Ashkahn, published all my books. And I was always kind of just nudging. all my books. And I was always kind of just nudging. And for my friends and the people that know me know that I'm not the kind of person that is like, you know, on top of you like a drill sergeant every day, but I am like that drop of water on top of the head every like the Chinese torture. Like every time you see me, I'm kind of just like, I'll pull you to the side and I'll say,

hey, you know, I think that you really should consider whatever it is that I think you, you know, could use help on. And he was just like morbidly obese. And I was always kind of pushing and nudging. And one day he woke up in the middle of the night with palpitations and he was sweating, he didn't feel good. He was nauseous. And he started, he went on his computer and he started Googling his symptoms and everything. You know, what happens when you google a symptom it's like oh my god it reminds me of like arnold in the movie when the kid is like you have a tumor he's like i don't have a tumor i have a headache you know remember that was a kindergarten yeah ever kindergarten cop yeah there you go and uh and it was kind of like that he's like oh my god i'm going to die. I've got heart disease. I've got this.

I've got that. And he's just like panicking. He's literally like in a cold sweat. He's nauseous. And he's just staring at the screen. Calling you at two in the morning. No, no. It actually got worse before I got better.

And he's like, oh my God, I can't believe this is happening to me. I can't believe I let this happen to my life. Oh, how did I do this? How old was he? He was 34, 35 like 34 35 and then um he six super successful brilliant guy at the top of his game but if you saw him you would be like wow this guy's a bum like this he's so overweight he's sloppy yeah most people think about people when they see them so overweight they're like he doesn't care about himself he doesn't care about life and this guy's like one of the

most brilliant guys you'll ever meet and his while he's sitting there thinking oh my god i can't believe this his screen just goes to dark because he's not touching the keys anymore and his screen just blanks out and he sees in the reflection of the screen his son walking in the room and it's like three in the morning and he turns around really really nervous. He's like, hey, buddy. And he's like, hey, dad, are you okay? And he's like, man, for the first time in my life, I realized that I wasn't okay. And I felt terrible because I lied to my son. And I said, yes, I'm okay. Go back to bed. And I took him to his room and I put him to bed. The next day, he was like, that's it. I've got to do something. So he goes, he calls his mom and his mom connects him with

the cardiologist who happens to be the head of cardiology at Columbia University. And he goes to see him. And he tells him, well, you've got hypertension too. By the way, there is no hypertension three. So if you have a heart attack, you'll probably be dead. You've got pre-diabetes, you've got this, you've got this. And he just goes he just goes on and he's like here you go and he just writes him three prescriptions and sends him on his way and he's just he's imagine this guy is that's his 30s and he's like what the i was just handed a death sentence like i got three prescriptions like when does this end like how how long do i have to take these for what he had so many questions for your your life. Yeah, exactly. And he goes home and he immediately calls me.

And he's like a super upbeat, always fun, like really joyful guy. And I can hear in his voice, he's like, my phone rings and I see it and I pick it up. I'm like, hey, what's up, man? And he's like, do you have a minute? And I'm like, yeah, are you okay? And then he started to tell me what was going on. And I'm like, yeah, are you okay? And then he started to tell me what was going on.

And I'm like, man, you're my brother. Do not take those prescriptions and fill them. You're going down. You're going to be on the wrong side of the track. Hold on to them. Put them in your dresser drawer. Today, today, you need to start living 100 plant-based not a meal a day 100 plant-based you need to do this for the next 22 days and i promise you you're going to be

in such a better place that you're not even going to think about ever filling those prescriptions and he's something we had this was an hour conversation. I've condensed it for you not to bore you, but somewhere along the way, he was like, I'm in. I'm in. You don't have to tell me anymore. I'm doing this. In the first 22 days, I could tell you that he lost 22 pounds, which he did.

But in the first 22 days, his hypertension, completely gone. He dropped like 30 points in his cholesterol, pre-diabetes, no symptoms. All of the things that he was feeling, completely gone. In three and a half months, almost four months, he lost almost 80 pounds. Went back to the doctor again the last time. And the the doctor he walks into the room and the doctor like oh my god those prescriptions work better than i thought they would work it's what is and he says doc i i ought to be really honest with you i never actually filled the first prescription um and he goes you didn't he said what did you do he says i went on 100 whole food plant-based diet and he says wow isn't that a bit radical yeah and uh and then he you know uh you know did the blood work

and the whole thing and then realized that he had he had always had inside of him the power to to make himself feel the way that he wanted to feel and he was only in a place for a temporary period of time. What happens a lot of times is that we feel like because we've gotten to a place that it's where we belong, that we have to be there and that we'll remain there forever. And we get so lost in the chaos and the noise and then so scared with what the potential outcome could be that we're like, oh my God, I will take this cocktail of drugs for the rest of my life and I'll never skip it.

Not knowing that more often than not, it actually does more harm than it does good. So it was really, for me, it was really something that touched me in a very special place because I mean, it's been five years now or maybe more and he's kept all the weight off. He's still 100% plant-based. That's the thing. The fact that he's been able to maintain it and sustain it, like that's the whole game no he and he's a super smart guy so he immediately was like man i have the keys right in front of me if i go back to the doctor with an issue it's only because i no longer care to take care of myself i no longer care to do what i need to do and i'm basically handing over my

health or my life or my lack of health to someone else. But I'm not doing that. I'm not going to do it again. And again, it wasn't a perfect road for him. He stumbled a couple of times and he called me one day. I was like, man, how do you feel if I introduce fish into my diet every once in a while? I'm like, man, do whatever works for you. You've already seen the outcome of going 100% plant-based. Now it's up to you. Play with it as you will.

