Ripped At 73: Chef Babette Davis On Self-Love, Fitness, & Reinvention At Any Age

29:51And it was properly combined, so I didn't have any indigestion, indigestive issues. and then when he gave me the books, The Fit for Life and The Mucusless Diet, I read those books and began to understand the importance of knowledge. Before, I didn't know, I felt like everything sold in the supermarket was okay for us to eat. I mean, we have government agencies that check out the food that they're selling. So everything is okay. And I began to understand that that's not necessarily the case. And because I understood that I was a mere reflection of that intelligence that created all of this, so there's no way that I can separate myself from that.

30:51But it created all of it. So that means there is a oneness and we are all connected. But the intelligence also gave us a diet for every species that walks the planet Earth. There is a specific diet for that species. And as I began to read and learn more, I understood, wow, Wow. I'm that species that can pick an apple off the tree and just eat it and be nourished from picking that apple. I don't have to slaughter anything. I don't have to murder anyone. I don't have to go through, I don't have to use heat. I don't have to cook. I don't, if I don't want to, I don't have to do any of that stuff because that intelligence put it here for me.

31:43nuts, seeds. I can just pick it right off the vine and it works for me. Therefore, I understood I don't have to murder a chicken to nourish myself. I don't choose to do that any longer. I don't want to eat another animal's intestines, i.e. chitlins. No, thank you. You understand? So I understood that there was that that that chicken has a diet, that cow has a diet, that horse has a diet, that kangaroo has a diet. You eating kangaroo meat? Anyway, somebody just told me about somebody eating kangaroo meat. But anyway, so so and then I began to understand I don't need I don't need to bother anybody else to nourish myself.

32:34It's been put here for me and it's very easy for me to consume it. And that to me says that's practicing love of others as well as self. I'm so disappointed in the human species that trips on complexion. What? The intelligence created more than roses. flowers come in all different colors we love them for being what they are we're all expressions of that which created us i love you rich i don't care about your unmelanated ass i just i'm trying to get more melanated there's it's too foggy out though i like being in the sun But the bottom line is we're all one in this and we should be embracing. If we learn to love one another, if we learn to just love, love of self, like you said it, if you don't start with you, it's impossible to love outside of you.

33:47Yeah, you can't truly love another unless you love yourself. And I think there's confusion around the self-love piece. People will say, oh, that's indulgent or it's selfish. Like I have all these kids and I have multiple jobs. Like I can't, I can't afford to do that. This is, you know, this is, this is an experience that is reserved for, you know, people that have a lot of free time or whatever. Put your oxygen mask on first or you're not gonna be there to help anybody else.

34:23After hosting more than 900 episodes of this podcast, I have noticed a pattern. And that pattern is that the highest performers don't buy into the latest trendy hacks. Instead, they obsess on what actually works, which is always the unassuming basics. And there is nothing more basic than hydration. But here's the kicker. Your body can't hold on to water without the right minerals. Without them, water is just like this temporary visitor. But Element has cracked the code on this, which is why I've been using it religiously for years, zero sugar, no artificial junk, just sodium, potassium, and magnesium in the ratios that actually work.

35:04And look, I'm not exactly crushing ultras right now, healing from this surgery, but in some ways I need it even more. In order to properly recover, I need to treat my body even better than ever so it can heal properly and expeditiously while also maintaining my focus and my energy levels to rock out all of these podcasts, write a book, be a husband and a dad. And I gotta say, Element keeps my brain firing in a way that water alone can't. Their new sample pack features their most popular flavors. Citrus salt, raspberry salt, watermelon salt, that's my favorite, and orange salt. Eight stick packs total, perfect for finding your favorite or sharing with a friend.

35:47Get a free eight count sample pack of Element's most popular drink mix flavors with any purchase at drinklmnt.com slash richroll. Find your favorite element flavor or share it with a friend. We're brought to you today by the wonderful folks at Go Brewing. Let me tell you a story. A few years ago, this guy Joe Chura rings me up out of the blue and he asked if I'll fly out to Illinois and speak at this event that he was hosting called Go, which ended up being this really incredible weekend oriented around taking inspired action. Joe and I hit it off, but that was kind of that. And it wasn't until I ran into him a couple years ago at Jesse Itzler's Running Man event that I realized that he had taken inspired action himself by creating this new enterprise that was also called Go.

