Peloton's Robin Arzón Believes In Proteinmaxxing & The Power Of A Wawa Hoagie

0:00Hi, and welcome to Snacks, the podcast where we dive into the crazy food habits of your favorite stars. Today, we're talking to someone who totally embodies strength, power, and joy. She's a complete boss on and off the Peloton bike. She's a motivational speaker, bestselling author. She's also now a cookbook author and an ultra marathon runner. So obviously, we need to dive into what actually keeps her going. Please welcome Robin Arzón. We'll be right back. When you want your spring break to feel like... And your kid's pool day to feel like... And your hotel bed to feel like... Ooh, and room service to feel like...

0:49Because at Hilton, hospitality feels like...

0:53Robin Arzón:Your cabana's ready. Would you like fresh towels? It matters where you stay. Book now at Hilton.com. Hilton. For this day. We are so excited that you're here. I'm personally so excited because I'm a huge Peloton fan. And I've been watching, stalking, taking your... I was like, I should have had this interview on a bike today. We should have been biking. Listen, say less. I would have been happy to do that. I know. We don't just break out into burpees if you'd like. I don't want to do that because burpees are the worst. However, what's your perfect snack to eat on a bike? Do you eat on the bike?

1:29You know what? Oftentimes it's before or after. Okay. So never during. You haven't put anything in the cup holder. But it is. People always want to know what magic potions I have in my multiple water bottles. I almost always have some form of apple juice in case my blood sugar drops because I'm a type 1 diabetic. So I always have some type of juice nearby for medical reasons. I actually don't need to use it, thankfully. And that is because I fuel before and after. Interesting. But before and after, like my pre-ride, it depends. If it's cardio, if it's strength, I can pretty much eat anything. But if it's cardio, I have to be a little bit more judicious with my choices.

2:04But it's usually a smoothie or a protein bagel. What's your smoothie? Or my smoothie. Gosh, well, my husband is the smoothie king. Okay. He probably has a different recipe like every single day. I know. Some people's partners make them coffee and things. I'm not a coffee girl. I'm a protein girly. Okay. So he makes me a smoothie every day. So it's plant-based protein. We'll throw in, usually there's kind of a greens powder in there and usually a dehydrated beet for recovery. Oh. Yeah. Dehydrated beet. Yes. Where do you find that? You can get it on Amazon. Okay. And I try to find, like, the purest sources, you know, where it's literally just beet powder.

2:45Right. You can obviously, you need, like, a lot of volume to get the benefits, apparently, what the study shows. I just throw in a little bit and the dehydrated nature of it obviously increases the concentration of the vitamins and the nutrients. And then we throw in literally any veggie, like anything from cauliflower to, you know, this is not new. Everybody's been throwing in fruit and veggies into their smoothies forever. But I find that when I have exactly 20 grams carbs, not more, not less, exactly 20 grams in an eight to nine ounce smoothie, that is my perfect ratio for powering me through two workouts.

3:27Wow. 20 grams. Okay. Now we know. And then what do you do after? After, it's usually, it depends. If I'm teaching again or if I'm working out again in the afternoon, it's not going to be raw veggies or anything like that because I sit in my stomach. I usually tend to eat salads and things like that actually for dinner. Got it. And I'm done my movement because I usually have two or three sessions a day. So midday, it would be actually very similar, like tofu scramble, a burrito bowl, something that in a protein wrap or a protein bagel. I'm always trying to incorporate protein. But my carbs are more so during like daylight hours.

4:03So when you see like protein becoming such a huge top movement now, do you like eye roll a little bit? You're like, yeah, way to catch up, worlds. Like, thanks for joining us. I'm just happy we're having the conversation. I do worry that it's going to become this thing that we belabor it so much that people are like eye roll. Kind of like how kale was in the 2010s. Cottage cheese. We can't talk more about cottage cheese in the Delish Kitchen than we currently are. Like we've reached peak cottage cheese. Right. It's wild. So clearly I am in favor of eating enough protein for our bodies and our vibrancy and our lifestyles.