Yeah, do whatever you think. And he'll be the first to tell you, I'm 100% plant-based now it's up to you play with it as you yeah do whatever you think and he'll be the first to tell you i'm 100 plant-based but if on a you know occasion i go out to a place and someone says oh you have to try this whatever cheese or what have you and he says i'll try it but for the most part i'm 100 plant-based because i know what it does yeah i know what it does for my health in his case his change that change was fueled by a couple things, pain, desperation, and also on some level accountability to somebody who knew what they were talking about yourself, right? So he had a little bit of a support system with you, and he had that sense of desperation that he was at a tipping point in his life. sense of desperation that he was at a tipping point in his life. How can we get people to have that same adoption rate and sustain it long-term who perhaps aren't coming from that pain point or are just like, hey, man, I know I can do a little bit better than I'm doing.

I mean, I know in the book, you've got the 22 laws for the world's most powerful diet. So it's really psychology as much as it is anything else. It's not about like, here's the science or the facts or the proof or the why. It's about trying to tap into what truly motivates people and catalyzes sustainable behavioral change. Ultimately, yes, that's exactly what it is. And why I created the book in, I broke it into laws is because, again, it's the psychology of it, right? I wanted to get to, I wanted to help people understand the different ways that you can think to be able to arm yourself with the habits to live a healthier lifestyle. For example, there's a law that's eat more, weigh less. And there are simple things that I want people to think about.

Some of the things you'll use on a daily basis, some of the laws you'll read once and you'll never need again because you'll just get it. But eating more, weighing less is really simple. Plant-based foods have a much higher nutrient density and a much lower caloric density than animal-based foods. So in essence, you're going to eat a lot more food with fiber because fiber can only be found in plants, not in animals. So you're going to be full longer. You're going to feel satiated, but you're actually going to be taking in fewer calories. And people get that. They're like, oh, okay. There's no vegan or not vegan there. It's just simple. The more plants you eat, the fuller you're going to be, the more fiber you're going to take in, the fewer calories you're going to take in. So if you want to lose weight, if you

want to drop some fat, if you want to feel better eat more plants there's another one perfection can be the enemy of progress and that is something that hurts so many people because we talked about it right like no one ever gains weight from eating eight single donut what happens is that we get into our heads and it's really about so so to your yeah, the idea is that it's – you're saying it's somewhat psychology. It's almost all psychology because if you can't get it here, the habits you're wiring are up here. You have to create those habits in your mind to be able to live this life, to be able to do anything, to be able to show up to work on time, to be able to perform at your best. You have to be able to condition yourself here in order for this to happen, right? Because this controls this.

So if you can give people these laws to live by, I think that once you understand them, you'll be able to apply them. And once you start to apply them, you start to create these habits that will sustain over time, right? But Marco, you don't understand my life. I got to get up at this time. I got to get my kids to school. I got to do this.

And I'm barely able to pay the bills as it is. What you're talking about, it's going to take up too much time and it's going to be too expensive. Not only is it not more expensive, it won't take up more time. So in the beginning, you know, it's like a room is a disaster and you just keep taking clothes off and piling it. And it just keeps piling and piling and piling. And every time you walk in, you're miserable because the room is not the way that you want it to be. That first time that you have to pick up the room, yeah, maybe it takes a little more work. But if you condition yourself to taking off your clothes and folding it and putting it away or putting it in the hamper, it will always remain the way you want it to so that instead of always living in that miserable state, you're living in a state of bliss.

And it's easy because you've conditioned yourself to, you've programmed your habits, your environment, your actions to give you've programmed your habits, your environment, your actions to give you the result that you're looking for. It's not more expensive. You and I both know that. I'm tired of hearing people say that it's more expensive. By the way, nothing is more expensive than medicine. Nothing is more.

So you're either going to give it to Whole Foods or you're going to give it to the natural food market or you're going to give it to the doctor and the pharmaceutical companies. It's really that simple. But it's really not actually... Intellectually, that makes sense,

but those long-term ramifications don't always motivate people. But what's more expensive? Because it's theoretical to most people. What's more expensive? Every time you talk

to someone that's eating, that still eats meat, they're like, no, no, but mine is grass-fed and it's massaged and it's free of hormones. Meat is expensive, period. When you go to the grocery store, look at it. Look at how much fish costs and look at how much lettuce, broccoli, beans, and quinoa costs. It's a lot cheaper. It really is a lot cheaper. Now, if you want to

hold on to something, because we love that, right? We love to be able to hold on to something because we love that way. We love to be able to hold on to excuses so that you're like, well, you know, I'm not going to start today because I don't have the money to join a gym. I don't have a chef. I don't have. OK, if you're looking for excuses, you will always have plenty of them. But if you want an opportunity to live your best life, you got to just jump on it. It's on you. It's not more expensive. It really isn't. You go to Whole Foods, you go to Winn-Dixie, you go to whatever grocery, Kroger, any grocery, 7-Eleven, go to any grocery store you want. You compare the price of meat compared to the price of vegetables. It's not more expensive. It just isn't. When I go into that break room though,

and there's that box of donuts sitting there, Marco, man, I just can't help it. Yeah, you know, why are you going into that break room to begin with, right? Why are you putting yourself in that position when you know that there's nothing good for you there? It's the only joy that I get all day long. Then there's a deeper issue that we need to address. But the reality is, you know, there's the great, amazing work that has been done in the power of habit. And when you look at the behavior that got you to the break room and you analyze it, you realize that it really wasn't the donut that you were looking

for, but rather maybe you were bored or you wanted just some social interaction, or you just wanted to walk around. So again, you program yourself to understand that every day at 2.30, three o'clock, when it's like between lunch and the time for me to go home, I go in that break room and I just have all the wrong things and I feel terrible after. Maybe it wasn't that you wanted to go into the break room and have a snack. Maybe it's just that you wanted to go