36:35Go Brewing, in fact, which from Go has grown into what it is today, one of the most exciting revolutions in craft brewing. One of the many things that makes Go Brewing extraordinary is that they don't outsource like most companies. They handcraft everything from scratch in small batches. In fact, this commitment to quality has fueled their growth into one of America's fastest-growing breweries, now in over 5 ,000 locations across 20 states and available online. The Salty AF Chilada earned the untapped number one non-alcoholic lager in the United States, and they're constantly creating bold new flavors almost every month that push the boundaries of what non-alcoholic beer can be.

37:16Double IPAs, mouth-watering sours, all with zero added sugars and none of the junk. Hear that? Incredible stuff. The non-alcoholic revolution is here, people. I am proud to help champion it alongside Joe. So get on board by getting with Go by going to gobrewing.com, where you're going to use the code RICHROLL for 15 % off your first purchase. Go.

37:48When it comes to health, sleep is a big deal. And there's just so much science out there to back up the role that it plays in every facet of well-being, from heart health to mental health, recovery, cognition, and just being able to show up as your best self. Getting a quality eight hours per night is a personal, non-negotiable that I go to great lengths to ensure. It's sort of a commitment not only to myself, but to my career and to those that I love that all begins with what I'm sleeping on. Now, I've tried many mattresses, but the one that's really won my heart is Birch. And there's many reasons for this, all of which boil down to the simple fact that Birch just does things right.

38:28In addition to being incredibly comfortable and cool, helping you regulate temperatures at night, which are essential for quality rest, Birch mattresses are also firm in all the right places, and all their materials are sustainably sourced, including organic fair trade cotton. And also, everything is hypoallergenic and toxin-free, meaning no harmful off-gassing typical of most mattresses. Birch is so confident in their product, they're offering both a 100-night risk-free trial as well as a 25-year warranty. Plus, they provide free delivery right to your door in a conveniently sized box-up. And so I wanna offer all of my listeners the chance to enjoy a deep and restful night's sleep with a new mattress from Birch.

39:15So right now you can get 27 % off site-wide plus two free EcoRest pillows with mattress purchase. Just go to birchliving.com slash richroll.

39:33The additional little ripple here is that when you are engaged in that practice of self-love and you are cognizant and compassionate towards all other life, and you make this choice, like I'm not gonna participate in that cycle of suffering that your body ends up doing better. Like you heal yourself, you're vital, you're 73 now, you're crushing it. You don't need to go to the doctor. You're not on any meds, none of that, right? Right. And I think that blows people's minds. They get confused around that. And that's another thing that humans do when they see something that they can't quite understand.

40:18Even if it's aspirational, our minds will immediately try to find an argument why you're different and that doesn't apply to me. It's so true. It is so true. You must, you've been reading those comments, haven't you? They don't play. I get them. I get those comments also. Yeah, they don't play. They don't really get it. And this is, the path that I'm on is not to put anybody else down. It's just the path that I'm on. I appreciate life. I give thanks for life. and I show how grateful I am each and every second of the day. Even when I'm screaming at Rondell and I have to take a few minutes to take a deep breath, go outside and come back and be like, okay, all right, you're back.

41:13You're good. You're good now. I want to be a fly on the wall for one those fights. Yeah, sometimes. On the point of other people sort of being confused, curious, but confused, it's inevitable that the protein question comes up, especially as we age, there's more and more research coming out. We need to eat more protein, sarcopenia and all this sort of stuff. But I just saw you flex your bicep and you only got back into the gym in December and it's impressive. No, no, no. I've been out of the gym since December. Yeah. Okay. So you're still not even back. I'm just now, I have a beautiful gym at my new apartment.