4:44But I want it to make sense. Right. Like it doesn't have to become an obsession. I actually think it can be like a fun game of trying to maximize protein. Okay. Right. So food, though, must have been a core piece of your knowing your background. You're Cuban and Puerto Rican. Cuban and Puerto Rican. And so food is such a central part of both of those cultures. Massive. So tell me about growing up and what food was like in your house. My mom's a Cuban refugee. Neither of the sides of my family grew up with means in the United States. My dad is Puerto Rican, grew up in the Bronx and was born in Puerto Rico and spent some of his childhood in Puerto Rico as well.

5:22And so meals and holidays were when we would spend money on things. Right. So whether it was like a roasted pig or pasteles, you know, and that became not only a place of connection and gathering, but I think it was also a point of pride, especially for my abuelas to be like, you're in my kitchen. It is spotless. There's plastic on the furniture. like I mean it was it was like for really from a point of pride like when you don't have much yeah that gathering was the place where it was like not only did they rule that roost but it was also um you know a place to to generate a sense of belonging yeah and agency yeah so I observed agency from the people that cooked in in in our family gatherings and that was really interesting Like whether it was rice and beans or something, you know, more special for a holiday.

6:17I was like, oh, like you're you're I saw some of the power. Yeah. In women that didn't necessarily display that in other scenarios. That's so interesting. And I've never heard it articulated like that because I think about and, you know, I grew up in Jewish faith and very much Jewish cooking and food was almost like a storytelling, like a rite of passage of the way things are. passed down through the ages, right? That you feel like you're eating the same things that your ancestors were eating before and before. Do you feel like, was it part of that as well, that like this connectivity that your grandmothers had to the generations that came before?

6:57I mean, they must've learned from their mothers who learned from their mothers. Is that like... It was. And then it also is a form of creating new traditions still tethered to the past, because there were some ways of being that simply couldn't be replicated. Yeah, like, you know, like from Cuba. So, you know, like couldn't get the same. Yeah, well, my, for example, my family on my mother's side had a long history of working the land on sugar cane plantations. And so there was just like a way of being one with the earth that wasn't the same in, you know, urban Philadelphia where they ended up landing when they took freedom flights to come here.

7:41So things that are different. And then also specifically to that part of my origin story, my uncle was still in Cuba for the first 15 years of my life. And I would mash up powdered milk to put into envelopes to send to him because my cousin literally didn't have enough milk to eat or drink during her childhood. But we didn't want, you know, the cashier regime to take it from the mail. So these are little core memories that I have related to food that gave me an appreciation for what we had, even before I had an understanding of it, you know, from an economic or political perspective. Yes. What were what are the foods that send you straight back, though, to your childhood?

8:32What are those like touchstone recipes that like when you eat it now, you could be in your abuelitas? It's seasonings for me, which is great because I've remixed a lot of the recipes now that I'm plant based. So things with adobo and sazon and cilantro. And thank God I was exposed also to, you know, other cultures that have spicier food. Like because I am a spice queen and not all like a lot of Cuban and Puerto Rican food does not necessarily have a lot of spice. A lot of flavor, but not necessarily a lot of spice. Garlic, ajo, things like that. Like when that smell fills my kitchen. Maduros. Yeah.

9:13Like a lot of the same core ingredients. I've just now removed meat from the recipes and infused the kind of a modern twist. What do you say to people who hate cilantro? Ooh. I just, my flavor experience is just so different. it like when I have met people who swear it tastes like soap yes and I'm like I am one of those people are you I literally am and I feel so bad about it because like running a food brand like right I need to be open to every experience right and I really have given it my all and I really don't like it and I don't know what to do experience I know but I I appreciate that you're seeing me honestly I feel on the side yeah the beauty of cooking the cilantro is that is like the last step.