and talk to Rich down the hall, five cubicles away, or you wanted to go downstairs and just get some fresh air and go outside for a couple minutes or go outside and call someone and just say hi to a friend and catch up with someone for a couple of minutes. Because I think that we very quickly realize that we will get that much more joy in doing something that is good for us than in doing something that isn't. Because for the first three seconds that you're eating that Oreo, you feel great. But what happens thereafter, right? Regret, remorseorse you feel like crap you're like oh i shouldn't

have done that why do i keep doing this to myself but if you just get up and walk past that you know break room and you walk down and see you know mark down the hallway and you're like what's up man how are you what do you know what's going on what are you up to you just catch up and shake your legs up go back to your desk you'll realize that you accomplished what you needed to accomplish without feeling like shit afterwards. We live in very strange, interesting times because all of these things would have been just a natural outgrowth of how we live our lives, you know, 200 years ago. We're moving all day long. We're eating food from the land that we tilled ourselves. We're living in communities that are closely knit. All of these practices that we're now trying to get back to that were just part of our heritage

and natural. We didn't have to try to do any of these things, but now we live in a world of distraction and abundance where everywhere we look, there's foods that are terrible for us, that are going to kill us. There are devices that are highly addictive, that are distracting us, that are isolating us, that are moving us away from our communities, that are making us feel lonely and depressed. with great intention and discipline and diligence just to take care of the basic aspects of what it means to feel grounded and human and connected and healthy. It's weird. Yeah. Yes. You know what I mean? It's incredibly weird, but at the same time, there's been an explosion in the past 100 years in technology right which is amazing because it's provided so much in such a short period of time like there's been more growth in the last 100

years than there were in the last 5 000 right but with that comes a certain level of responsibility and understanding that we can't allow the technology to guide the way we live our lives. We have to use the technology to live our lives. We have to use it to enhance our lives. We can't use it in a way, we can't allow it to take away from the quality of life. And I think in many cases, because we're not used to so much technology, we allow it to get the best of us and it's actually not enhancing your life, not making your life more convenient or more

efficient but actually making it more difficult and and taking away from the health that we're looking for so yes you know it's it's weird but at the same time if you stop to think about it it's quite simple right like you don't have to be a victim of technology. Technology can help you, but it can also hurt you. A perfect example of that is social. You could use social for good or you could use social for feeling terrible about yourself. The choice is yours. But the technology is not going to slow down.

It's only going to keep going faster. The technology is not going to slow down. It's only going to keep going faster. And it's kind of terrible in a way that we're getting so much so fast because we're not used to it and we don't know how to handle it. But the reality is it's on us. Like, how are you going to use it? Yeah, it is on us. We have to take responsibility and exercise discretion and discipline around it or it will dictate how we live. It is dictating how people live.

Yeah, so we are living reactively. We're taking our tips about how to live from these devices and these technologies. They're controlling us as opposed to us controlling them. And I think that's a problem that's only going to continue to accelerate. Oh, without a doubt. I mean, I think in the next 10 10 years we're going to see more than we've seen the last 100 years but again it's it's you know forewarning for what's coming ahead right so you have to be we have to live more consciously than we've ever lived before we have to be we have

to live with more intention than we've ever lived before i mean i i was talking to someone a couple days ago when they showed me an avatar um that is i don't know if you've seen this or if you know about this. There's, like, avatars now that have social pages. You were aware of this? Oh, yeah. No, I did. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I couldn't believe it.

There was that Japanese guy who, like, wanted to get engaged to, like, a cartoon character or an avatar or something like that. No, it was, like, an avatar that looked like a real human being that's getting modeling gigs and is doing all kinds of stuff on social. It's got a massive following. I know what you're talking about. It's getting weird, man. I told you it's weird, right? I'm just saying.

We live in strange times. But we know this, right? So we have to live, I mean, very, very consciously. We have to be fully aware of everything we do on a daily basis. And we have to take the technology and use it to enhance. It's really that simple. I mean, we have four kids, as you know.

And most of their friends have social pages and they have devices and they have numbers and all that stuff and for us it's really they don't know any better yet so we have to be those gatekeepers for them right so we have to make sure that they know about it and they are exposed to it and they understand it but it can't dictate their lives yeah and i think that we've gotten to a point where in many cases it dictates people's lives it and it controls their emotions on a daily basis yeah every single second of the day it's controlling kids emotions today that's really sad where i was i forget who i was talking to a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about you know when we were in school if you had an issue it was you know from seven to two o'clock in the afternoon and it was done and you got home

and everything was cool yeah now that issue is perpetual. Yeah. Which is unfair. But we understand that it exists now. So, we've got to do something to either mitigate it, to eliminate it, or to learn how to live with it. Well, learning how to live with it. Because when I think of your boys or my kids, being skilled in this universe is important. This is the language with which we are going to navigate the world.

So the solution isn't to just avoid it altogether. You have to be fluent in this language if you're going to survive and thrive. But it's that balance of knowing when to put it down and understanding and appreciating

the fact that they are so highly addictive. Like you have to respect that fact and not deny it if you're going to create kind of healthy boundaries around it. And I say this as somebody who has a very addictive personality and have my own challenges with creating those boundaries for myself. That's how I'm aware of how powerful this is. And so when I see my daughters using it, it's like you really have to be intentional about it. And you create habits around it. I'm sure you've done it, right?

Like you say, okay, I'm only going to check in at this time and do this for this period of time. And you do it for a living, so it's different for you, I think, than for most people. But you could argue that you could really get caught up in it very quickly because of your personality, because of what you do for a living, and the world that you exist in, right?

