The Rich Roll Podcast - The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition & Tools to Unlock Your Best Self

Episode Date: August 5, 2013

Back by popular demand! Julie Piatt returns to the podcast to share about our recent trip to New York, our new online course “The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition” that we created in partnership with MindBodyGreen.com and our panel presentation at the Apple Store SoHo — Meet the Innovators: Revolutionizing Health — moderated byJason Wachob, CEO of MindBodyGreen, with yoga impressario Tara Stiles and her husband Michael Taylor of Strala Yoga, and meditation guru Charlie Knoles of the Veda Center. As always, Julie drops pearls of wisdom when it comes to taming the ego; how to remain neutral in moments of tension & anxiety; and how to best tap into your higher self and unlock the best, most authentic YOU – a consistent theme of the show. We cap it off with a free amazing plantpowered dessert recipe (instructions below) and take it out with Inside City, a track on her album Mother of Mine, by SriMati. Hope you enjoy the program! Rich

Welcome to episode 42 of the Rich Roll Podcast with Julie Pyatt. The Rich Roll Podcast. Hey everybody, welcome back to the show. I'm Rich Roll. This is the Rich Roll Podcast. What are we doing here? Well, what we do here is we bring on guests and we go deep. We go long form. We delve the depths. I've had all kinds of people on the show. This is a health and wellness and fitness oriented program, but I try not to be too strict or too regimented. My only kind of criteria for the guests that I have on the show is do they have something compelling and interesting to share, something you might not have heard of before or might not be that familiar with that you can have takeaways from and incorporate into your life to improve your life experience in your short time on this planet. So I've had world-class athletes on, I've had entrepreneurs on, I've had nutritionists, doctors, plant-based nutrition advocates, paleo people, low-carb people, all different kinds of athletes. I've had spiritualists, yogis, meditation experts, and of course my wife, who's here today, back on the show. Hi, Rich Rule.

Hello. Thanks for having me on the podcast. Yeah. So all of these people together, which is to provide you with tools and resources to take your health and wellness to the next level so that you can unlock and unleash the best, most authentic version of yourself on the world, because that's what we need more of, right? Yes, we do. We don't need more people pushing paper around lost and discontent and feeling aimless, right? We want everybody directed, grounded, feeling like they're tapped into their best, most

authentic self, don't you think? Yes, connected. That would be a better world, would it not? It'd be a much better world. And it's happening now. So thanks tuning in yeah thank you uh thank you to everybody this show has really taken off and uh you know at the sake of repeating myself i'll say it again i started it back in december um really just looking for a creative outlet i had no expectations of where it would go or what would happen other than

that I felt compelled to kind of share some of the people and personalities that I've had the good fortune of meeting as I kind of trudged this path of wellness. I've had, since my book came out, Finding Ultra, which you've all read, of course. I don't have to. Check it out.

Use the Amazon banner ad at richworld.com to check it out on Amazon. No, I've been able to meet so many incredible, amazing people. And I thought it would be great to be able to share their wisdom and insight with the world. And it's been remarkable. The response that the podcast has gotten, it's really grown gangbusters and it couldn't be more pumped. It's very gratifying.

So we appreciate all the support. Everybody who's tuned in, sent emails, left comments on the iTunes page, left comments at richworld.com, Facebook messages, tweets. It just comes at us all day long and it's super cool. It's really, really, really rewarding and really beautiful. Yeah, so thanks. I mean, it's gotten to the point where there's just no way I can respond to all the

emails. But as I've said before, please know that I read them all. I do get them and I see them and it means the world to me and to us and really kind of affirms our mission and makes us feel even better about the direction that we're heading and kind of trying to spread this message and trying to get people to be healthier, be more fit, be more actualized, right? Yeah. And you are a big lover of the podcast so you know of my own podcast no of podcasts in general yeah of course i love podcasts and um it was my love of podcasts that made me uh you know that gave me the desire to to want to to do this you know i felt like there was there's lots of there's lots of i mean's lots of, I mean, I think there's like 250,000 podcasts out there. And there's certainly a lot of health and wellness and fitness oriented podcasts out there.

But they seem to be, on the whole, I mean, there's exceptions, of course, but a lot of them are very instructional. Like they're short and like, here are your tips to do this or that. And that's great. And it has its place. this or that and that's great and it has its place but um i felt like it was lacking kind of that that that program where you can get somebody on the show and just talk to them at length and really explore who they are instead of like the soundbite versions of most interviews that you hear yeah and i think your show is more about exploring the different colors that exist and different people and different approaches and ideologies and just ways of being. And by, you know, sharing and exploring those together, we all can expand

in different ways. Well, I think you have to be that way. You know, if all you're going to do is have guests on that share your point of view and you kind of build a team around that. I mean, I guess there's, you know, a lot of people do that. There's value in that. But for me, I mean, certainly I have my perspective, my point of view, and strong opinions about lots of different things. But I didn't want to limit the show to just having people on that share that. I think it's more dynamic and compelling to have somebody on who maybe has a different point of view and to be able to have an adult, mature conversation with that person,

whether you agree CI eye to eye or or not you know that's right and it allows you to then invite your wife on from time to time that's right yes do we we always see eye to eye come on share a different perspective that's right well there's been a lot of uh a lot of demand to have you back it's been a while i think this is the longest you've gone without being on the show. That's amazing. And, you know, it's interesting because I was not really a big podcast fan. I really hadn't been. Have you ever listened to any podcasts? Maybe a couple more in the spiritual realm,

things that I can't mention on this podcast. It's just too, why? Because NSA is going to come down on you. It's too out there. It's way too out there. You don't want to get on a watch, a no-fly list. Yeah, exactly. I'm trying to, you know, stay safe.

Right. No, but I have to say that, you know, once again, as you turn me on to Twitter in much the same way, you know, I really, really love this format. This format is fantastic because it allows you to share a certain authenticity that you really can't express in any other medium. You can't do it in a blog post. You can't do it in an email, a video message.

But I really love these long format podcasts because we never really know where they're going and that's where sometimes amazing stuff shows up yeah entertaining informative or or it just gets really shocking really boring boring and long no i don't think so well we'll see we'll see some people seem to yeah well i mean speaking of that the uh the john j John Joseph episode could end up being our most downloaded podcast ever. And that was not boring. That was definitely not boring.

And it went like two and a half hours or two hours and 40 minutes or something like that, all told. And, you know, I love Johnny Bloodclot. He's an amazing, powerful human being. And I was super excited that he wanted to do the show. But, you know, we've kept the show pretty family friendly. Like there's not a lot of swearing and, you know, all that kind of stuff. And it's sort of conscious on my part. I just wanted to appeal to the most number of people so they could listen to it at work or whatever.

But when you have Johnny Bloodclot on, you can't. There's no editing of that guy. And you don't want to edit him. You want him to just go. So he just unleashed an onslaught of F-bombs. And I think he dropped like 1,000 F-bombs in the course of the episode. And so I had some trepidation.

I'm like, I don't know. How's this going to go over with the audience? I don't know. We've never presented a guy like this. So we'll see how it goes. You know, hopefully, you know, people that are a little more thin skin are going to, yeah, are not going to freak out or whatever. But it ended up being an overwhelmingly, massively positive response to that guy, which I'm so pleased because his message is so, you know, incredible. I mean, not only is his life story, the arc of his life story is so profound and incredible,

but his convictions are so deep. They run so deep, and especially when it comes to kind of his spiritual education. Like you don't meet, I mean, you'll meet people in the yoga community that can, you know, that will try to talk that talk. But there are very few people who've kind of walked a mile in the shoes like he has. Like how many people do you know have actually gone and lived in a monastery and can quote the Bhagavad Gita and do it in a way that a truck driver

is going to be able to like, you're the guy and go, Hey, that makes sense. Like maybe I can incorporate some of that knowledge into my life. Well, and also just as incredible background of, you know, the struggles and I was conceived and born and where he lived and just where he came from. I mean, he's really had an extreme of experience and, you know, then to come from the inner, you know, inner cities and the, you know, then to come from the inner, you know, inner cities and, you know, really from streets and then to become a famous lead singer of a famous punk rock band. Yeah, iconic, you know, an important band that had its place in a very specific moment of time where, you know, music meant something, you know. And for him to find his salvation in music that way

and in his spirituality, it's amazing. It's amazing. And, you know, he really commands great respect for the choices that he's made, the life that he had, and what he's made out of that. And it's not really what you experience, it's what you do with what happens to you. But he's incredible.