41:55And yesterday I was interviewed by Jillian Berry and she had me in the gym showing, that's the first time I've been back in the gym since I hurt the knee. Oh, wow. But see. You're hanging on to that muscle though. That looks good. Yeah. Yeah. No protein powder. No, but I do a lot of sea moss. That's your thing, right? Why is sea moss such a big deal to you? Sea moss, because I'm selling it now. Yeah. You had to find out. You just had to go there, didn't you? Hey, earth and sea wellness. I'm giving you the opportunity. Earth and sea wellness. It's a green light of that for you to promote. I put sea moss in everything, every sauce, every smoothie, every juice.

42:43I just make sure I get my little dose of sea moss in there. But a girlfriend and I, because come on, listen, you guys Google everything. Google the benefits of ingesting sea moss, please. Okay. We'll do it. All right. It's good. I take it. Yeah. Anyway, so the CMOS, and I'm on Orlo now, because I was never the person that, I was horrible with taking vitamins and every day popping something. But are you hip to Orlo? No, what's that? That is vegan omega-3. So my levels were very low. They tested me, and I had really low omega-3 levels. And so now I take Orlo, and I take it every single day. and I'll advertise for Orlo whenever they want me to advertise for them because it's a good product.

43:34Well, those omega-3s are important. Yes, they are. Yeah. Yeah. So walk me through a day in the life of food then. Day in the life. Okay. So generally, like I fell asleep so early the other night, Rich. Mm-hmm. I mean, last time you were here, you were telling me you go to bed at like five or six and you get up at like one or two in the morning. I do. And I'm still doing that. Well, I had fallen asleep so early that day. I woke up around 10 to use the bathroom. I was thinking, is it one or two? It was only 10 o 'clock. You can't get up then. Anyway, so I still go to bed early, but I spend a lot of time with self.

44:10I have come to really love being with me. I tell jokes and crack myself up. And I'm like, is this some senile stuff you on here because you sure hang out with yourself good and you talk and you laugh and just have a great time. But I get plenty of rest. So if I fall asleep at six or seven, I'm waking. Like Chris, my manager sent me a message yesterday and he sent it at 745. I was already out. I didn't get it till two o 'clock this morning. But I'm still waking up between 1.30 and 2. And I start my day. Now, since it's gym time again, after I'm up, I'll get myself together. I'll go to the gym and then I'll come back, freshen up, go into stuff I eat.

45:04You know what? Chop up a box of potatoes. You know what I do. But I start my day nourishing myself with either fruit or juice. Now we have a big Ruby's juicer at Stuff I Eat, so I'm juicing anyway, so I'm going to have myself some juice. So most of the time I'm at the restaurant till afternoon. Lately, Rich, I don't know where all these people are coming from, but so many people are showing up just to get a picture with Chef B. Oh, that's nice. It is so cool. But most of the time if I leave, When we open, I miss them. So what I need to do right now is get a big picture of myself that they can - Take their Instagram photo with.

45:49Take their Instagram photo with. I saw Maria Shriver did a story on you. Oh, she did. Yes. Yeah, that was cool. Wasn't that cool? Very cool. That was very, very cool. Yeah, so you're out there. I know. And my numbers are just like, I don't know. But these people, what they're doing nowadays, they're grabbing bits and pieces from interviews like this and putting together their own videos. Yeah, that happens a lot. That happens a lot. I never saw that before, but my numbers every day, they're just inching up. I'm almost at 400 ,000. Wow. Yeah, I'm growing up. Yeah, good for you. And that's translating into foot traffic into the restaurant.

46:28Yes, it is. That's the important thing. A lot of people, a lot of sisters come in there and brothers too. They come in there. When I say sisters and brothers, I mean men and women. I'm not talking about, you understand that? Do I have to tell you that? The level of melanin. I'm not talking about just melanated people. When I say sisters and brothers, I'm talking about humans. I get you. Okay, I just want you to get me. Oneness, oneness. Yeah, right. Keep going. We're up to the first day's juice. They're inspired. Yeah. Of course. Come on. You're an inspiring person. But to be an inspiration after the shit I've been through really to think.

