How Their Health Struggles Became Their Mission w/ Hunter Stoler & Jasyra Santiago-Hines

24:01Hunter Stoler:And obviously it's a very caloric food. And then now I reintroduced peanut butter into my life. I have it in my fridge, my pantry, everywhere. And I don't even think twice about it. So I think being aware of your trigger foods, things that, you know, you could definitely overeat or overindulge in even ice cream things like that and just stop buying them because you're just hurting yourself when you do that for yourself yeah i love that advice the other day i was at a conference speaking and this one mom came up to me afterwards and she was like my kids just eat so much junk food and i was like yeah it's really hard to control when they're out like we've got to teach them blah blah blah and she goes no in my house and i said you're the gatekeeper exactly You're the one buying the food that comes in the house.

24:43So just don't buy it.

24:44Hunter Stoler:Exactly. Especially if the mom. Well, they just love it so much. And I was like, you're the gatekeeper. Yes. They're not buying it. You are. Completely agree. But then it works for an adult as well. Know what your trigger foods are. But also, if you're the mom buying food for your house and you're like, I just keep buying the goldfish and my kids keep eating a pack a day, you're the one buying the goldfish. Right. You know? The kids aren't going to understand, especially little kids, about certain ingredients. if it's there they're gonna eat it because mom bought it yeah okay but that explains why you love our peanut butter protein love is an understatement i'm obsessed and the ninja creamies have you tried the vanilla peanut butter yes but i'm i think i think peanut butter needs chocolate okay so i'm just obsessed with mixing them that makes sense now all right jesira the one thing for me is bread like therapy i feel like since i started that it helps with my inflammation has been helping with it if I have any like localized pain but also because I have Hashimoto's it has lowered my TPO.

25:45Interesting. Now I do red light all day and if you have not gotten the higher dose red light shower filter I highly recommend. Oh a shower filter. Yes. Okay explain what this is. So it's like a red light on in your shower. Yes there's a shower filter and it's just the red light ring over top of it and you could take a red light shower every single day And when I go on vacation, I miss it. Like, I miss my shower. I need that because a lot of times I run out of time for red light. So just do it while you're showering. Yeah. You're obsessed. Us moms, we're so busy. We're business owners. How can you do all the things?

26:21So I have a stack. Take a shower. Put your red light. I listen to my, like, audio books or podcasts while I shower. And I try to do as much as possible during my shower. Oh, that's amazing. Okay, I'm going to have to try that. That's a good tip. Let's take a quick break to hear from our show sponsor. Q4 Quinn is rethinking the basics you wear every single day. Bras, underwear, socks, zero hormone disrupting chemicals, and organic materials with biodegradable options. Same essentials, just better for your body and the planet. Their founder, Melita, started the company eight years ago when she could not find organic cotton socks for her son with eczema.

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27:44Now back to the show. okay so being health and wellness influencers there is a lot of noise out there and it's really hard for people to believe like well do i believe this person or that person they're saying different things they're contradicting each other so the noise is so loud out there so what do you say to your listeners about that or your followers also you have to remember social

28:08Hunter Stoler:media for the most part is a highlight reel of course there's outliers like both of you who have shared your stories. And, you know, it's not always a highlight. However, for most people, it could definitely be a highlight reel. You're not showing when you mess up while speaking, you're not showing when you overeat or just feel sick or whatever it is. And I think it's important that you can't duplicate someone's exact experience or routine and expect the same outcomes. Because again, unless you're with that person 24 hours a day, you don't know what is actually happening, how they're feeling, what they're eating, what they're taking, anything like that.

28:41Hunter Stoler:So that's really important to me. And seeing it as both someone who goes on social media and follows people and someone who's a creator who people follow. I think it's so important as a creator to share. I think people also relate to the realistic routines that we share and they love the product recommendations and advice that we share and what's helped all of us along our health or weight loss journeys. And just being very approachable and personable, I think that that's what's really important. But just to remember, you cannot duplicate what someone else is doing and expect the exact same results because different supplements, different foods, different home products, they all work differently for different people.