Incredible that he's had that extreme of experience and where he's come with it and now he's helping people and really of service and yet very authentic. He hasn't changed in his personality. He's very much who he always has been right so um anyway it was it was a lovely experience a very transformative experience and um i really really enjoyed the time that we spent well it was funny because you had never met him before uh you know i'd spent a little bit of time with him previously but we met up for dinner and that was the first time you'd ever met him before. You know, I'd spent a little bit of time with him previously, but we

met up for dinner and that was the first time you'd ever met him. And he just, he just came at you like a Mack truck and you're just laughing. You're going, who is this guy? You know, he's a big personality. And I mean, just from the moment he walked in the restaurant, you know, he was already, you know, rushing towards us with this amazing energy. And, you know, he really is, you know, he is somebody who lives his authentic self and whether that's, you know, he really is, um, you know, he is somebody who lives his authentic self and whether that's, you know, comfortable to you or, or familiar to you, um, you know, he really is true to himself. And just in an, just that in and of itself is a, is a wonderful example and a level, you know, wonderful, um, way to be. And,. And I want to thank everyone

who's been using the Amazon banner ad at richroll.com. That has actually been a huge boon to the show. It's been paying the bills for the show. Thank you so much. It's been incredible and it's a great way to support the show. Actually, a lot of people have an Amazon like little icon in their web browser.

If you want to support the show, just get rid of that and throw up richroll.com up into your little menu item on your browser. And that will remind you that when you want to go to Amazon, you just click the banner ad on our site. Buy whatever you're going to buy. And it won't cost you a cent extra, but Amazon will pay us a little affiliate commission, and that all goes towards paying the bills at the podcast. And a lot of people have been using it, tweeting about it, and that's been awesome. Yeah, it makes a huge difference.

Thank you. Thank you. 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

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I really do. And they have treatment options for you. Life in recovery is wonderful, and recovery.com is your partner in starting that journey. is your partner in starting that journey. When you or a loved one need help, go to recovery.com and take the first step towards recovery. To find the best treatment option for you or a loved one, again, go to recovery.com. New York, we just got back from New York. We went on a trip together without any children. You have to talk. I have to catch my breath for a second. So going to New York was amazing. It was such an extraordinary experience to go there with Rich

and to be able to be a part of launching our plant-powered program in partnership with Mind, Body, Green. So Julie and I had, I've been going to New York on and off over the last year, but we had never gone together. And I don't think you had gone to New York. I used to go there a lot when I was in the garment business and I used to go for, you know, sales shows. And when I had, I had a clothing collection called Julie Pyatt Collection. Isn't that an innovative name? This is called the Rich Roll Podcast. I guess so. Isn't that an innovative name? This is called the Rich Roll Podcast.

I guess so. But anyway, so I used to go there for fabric shows and then, of course, the sale shows, trade shows. And I loved it, and I had a great team in New Jersey as well. And it was a great, vibrant time. And then when I closed my company, I just never went there for quite a long time. Right. I think you were under the impression that you had been there more recently. I didn't even realize it. No, I didn't even realize.

But anyway, we'd never gone there together. And you had never gone there since I met you, I don't think. And this was our first trip, just Julie and I together without the kids in like 10 years. I mean mean I can't even remember the last time. I mean it's kind of you know we've gone away for like a night or something like to. But like a way away. Right exactly and usually it I mean I've gone away and you've

gone away but usually one of us is always with the children so it was different. And it was great we had a great place to stay. Thank peter slutsky for introducing us to our new friend ben fenton who opened up his apartment in the west village to us for us to stay there this guy is an amazing superfood aficionado right so we we had never met ben before and he was getting ready to do iron man like Placid. So he was going to be at the apartment for half the time.

And then he was taking off and to go to the race. And we were going to stay there for a couple of days without him. And he is a, he's a plant fueled maniac. This guy, we go into his apartment and he's, you know, living by him. He's a bachelor of 31. I think he's about 31, 32, something like that. Very cute. Very smart. Very attractive. He has his kitchen completely dialed in. 31 I think he's about 31 32 something like that very smart

he has his kitchen completely dialed in more dialed in than maybe anybody I've ever met besides me I mean he had all the mason jars each one filled with a different superfood he was hitting me up with spirulina and chlorella

and he's got you know the MCT oil and the Vitamix and the greens and the fresh vegetables. And it was impressive. All very organized. Very organized and very together. So it was a good match. Great location.

Great place, Ben. Thank you. And his apartment is where we recorded the John Joseph episode. Yeah, which was fantastic. Which was awesome. Yes. And a great part of town, too. So we go to New York, and the reason that we went to New York was to go there for the launch of our new program,

The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition. That's right. So why don't you tell a little bit of the backstory about this? Well, you know, we had been kind of exploring for quite some time, you know, an online offering that we could do together that would be, you know, really powerful and really empower people to become more healthy and get more connected to their authentic hearts. And we had thought about doing a few different things. I mean, we've gotten a lot of requests to do a cleansing program.

Yeah, and I think part of that is in Finding Ultra, when I wrote Finding Ultra and I turned it in, my intention was that I would have a cleansing program available to the consumer that would be out on the market by the time the book came out. That it would be a series of products. I wasn't sure exactly what it was going to be, but that's what I was planning on doing. And then I embarked upon, or we embarked upon, trying to make that happen. And it ended up being a little more complicated than we wanted it to be. And there's a lot of issues around cleansing. And there's a lot of issues around cleansing and there's a lot of risk about what you can say

and shouldn't say and all this sort of stuff. And we just figured it wasn't the right time to move forward with that. And really just in a responsible manner, you know, and what's in the highest interest for, you know, a mass group of people that you don't have necessarily individual interaction with. You know, everybody's bodies are very different.

And so cleansing can bring up different issues and just, it felt like, like, um, not really the thing to do without first thing, no. And without really having, uh, researched it, you know, a lot more extensively and also being able to offer support to people while they're going through it. So I'm actually been in deep exploration of all of that. I've been doing some pretty intense liver and gallbladder cleanses and different kinds of cleanses. So we'll get there, but that wasn't

the place to start. So. Right. So for anybody who's listening, who has emailed me or was thinking about emailing me saying, what's the cleanse you did what's the cleansing program i look for it on the website i didn't see it well that's because we didn't move forward with it but we may do so in the future we're looking at it but that's why it's not up there in the interim the thing that you can do right away is um you know just do like a one you know or two or three-day juice cleanse and just start there and really shift your diet into getting more plants into your system

and then getting off the processed foods. And it's really much better to do it more of a slow approach. Rich did it more extreme, but he's the ultra man. Well, I mean, yeah, it gets dicey to even start to get into this because unless we're going to go all the way into this and provide exactly what to do and not to do, we're just kind of touching on it now. But I think that without getting into it, maybe we'll do a whole podcast episode on this, which could be cool. That'd be great, actually. But I think that, you know, for me, doing a fruit and vegetable cleanse, you know, whether you do it for three days

or seven days or whatever, is a great way to kind of wipe the slate clean and start fresh where you're like, okay, I've kind of like, you know, cleansed my palate and now I can do something new. You know, for me, I found that to be very powerful. But there's a lot of, you know, hackneyed, you know, snake oil out there too, when it comes to cleanses and what to do and what not to do.