47:05But that's what makes it inspiring. Isn't that just amazing? I would have never. But that it's not just the message, like the food and all the information, the knowledge, right? It's the vessel. It's like, who's carrying the message. It's true. And when you have like lived a life and gone through a lot, you carry a certain resonance, a gravitas, an authority, right? And your story is so powerful, it allows people in and makes them more open to connecting with whatever the information is you're trying to impart, right? Yes, it does. Because you're not trying to bullshit anyone. And I would never.

47:49You might be selling a little sea moss, but beyond that, there's no pitch here, you know?

47:58Okay, Rich, you got me. Yeah, all right. Earth and sea wellness. Right. So I'm not surprised, you know, I'm not surprised that, you know, Maria Shriver wants to write about you and that you have people showing up on the doorstep of the restaurant trying to get a glimpse of you. It's so wonderful. Because people want that energy, you know? Yeah, that's what it is, the energy. The energy that you're emitting is contagious and infectious. Yes. And we're all starving for it. And we all want and need more of it in our lives. And I think we get in our own way. I'm a big hugger too. And we struggle with trying to, you know, get a little piece of what you seem to exude so effortlessly.

48:39I like the way you put that. So that means every hug. Did you feel it when I hugged you today? Did you feel that energy? Oh, I hug everybody. I don't even meet strangers anymore. How about that? What does that mean? I don't meet strangers. I just feel like I know everybody. I do. Isn't that weird? Is that weird? I just don't know. I think that's consistent with this oneness idea, right? Yeah. All right. So you make juice in the juicer. I make juice in the juicer. We're on the what you eat in the day. And then, you know, come on. You know what, Rich? I can't even eat my own soul food platter anymore.

49:17It's too much food. It's gluttonous. And it's so, I can make a handful of nuts a meal, you know, salads. I do have a quinoa bowl. It's stuff I eat that I really, really love. I'm not wild about too much cooked food. I'd rather have a little bit more life on it. Yeah. I mean, you're kind of primarily raw, but you're not entirely raw, right? No, no, no. I have a restaurant that our menu is pretty transitional and I eat cooked food, but my preference is more live food. And so that's why my manager, Chef Chris Tucker and I are getting ready to do a cooking show. Tell me about that. And it's going to be called Hot or Not.

50:06And so I will be doing the live version of the dish, and he'll be doing the cooked version of the dish. So we'll have two dishes each day. One will be raw and one will be cooked with the same name. Like if I was going to make you some raw chili, You know I'm about to use walnuts up in that bad boy, right? That's going to be my beans. The walnuts are going to be my beans. So that's the kind of fun show it's going to be. And you advertised my book last time, Cash In on Cashews, and I do have another book shed up. The Stuff I Eat book is being written right now, so I will definitely send you a copy when I'm done with it because you talked about me last time because I only had that dessert book.

50:48Yeah. Yeah, yeah. You remember that? I do. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Well, anyway. That's good. So the cooking show, I'm really, really, really excited about that. When does that launch? Oh, as soon as we sit down. I just got into my spot. We're going to shoot it at my residence. They've got a beautiful kitchen. And so we're going to shoot there. And I'll definitely let you know as soon as we got it going, because I'm so excited about this show. It's going to be a really good show. Is it something you'll record before a live audience or no? No, it won't be a live audience. Not initially. It'll just be Chris and I knocking them out.

51:27Right. Yeah. That's cool. Yes. Do you do like live kind of community events in the restaurant for the Inglewood community? I'm about to do an event that it's a round table. I call it a round table. And what I'm doing, And there's so much illness in our communities, but especially in black communities. The heart disease, the diabetes, all these illnesses, and most of it is because of the way we nourish ourselves or attempt to nourish ourselves. And so what I've decided is to bring in some hard hitters, doctors in particular, melanated doctors. I've got Dr. Bobby Price. I've got Dr. Baxter Montgomery, Dr.