9:58I know. So we can accommodate. I do appreciate. And also I do hate when people say I'm allergic to cilantro in a restaurant. I generally don't say it. And I, to your point, pick it off of the plate, but I appreciate that you're kind about it. We can come together. We can come together. There are worse problems. Well, I just, there are worse problems. Amen to that. I do have to say, thank you for saying that. Cilantro couldn't, we should be so lucky as that cilantro is the worst event right now yeah i mean i do think cilantro needs like kale's publicist though like 100 it needs it definitely needs a better pr agency if there's a pr agency listening out there please work on cilantro's account um wait so i want to talk about philly a little bit because philly's also like a pretty polarizing food city oh yeah what was your what what were your places did you go so i did so i grew up eating meat um i didn't become plant-based until adulthood so i'm gonna ask you about that of the the i mean obviously the cheesesteaks were big what was your place i was you know i actually liked the south the places on south street like not even the big ones the pats and ginos like of course i'll take it and that's always a fun experience because it is such a like rocky moment you know to go but as a kid we kind of went to like the local spots in south philly or like in the italian market and and or even to get like a like a hoagie like that actually was more my preference going up and i loved it so much that my one of my first jobs was making sandwiches at wawa stop yeah and i will like throw down for wawa like till the day i die everybody most of the things there anymore wait first of all what's your hoagie what's your what's your favorite so i really loved like italian meats and cold cuts with like a provolone um a smidge of mayo um but i and i love like vinegary like any kind of special like vinegary sauce that is that a deli has like i'm in so good um ice cold iceberg lettuce like you need that like cold crunch and it really is all in the hoagie bread yes it's got to soak up it's got it and it's got to have a little bit of a crispy outside yes yeah okay let's talk about your throwdown for wawa because people who love wawa i'm from north jersey so we don't didn't really have wawa until like kind of recently like in the last 10 years but i went to school in south jersey and like wawa all day at all of my college friends it is not 7-eleven nope it is not a convenience store no it is not a gas station like they might sell you gas at certain wawas but it is like the pinnacle there's just something about this i don't even know like the smells when you walk into a wawa like there's just something really beautifully nostalgic about it like i have wawa sweatshirts like stop still i love them and they said wawa sent me a care package a bunch of years ago and like it like onesies for like my daughter and stuff and she grew out of it since but it was we need a new wawa kit wawa robin needs more wawa no i really love it i like philly pride Philly and South Jersey pride is obviously such a special thing.

13:13You know, it's like living in a city that's actually a small town. Yeah. And there's something about the Wawa experience. And then like having worked there and make the sandwiches. And it was the great equalizer. Like I worked the morning shift. So it was everything from like doctors going to a shift at the local hospital to, you know, guys who were like working construction jobs. And teachers who were just trying to, you know, get to the local high school. and that really felt but they were like yeah like I need I need my sub you know it was it was and like but also coffee they're supposed to be great at their coffee drinks like I feel like what was your Wawa order like if you'd walk into a Wawa right now what would you get well you're I would have the vegan version I know and I really want to work with Wawa on like healthy options healthier your options but um i would probably get um a shorty and it would be it would have been turkey provolone mustard and in my late high school years i started to add like some spice okay like some like spicy peppers pepperoncini things like that yeah what a dream what a dream like honestly i do feel like that there's like something that's so rooted in um food culture that people don't really understand about wawa and it's such a funny thing i did not mean for this to become a 45 minute ad for wawa but i am also like it like people who know know like that it really is something that's but like hoagie culture is massive in philly and i think wawa has encapsulated a fast food a way of delivering that experience that actually isn't that diluted yeah from you know these really iconic places, you know, in the Italian market, for example, or in the Reading Terminal.

14:56And so to tap, to scratch that itch and make it affordable and like fast for people is, um, I don't know. I was very proud to make sandwich. I was a quick sandwich maker. I love it. I love it. My sister always laughs because we had blimpy and my dad went, my dad had retired by the time she was in high school. And so she would come home from school and he would like run out and just get her a blimpy, like as a snack in the afternoon. She's like, I'm eating a full sub in the middle of the afternoon. This isn't a snack. This is a meal. But there's something about a sandwich. People love a sandwich.