I mean, the one that I did, you know, wasn't devoid of nutrients. You know, I was getting fresh vegetable and fruit juice every day and herbs and teas and all sorts of different things. So it was hardly like lemon juice and cayenne pepper. No. And that's not one that we really, um, advocate anyway.

Right. I mean, not that I have anything against it. I just haven't done it. It's not, not come up for us. Right. So anyway,

yeah. Well, let's do a future podcast on that. Okay, cool. So how do we get into even talking about that? We were talking about what we were, what we were going to start.

Right. So, yeah. So kind of like in the wake of finding ultra thinking about well how can we you know how can we pick up where finding ultra left off or how can we continue to carry the message and how can we kind of step into this and provide more things to people that would be of service to them i mean the podcast is one of those things, right? And then it was like Julie said, it was about finding, you know, it would be great to do some videos or do something online where we could create a product online that could really take somebody through a process from beginning to end, soup to nuts. And we played around with a lot of ideas.

And, you know, it's a big project. We spent a lot of time thinking about what it's a big project we spent a lot of time thinking about what we would or wouldn't want to do and but we hadn't really embarked we hadn't made a decision or embarked on moving forward on anything um really until we met jason well and i mean this program is sort of an extension of what we've done on a one-on-one basis with certain people you know we've gone into their homes and sort of re-outfitted their kitchen and gotten them, you know, thrown out all the all the process stuff and all the Twinkies that they're

hiding and sort of, you know, Reese, you know, do a Ben Fenton, like get it all stacked, you know, all stocked with all the superfoods. And, and then I, you know, teach cooking and kind of stay with them and, you know, sort of give them a reset. So, but the, you know, you can only do that one-on-one and it's only reaching so many people. So what we really wanted to do was design this program, something that we would give to anybody. And it, it's not geared towards, you know, the strict vegans or, you know, any certain population.

It's something that works for everybody. And so we wanted to make it accessible, make it open and embracing and nonjudgmental and just give people sort of the basics and really all the tools that they would need to shift into a more plant-based lifestyle than what they're leading now. Right, but just to back up, I mean, you're getting into kind of what we have now, but I want to talk about how we got there.

Okay, talk about that. So we had been thinking about doing something and we weren't sure what that was. But then I was in New York several months ago and went over to see Jason Walkup, who's CEO of MindBodyGreen, who's a friend. Him and his wife, Colleen, are friends. And we're big fans of MindBodyGreen, and we've both written blog posts for that site. And I always said, you know, if I'm going to write a blog post that's going to go up anywhere other than my website, I'm only going to write it for MindBodyGreen because they get crazy traffic. They always get tons of eyeballs

and it's kind of become the primary one-stop destination on the web for all things wellness. And they're growing by leaps and bounds and what Jason's been able to build over there is really cool. So anyway, I went over there just to say hi and have a little, you know, grab a juice with him or something. And he's like, Hey, we're, you know, we're going to put together these, we're thinking we're going to be offering some online courses, like some online programs. And I think we're going to do one on yoga. And I think we're going to do one on meditation. And, you know, would you be interested in doing one on plant-based nutrition?

And it was like, yeah, like immediately because he was kind of like the, you know, the piece in the puzzle that we didn't have to make it all kind of come together and give it like a foundation and a structure. Yeah, that's right. And he's been a big, you know, a big support of us. And, you know, definitely whenever he comes into town, he comes and sees us and, you know, we share a lot with them. And so the alignment felt really authentic. It felt like a seamless match. And, you know, we're really, really blessed and honored to be asked to do this with him. this with him. Right. So we just started talking about what the course might look like, what we would want to have in it, what we wanted to, you know, make kind of, you know, the thing with Mind Body Green is that it casts a very wide net, you know, it's for a mass audience. And essentially,

if you've never been to the website, it's curated user-generated content. So they have a panel of experts that submit articles. But then I think anybody can submit an article to them and they have an editorial staff that curates the content and puts it up. So it's free information, right? It's all free. And it's tons of information.

I mean, I think they just had, I don't know how many articles they have up there, but it's a ridiculous amount. Like they have this library of, you know, it's just a wealth of information. And they continue to break the glass ceiling on traffic. And, you know, Jason would say to me, oh, well, everybody in tech told him that he would never be able to get more than, you know, a certain number of unique visitors to his site a month. I think it was like a million or something like that. Nobody in wellness, you can't break that ceiling.

And just last month, he had 4.2 million uniques. Yeah, it's incredible. So it's pretty insane the amount of traffic he's getting there. But this is the first time that they were going to offer something on their site that would be for money. It's premium content. It's not free. Yeah, exactly.

So he wanted to make sure that we you know that it was done right and then all the t's were crossed and the i's dotted and that it would kind of meet the quality standard for kind of what the end user has come to expect from mind body green so julie and i you know went to work and for a couple months you know we had post-it notes all over the walls and index cards spread out all over the place trying to figure out like what are the subject headings of things we wanted to address, what we, you know, what we wanted to focus on, what we didn't want to focus on, like kind of thinking if somebody's interested in a plant-based diet, whether they're eating the

standard American diet or whether they've been vegan for 20 years, whether they're an athlete or whether they're a couch potato, like how can we create this so it has something for everybody, but gives you all the tools that you need to kind of make this shift and make it stick. Yeah, that's right. And just something that would be very, very user-friendly. And, you know, like I said before, just be something that, you know, someone who eats meat or eats fish or someone who's just, as you say, you know, interested in plants. This program provides something for them, you know, really for everybody. So Julie and I worked really hard on it for a couple months. We created an outline.

We went back and forth with Jason and his staff at MindBodyGreen on that outline. Like, what about this? Or, you know, well, if somebody wants to learn about this, where are they going to go for that? Oh, yeah, good point. We should talk about that too. And trying to get our, you know, wrap our minds around, you know, how we're going to break everything down

that somebody would need to know into little bite-sized nuggets, you know. But we got there and we created a script. I think my first pass on the script was like 80 pages or something like that I'd like that's the way I do it I have to overwrite everything you know I just write it all out and then I try to throw out what is you know not needed or excessive and just kind of drill it down to its core yeah and uh and that's what we did and then like I don't know

six or eight weeks ago, we did the shoot. We shot for three days straight. Three 12-hour days. 12-hour days. Together. Together. Husband and wife. Yeah.

And we only had a couple fights. We only had a couple moments. Only because we had Gus. Gus was our producer director. Our director. Yeah. He was great. Who's a Kiwi.

We have to keep this. producer director director yeah who's great who's uh a kiwi we have to keep this this whole podcast you realize is primarily for new zealand and australia oriented that's right exactly so like every other uh guest is from down under no it's um well what was so cool is that the crew that we had um and it was like this whole experience of like a microcosm in the macrocosm so we were creating this you know video program that we were going to hopefully share with, you know, thousands of people and everybody all over the world could see it depending on, you know, wherever they lived. And then here we were, and we had, you know, Gus and Ryan, who was our camera guy and Deidre,

who did hair and makeup. And I'm forgetting there's probably, Oh, the sound guy, what was his name? I And I'm forgetting. Oh, the sound guy. What was his name? I forget his name. He lived in Kauai. Yeah, he was Kauai and had lived in Alaska as well. I'll remember his name in a minute. But anyway, it was this incredible crew.