So the relationship that you have with all of your viewers, your listeners, your fans, your friends, people that love you, it exists there, right? So you can't completely detach yourself from no but i have to i have to be able to put it away and i have to actually use software programs that disconnect my devices from the internet to prevent because i don't trust myself those are great i love that but that's a great way to to program like a you know a habit into your day that you don't have to think about.

Like at a certain time, whatever, seven, eight, nine o'clock at night, your Wi-Fi goes off, right? Yeah, because it goes back to that issue of living intentionally or living reactively. Are you living in defense mode where you're responding and reacting to things like a pinball machine? Or are you being mindful and intentional

about what it is that you're trying to create and achieve? And that demands quietude. And that quietude requires that you cut yourself off from what's really just distraction and static noise. No. By the way, I think you've gotten really, really good at that because I've written you a couple of emails over the past couple of years that I've gotten those quick responses for. I'm like, hey, Rich, what's up? But I was just thinking about you. And I send and then one second it's like, if you're getting this email, I'm buried under books and trying to catch up to like 7,000 emails. I probably won't get back to you.

So good luck, peace and plants. I turned that autoresponder off. I think I'm going to turn it back on. I mean, email is like, I mean, I can't even, my inbox is a disaster. And now text messaging has become- The new. The new email. And then for my team on the show, we have Slack. So it's like, you're getting pinged constantly from all these different platforms all day long. And I can feel my anxiety ratchet up. And it's like, I got to take control of this.

No, and what's worse is that I think people have become conditioned to, because it started off as something fun, I'm like, hey. And I expect you immediately to go, hey. Because I either know you got it or you know I got it. And it creates a lot of, for it and it creates a lot of for people creates a lot of anxiety because it's like oh somebody doesn't get back right back to me reading into it what happened they read into it and i'm like man just stop it's you know could you i know for a second like believe that maybe they're busy or they're they're not feeling well or they got something going on or they saw it and they they forgot how many times hasn't it happened that you open a text message and you're like,

about to respond because you have the time right that second, and then something happens and you forget, and then 10 more text messages come in and you don't see that first one that you opened, and it's just, it's gone. It's gone. It's gone. I just had this conversation with Julie the other night. I'm like, why can't you mark a text message unread? Because I'll read it and I'll be like, I don't have the answer to that right now

and I don't respond. No, you can't. And then it just, 20 more texts come in and I'm like, well, that's never getting responded to. But it's on purpose, right?

So that we stay connected to it. We stay attached to it. I mean, you think they haven't figured that out at Apple? You can't unread a, I would love to be able to, and then you get to the point

where you're like scrolling to make sure you didn't forget and offend someone with a text message. It's just too much. I mean, it's just really... And then you can't live. You can't really live intentionally to your point. You're like, you're living reactively. You're not present.

You can't sit at home with your kids and you can't have dinner with Julie because you're wondering, did I miss something? Did I not get back to someone? I'll be out running and then something will ping into my head like, oh, some guy I didn't text back from like 10, 12 days ago. And then I'll have all this anxiety like, oh my God, I didn't get back to that. I didn't get back to Marco. Marco.

Are you still there? Marco texted me like two weeks ago and I didn't respond. And then I'm like, I'm such a terrible human being you know no but you know and and i think that we all have to understand that we all live in that same space and we're sharing the same devices and it's about just again it's about just practicing kindness like if i text someone and they don't text me back i'm like oh whatever they're busy no big deal the the word i think the worst is like whatsapp because you get to see the the check marks and then people immediately know that you're online and that you saw their text message.

Oh, I didn't even know that. Yeah. And then again, it's that behavior. Luckily for me, people know that I'm kind of slow to respond to text and email. Well, you got to train people. Because if you get, if you respond right away to something, then you're creating an expectation that you're the guy who gets right back. To be honest, I haven't done it.

I haven't been that good at doing it on purpose. It really wasn't deliberate. It has never been deliberate. It's kind of just like I'm doing what I'm doing, and I always have something going on. And then I obviously have four kids, and there's just only so many hours in the day, and you want to take care of what matters the most

and what's really important. At a certain point, you have to disconnect so that you could spend time with your family and the people that you love because we do all this because we want to be able to do more of that, right? Well, on the subject of what matters most and what's most important, I want to talk a little bit about how we scale these ideas that are in your book and all the work that you do for the benefit, not just of people who can afford to buy these books

or have the free time to indulge themselves, but for everybody, specifically those that live in food deserts, in urban areas where these ideas are not part of the daily conversation, where accessibility to organic or healthy foods is more difficult, and budgets are severely constrained. So how are we going to penetrate the communities that actually really need to hear this the most? And as somebody who works with, you work with Jay-Z and Beyonce, I'm sure this is a

conversation you have all the time. And it's certainly something that I know is important to you and certainly important to them. Oh, no, without a doubt. And for me, it's really about, it starts with raising the awareness, which I think we've all done as a collective really well. We're at that point where you just witnessed what used to be the dairy aisle. I don't know what they call it anymore, but that aisle, um, the refrigerated drink aisle, I guess. Um, and it's happening, right? So I think it's understanding on a personal level, where you are, where are you today? And it's really simple. You don't, I'd love it if you bought the book, but you don't have to go out and buy the book, right? Commit to eating one plant-based meal a day. Start with one meal a day.

One plant-based meal a day. What does that mean? What does that mean, Marco? It doesn't mean going to a fast food restaurant or going to an expensive restaurant. It literally means exactly that, eating one plant-based meal. What is one plant-based meal? It could be a dish with quinoa and some beans and some steamed broccoli. It could be a brown rice bowl with some sweet potato and some sprouts over the top. It could be super, super simple. It doesn't have to be overly complicated. It's going to be delicious. It's going to be satiating.