15:28We had Andy Samberg on here, and he was throwing down for sandwiches. It is a thing. People love it. And we'll be right back. Start your day with Quaker Protein Instant Oatmeal. The instant oatmeal ready to help you tackle whatever your day brings, like wrinkling your toddler into their car seat. That was fun. coaching your sixth grader soccer team little girls and carrying all the groceries in one trip try Quaker protein instant oatmeal, granola and bars great taste and a good source of protein Quaker, bring out the good

16:10tell me now when you shifted to a very that really health focused lifestyle so no meat, so are you fully vegan. Yeah. So when did that sort of take over and start to become a priority for you? I was in my late twenties, early thirties. Yeah. Probably my late twenties. Um, I was, I was doing a lot of marathons and starting to run ultra marathons. So that is, tell me about that. And when that began, that began, I started, I did my very first marathon, the New York city marathon to raise money for MS research. My mom lives with MS. And so that kickstarted my obsession with endurance sports, athletics.

16:47I was not an athlete really ever up until adulthood. And I read about Rich Roll and Scott Jurek and these endurance athletes who were plant-based and how they recovered faster. And they felt like this was an anti-inflammatory diet. And around the same time related to my mom's MS, she was exploring an anti-inflammatory diet, which isn't necessarily plant-based, but it's predominantly plant-based the way it's been studied. And so it kind of became this family thing. My sister was in college at the time and she was, she was the first person in our family to, to become fully plant-based. And so we kind of had this awakening as a family and slowly at, at, you know, holidays and certain meals, we were incorporating more and more things that were plant-based.

17:32I was doing tons of mileage at the time and I would notice a difference. 100%. Wow. 100%. I've been plant-based for over just over 12 years, I believe. And it happened pretty gradually. So it wasn't like one day I was like March 1st, no meat ever. It just, I started swapping for, at first it was lunches. I, you know, my, my lunchtime, my lunchtime salad, I was like, okay, I'm not doing chicken. I'm not doing dairy. I'm incorporating more chickpeas and lentils and black beans. And these are things that I had already grown up eating. So that wasn't that strange to me to have an entire meal that was more based on legumes and nuts and seeds.

18:09But it was being more intentional about it. Interesting. So I do feel though, like now the options for people who are want to leave a lead a vegan lifestyle or it's, I mean, the world has opened up on a thousand levels. Do you agree? Do you feel like very much so? I'm so grateful for that. What's your fun for me? Like I know that, you know, people will say, Oh, but you can eat, be a junk food vegan. Like, yeah, you can. Yeah. And I'm happy to have the choice. Yeah. What's your junk food, vegan? What's your, what's your. Okay. So these are some recipes in my cookbook to hustle, but cause that I had to recreate.

18:42It's a Philly cheesesteak. It's, um, my nineties dream was going to the mall and go to Spencer's and eating at Taco Bell. So I had to have some type of like Supreme situation. Yep. Um, yeah, I think any, did you figure a vegan, did you figure out a vegan crunch wrap? You have to come back and make that for us. Really. Delish Crunch Wraps, a lot of things here. We got a lot of versions of Crunch Wraps. So we need your vegan one. Okay. We need to really do that. I'm happy to oblige. You definitely do. Yeah. I love, though, that you are, because I do think also the reputation that, and we do quite a few vegan recipes here, but that it tends to not be fun.

19:25And that's not the case. I mean, you can really - You can have so much fun with it. And I think, you know, it doesn't have to be super complicated. Yes. I think that's one thing. And that was, you know, I want to offer folks real accessible points of entry into a plant-based food experience. Well, because it often seems like the ingredients are really far flung. You have to order special things. You're like getting stuff from, you can only get them at plant. Like totally obscure. Yes. Right. And the ways in which I've made it possible for myself is I do meal prep. I generally meal prep on Sundays.

20:08And it'll be things like I make my own seitan or I'll air fry tofu or I'll do big batches of protein bread or protein bagels. And half of the batch I'll put in the freezer for like the second week. Right. So only a few times a month am I doing the things that are really like more laborious. Right. But then I have them. And when I tell you like I have them, I eat them like sometimes three or four times a day if I'm truly out of my house for like 12 hours. So it's worth it to me to put that effort. But it really doesn't have to be complicated. You start with one thing that you love and then you find a swap and then you build on that swap.