And what happened is some of the people on the crew were having health issues. And so what really happened is as we were filming for 12 hours for three days in a row, we were speaking into the camera and this information was actually infiltrating the crew. So, um, the whole crew had a major transformation all at different, you know, different levels. And it was kind of funny, like the first day somebody had, different levels and it was kind of funny like the first day somebody had had snuck in like a bag of snickers bars and right and and hit it somewhere and you know we had um vegan food that you know our dog found the found the bag of chocolate bars right he ate a entire bag which thank god he's not uh he doesn't he's not sensitive dogs are not supposed to eat chocolate. But anyway, it was a kind of thing

where by the second day people were saying, I haven't felt this good in about six years. So anyway, it was working and I think we all had a little transformation and a few people on the crew

bought a Vitamix and definitely got more plant-powered. Right, exactly. And the idea, yeah, and that kind of core idea is, it's called The Ultimate Guide to Plant-Based Nutrition, but it's really about how you can get more plants into your diet. We can all use more plants in our diet. So it's not about are you paleo, are you low-carb, are you high-carb,

are you trying to do ketosis, are you paleo are you low carb are you high carb are you you know are you trying to do ketosis are you totally vegan are you vegetarian like this is just hey man like everybody could use more plants in their in their diet like let's get rid of the labels and kind of all the the dogma and all that kind of stuff and and just focus on that right and because the truth is like that's where most people are at you know like they're certainly you know a big percentage of this audience probably is adhering to a specific diet like this or that or whatever but you know i think that most people regardless of whatever protocol you're on, could probably eat more vegetables. I would have to agree with that. And if one person in the family or two people in the family are

eating that way, then there's usually other people, you know, whether it's a parent, a grandparent, a child, you know, a cousin, like anybody who's having any kind of health challenges or weight challenges, um, you know, everybody can do better with more plants. And so we're just saying, let's all meet around the garden. Let's just meet around plants. Right. And instead of, you know, and, uh, you know, leave your carry on baggage at home. Well, exactly. You can't check any bags. Right. Just, just show up. Yeah. And then, uh, we don't have to talk about all of our differences and

make a big deal about all of that. But, you know, let's just agree on that core. Right. So the course is, you know, is the ultimate guide to plant-based nutrition. So if you want to get 100% plant-powered, this will take you across the finish line on that. If you're interested in just kind of exploring the idea of getting more plants in your diet, then it works for that as well. If you're brand new to the idea of not eating the standard American diet and you really aren't that well-versed in nutrition and kind of are confused by all the information that you're constantly bombarded with, then this is a great place to start for that too.

You know, it's like you don't have to be somebody who's saying, I'm ready to go 100% vegan in order to benefit from this program. And that was kind of the idea that we had going forward. We wanted to create something that would be beneficial and applicable to everybody no matter where you're at. That's right. And it's all a process, you know. It's an evolution. So, you know, we didn't start off at the point, you know, where you're at. That's right. And it's all a process. It's an evolution.

So we didn't start off at the point where we are now. It's been a journey and a different journey for both of us and actually for our four kids as well. So it's about just navigating that journey and being open to change and open to evolution and yet not judging where you are right now because wherever you are right now is perfect. Right, like we talked about with Johnny Bloodclot.

That's right. You got to meet people where they're at. Do you know why his nickname is Johnny Bloodclot? Do you know that? I don't, well, I don't, I mean, he's like, he told the story about how he got the nickname Bloodclot. I'm not sure I got the joke though. I can't remember.

Anyway, but you were like, didn't you, isn't the woman who does your hair she like knew him from jenny who actually cuts our hair and she's from brooklyn and you know also you know is from that area i think and so i just texted her and yeah she knows him well yeah you're like we just met met this guy who's in the Cro-Mags. She's like Johnny Bloodcloth. She knew him. Yeah, it's pretty funny. It's a small world.

But no, that idea of meeting people where they're at and you can't, like John said, it's sort of like you can't tell that firefighter guy that, you know, he's not going to be allowed to have like a, you know, like a fake meat sausage, sausage patty in the morning. Like he's got a, that guy's got a long road to go to transition from where he's at into, you know, becoming like raw, you know, like that's not going to happen overnight for a guy like that, you know? And even, you know, I'm sort of prone to extremes and I want to go jump in a hundred percent, but I was vegetarian for six months eating cruddy vegetarian food

before I was ready to take it to the next level. Like we all have our own journey and it's rarely one of perfection or overnight superstardom. You know what I mean? Like people have to, you know, play around with it and see what works for them. So this, again, the idea is that this should hopefully serve you, um, you know, wherever you're at. That was the idea. It's awesome. You know, so we shot those three days. I don't know how many hours of footage, raw footage we had, but it had to be an insane amount. And it got whittled down into just under three and a half hours

of total video footage. And all of that three and a half hours, it's broken down into clips that range from like five minutes to I think the longest one is 12 minutes. Yeah, so it's easy to watch. So they're all, yeah, each clip is relegated to a very specific subject heading. The course is broken down into six modules and underneath, within each module, there's a number of sessions.

So I think there's 36 sessions total amongst the six modules, something like that. And every one, again, is a specific subject heading. And corresponding with each video is a discussion forum. So when you sign up for the course, you also become a member of this online forum where you can ask questions or say, yeah, I watched that video, but this part wasn't clear to me, or what about this? And Julie and I can jump in and answer the question or provide support. And ultimately over time, the idea is that the community will support itself in a sustained way.

Right. So somebody can say, Hey, you know, I'm having trouble getting, getting my kids to eat better, you know, at lunch,

you know, do you pack a lunch? What do you do? And other parents can chime in and say, you know what? I just went through that a lunch what do you do and other parents can chime in and say you know what i just went through that a couple months ago and here's what's working for me here's what didn't work julie and i can share what we've done but we're not the be-all end-all the idea is that the community will kind of step in and it will be this support mechanism for people out there because we get a lot of emails from people who say oh you live in

LA and it's just easy there you have all these restaurants and markets but I live somewhere where nobody eats this way and I can't even find the food or you know a lot of guys in the military too I get emails from guys in the military who are interested in eating this way and you know sometimes it's like you know you got to be in the closet as a guy if you're going to eat this way. Like, it's not acceptable. And so they don't have, like, the support. Like, they don't have family or friends or a spouse or whoever that they can rely on as a support mechanism. So the idea with the community is to create that. So at least you have that if you have nothing else.

Yeah, and that's cool. And, you know, together we're much more powerful than separate. nothing else. Yeah. And that's cool. And, you know, together we're much more powerful than separate. So, you know, there's many, many, many people that, you know, have been doing this a lot longer than we have and have all kinds of, you know, really great information or, you know, there's always innovative ideas. And even, you know, I even find, you know, I'm very fond of my Instagram followers and my experience on Instagram, but I post a lot of food photographs there. And, and there's just so much sharing just in the comments, just, you know, just between chefs, between moms, between dads,

between athletes. And I love that, you know, because it's, it makes us all better. Right. So it's great. Instagram is the purest social network, I think. I just love it. I mean, and your photos are amazing. Oh my goodness. Extraordinary, Mr. Roll. Thank you.

But I love it because I'm an artist and it just allows me to kind of say what I want to say very quickly with no words. And I enjoy it. I enjoy it and I feel connected and fulfilled by communicating in that way. Right. So the ultimate guide to plant-based nutrition and I feel connected and fulfilled by communicating in that way. Right.

So the ultimate guide to plant-based nutrition is a explosion out of Instagram. It's a more dynamic version of Instagram for you. Yeah, it is. It is. And I mean, it's also a trip. I mean, you and I have talked a lot about, I mean, just to get into the deeper aspects of deciding to create this program and actually putting ourselves out in that way. And, you know, we, we just said, we love this podcast because it's so authentic and we can be ourselves and it's natural and it's imperfect and it's just

what it is, you know, and that feels really powerful and great. And, you know, I think we talked about months, like, you know, how do we do that? Like, you know, think we talked about months like you know how do we do that like you know because we it had to be authentic like it couldn't be how do we do oh how do we do an online program how do we you know how's the whole video thing and you know well it's weird yeah because we did a little research because we were before you know the opportunity with mind body green came up we were thinking about doing something like this. And we did a little bit of research on the internet. You come across all these kind of like sort of marketing guru guys on the internet who don't need to be named,

but they all have really good ideas about how to reach people through landing pages and video. And here's how you do it. And it's like tips and tricks and all this kind of stuff. And it just seems so gimmicky and salesman-y and like i just i felt like i had to like take a silkwood shower after watching it like i felt slimed you know and i was like we have you know there's stuff that i feel like we could and would like to share that would be beneficial to people, but I'm not interested in adopting those kinds of techniques where you're trying to convince,

yeah, like, or where it's just everything's so slick and you feel like a used car salesman is talking to you. Right. So just how do you keep it real and how do you do it? And, you know,

there is a way and, and, you know, I'm really proud of what we did and I think, you know, I think it, it delivers. So,

but you know, it's the beginning point. There'll be many more things that we're going to be doing. And also, you know, I'm really proud of what we did. And I think, you know, I think it delivers. So, but, you know, it's the beginning point. There'll be many more things that we're going to be doing. And also, I mean, that's the first time we've really, well, except for our little videos on YouTube, we did a couple of cooking videos together. Right. It's kind of the first time we've worked together in that format. And, you know, it was a pleasure. It was a pleasure. It was pretty good.