But start with one meal a day. If you're living in a food desert, maybe you want to grow your own food. And I know that sounds like a crazy idea. But how important is your health to you? And you have to start there. How important is your health? How important is the health of your family? We have to start somewhere, right?

And it's unfortunate for some people that live in geographical locations where there aren't the options that we may have like here or in Miami. But the reality is that we have to surround ourselves with the tools that we need to succeed. We can't just wait for it to land on our lap. You're not going to just sit at home and wait until they open a Whole Foods down the street from your block. If you're waiting for that, you may be waiting a long time. So for me, it's really about understanding that it's really simple. First, it's understanding the power that there is in a plant-based diet.

Understanding that there's no right or wrong way to do it. That the more you lean towards plants, the more you're going to benefit. I think that we've got that covered. I don't think that there's a question about that anymore. I truly don't believe that people are questioning whether or not a plant-based diet is good for you. I think that people still may question

if it's too restrictive or if it's too difficult or too expensive. And I think that you and I may have hit on a couple of points today that might shed a little more light today. So now it's about, okay, how do I put this into practice? Start with a meal a day. How do I get that food to start with that meal a day? If you live in a location or in an area where there's natural markets, great. If you live in an area where there's CSAs or you belong to some sort of a co-op where you could get fresh produce directly from farmers, do that. If you are in an area where there are no farms near you,

where there are no great natural food markets near you and the supermarkets are non-existent, then you may want to consider growing your own food. And it's really not that difficult. We're actually growing some stuff at home now as part of a project for the kids' school. It's really not that difficult. And when you get into it, you realize that there's something profoundly powerful about understanding what goes into making the food that you ultimately eat that goes in your body. And when you have that connection with the food, you have such a deeper appreciation and understanding for what it takes that you're way more conscious about what you're going

to be putting into your body, not just that day or not just for that meal, but for the future. So I think there isn't a single solution, but I think that if you look at it in sort of that frame of mind, really understanding the why and then getting to the how, right? And then more importantly, continuing that how by wiring yourself with the right habits or putting the right laws into practice so that this is sustainable over time. I think that you have a winning formula. And the truth is, yes, there are some people that live in food deserts, but there are a lot of people that don't live in food deserts that are still not living this way that have no excuse. And it might be more difficult for some people.

And it's unfortunate, but it doesn't mean that it's impossible. budget-wise as well, if you just buy a giant sack of rice and a giant sack of beans and a giant sack of potatoes, you're 70% there and that costs almost nothing. You're done compared to meat and we were just talking a little while ago, you were playing devil's advocate saying, it's not more expensive. It's actually less expensive and it's better for you not only is it less expensive now it's going to be less expensive to your future self which isn't going to require all those medications so we have this we have we've we've conditioned ourselves to doing this you know we love to cook food with our kids we love to cook with the kids we love to juice with the kids. We love to juice with the kids. The boys are always got their hands in everything in the kitchen. So we'll take

a couple of days a week that we'll make a bunch of stuff and we'll just put it in the fridge. We'll make a bunch of rice and we'll make a bunch of quinoa and we chop up some greens. Some greens you can't chop ahead of time because they start to oxidize. But we'll make some beans. We'll make five or six different types of beans. And we just have a bunch of fresh avocado on the counter and some tomatoes and whatnot. And that's it. And the minute we want to eat, it's like five minutes when you have a meal. Yeah.

It's super simple. Then the healthy option is always at arm's length. Yes. So you're never tempted to make an errant choice. Right. You don't get home, oh oh my God, I'm dying. What do I eat? Order a pizza.

Postmates. You have it. You have it there. It takes longer for something unhealthy to get to your house than something super healthy made at home that you know exactly what's gone into it. So you have to make it easy for yourself by putting the work in. The only way to make it easy is yourself by putting the work in. The only way to make it easy is if you put the work in. What is the number one thing you think that people get tripped up on?

Not understanding the power in now. Start right now. The next meal is your next opportunity to move in the direction of either health or disease. Your next meal. What is your next meal? Is in the direction of either health or disease. Your next meal. What is your next meal? Is it lunch? Is it dinner? Is it breakfast? Choose wisely. That meal has the opportunity to create a cascade of effects

that will enhance your health much more than you could ever imagine. But right now is the time. There's something super powerful of right now. And a lot of times with people, they get tripped up on like, man, I just need to learn more. I need to do more. I need to really dig into this. I need to see the science.

I need to see the data. It has to become cool. It has to be mainstream meanwhile they're taking a cocktail of 17 pills a day we're still something like four billion prescription drugs were four billion prescriptions were written last year and that was the equivalent of like you know i think it was 12 or 13 for every man woman and child in the United States. Crazy. It's very similar to the parlance of recovery, right? This idea of being in the now in AA, they call it one day at a time, right? So, somebody will come in and only an alcoholic, you can say to him, look, on the one hand, you can like

die a miserable death or end up in jail or kill somebody or kill yourself, or you can be happy, joyous, and free. Like you just have to do a couple of these things that are just a little bit inconvenient. What do you want to do? And the alcoholic will be like, I need to get back to you on that, right? And it's very similar to this idea of being paralyzed when presented with the healthy choice versus continuing to do what you know doesn't serve you. And I think what happens is in the same way, if you tell an alcoholic, look, just let your head hit the pillow tonight without a drink. All you have to do is worry about today or right now, or what are you doing in the next hour? The alcoholic will say, yeah, but I'm going to this

bachelor party in Vegas in three months. There's no way I'm not going to be able to drink at that point. You get caught up in this future event. Similarly, hey, just don't go to McDonald's today. How about just eat rice and beans and go to bed? We'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow. Yeah, but I'm going to a wedding in Vegas in three months, and they're going to serve this, and they're going to have cake, and I got to eat the cake. Yeah. It's like, let's deal in Vegas in three months and they're going to serve this and they're going to have cake and I got to eat the cake. It's like, let's deal with that in three months.