29:23Yeah. So I have a question though for you, because when I tell my story of depression, people are like, you're talking about cleaning supplies. Like why? That has nothing to do with depression. And I can always back it up being like, no, cleaning supplies affect your hormones, whatever. But do people be like, you lost weight? What does this have to do with losing weight? Why do you care about the better underwear you're wearing or the better cleaning supply that you're showing?

29:47Hunter Stoler:I think I have a few different layers to answer this. I think, first of all, cleaning up different areas of your life that aren't just nutrition, sometimes it's easier and simpler than cleaning up your diet because people are very, and people are also very emotionally attached to their Tide and Windex and the smells of those. And all of us know, and most of your listeners probably know that when you walk down a Target cleaning aisle and you walk by the tide and the very artificial fragrances, you get a headache. And I feel like my brain's going to explode. So when you remove the toxins in other areas of your life, and again, it doesn't mean you need to be 100 % perfect, you feel so much better.

30:23Hunter Stoler:And I'm so much more inspired to make better decisions when it comes to my nutrition, my fitness, and just my overall life. And I always say, like focus on getting 1 % better every day. If you're able to swap out your boxers for organic cotton boxers, which I think is one of the easiest swaps you could make, why not do that? Then maybe your shorts or your jeans or shirts could come next. Or if you're able to swap your laundry detergent for another one that's scented, that saves you money. Why would you not want to make that change? And those are the things that are much simpler for me to make.

30:54Hunter Stoler:And again, going back to weight loss, I think it is so much harder to maintain your weight loss than it is to lose the weight because once you see those numbers trickling down, like we have some friends who are on weight loss journeys and things like that, it's very motivating and it's like a game to try to get to reach your goal weight. And maintaining is, it is very hard. And especially for someone like us who, and you, who try so many new products, not even your own, but just other products that you get, like I want to eat it all. So it's very hard to do that all in moderation. but again it's very important that we sort of act as models and we're very realistic about it and share the wins the ups and downs but you know especially as someone whose content mainly focuses on health and wellness and weight loss it's really important that people understand that maintaining weight is sometimes much harder than it is to just lose the weight and it's not like you reach the finish line like a marathon and you're done it's a forever ongoing battle that you always have to work on.

31:55The original question was about the loud noise and all of that. What do you tell your followers? For me, it's to listen to your gut and listen to your intuition because I feel like I have a pretty good intuition. And I always, for some reason, I'll tell someone what I think. And I'm like, don't take this as fact, but this is what I feel in my intuition. And I end up being right. So I always tell people just, you know, listen to your gut. And I feel like when you listen to your gut, you kind of feel like who you can trust. And I feel like that's how I've been able to feel like who I can trust. I love that advice.

32:29That is important. Okay. I'm curious with all the loud noise out there. What is one thing that's out there that drives you crazy, like a topic or a lesson or something that you wish you could teach people? Like it's not true.

32:43Hunter Stoler:You go first. I need to think. Lead. Lead in everything. Oh, you're eating. That's filled with lead. Oh, my God. There's so much misinformation on lead and the lead fear base accounts drive me crazy. And I'm sure they drive you crazy. Yes, because the spinach you're eating, the carrots you're eating, the strawberries you're eating, all of it has lead. But also the part that everybody misses is they have cofactors as well to help get the lead out of your body. Lead paint does not. So that's why lead paint is an issue. lead in the food all those cofactors the glutathione the b vitamins that i mean there's a whole list of them it will help pull the lead out of your body we also learned a lot about this at redmond yesterday because you know redmond was under some criticism by a few people about having lead and we're like this is not contaminated with lead after it's created by mankind you know right and it's just a naturally occurring thing and when foods or you know whatever you want to call salt like a condiment or just salt gets, you know, it's grown in the ground and not genetically engineered in a lab.

33:50Hunter Stoler:Like everything is susceptible to a contaminant like lead, you know? Yeah. Well, and that salt is from the earth. Like you guys saw, like you go 500, 800 feet under the ground and it's got other trace minerals in it. It's not bleached. It's not deodorized. It's not, you know what I mean? It's just true salt from the earth. Yeah. So I know. Okay. What about you? What was the question again? Oh yeah. Like one thing out there in the health world that you wish people didn't believe, or you knew. Again, I'm really just going to go back to perfectionism. And I think people think that they really do need to be perfect every single day to see results.