We worked really hard. It was a ton of work. We busted our ass, you know, was a pleasure it was a pleasure it was pretty good it was really hard it was a ton of work we busted our ass you know for weeks getting it done and even when we were done filming then you know we also put together i think i think it ended up being 13 like downloadable tools like stuff that you get that you can download when you when you join up and and you get our cookbook but then you get like all these like the ultimate uh grocery shopping list which has all the food groups broken down and why this you know what this food does for you and why it's healthy and beneficial and blah blah blah like that was many pages long that document ended up being and then all the important kitchen utensils you need and, you know, plant-based sources of protein and

omega-3, like essentially every question that you would ask or that I get asked or we get asked all the time, like, well, what about this? What about that? We try to address all of that. Like, what do I do in restaurants? How do I, you know, how do you deal with travel? Like, how do I eat like this when I go out of town? What if my wife or husband or boyfriend or girlfriend isn't into it? Like, then what do I do? Like, basically, all of those things, we made a huge list of all of these kinds of subject matter headings and tried to address every single one of those. Did we address every single imaginable question about it? Of course not.

But we feel really good about it, and we're proud of it. We worked really hard on it. And we feel like it's a great way to uplift anyone's life. And you may know somebody. There may be a family member or a friend or a relative who is interested in finding out more about plant nutrition. And this program is perfect for someone like that. Right. Yeah. I think there's a, the ability to gift it when you buy it. Yeah, there is an ability or something like that. So anyway, check it out.

It's on mindbodygreen.com. I'll put a direct link up in the show notes. Um, and, uh, yeah, we're psyched about it. So that's why we went to New York was to introduce the program that we'd been working so hard on was finally going live and the forum for introducing the program was pretty cool. You want to talk about that? Yeah, it was great.

We were part of a panel at the Apple store in Soho and it was quite an awesome event. We had a great turnout. It was easily over know, easily over 100 people there. And it was just a great sort of open panel discussion with Tara Stiles and Michael Taylor and Charlie Knowles and Jason Walker from MindB. Yeah. So the, the Apple store Soho is kind of become this, uh, mandatory stop on the PR train for people that have books coming out or movies coming out or TV shows that are debuting or what have you. It's kind of like the 92nd street Y for the downtown set. And at the Apple Store Soho,

they've created this venue upstairs where it's totally suited for these kinds of events. And they have a green room and everything. And they're doing something there like almost every night. So we get there and we go into the green room and the kind of organizing guy is telling us how Snoop Dogg had just been there. Snoop Lion now.

Snoop Lion, yeah. And yeah, he came in with like a Louis Vuitton bag filled with weed with his supplies. Medicinal, of course. And then right after us, Vince Gilligan and Brian Cranston from Breaking Bad were coming in because Breaking Bad's about the final- Also drug-related.

Yeah, exactly, right. Like we're in between, right? We're the buffer between those two things. So it was pretty cool. It was like, hey, you know, we're kind of doing this panel at a place that means something, you know, culturally. So that was an honor.

And Jason put the whole thing together. And like Julie said, the panel included Tara Stiles, who's a very well-known yoga teacher, and her husband, Michael Taylor. They're partners in Strala Yoga in New York. And Charlie Knowles, who's an expert meditation practitioner. Because both of those people also had online programs that debuted the same day as ours. So Charlie has a meditation program. Tara has a yoga program. So MindBodyGreen launched all three that evening.

And the event or the evening was all about kind of, it was a panel on wellness and kind of the intersection of technology and wellness and how we're all kind of leveraging technology to get our message out. But I think kind of between the lines, it was really about telling the public that we were going live with these online programs. Yeah, it was great. So it was cool. And Apple Store has a totally dialed in. They film the whole thing with multiple cameras and then they put it up as both an audio and a video podcast up on iTunes. There's in the iTunes store under podcast, they have events at the Apple store, so you can find it

there. But I also downloaded it and then uploaded it onto my YouTube page. So you can watch it on my YouTube page too. And I'll put the, I'll embed it on the show notes, in the show notes on the page for this episode. on the page for this episode. So what kind of pearls of wisdom did you drop on people during the panel? Well, I don't know. They should watch the video clip and then they can see it all. I think one that's been coming back to me, actually, it's funny because it's a title of a book that I've been, you know,

kind of kicking around. And it's a title of a book that I've been, you know, kind of kicking around. And it's the term extreme faith. So I think I responded to somebody asking, you know, how do you get through the tough times? And I've got a lot of Twitter messages and emails and Facebook messages saying, you know, yeah, extreme faith. Like they were connecting with that. Right. So I shared that. We're kind of having to deal with a little extreme faith. They were connecting with that. So I shared that. We're kind of having to deal with a little extreme faith right now.

Yeah, we are. I would say that was the energy of today, extreme faith. Definitely, definitely was. Our water heater broke today. We have no hot water. That's all right. That's just a little side something. Welcome Sunday morning, yeah morning yeah um no problem no we're you know we're trying to manage some financial stuff right now and it's requiring

extreme faith which i do have but it's not always easy yeah no it's not but do you isn't it kind of interesting how in the ego does it every time it's like okay so we we kind of get over some hurdle or we're struggling and struggling and we're experiencing that intense friction. It just feels like sandpaper. It's so painful or whatever. And then we break through and some amazing, miraculous grace comes and just is there and we're freaking out. It's so amazing. And then I think the ego.

Well, then you think it's like it's all going to be fine now well the ego yeah the ego just goes and goes okay we made it and now everything's going to be smooth and and we you know we burned in the fire and now you know we're at this platform and now it's going to be different and then just you know you get the the agitation and the and the challenge just comes again. And really, if you didn't go, if you didn't yo-yo into that other place, if you just stayed in neutral beyond going to, now everything's this way. Well, everything's never one way.

It's changing all the time. So the challenge and the practice is to access that neutral, calm place that holds both extremes. The great stuff and, well, the seeming great stuff and the seeming tragic stuff or difficult stuff. And if you can find that sort of middle place, you can just experience both extremes without losing your connection. just experience both extremes without losing your connection and this is where sadhana and meditation and practice and yoga and ultra training or whatever your version is you know for me it's devotion like it's really chanting and meditating and going deep and i need to get down and kiss the earth and get down and bow down, you know like sort of oh i thought

we were gonna have money and now maybe we're not and we've got to figure this out by next tuesday or whatever it is you know like um any kind of like you know sort of unexpected like not tension but like challenge you know that's presented to you well it's the great unknown right so right but like but my point being that how i how i navigate that you know like if i'm in a good place i'll be like hey man just you know it'll all be it's all gonna work out we just keep doing our thing we're focused on what we're focused on we know we're on the right path on the message you know and in my experience you know over the last 15 years like there's been it always works out one way or the you know like it always works out there's been way too many examples of that in my life to for you to be discounted for me to doubt yeah and yet you know

today i was like i got into a funk. You know, I was like, how are we going to solve this problem? What are we going to do? I don't know. I wasn't expecting this. And I'm like, oh, I'm not really, you know, I need to, you know, I need to get back to basics. Practice, practice.