You don't have to worry about that right now. The more you can root yourself in the now, what's your next best choice? And I think the important, what's been very helpful to me in really conceptualizing that is to understand something you alluded to earlier, which is there is no stasis. We like to think that things are pretty fixed. Like, I'm cruising now. It's all good. Like, I know who I am. But that is a complete illusion. Every choice that you make, every conversation that you have, every meal that you eat, anything you take into your body, Every meal that you eat, anything you take into your body, every idea that you foster in your mind is either moving you in the direction of becoming a better person or a healthier person or regressing you back. There is no stasis. And I think when you can really connect with that, at least for me, that was helpful in helping me be present for those

choices as they arise. Yeah. And to your point, with the analogy you made about the alcoholic, food is the most widely abused addiction on the planet. Absolutely. And the worst part of it is that while a friend would not give you a drink if he or she knew that you were an alcoholic, I've seen many, many, many times where a morbidly obese person is at a party, at an event, at a function, and they're handed a cupcake, a piece of junk food that they should not be eating. They're like, oh, come on. It's not going to kill you. It is going to kill you. Because it's conflated with emotions like love. I care about you.

I was thinking about you. And that's what makes it so confusing. But if you're living in the now and you stop to really think about it do you really love the person that you're handing that to if you know that they suffer from this wretched addiction that's killing so many people many more people are dying of heart disease than they are of you know drug abuse or alcohol abuse so what is What is it that, why is one different than the other? Why is it okay to say to someone that's struggling with their weight and their health, it's okay to have this one cookie with me. And it's not okay. It's taboo to say to someone,

you would never say to a friend that was an alcoholic, let's go hang out at the bar and drink water while I, you know, do tequila shots. You'd never do that. Forget about that. You'd never offer them a tequila shot. So why is one okay and the other one isn't when the other one is way more damaging and taking way more lives than this one? So I think we have to stop and really think about it because you tell people you have to be in the present to really enjoy it. You really have to live in the now to enjoy your life. And they think they're living in the now, but they're really not living in the present to really enjoy it like you really have to live in the now to to enjoy your life and they think they're living in the now but they're really not living in the now it's the illusion of

them of them living in the now that is causing them not to be present in what it is that they're supposed to be doing sounds kind of crazy though right yeah yeah you know i mean i follow you no i i'm with you man i'm with you so it's like where where do you start how how you start right now and then exactly exactly where do you start it's easy right this second the next me but i can't do it right now because i gotta i gotta you know i got a meeting tonight and i gotta go do this thing and maybe tomorrow what's the priority right it's sitting down and just writing out your goals your priorities what your priorities in life are how dare you mark abortion tell me how to live my life it's you when you write it down and you're able to visualize it you can create

actionable steps to get there if you don't have the discipline to write them out and to try to create a hierarchy of priority, it would be impossible for you to achieve that task. I mean, when you're going to train for a race, you get with your coach, you guys figure out what the training program is going to look like, you have a protocol for how you're going to get where you want to get. You don't just wake up and say, I feel like this. Okay, I'm going to run 10 miles today. And tomorrow I'm going to do some Olympic lifting. And then the next day,

I'm going to swim. It doesn't happen that way. There has to be some sort of order and structure for you to achieve your goal in the most efficient manner. Because you could argue that maybe you could get there, but it won't be as efficient as it could have been or as enjoyable as it could have been if you had done it the right way. And the right way is really what matters most to you. Okay, you have a meeting tonight and you can't start today. No problem. So when can you start? And then when you start that conversation, you really start to think about it. You're like, how many times haven't I spoken to someone that says to me,

yeah, I want to start, but man, I've got a trip next week. And oh, my birthday's coming up. And I don't want to commit to something just to break it for my birthday. i don't want to there's always that's called the life common thing it's called life life is fluid it's not ever gonna line up to make these things convenient for oh my god i can't believe it i am listening to this podcast and i just happened to be starting on my vacation tomorrow and by the way i just just inherited $15,000 and I just moved one block away from a Whole Foods. That's not going to happen. Right. If you're listening and that just happened to you, call us. But the truth is that more likely than not,

it's not reality. You have to make it work. We all have to make it work we all have to make it work for ourselves and you know some things might be easier than others but you have to just figure out what's most important to you and just go after it right and and going after it means like taking that first step that that first step is the most important the the most important it's the only thing it's the only thing there is because without the first step there is no second step, right? So you asked me, what's the most powerful thing? It's now. Powerful Marco Porges.

Thank you, brother. Green print. So in addition to the book, which is amazing, it's beautiful too. You guys did an incredible job. Thank you, thank you. It's gonna help a lot of people. It's super powerful.

And what's great about it also is it's just so accessible. You can read it. You can completely understand. You can open it up to the middle, to the recipes or whatever. And it's very to the point. And it's very digestible, right? You can read it. You get it.

You're like, okay, I'm on board. But in addition to the book, you also have some other stuff coming soon, right? Can you talk about that? Yeah, there's some fun stuff coming. While we can't talk about most of it, we have this tool that we're about to drop that I think people are going to be really excited to see because it'll allow you to really visualize the impact that your daily choices have, not just on you, but on the planet. And I think that the more we get people to really understand about how this small little thing affects everything.

The microcosm impacts the macrocosm. Yes, yes. And vice versa. Yes, it's all connected. We're all living on this planet together. We're all in this together. Your success is my success. Your success is my success. My success is your success.