52:14Baptiste, Dr. Zarif, and Dr. Shabnam. And they're going to be a part of the round table and we're going to have an audience. So you'll be able to listen to what they have to say and ask as many questions as you need. So I'm planning on having that event in, it's going to be in Burbank though, at a studio. that's July 2021, two-day event. So I'm really excited about that. I haven't really, I used to do a lot more in the restaurant years ago, but for some reasons, it just wasn't quite as comfortable for me to give events there in that spot as I would desire it to be. So whenever something that makes me feel a little uncomfortable, I just move it.

53:06I just do it somewhere else. I just need to feel good when I'm doing what I do. And if I'm not feeling good, if I'm feeling too tight, if it's too up, too weird, no thanks. That's part of the self-love. Okay, I don't wanna feel it. You gotta honor the intuition. That's it. Yeah, I think that's a beautiful mission. Clearly black and brown communities suffer the most. When you look at the food deserts and the availability of fresh, healthy produce and other foods in urban areas, it's a real problem. And I think with respect to the plant-based movement and community, it's often just associated with being of a higher kind of socioeconomic echelon.

53:51It's like considered, you know, this luxurious lifestyle that you'll find at Erewhon and is only available to, you know, a certain type of person who can afford it. When in truth, most of these foods and the foods that you prepare and that you talk about, I mean, this is like basic stuff, right? It really is. Quinoa, beans, nuts and seeds. Yeah. Leafy greens and the like. And these things, although, you know, although affordable, depending upon where you get them, are not as accessible as they should be. And this has a downstream negative impact on the Inglewood community and communities like it.

54:31And I think your message is so powerful because you're invested in changing that. And this is where we need to see the change the most. Well, see, the reason I'm pulling the round table together is because not only do we have, we don't have access to a lot of good stuff in certain communities, we have a lack of knowledge. We don't even know we should be eating differently. I mean, like I told you, there was a time that I thought everything that was sold in the supermarket was okay to eat because I'm trusting my government has my back. I'm bothered by the fact that we eat out of boxes and cans and bags, a lot of processed foods, and we think they're okay.

55:20We have a lack of knowledge. We don't understand that if we don't get life into our system, we're not nourishing ourselves. Everything that's just manufactured in a warehouse is like a food-like substance. it's not necessarily nourishing food. And so many of us don't understand that, you know? Sure. So it's a lack of knowledge too. We just don't, we don't, so many times we don't even realize we need to be eating something differently. I'm sure you saw our friend John Lewis's documentary, Hungry for Justice. Yes. Yeah, which addresses that head on, right? Did you appear in there? You were in there.

56:02Yeah, okay. It's been a while since I've seen it. I wish more people had seen that movie. It's good though. Yeah. Yeah. It is true that it is a knowledge problem, but it's also more complicated than that because you can provide people with the knowledge, but then it's about the willingness to make the changes. And not everyone has the same level of willingness. You could provide people with the knowledge. For sure. But food is tough. We have our habits and those kind of preferences are very hard to break and it's further complicated by all the complicated social messaging around it. We associate certain foods with love and nostalgia and the way that we were raised and those habit change, you know, kind of journeys are hard for a lot of people.

56:54I know it's challenging. It definitely is, but do you know how many people have gotten in touch with me on the deathbed? How many? Too many young people, people that grew up with my daughter and now they wanna know what can I do? Do you have a doctor I can go see? After the diabetes is really bad or the obesity is out of control. Or the cancer, whichever. And now you're gone. There was nothing anybody could do because you waited. You were stubborn. I've been stubborn. I have an addiction to sugar. Refined sugar is poison. My mother put it in everything. When I was doing that water fast, I'm going to tell you, 12 days, that was challenging.

57:44That's tough. Just water? Do you know what I wanted to do? I don't know. Kill Rondell? I wanted to take that agave syrup bottle and just squirt it in my mouth all day long. You know, but I do have the knowledge and I understand you can't just sugar, sugar. I don't care if it's agave, maple syrup or what it is. You have to understand that you cannot be on sugar overload. That's not good for you. But I am I will claim addiction to sweeteners. But I have to check myself and I have to calm myself down. Even when I make sweet potato pie in the restaurant, Ron has a totally different palate than myself.