That's why they call it practice. Right. But also the thing is, is don't lose heart because you know you've had amazing transformation and you know you're probably much harder on yourself than you need to be and a lot of times you know we're on a spiral so you go around the spiral and then you're you're at a different place on the spiral but it feels like you're in the same experience again but you're not in the same experience again because you're at a different place on the spiral, but it feels like you're in the same experience again. But you're not in the same experience again

because you're not the same person. And it's a different moment. And no moment is the same moment again. So you have to just release that. Yeah. That's easier said than done for me. But you're pretty good because we got hit with this thing and then you're like, okay, I you know like we just we got hit with this thing and then you're

like okay i'm gonna just you know be positive and you were like all day you're like i'm awesome everything's great and you've been maintaining this like really high energy positive energy and despite my multiple efforts to try to drag you down to my level you somehow uh figured out a way to stay clear of that. You know how I do that is I find my joy. I find, you know, I might be there for a minute and go, ooh, this doesn't feel very good. It doesn't, you know, I'm not liking this. But then I try to connect with the things that I know in my heart

that bring me joy. And so those are design creation. You know, I created a new recipe. You know, I made an amazing dinner for my family. I went out and looked at house paint colors because I'm dreaming about possibly shifting the colors of our house when we paint it. And that's creative and that's inspiring and that's uplifting. Those are also things you can control. So I think what happens to me is I develop a sense of powerlessness.

There's a situation arises and I can't figure out how to solve it and I don't really have much control over it, right? So that can set me down like a rabbit hole of like self-loathing into like some kind of shame spiral. You know what I mean? And you go, so what you're saying is, well, what do I have control over? Well, I can engage in an activity that I enjoy.

And that's something that I can do. That's like a tool I can rely on. I can meditate. I can do a yoga practice. I can go take a walk in nature. I can, you know, I can, they're, they're simple things. Well, and I think, but I think it's the power too, is, is you can feel the vibration. So it's like energy attracts energy, right? So that's, that's a, that's a, that's a law, a law, universal law. Like you can call it physics, right? Like we

were talking about the pain body yesterday and how you know eckhart tolle talks about the pain body and how the pain body gets elevated and will seek out a pain body in another individual right like having it to have an exchange with right do actually you could tell that funny story about getting pulled over by the cop oh well i got so i got pulled over by a cop a couple nights ago and um uh what i guess one of our headlights was out and i went from brights to just no brights and then he whipped you know pulled you and pulled me over and and uh he uh gave me coloring books for the girls but no you were like i don't know where the you know like you weren't sure you knew where any of

the documents were like i didn't have the right registration or the right insurance, but I have a registration insurance, of course, but I just, I didn't know where it was. And I handed him two documents that I'm certain were not even the right documents at all. And then he just came back and didn't give me a ticket and gave me two coloring books for the girls. Right. And when I came home, you were saying. two coloring books for the girls right and when i came home you were saying no i said so when you came home and you told me that story i said well i'm glad that it was you in the car and not me getting pulled over because i like you know i get activated easily but in you know situations where you know like there's authority looming over me right so i said i'm glad it was you not me

i probably would i would not have handled that situation as well as you had. And Mathis, our nine-year-old, said, why, Daddy? Like, why wouldn't you? What would have been the problem if it was you? And what did you say? I said, because his pain body would have become activated and would have seeked to connect with the policeman's pain body. There would have been a big altercation of some kind.

That's probably true. No, so I mean this is really, really important. This is important stuff, and you have to understand that you're not your pain body. That's a program that's in you. And so the warrior path and the way that you take responsibility and you really do have the ability is you practice neutral loving compassion you stay neutral you don't get into a charge there's

your power is in neutrality the real power is a neutral loving compassion for all things so even if you if you're in a position or in a situation and you don't agree or you know or or you know there's danger or you're scared or whatever finding that neutral place is the place that you avoid these explosions of experience right it's really powerful when i'm able to do that it that i definitely coast through challenging situations easily but it's's very, for me personally, it's very difficult to be neutral. Certain scenarios, situations carry a very heavy charge. And when I get in,

it's almost like I don't even have any control over how I react. Yes. And it's like a practice. And again, another barometer of where I'm at spiritually, like if I'm grounded and taking care of myself and doing all the things that I need to do to feel right with myself and the world,

then I can be neutral in those situations. But when I'm not or I blow them off, then I'll get activated and then I engage. And then before I know it, I'm in an argument. And for me, it's the worst days. It's usually the librarian. The librarians. That's a the librarian. The librarians. That's a really big trigger for Rich.

The librarians at the library definitely trigger me because I feel like they look at me like they just can't wait to say no to me, whatever I'm going to ask. So funny. I know. And then customer service people on the phone. Like when you call to pay, you know, like the cell phone bill or the gas bill or whatever it is I call up or I'm trying, I have a question about something and you get shuffled around and you

get, it makes me, I go insane. I know. So I'm like, you have to call these people because if I do I'm going to end up, our bill's going to get increased. But you know, the cool thing is, is now that's really the, the huge gift that yoga practicing yoga has, has awakened in me or given me. And it's really that, um, you know, you're in the practice and you're in the flow of postures or asanas and you're in what is a very strenuous,

you know, very, it's, it's really demanding a lot of you, but you're also relaxing at the same time. So you're in, you're finding neutral in whatever your body's doing, and then you're connecting to the breath. And so whenever I'm teaching yoga, I'm always calling the attention to the breath. And I often use the cue, whole body breathing, whole body breathing. So you feel like you're taking in prana or life force, not just from your mouth and your nose, but from your whole body, every part of your organism is inhaling and exhaling. So if you just switch your awareness and feel that, um, after you develop a practice and you do this, you know, over a period of time, that second attention gets activated in you. And it's almost like you have the observer awareness, which is activated always.

And then all this other stuff is going on. You might get angry. You might be really angry. You might be agitated. You might be upset. You might be really angry. You might be agitated. You might be upset. You might be happy. You might be, you know, any emotion. But beyond it is this other thing that's, it's like a constant light and it's just holding, it's holding all the polarity of experience yeah what it is is it allows you to create an arm's length distance between you and that emotion where you like you called it the observer you can observe that and say oh and i'm observing myself uh get agitated or angry about the situation but you can observe it in a dispassioned way where you're like isn't that interesting well hmm maybe i'll make another choice about how i want to react to that and that's when you realize that there

really is a distinction between your mind and your consciousness that these things are not the same thing you know that that you have a consciousness outside of the thinking mind that has domain over that mind if you develop the tools to control it so it doesn't control you. That's right. And the mind is a wonderful tool. Um, but, um, you should not be being controlled by your mind. Right. Well, we talked to, I mean, we talked about that with John Joseph. He was talking about that. Right. And as far as yoga goes, he made a good point that we always talk about all the time, which is that yoga is not gymnastics

and yoga is not about how well you can do these poses and all of that. It's really to prepare your mind and your spirit to get into a more transcendent place, right? So it's like all you go through this series of postures, rigorous series of postures that are all intended to quiet your mind so that you can get into a better mental and emotional and spiritual state. And that's why yoga ends with the Shavasana, which is the meditation portion of the class at the end

where generally you're lying down on your back. And in West LA, most people hit the road. You know, like they get their exercise part in and then as soon as it comes to the part about lying down, they leave. And like that's the whole the whole point of the class is to get you to that point where you can tap into a higher state of being that is the whole everything in in the class is prefatory to the shavasana to get you ready

for the shavasana and so to leave that's just that's not right. That's wrong. You know what I mean? And it's not any, I mean, you're just depriving yourself of the greatest benefit of it, I think, if you want to really do yoga the way yoga is supposed to be. That's right. Beautifully put, Rich Roll. You like that? When are we practicing together? I don't know.