And the more that we can evolve out of our perspective, our zero-sum game perspective, I think we'll all be happier and more content and more productive and more cooperative. I couldn't agree more. Yeah. Your success has nothing to do with my level of success if anything your success begets more success for me without a doubt it's a in perpetual motion

and is there well there's a this is kind of out right like you have there's a documentary that you guys are working on yeah can you talk about that or no i mean there i say that only because i saw a couple articles about it yeah so we we have um throughout this process as we're creating the green print um we realized that there was this amazing opportunity but also more importantly responsibility to share it with the people that need it the most through their lens and um we were we um we did a I don't know if I ever shared that with you. When you say we, is that you, Jay-Z, and Beyonce, or a team of people behind you? Yeah, exactly. So we decided that we wanted to not just share the information, but share it in a matter

that really spoke to the people that need it the most, because there are, yes, there's plenty of people that are living in food deserts. And there's plenty of people that live in inner cities that have 15 liquor stores in a three-block radius but have no natural food markets. And that have little bodegas with a bunch of packaged potato chips and canned goods but have no health food whatsoever. And there's something wrong with the system, right?

There's something really wrong with a system that in many areas is set to lead people down the path of failure. And we have to change that. And it's not until we all understand that we are all part of it, that we can change it together and that it affects each and every one of us that it won't change. So for us, it really was about, okay, understanding that it started with something as simple as like,

I want people to know that every time they eat, they're making a decision that has profound effects, not just on their health, but on the health of the planet. But there are some people whose decisions are more difficult than yours. And when we started to have that conversation, it was right around the time where we're doing our clinical trial with Holy Name Hospital in New Jersey. And I don't know if I shared that with you, where we took a cohort of 300 people, and we actually took a group of 300 people, split them into three cohorts, where we had a vegetarian group,

a standard American diet, and a vegan cohort. And the benefits of a 100% plant-based diet over the course of 22 days, 60 days, 90 days, were so vast that we had to almost eliminate the standard American diet from the control and base our results on the comparison between a vegan diet and a vegetarian diet. I mean, just in LDL, which is your most dangerous cholesterol, in 22 days, we saw reductions of 40%. Wow. Comparing the vegetarians to the vegans, we already eliminated the meat.

So it was such an eye-opener for so many people in the medical community that we decided if these people don't know about this, what are the people that are living in the inner cities thinking? How are they going to be able to help themselves if when they lean into an establishment that is supposed to help, they don't get the help that they need or the information that they need to be able to move in the right direction? When we saw that, we realized that there was an opportunity for us that was far greater than just writing a book. It was really a responsibility to

share the information with as many people as possible through the medium of a book and through the medium of a documentary. So we started filming the documentary towards the end of last year. And we'll do it through this year, and we'll hopefully bring it out at Cannes next year. Oh, cool. Yeah, we'll see how the process goes. You know, it's a long journey. Those are long, yeah, it's a long road. But it's a really, I think it's really needed from this perspective because when you have a conversation with someone about eating healthier

and you're standing inside a Whole Foods, you're missing a big part of the picture. So it's no longer about just telling people, is it organic broccolini or conventional broccolini while you're standing inside a Whole Foods when someone's never seen a Whole Foods in their entire lives? So it's really about getting to the core of the problem and then trying to solve the problem from that point.

This is the most important thing. Democratizing, not just access, but education around these ideas. And that's what we're trying to do. Democratize health. That's a beautiful goal, my friend. Thank you, man trying to do. Yeah. Democratize health. That's a beautiful goal, my friend. Thank you, man. Appreciate it.

Well, cool, dude. I think we did it. How do you feel? I think this is the best podcast that we've done. How many? We've done like four of these, right? I think this is the best one. I don't know.

Three? This is good. Powerful. This is amazing. Thank you. Thanks for the opportunity. I appreciate it. I appreciate you.

Thank you for all the amazing work that you're doing and that you continue to do. Oh, thank you. Every time I talk to someone, they're like, I love Rich Roll. I can't tell you how many people I meet that tell me they met me through Rich Roll. I'm like, how so?

They're like, oh, I heard you on Rich Roll. Oh, cool. Which is amazing. So thank you. Thanks for all the stuff you're doing, man. I really appreciate it. Thank you for saying that. I will receive that.

That's one of my things for 2019, to be able to like. Because normally, I deflect or I minimize. And it's like, I will receive that that's one of my things for 2019 to be able to like because i normally like i deflect or i minimize and it's like i will receive that you are amazing you are amazing and you're inspiring so many people i mean you cannot even begin to imagine the amount of people that you inspire on a daily basis i told you on the drive up when i was texting with michael and he says oh my god i love. Tell him I said what's up. Tell him I love him. I mean, every time I come into contact with someone that is dabbling

or is 100% on board, I can tell you that nine out of 10 times it's because of something that you've done that has inspired them directly to want to take control of their lives. And that is something that you should not take lightly because a lot of people

owe their lives and their health to the work that you're doing. So thank you, man. It's really cool. Thank you. Now I'm getting uncomfortable, but I will receive that. Receive it. Yeah. We love you, man.

I love you, man, so much. You are a force for good and much needed in this world. I love your positive energy. in this world. I love your positive energy. I think of you as a mentor, not just in business, but in life and in parenting. How you conduct yourself in your public life and your personal life is inspiring to me as a parent and as a family man. You're just beautiful through and through, and I wish you only the best and the most success. Thank you. Thank you very much. In this mission, this laudable mission that we're both on.

So thank you for sharing with me today. Let's keep having fun. Yeah, cool. Thank you. Pick up Greenprint, available wherever you buy books. Keep an eye out for the documentary. And we didn't even talk about what's going on with 22 Days. We're having fun.