34:27Hunter Stoler:And I was not perfect along my weight loss journey and focusing on the small incremental changes that truly add up because they add up so drastically. And when it's not a remove, it's not an all or nothing diet. It's not, you know, restricting your favorite foods. We eat chocolate, we eat ice cream, we eat everything that we like. And it's all about finding the healthier swaps. And I also will say, I want to talk about price for a second, because you could definitely relate to this as having a very high quality supplement line. And people think that, you know, it's impossible to be healthier and also be budget friendly and aware your products are now on like thrive market i see your they're everywhere and i'm sure they'll be in so many more places soon and what i always say is stock up on your products whether they're just ingredients or any brand out there when there are these really big sales because your protein powders or your sparkling electrolytes they're not expiring in one month unless you're buying them on a clearance like that so for 99.9 percent of products out there utilize resources like Thrive Market that price match.

35:30Hunter Stoler:Utilize the sales, the Amazon Prime Days, the site-wide birthday sales that are 20, 25 % off. And I want everyone to really think about where they're putting and allocating their money. Because if you have$100, but you have a family of four and you're going to Chipotle or Chick-fil-A, it could be 15, even McDonald's,$15 a meal or more. And people say it about all the protein powders, you know, but if yours is between two and three dollars a serving, you probably know the exact math without a discount code or anything, you go and get a smoothie every day, which I get smoothies out sometimes. It could be 15 to 20 dollars.

36:08Hunter Stoler:And then people will have the nerve to complain about a protein powder that you can make at home with just milk and ice or water and ice. So it's really important to think about things in that perspective and to realize that just because some people are saying something is too expensive, that's their excuse for not making the changes for better health. I hate that excuse because one, I'm like, there are a ton of things you can do for free. You can go walk out in the sunlight. You can prioritize your sleep. You can change your mindset. I mean, there's so many things you can do for free. And then I'm like, people, real food's expensive.

36:40It just is. It's more expensive, but be smart, buy it on sale. But then I say it's expensive, but then I just made a reel about Starbucks pumpkin spice latte. It was over$8 for the thing by the time I paid tax and tip and everything. And I'm like, but you guys are complaining about my protein powder, which is like$2 and something a serving. That's not even close. So, yeah, I get that mentality.

37:04Hunter Stoler:I can't with Starbucks. And it kills me when I go, when I'm, you know, I'm building in New York City. Obviously, there's a Starbucks in every corner. And I see people walking out of Starbucks and a lot of nurses, sadly. You definitely know this. And they have the caramel frappuccinos. And this isn't judging. It's just my observation. And it's just so sad that that's what's being brought into the hospitals to help people with their illnesses and emergencies. And I'm talking about the whipped cream and all the caramel drizzle. And I'm like, oh, God. Yeah. Oh, yeah. My dad, he I was telling him the foot mapping.

37:38Hunter Stoler:What is that? Foot mapping? Foot zoner. Foot zoner. Heidi, who's incredible about this because she was asking me about discs in my back. and I was like my dad actually had to have disc surgery a few years ago and I remember like being in the room after his surgery and seeing what they were bringing him and I was like and this was like when I was just starting to learn about ingredients and I was like oh no let me get you food I'm like what is coming on in this world it's terrible I know we just had a doctor that aired this week actually talk about this like look we weren't given nutrition classes in medical school.

38:12We don't know this. Doctors are busy. If they don't go learn it on their own, they don't learn it. So I know it's a sad situation we live in that doctors and nurses don't know it unless they learn it on their own. Yeah. Yeah. I only had one nutrition course. Oh yeah. You being a nurse yourself, you know, that's so interesting. All right. So instead of stuff driving you crazy, let's talk about the good stuff. What's one thing that you're excited about in the health and wellness space right now? I'm really excited that you can go to Target and learn healthy products now. You can find just ingredients and you can and they transform their baby section and there's Apple baby and there's so many things like when we started you couldn't go anywhere you had to order online.