20:47It's like it – I think your approach of like the baby steps into it I think is the thing that would make it sustainable for someone because I do think it's hard. I mean, my daughter has celiac. It's not the same. But, you know, and she had to ease into that because I think the cold turkey piece is hard. It's overwhelming. Yeah. I mean, the idea of going home and throwing out your entire fridge and pantry is really intense. Especially the, so you, the throwing out part is actually not that hard. It's the filling it up with your like, now what do I eat? Right. Is it just like a carrot stick? I don't understand.

21:19And then there's this misconception that it needs to leave you low energy or low, or it needs to be low calorie. And it's, and it's not. Right. I want actually folks to feel more energy, less and less inflammation. You're not going to have that 3 p.m. slump. And sometimes it actually involves eating more food when you're plant-based. And that's, that transition, I realized that I actually wasn't eating enough. And that's why I found, I kind of gamified it for myself in counting macros. And some people might think, oh, my God, I have to count and weigh everything. But I truly gamified it. And now I find it fun to be like, OK, let me make sure I'm hitting this many grams of protein because I know on the other side of that, it's vibrancy.

22:00Yeah. The fact that you know that what you're putting into your body is going to immediately trigger a better feeling, your ability to take on the day. Tell me about your cookbook and how that started and how it blossomed into what it is now. My cookbook, Eats a Hustle, includes 75 protein-packed plant-based recipes. And it really was answering the number one question that I get, which is how do you fuel? Because people are surprised when they either see my muscle mass or my output or take classes with me at Peloton that it's been fueled entirely on plants. It is incredible. Or plant-based foods.

22:36Yeah. And it really did start small. and then you know the majority of the recipes are things things that i make every single month you know there's a there's a dessert chapter you know i'm not necessarily on a tuesday at 7 a.m making a chocolate pie right but you know so you could i could if i wanted to we would get with that the benefit of adulthood i can eat pie at 7 a.m on tuesday if i want um but no truly like the the the desire to create this cookbook was to show a window into how i feel how i feed my family how my husband has been eating in the nine years that we've been together. And, you know, he's, he's a pretty strong guy.

23:14Amazing. Are you a mom as well? I'm a mom of two. Oh my gosh. And so like, how are you as a mom? How, what kind of food house have you created for your kids? Are you a cool snack mom? I need to know. Okay. I'm a cool snack mom with healthy snacks. Okay. That's fair. I have to say. There are cool, healthy snacks now. I feel like. There are cool, healthy snacks now. Yes. I did. So my mom's snack philosophy was laughing because Marcelo Hernandez has this bit, this whole, this special on Netflix about being the son of a Cuban refugee. And I can relate to a lot of it because the refrain of my childhood was like, absolutely not.

23:56You're not buying Lunchables. Like Lunchables are not a thing. Like Gushers are not a thing. Like I had to, like I came to this country so you could have a life. You have lunchables. You're eating rice and beans and you're taking it in a container and I don't care if you're embarrassed. That is so funny. I had to recreate life here. Yeah. So too bad, so sad. Yes. And I find myself having moments like literally with my kids being like, oh, all of that? You don't own any of that. Like that Barbie is not yours actually. It's mine. It's just you're borrowing it. and I am possessed by the spirit of my mother.

24:34And I call her and I'm like, why did you do this? And NPR is playing in the background. And I'm embarrassed at how much I am you. So no Lunchables in your house? No, absolutely not. But I think that that is why I'm obsessed with charcuterie boards. And I make these elaborate plant-based charcuterie boards when my kids are watching movies and stuff over the weekends. And I put them on the table with a point of pride When I tell you, it is like plant-based prosciutto and like cheese. And like I cut it up and it's a whole situation. And I think that is a result of like unresolved childhood trauma.

25:10Always wanting the Lunchable. Yeah. I never thought for one second to connect the charcuterie board with the Lunchable, which is such a genius idea. Because why are we so addicted to these like bite-sized little things and then an organization on a board? Like make it your fancy snacks. We love it. I didn't know what a Marcona almond was when I was 11. No. And now it's like, yeah, sure, Whole Foods. But I also, what happens when your kids are sitting down and watching a movie and you just put a, you slide up charcuterie board? Has this become like normal fodder in your house? They don't even know how good they have it.