58:26He doesn't like it too sweet. If it's too sweet, he can't ingest it. Sweet potato pie is supposed to be sweet as far as I'm concerned. Hey, my mother put 12 eggs, a dozen eggs in her sweet potato pies and 40 cups of sugar. So that was my palate. Right. But I still have to make the adjustments. Yeah, I could be stubborn about it and keep zits in my face and be stuck on, I don't eat animal products and just continue eating the sugar and have bad skin and the whole nine yards. But I don't choose that any longer because I did get away from it. I saw a difference to my body. I saw, I felt it differently.

59:09You understand? So you have to try, at least give it a shot. Now, like you said, everybody's not going to do it. But for those and everybody that goes into church on Sunday, Reverend Michael knows he ain't catching everybody. But if he catches one person, he's done his work. So, you know what it's like to be free of those kind of addictive yearnings, right? With sugar, et cetera. So you've had that experience. You can you can like you can like remember that when you're in that struggle. And I think through the restaurant, the way that you try to get people on this journey is to provide them with not just healthy food, but food that's delicious, right?

59:53So that they can have their version of that experience and know what it's like to actually feel better, perhaps for the first time, right? And there's a compassion in that, but there's also like a trust. You like me, like I don't tell anyone what to do. Like I'll share my experience, but I'm not here to tell you don't do that and do this. but here's some delicious food like you decide. What is the experience that you're having? Is this better? Do you want more of this? Here's some information if you wanna embark upon that journey. And I feel like that's why food is so powerful, like serving food prepared with love that is made to nourish the body, to really honor the body.

1:00:29And it is like a living kind of three-dimensional like vehicle for self-love. Exactly. Because self love is nothing more than, you know, performing acts of self-respect and love for oneself, right? And food is the way that we do it three times a day. Yes, it's all over that. Have you noticed changes in the Inglewood community? Like, is this starting to ripple out? Like are more and more people starting to... You have more and more people changing their lifestyle, but we also have more and more meat restaurants opening up. You know, it's just it's going to be what it's going to be. You know what I mean?

1:01:12It's going to be. And those people that are going to transition and move away from it, they're going to transition and move away from it. I'm like you. I can't sit here and put anybody down for the choices that they make. But I can say this to everybody. The choices we make on this planet today has consequences. Every one of us, whenever we make a choice, it has consequences, whether good, positive, or negative. There are consequences. And with the amount of—I find it disgusting that we are destroying forests to grow as many soy plants as possible to feed animals. Cows normally graze, and now we've determined that we're going to give them a new diet.

1:02:05So there are things that we do that have consequences in terms of the health of our planet, our home. I don't know of any other place to live outside of here, not in this human form. And the planet is going through changes because of our choices. I find us, we're responsible for it, but we're sensitive as well. We're super sensitive. And someone would hear me say this and be like, well, and I don't want it to come off that way. I'm just saying we're still responsible. No matter what your choice is, you're still responsible. That is 100 % true. But I think a lot of people struggle to receive that message and just think, well, I'm just one person.

1:02:58What does it matter? My decision or my choice around food isn't going to make a difference. And second to that, a lot of people also don't care. They don't want to shoulder that responsibility. They just want what they want. And you're 1000 % correct. You're a thousand percent correct, but it ain't going to make me shut up. It's not going to make me stop sharing the message that I know to be true. I live this. I live this every second of the day. I know what I am talking about, period. And I remember a mother, my mother, the bathtub that I have right now, my mother could never climb in that bathtub, sit down in it, let alone get out of it.

1:03:42At my age, she could never have done that. You know what I mean? But I am so blessed. That tub is so deep. I've never had a tub that deep. I get down in that tub. Do you know I feel like the Hercules girl? I get down in that tub and I can get out of that tub without any help at all. That is just... And just so we're clear and for people that don't know, you went totally 100 % plant-based in 1990? 1990. You were 40. You just got a good ass memory, yes. 40 years old, that's when I made my change too. Yes. Prior to that, eating whatever, all kinds of health issues, all kinds of problems. But since 1990, which is 34 years ago, no animal products, no doctors, climbing in and out of the bathtub at 73.