We should probably put that to the test. Put that on the calendar. I it'd be great get a babysitter what else i don't know i have a feeling i was talking about something before we went this way and now well i talked to you i know i asked you about you know what came up during the the apple store panel and you were you mentioned something that you were asked about but we didn't so we did this panel it was awesome right we're like a hundred and some odd people there yeah and it was it was really cool too um because we had a lot of fans turn up from the podcast that's right so thanks you guys for coming out absolutely super sweet you know it's really funny i just got an

email from dean carnazes uh yesterday He's like, dude, I'm traveling through the Midwest and the South. He's like, everywhere I go, people are coming up to me and talking about your podcast. He's like, what's the deal with this podcast? He's like, when are you going to have me on? Like now, now like this guy who's, you know, arguably one of the most recognizable, most famous runners in the whole world is like telling, you got to have me on your podcast. I'm like, dude, anytime, you know, like, of course. But I thought that was so great. And that's because of you guys, man.

So awesome. That's the power of the pod, man. It is. Power of the pod. It's crazy powerful. So careful what you say. We love it. You know.

It's great. And so what else? We finished talking about new york no so no i want to talk a little bit about um so anyway so so charlie and and tara and are actually new you know new to us new friends and michael and michael new friends um we hadn't met before jason and actually he got us all together. And much to our delight, we have a lot in common with this group. They're all amazingly grounded and down to earth. Charlie and I were having some really big laughs about the comedic part of our spiritual journey. And he was talking about on the panel how, you know,

he was raised by hippie parents and there were lots of Indian masters and meditators at his house. And I kept thinking about how that's my house. That sounds like our house. So anyway, it was funny. That'll be, you know, Tyler and Trapper and 15 years. Well, my mom always had these people coming through our house. I know, I've had a lot. these people coming through our house. I know. I've had a lot.

It's been an interesting, colorful journey for sure. But anyway, I hope we're going to have Charlie on the podcast. Oh, yeah, for sure. We have a lot to talk about and really funny and really a lot of really grounded wisdom. And he obviously has the chops to teach the meditation. Yeah, and you should hear him talk about, like, how meditation can transform your life. I mean, you know, he's the real deal. He's amazing.

So check out his program, too. So that would be great. And then Tara, I had the great opportunity to practice yoga in New York, which was such a joy for me. I was able to get up every morning and rush off to a studio. So anyway, I had never met Tara morning and rush off to a studio. So anyway, I had never met Tara before and went to their amazing studio. I'm sorry, I don't know where it is. I don't know New York that well. It's called Strala. It's called Strala,

but I don't know what part of town it's in. I think it's near Union Square, I think. It's in New York. No, I think it's walking distance from the Apple store in Soho, right? Yeah, actually it's really close. But anyway, they have a beautiful studio, a really great room, and I jumped right into her class. And she really is just so down to earth and unassuming and delightful and actually very happy. So it had a very upbeat um you know simple flow energy and uh while she is quite extraordinarily um versed in all the asanas and what her body can do um her class is really um geared towards

everybody and um it was easy to jump in and flow and have a good time just kind of open up so um she's really delightful i'm really glad that I got a chance to practice with her. Right. So we have to have them on the podcast too. Yeah, absolutely. Next time we go to New York. That'd be great. Every time I leave New York, I think of like five more people I want to get on the podcast. So I have to go back there again soon. That's right. Hey Ben, get that couch ready. I know Ben. So Ben, you have to come to Jai. Okay. So let me know when you're going to come out so we can make some plans. We're going to cook together, actually. Ben and I are going to create some recipes.

All right. So it's going to be good. It's going to be good. We also got to go to CNN. Oh, yeah, that's right. And we got to see our dear friend, Ronnie. So Ronnie Selig, our go to CNN. Oh, yeah, that's right. And we got to see our dear friend, Ronnie. So Ronnie Selig, our friend at CNN. If you've been listening to the show, you heard her on an earlier episode. She is the director of the medical health and wellness unit at CNN in certain respects.

I guess she's Sanjay Gupta's boss. She's out of New York, and she's super cool. She's the kind of brains behind CNN fit nation and turned it into what it is today. And we've become friends. So we went over to CNN and she gave us a, I'd been there a couple of times, but Julie had never been there. So she got the full tour over at CNN. We got to go sit in Pierce Morgan's chair and sit in Anderson Cooper's chair and, you know, see how it's all done over there. It's pretty cool. It's quite a huge operation. I didn't realize how many employees she said thousands, right? Well in that, yeah. Well, I don't know if she met CNN overall, like, I don't know in that, in that building, you know,

it's a large building, a lot of stuff going on. Yeah, it was pretty cool. So that was fun. And then we went out to dinner with her. Yeah, and Ronnie is a really accomplished athlete. She had like over 60 medals hanging in her office, and I knocked them all over to the ground. You know, you're cheap. But anyway, she's incredible. So she's very dedicated and loves the sport.

Are they all – she said they're different distance races. She does, yeah, she's not really an Ironman triathlete. She does the shorter stuff. Right. Just because I think mostly the demands of her job are so insane. But she just loves triathlon. She loves running. She loves multi-sport.

And it really shows in what she's done with the cnn fit nation program and which where they take people you know sort of every man people um from across the u.s and train them over the course of the year and get them ready to do their first triathlon which they're going to be doing in malibu again in the summer right yeah so they'll be coming out here again which should be cool we hosted them last year and uh they spent the pre-race evening at our house and Cafe Gratitude catered and the boys and I played a couple songs and they were just, they were so amazing and it was so rewarding to see them.

Yeah, it was cool. It was kind of a, it was a pretty surreal moment for us because we were like, hey, we'll host you guys, you know, why don't you guys just all have have your pre-race dinner over at our house? We're pretty close to where the swim start is and all that kind of stuff. So fast forward to this dinner, and we have Sanjay Gupta and his wife and all the Danielle DeLordo and Caitlin Hogan and Matt Sloan, all these CNN people.

Chrissy Wellington was at our house. That's right. And Sarah Reiner. Hagen and Matt Sloan, all these CNN people, Chrissy Wellington was at her house and, uh, Sarah Reiner stint, like everybody got up and like gave like a little pre race, like inspirational speech for the CNN fit nation athletes. And it was pretty, it was a pretty special, amazing evening to see all those people. Right. Amazing. And all the, all the, all the, uh, athletes, right. It's incredible. It's amazing. And all the athletes. It's incredible.

No, it's cool. And then to be at the race the next day and to watch them cross the finish line. I mean, there's something about triathlon that is really transformative for people. When you saw the expressions of these people crossing that finish line, doing something they never thought

they would ever be able to do. Like it's really powerful. Yeah. You know, it's a great thing that they do with that program. So we're looking forward to supporting that again. So then we go, so we have the tour at CNN and then we're,

we got to dinner with Ronnie and her husband, um, to, uh, Stuart to, uh, blossom, blossom cafe on the Upper West Side.

And the waiter- Tell them about Blossom. So Blossom is an amazing plant-based, it's a vegan restaurant on the Upper West Side. There's a couple of them in New York. It was great. It was definitely one of my favorites. Yeah, I'd been to the one in the West Village

on Carmine Street a couple of times, but I'd never been to the Upper West Side one. And the menu was different there. But anyway, super delicious. It was great. What did you have? I had… Oh, you had some like burger situation.

I can't remember. I think I had like a quinoa burger or something like that. Yeah. It was good. I had some like a mushroom saute with asparagus that had a very kind of French vibe to it, and it was really tasty. It was great. Yeah, it's damn good. Yeah. And our waiter

is a fan of the podcast and had started his own podcast. Do you remember his name? I'm going to get reamed now because I don't remember his name but he started a podcast. Diego. Oh yeah, I think you're right. I think it's Diego. Diego. Hey, Diego. Right. Thanks for the love at the restaurant. Yeah, on Twitter I I think he's walking alone NYC

and he started a podcast, which I think is called Walking Alone in New York or something like that. But I'll put it, I'm going to, please don't hate me because I don't remember the details of this, but I'll put it up a link in the show notes to his show. And yeah, he gave us the 15%

Rich Roll podcast discount for dinner, which was pretty awesome. So thanks for that, man. I'll be a Blossom fan for life for that. That's right. Which is pretty cool. It's a great restaurant. Thank you so much.