38:56The fact that we are changing the world because we our bases are so powerful that we were able to get so many healthy stuff in Target and Walmart and Whole Foods and Sprouts. That gets me so excited that I could pick up your protein anywhere now. It's crazy at Target, isn't it? I love it. Like all the time, it's my friends' brands because it's people that I've met through the D2C selling online world. And then I'm like, ah, they're here. I love it. Yeah, I love what Target's doing with that.

39:27Hunter Stoler:And those buyers and the category leaders at Target, they want to see more better free products in every category, which is so, I guess, comforting and reassuring because it shows that it's going in the right direction. Right. I definitely echo that about Target. And I just think, you know, going to the Expos, the Expo West and all of those trade shows, seeing new brands that I've never heard of, seeing people care more about ingredients. And once they make the leap to swapping out their oils, swapping out their cookware, because cookware, you know, it truly matters. And, you know, it's like a one time investment.

40:03Hunter Stoler:And then you have amazing, non toxic cookware for years. And again, shop the sales, Amazon Prime Day, like it's insane. I think seeing all of these changes slowly but surely add up and it just helps people. It helps us understand that we're truly making a difference. And also nothing beats like those incredible testimonials that we get from people we've never heard of in our lives in our DMs just saying, and I'm sure you get it every single hour, every minute, you know, like your products or your advice or your graphics changed my life and you make it so easy. And for someone who doesn't have a lot of time, like now I know what to buy and avoid at Target or Whole Foods or any or online on Amazon.

40:44Hunter Stoler:And I think that technology is really on our side with this because there's just so many places to shop. And it's so great being able to compare prices and, you know, seeing so many more companies create better for you items as well. I know I love seeing how many more companies there are out there because like you said, well, my health journey started like 15 years ago. And imagine that back then there was none of this good stuff around. You just made stuff from scratch. Even gluten-free, like you're gluten-free. And I remember like when I first started six years ago when I was finding products, there was nothing gluten-free.

41:19Hunter Stoler:And now you walk down any aisle at a Better Free Store aisle and almost everything's gluten-free. Yeah. It's incredible. And it tastes good. I have to say that airports need to do better. Oh, airports and restaurants still need to. Not aubergine. That is true. Aubergin was amazing. Everything is gluten-free there, right? Yep. And seed oil-free and made with real food. And shout out to Aubergin. Yeah. Delicious. Everything we've had. Yeah. Now they just need to bring one to New York for you guys. No, seriously. But you guys do have a lot of good choices in New York. Yes. When we were there, I was like, oh my gosh, I could eat out so many different places.

41:55Hunter Stoler:We need some. Jesus. I'm actually from Philly. Yeah. Oh, that's right. I keep saying New York and it's because when I'm in New York, I see you. Yeah. Oh my gosh. I knew you were from Philly. We had our event in New York. So yeah. But. Pop skipping away, I always say. Yeah, because every time I'm in New York, you were there. But New York's booming with all of these Better For You cafes, restaurants, so many seed oil free finds, which is incredible. And we need a just ingredients frozen yogurt. We discussed that earlier. We did discuss that. That is like a dream passion. We're going to work on it, though.

42:26Hunter Stoler:We need it. It's going to be amazing. But I love that there's better choice products now because people are demanding it and people are waking up and learning this stuff and therefore the companies are wanting to provide for them. So I do love that change in the health and wellness space as well. Okay, so I have one last question for you. If you only had one last post to make on your Instagram, what would it say? It's your last post. You're done teaching. What's your very last words of wisdom? I love that question because this is something that I tell people every single day and it goes into like fearing everything take it one day at a time this one day at a time so that's your biggest piece of advice for them yeah okay hunter mine would be since i focus a lot both of us do but my content is really on you know in-store healthy swaps you know swap these chips for this this oil for this or new finds at the grocery store not just to identify the products but understand why i love those products you know why i like the ingredients there's minimal ingredients they're all real food ingredients, whether it's organic or not, glyphosate free, all of that.