Trying to provide products that people need to keep moving in the right direction we'll do it yeah we're not doing it in the conventional um cpg way we're not we're not the traditional consumer package goods company we want to and it's kind of crazy because when i created it you know it was really about creating a platform to help people to inspire inspire people, to empower people. Yeah, the products were just kind of secondary to this being more of a content play and an education play. Yes, yes. But, I mean, obviously we are a business.

Yeah. But, I mean, I think, I don't need to tell you, you know where my heart's at. I mean, I just want to help people live a healthier life. And if someone is on the other end listening to this and they're now inspired to go have a healthier meal, the next meal that they eat, I'm elated. It just makes my heart shine because at the end of the day, that's what I do it for. I want people to really live their best lives because I love life. I love people. I love being around.

I was having a conversation with a friend a few weeks ago. He was like, you really would want to live 200 years? We're talking about all the guys in Silicon Valley that are saying they're going to live to be 200, to be 60. They're getting injected with the blood of young people. I'm not doing that, but I would love to stick around as long as possible. Are you kidding

me? I want to be around to see my kids grow really old and be really happy and have amazing families. I just love living. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with being around forever. I mean, if I could do it, I absolutely would do it. My friend was like, no, you'd get bored. There would be no reason to live.

I'm like, nope, speak for yourself, buddy. I want to be around forever. So, you know, so back to 22 Days, it's really about continuing to provide products that inspire people, that move people. And again, always being as clean as possible, right? For us, it's a commitment to always being plant-based, always being organic, always being non-GMO and making products that help people, not just formulating for fad, formulating for label copy. That doesn't interest me whatsoever. I'm not reverse engineering to get

to a certain margin. you know people look at me like i'm absolutely nuts because i do what no one else in this space does but for me it's really important that i make products that are good for people that are truly good for people that are game changers you know that that that feel good for me to know that my friends are consuming them not be like oops like okay you know i want to be it. You know, my kids go home and they make shakes and they're like, oh, we just made this amazing shake after, you know, they're playing a lot of tennis now, which I'll share with you later. But, you know, after their workouts, they're making smoothies at home and I just feel great about it.

You know, it just feels so good knowing that they're putting the absolute best possible foods into their body. It's just priceless. Yeah, it's great. Well, you know I'm a huge fan. It's the only product line that I use in terms of supplement powders and the like, and the bars are fantastic.

Thanks, man. As somebody who spent a lot of time training and has eaten a lot of bars over the years, most bars, I just can't eat. I can't do it anymore. You know, it's like no more bars, but your bars are super tasty thanks i love them and super nutritious too so fantastic um if people are listening to this

and they want to connect with you what's the best place or way for them to do that 22 days nutrition.com or our instagram is 22 days nutrition across all socials. So we're pretty quick to respond, except if you text me. Yeah, don't do that. Just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm pretty good at that also. Are you doing any public speaking stuff around Greenprint and the book? Yeah, we've been.

I know you're doing tons of press right now. We're doing a couple of weeks of touring for the book, and then we're going to do some stuff back in Miami. Then we'll be back here to do some things. We'll do something in New York. So we'll keep you posted. Cool. Yeah. Is there some place on the website where if people want to, if it's public and people want to come out and- Yeah. If you go to 22daynutrition.com forward slash book, you'll get all the info there and update you on what's going on and where we are and where we're going to be. Awesome. Thanks, man. How do you feel? Feel good? Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Good. Thank you. All right. Well, come back and talk to me anytime.

Thank you. All right. Appreciate that. Much love. Peace. Love you, man. Plants. We did it. It's done. It was good. What a beacon of light and positive energy that man is. I wish I could just clone him and then carry him around with me for inspiration throughout the day. Ah, did I tell you I love him? Hope you guys enjoyed that as well. Please make sure to check out his latest book, The Green Print, Plant-Based Diet, Best Body, Better World.

Also head over to thegreenprintproject.com. Take the pledge to eating more plant-based meals and enter to win jay-z and beyonce tickets for life let marco know what you thought of today's conversation by hitting them up on instagram or twitter at 22 days nutrition and speaking of taking this pledge to eating more plant-based meals if you're struggling with trying to figure out how to actually do that in a very functional way that fits within your lifestyle, you might take advantage of our Plant Power Meal Planner. Thousands of plant-based recipes,

all customized based on your personal preferences. We also have unlimited grocery lists. We integrate with grocery delivery in most cities. We have an incredible team of expert health coaches on the ready to answer all your questions seven days a week. And it's all available to you for just $1.90 a week when you sign up for a year. That's like one drink at Starbucks. So to learn more and to sign up, go to meals.richroll.com or click on Meal Planner on the top menu on my website.

If you would like to support the work that we do here on the podcast, tell your friends about the show or your favorite episode. Screenshot it and share it on your favorite social media platform. Hit that subscribe button on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Google Podcasts. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts. And you can also support the show on Patreon at richroll.com forward slash donate. I want to thank everybody who helped put on the show today. Jason Camiolo for audio engineering, production, show notes, interstitial music. Essentially, he is helping out in a million different ways behind the scenes. So thank you, Jason, for that.

Blake Curtis and Margo Lubin for video and editing. Jessica Miranda for graphics. DK for advertiser relationships, and theme music as always by Analema. Thanks for the love, you guys. I will see you back here in a couple days with another amazing episode. This one will feature female ultra athletes, two women who have completed Epic Five, Dani Grable and Mel Urie. Super fun. Really loved my conversation with them. I think you guys will too. So until then, be well, treat yourself well, eat well, love your friends and neighbors.

What else can I say? It's simple stuff, you guys. All right, peace, plants. I'm out, namaste. Thank you.