So yes, man, good trip to New York and lots of wellness happening. I mean, you know, for such a big city, I mean, it's really like everywhere you go, there's like juice bars and yoga studios and, you know, it's kind of all happening in New York in a good way. Yeah, what's that other place that we ate at? Is it called Pure Food? Pure Food and Wine. Yeah, that was.

And then their kind of takeout around the corner called One Lucky Duck, which they have all sorts of good products and stuff like that. Yeah, the food is amazing, right? That's totally raw, yeah totally raw but like that's very gourmet that's very high-end yeah she she fancy restaurant was great it was a lovely but quite good lovely room the patio on the back was great um so overall good trip to new york we came back and uh yeah what are we doing now what are we doing now? What are we doing now?

We're doing a podcast. We're doing a podcast right now. We're building the podcast. We're going to be focusing on getting some new products out to you. Like I said, we're redoing the website and we're taking a hard look at doing some workshops and retreats. Actually, we're going to meet about that tonight. Yeah, we have a big meeting tonight. So actually, you know know what would be helpful is

if you are interested in maybe doing a training retreat or a plant-based nutrition retreat or a workshop or weight loss or whatever. Or relationships. Put a comment on the show notes page for this episode at richroll.com and just say what you would be interested in, what kind of an event would interest you.

You know what I mean? So we can put that in our brains and think about that a little bit. That's right. And I'd like to do something new that I haven't done yet. I'd like to give a free recipe right now. Can I share what I made for dessert for you guys? Okay, cool.

I saw it. I was like, I gotta have to Instagram that because that looks too damn good. And I was like, get away. I'm not done yet. Don't take a picture yet. No, so it's just the berries in Los Angeles have been amazing. So I got a lot of organic blueberries and organic raspberries. And I created this chia seed banana pudding,

maybe last week, I Instagrammed it, but I wanted to use it in a in a parfait, I guess they call, you know, when you sort of layer the berries with the pudding, and then with some other stuff. So anyway, I started with just a beautiful clear glass, and I put about a quarter of the, no, about, I'd say a third of a cup of blueberries in the bottom. And then I made this banana chia seed pudding, which basically consists of ripe bananas, chia seeds, filtered water, coconut oil, and a little agave. Oh, and vanilla bean. And you put that in the Vitamix? No, I put that, well, you could, but I just did that in the food processor.

How much of each? Well, probably about, I'll write the recipe in the show notes, but probably about a half a cup a sheet of seeds and then put really sort of four cups of filtered water or maybe three and a half cups and how many bananas four really ripe bananas like better they're better the more ripe they are darker no well soft you know so it's like if you're going to make a banana bread you want the

you know you want them ripe because the flavor gets really um brought out um and then a whole vanilla bean so vanilla beans you, you get them in the spice section and you have to slice them lengthwise and then scrape the black vanilla bean out of the middle. And this is the secret ingredient. And then depending on your taste, because see, the bananas are already pretty sweet. So if you're, you know, very plant acclimated, you may not really need much sweetener. But otherwise, I would do maybe like a third of a cup of agave, organic agave. So then process that up and let that sit for a minute.

That's very pudding-y like. The chia seeds, you have to put them in filtered water first though and soak them and kind of stir them and let them become gelatinous. Yeah, before you put them in the processor. and kind of stir them and let them become gelatinous. Yeah, before you put them in the processor. So then I got a can of organic coconut cream that I kept in my refrigerator. And in the Vitamix, I opened that up and I drained the liquid. There'll be some liquid on one end of the can, like on the bottom of the can. So scoop out the vanilla cream on the top,

being careful not to get too much liquid in it. end of the can like on the bottom of the can so scoop out the vanilla cream on the top being careful not to get too much liquid in it and then i put about three tablespoons of cacao raw cacao powder and about a third of a cup of agave and just vitamix that up and then um so i'm going back to the glass i have the blueberries in the. Then I scooped in a serving of the banana chia seed pudding. Then I put fresh raspberries in between. And then I topped it with the chocolate coconut cream. And there's a raspberry on the top. And the other cool thing is we've started to grow our own food at Jai.

It's very rudimentary right now, but we had a beautiful blessing. Somebody sent us a tower, garden tower. Tower garden. Tower garden. So anyway, so one of the things that I'm growing, and we're going to do, I'll give you more information about that,

but we're going to do, give you more information. But I'm growing a stevia plant, which I actually didn't even know existed. It's an organic stevia plant. And so I'm going to garnish this dessert with stevia leaves. And if you eat the stevia leaf, it tastes like sugar. Yeah, it's amazing. You gave me a leaf the other day. You're like, taste this. I thought it was mint and i ate it and i was like well i know it's crazy yeah well that sounds delightful yeah so it's a good summer delicious dessert yeah and that's going to be in uh in our new cookbook and uh i'm working on that that's in development and uh there you go so it's a it's a brand new recipe. Cool. All right. Well, I think that's a good place to end it.

Okay. Let's wrap it up. So we'll put the specifics of that recipe in the show notes. And we're going to be coming back at you really soon. Right now, I did want to give one last shout out, though. My buddy Christian Isaacson is in the middle of doing Ultraman Canada. Oh, that's great. Today's day two.

Yeah, after day one. He was in third. That's huge. After day one. Yeah, and I talked to him last night on the phone, and he sounded good. So I haven't found out how he's doing through day two yet, but I'm anxious to hear. So Christian, if you're listening to this, we're thinking about you. We're sending good vibes.

By now you've, obviously the race is over, but as of the moment that we're recording this, you're probably just finishing the day two bike. And we're hoping that you get a good ice bath and get ready for that big run. That's right. You're going to kill it tomorrow. So that's it for now.

Lots of good guests coming up soon. And that's it. We're taking it to the next level. Oh, yeah. We should probably tell people where they can find the ultimate guide to plant-based nutrition if they're so inclined. That's right. Where would somebody find this? You can find that at mindbodygreen.com.

Yeah, M-I-N-D-B-O-D-Y-G-g-r-e-e-n.com that's right that's the place that's where to find the ultimate guide to plant-based nutrition you can also find tara styles and michael taylor's yoga program and charlie knolls knolls knolls's meditation program there we all worked really hard on these programs we're all really proud of them. They're all top-notch, super high quality. And remember, they link it all together. So it's mind, body, and spirit. That's right. So all three areas necessary for a victorious life of Jai.

Absolutely. So anyway. Yeah, mindbodygreen.com. All right. So thanks for tagging along. Thanks, Julie, for dropping by the podcast. Thanks, honey. Always a delight.

It's lovely. We have lots of great content coming at you, lots of great guests lined up that I'm just finalizing the schedule on. And you have a podcast of your own that we're going to be getting ready to launch pretty soon too. That's right. I'm super excited. It's called Divine Throughline,

and it's going to be geared toward the hero's journey in everybody's life. Just the next show in building this little podcast network empire that we're working on here. We're going to corner the market in health and wellness. That's right. And podcasting. All right. I got to tune out. I'm starting to lose it. All right. All right. Thanks for dropping by. Thanks so much. All right. Until next time. Deep thanks. Namaste. Peace. Inside city Crumbling And she's tumbling

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And all your love, pleasure, and love Oh, what a sweet and sweet love Thank you. Inside sitting crumbling And she's tumbling Moving no control Moving up in trouble In the winds it rolls away It's thunder Beyond the fear All you can do is watch me just a bug on the road

outside inside nowhere afterwards we were all Nowhere Afterwards We were all Still here No blood No blood

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