43:30Hunter Stoler:And to actually understand why we, all of us recommend certain products instead of just being like, oh, I need to look for this, like so that they could also, people could also educate themselves on what to look for because, you know, not all of us, it's physically impossible to review every single product at the grocery store and for people to become educated so that they are empowered as well. I love that. So you're going to tell them, be educated yourself because knowing allows you to make the better choice or allows you to make a choice without knowing you don't have a choice to make. Yes.

44:03Hunter Stoler:Knowledge is power. Yes. I love that. Well, thank you so much, you guys, for being here. I always end my podcast with asking five rapid fire questions. Let's do it. And so you got to just answer them quick. Okay. All right. The first one is what emerging health topic excites you most? I'll say learning about peptides. I think that there's so much to learn and, you know, the quality matters. And I'm so excited to learn more because I know in the next year I'm going to become so much more educated on it. Yeah, that's something I've been trying to learn about, too. And we've had a few doctors on here talking about it.

44:36But I do need to learn more about peptides. I feel like mine goes into more of a personal level because I have Hashimoto's. I want to like really dial in to learn more about the thyroid. Oh, I love that. OK, number two, what's a piece of advice you give to your younger self?

44:50Hunter Stoler:again I think taking it like one day at a time one remember making one swap at a time and not doing a complete overhaul of your home for me is just being encouraging and saying like you're gonna do good like everything is gonna work out I love that yep like when times get hard just remember things are gonna work out and to go into things with a positive attitude we were talking about that earlier like if you go into something negative and thinking that you're gonna fail like you're going to fail but going into things positive or at least neutral like it definitely helps your odds yeah because your mind gets to choose so if you're already telling yourself it's going to be terrible it is going to be even with posting social media content online so many people oh why are you doing that it's so embarrassing when you first start and then once you get 10 ,000 100 ,000 followers people are like can you teach me so just remember like that is true that is true I love that.

45:45That makes me laugh because like my first couple posts, I had some friends that are like, what are you doing? And even some siblings are like, what are you doing? And I'm like, okay. Number three, what's the one health practice you'll never compromise on no matter how busy life gets?

46:01Hunter Stoler:I would say, I feel like I know what you're going to say. You go first. I was going to say my red light. I knew it. I knew it. Did you bring your red light on the trip? I have my loom box, yes, and my Bond torch face mask. Oh my gosh, I love it. I would say my biggest thing is prioritizing protein. I am not someone who could fast all day. I can't go until dinner without eating. And I don't let food noise get in the way of everything, but I need to start my day with protein and fiber. And it's really important to me. And even if I'm not hungry, I'd always want to get ahead of my hunger. I love that.

46:36I am the same way. If I don't have a good hearty protein breakfast, it's like I'm ruining the whole rest of the day. But if I can start with that protein, I'm good. Good. Yeah, I love that. Okay, number four, what's your favorite just ingredients product and why?

46:51Hunter Stoler:I am going to say it's electrolytes for me. I thought you were going to say peanut butter. Something with peanut butter. So, I mean, I love the peanut butter, but I will say. Okay, go back to electrolytes. But I do want to say this because it's very important, and I've been seeing it become a lot more popular on social media. I'm not naming names, but so many electrolyte companies are sodium bombs, and they have a thousand milligrams of sodium, 800 milligrams of sodium. And I think there's a time and place for that. But for the normal person and I work, we both work out. I sweat a lot. I do cycle classes, hit classes.

47:22Hunter Stoler:I'm sweating, but people do not need 99 % of people who work a traditional job in an office. They're very sedentary. You do not need two, a thousand milligram sodium packets a day. And what I love about yours is it's obviously flavored with all real food, perfect ingredients. and the best part is so many flavors to choose from. The variety is incredible. There's 100 milligrams, unless you get the performance for athletes, of course. And I go through the lemonade. We love the peach. I go through strawberry, like all of the flavors. Right now I have blue Hawaiian and there are 100 milligrams and I don't need to feel guilty thinking that I'm having a sodium bomb if I'm having two or three a day and they help you get more water in.

48:00I love that. Well, thank you for saying that.