25:46Oh, my. Which is why, when they're like, well, why can't I have like all the candy and all that? I'm like. You're like, you sit there and you eat your charcuterie board. You better eat your Marcona almond and like it because it was$17. The berry budget is insane. Like the berry budget in my house is... That jam costs more than that Barbie. Literally. Oh my God. Like I should be saving for college, but you're eating all night, so it's fine. That is amazing. Well, I would like to live in your house. So if we can work that out, I'd let me know. Anybody sliding a plant-based charcuterie board in front of me is a friend of mine.

26:19Okay. We're going to wrap this up with a lightning round. Sure. So you tell me like first thing that comes to mind. Okay. Sweet or savory? Savory all day. Hydration drink or water? I would say that my water is a hydration drink. I put apple cider vinegar, lemon, a whole bunch of like, I've been on, you know, I've drank creatine for like 12 years, 10 years at least. So it's, my water is hydrating. Very intentionally. The apple cider vinegar thing, I am a true believer in. Such a believer. Such a believer. I feel like I don't even mean to get on this whole thing. Like, but also apple cider vinegar and kale need to also like they need to get the same PR person.

27:01But like I really do swear by that. Yeah, I love it. It helps digestion for me. Digestion, skin, hair, sinuses, apple cider vinegar. Drink your apple cider vinegar. OK, what eating marathon could you win? Eating marathon? Mm hmm. Like like like the hot dog people? Eating a lot. Yes. What could you eat a lot of? Oh, tofu. Really? I eat like pounds and pounds of tofu. What's your, what's your, like, how do you create, like, what shows? I usually slice it really thinly, put some coconut aminos, like adobo, sazon, like usually it's a savory type of tofu and I make it almost into a jerky in the air fryer.

27:44Wow. And so some of the slices are a little bit thicker and then there'll be a little more for like a sandwich and then some of them will be thinner and that'll be more for a purse snack interesting okay that was not where i thought you were gonna go with that i'm amazing um dessert you could never say no to rice crispy treats oh that's a good one what's your what do you do with marshmallow though if you're vegan do you have i get vegan marshmallows no gelatin and there's a there's a protein rice crispy like crispy treat i think we call it a special crispy treat I know something for licensing reasons yes um but it's essentially that interesting I can eat them by the yeah well so then maybe this follows up what's your toxic snack trait toxic toxic snack trait is probably trying to put protein in everything I don't feel like that's a bad thing I feel like that's a good thing I actually also feel like we need to you need to lead up lead the way because everything you're doing now everything you've been doing for the last decade is like things people are telling you now so will you just let us know we call me i will let you know because i feel like you're going to be 10 years ahead my sorry can i help my second toxic snack trade is constantly trying to pair spicy with sweet interesting like i will put like hot sauce on like a cantaloupe and my husband is like but why yeah but like honey is like a such a thing right honey and my protein basil in my bag right now.

29:13I think I had the vegan honey. It's sleighs. Uh, that is a, that's my toxic trait is pretty much trying to put jalapeno on everything. Do you feel like that comes from, well, because that's a very, um, you know, uh, Mexican chocolate, right. Or, or even, you know, spicy, spicy chocolate is such a, is such a like flavor profile that I feel like Americans now love, But to keen to. Oh, gosh. I have a spicy. I have a I put cayenne pepper in my black bean brownies, which is a recipe in the book. That's my choice. That's good. That sounds really good. This has been a joy. You're like, your enthusiasm for food and life is so infectious.

29:58And honestly, it's like, it's really a special trait to like, be able to make eating healthy really fun, which is something that I think people have been looking for for a really long time. So I'm with you. The best of luck on everything. What a lovely cat. Thank you so much. Come back and visit us. Thanks so much for joining Snacks. And thanks to our guest, Robin Arzon. please make sure you like and subscribe and get us wherever you find podcasts at Snacks Podcast