48:02Hunter Stoler:It's important because no one considers the sodium. people look at the protein in certain products and the calories and sugar. And people don't realize that sodium is very important because, and I'm not saying it needs to be the most looked at thing on the label, of course not. But when it comes to electrolytes, people think they're just like for fun and they could be for fun, but you don't need that much. And I know, I personally know people who are having three a day of the 800 ,000 milligrams sodium per serving, and they're wondering why they feel puffy and they just don't need that. You also get sodium in food.

48:37Yeah. Well, and also sodium and potassium are a pump that work together in your body. And so to me, the potassium is more important. And so we have a three to one ratio because the potassium helps pull the water into the cell to actually truly hydrate the cell. And so everybody knows sodium because of salt, but people don't really know about potassium, but potassium is really key in hydrating the cells. So there you go. A little science lesson. All right, Josaira, your favorite. That's a hard question because I literally use multiple things. Well, thank you. Thank you. So I'm going to give you two because I think two is relatable.

49:14So I told you about the energy drink. I never liked it. Monsters never liked this. Celsius none of that because I hated the taste. And when you came out with your energy drink, I'm always fatigued because of Hashimoto's. And I gave it a try. and I just like I feel like within 30 minutes I felt like my mind wasn't cloudy and I didn't have like the jitters because I don't do very well with caffeine and that's why I'm like not a coffee person or anything and it just gives you this like clean energy and it tastes amazing and I was just shocked because I'm not an energy drinker now the second one is a deodorant because I know this is a struggle for a lot of people when you switch to deodorant even hunter hunter asked me what deodorant do you use?

49:55My husband and my sister, my sister was like, I have not found any natural deodorant. I stink. I'm terrible. And I'm like, have you tried just ingredients? Well, good. Well, thank you.

50:05Hunter Stoler:Could you talk about for like 10 seconds why they're magnesium based? Yeah. So you need something to actually neutralize the bacteria that is causing the odor. And so you can use magnesium charcoal. Some use like baking soda, but baking soda is like irritating to a lot of people and so you do need something that will help neutralize the the odor awesome and so magnesium is what helps neutralize that but what's interesting if the deodorant doesn't work for you you actually may be so low in magnesium that your body is just like soaking in that magnesium rather than using it to help neutralize the bacteria so i don't know a little tip yeah some and a lot of people do need more magnesium in their life.

50:49So, okay. Very last question. What is the best ingredient you've found to life?

50:54Hunter Stoler:I would say adaptability. Ooh, I like that. I don't know if anyone has said that one before. So happy I'm the first. Yeah. I would say adapting to situations based off of those circumstances is so important. And just knowing your surroundings and understanding like who you're around, what to say when you're around certain groups of people. And, you know, that I think adaptability is so important. I love that even in the health and wellness space. Of course. Adapt to the new things that you're learning and don't be stuck on something that we thought 20 years ago. And I love that. And it also goes along with like perfectionism because if you're at a restaurant and they're like, we don't know what oil we use, like just adapt, don't make a scene and just get right back on track right after.

51:37Right. I love that. All right. The best ingredient. I feel like mine is kind of similar as like being flexible because you can't like this life is so many toxins everywhere. You can't be perfect. So being flexible and like the choices that you make and not trying to be like concrete on like, you know, I'm on vacation. I cannot have seed oils. And I'm like, that's almost impossible in a lot of places. So just being flexible in what you do. I do love that because I love that you were in Hawaii recently and you showed like I am at this Disney resort. There isn't great choices, but I'm making the best I can.

52:13but if I have seed oils and it is what it is but at home I'm going to choose otherwise oh I love that I love just talking with you guys chit-chatting but tell my listeners your handles again one more time you guys go follow them because they are a wealth of knowledge as you can tell you will learn so much from them and so tell them again where they can find you you can find me on every platform

52:35Hunter Stoler:you can think of and is at I am Josira and I am at health with hunter on instagram facebook tiktok and YouTube. Okay. Love it. Thank you listeners for being here. Thank you so much you guys for coming. And again, listeners go give them a follow. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for being here and being part of this community. Don't forget to subscribe to the Just Ingredients podcast. We've got so much more to share with you. And if you're not already, come join us daily on all social media platforms at just.ingredients. Until next time, keep choosing what nourishes you.