1:04:38I mean, it's pretty fucking rocking, you know? Like you're a powerful example of this. quality sweetheart. And that's, that's so important to me. The quality of life is everything. I can live in that apartment. When I moved into that apartment, they had these beautiful, you know, you go into a hotel and they got the luggage carts. Somebody had taken the luggage cart. I made a hundred trips carrying crates, all kinds of stuff from the basement where my car is park to the second floor where my apartment is. I made so many trips, even after having a bad knee. If I wasn't having a good quality of life, I could have never done that by myself.

1:05:28All by myself, Rich. That is such a blessing. That is, I'm blessed. I read that, or I saw a video, that you superglued your hand to the counter of a Starbucks. You got in on that? Explain this to me. That's my manager, Chris, got me hooked up with all kinds of stuff. Yeah. Yeah, so, man, you know, being a sister, you know, that was kind of weird. I'm in Starbucks gluing my hand to the counter. And at first I was terrified, but then I understood there's a homeless woman in my, in, in Inglewood, my neighborhood, when that's usually at Bond's supermarket early in the morning. She is broken out with eczema on her face.

1:06:20It's ripped. It's just horrible. Every morning, cause I'm always, you know, hooking her up every morning. and she goes into that Starbucks and she buys whatever it is she buys, but she can't afford the non-dairy. So they just give her the milk free, but it's jacking her skin up. And I thought about her. She doesn't need the dairy. She's allergic to it, but she can't afford it because they're charging 70 to 90 cents. Mm-hmm. They do the upcharge on the plant-based milk. On the plant-based. but they give you the calf's mama's milk or the calf's milk. It's for the calf. It's not supposed to be for you and you're giving it away.

1:07:09You're not charging me for that, but you're going to charge me for the plant-based. I can't tolerate dairy, never could. I had eczema, asthma, the whole nine yards. And so thinking about that, I felt like, well, this is a decision that I'm gonna make because I need to be vocal about this. And that's why I did it. So you glued your hand to the counter. And made a lot of noise in there. Yeah, basically protesting this upcharge, which is interesting because Starbucks doesn't upcharge for plant-based milks in other countries. No, they don't. And their competitors actually don't, not all of them, I don't know which ones do or don't, but there's plenty of competitors that don't upcharge either.

1:07:59We could be better. That's the only reason I was there. It's just to say, come on, we can be better with each other. So what happened when you did that? How long were you - We were there for a while. The only thing is the police came and they were like, you guys can protest, but you gotta go outside the store. And I said, well, my hand is glued to the counter. And he said, well, we'll get the paramedics to come and get your hand unstuck. And the girl from PETA said, if the paramedics come, we're going to jail. So she made sure I got my hand off that counter and we did. We completed our protest, but we were loud in there.

1:08:45We were not playing. But they didn't change the policy. but hey things don't they didn't things don't change right away ask martin luther king when he was sure how long it took sure but you got to stay focused you got to stay on it you got to make noise and then maybe one day they'll do the right thing

1:09:13i own a bunch of spectacles and i made the grave error the other day of donning a normal non-Roka pair on my indoor trainer when I was riding my bike indoors. And I got to tell you, it was a disaster. Every three to five seconds, I had to take my hands off the handlebars and push my glasses back up my nose until I got so frustrated, I just tossed them aside. This is the dilemma of every active but optically impaired person I know. And as someone who has relied upon eyewear every single day since I was five years old, it is also the source of endless aggravation. Thankfully, now eradicated thanks to Broca, the stylish performance eyewear company founded by two former Stanford swimming teammates of mine who have gifted everyone like me and, quite frankly, the world with their fashionable line of super lightweight prescription glasses and sunglasses with patented no-slip nose and temple pads that are just impervious to sweat.

1:10:17And no matter what you do, remain locked on your mug no matter how intense your workout. Without the dork factor, these things go everywhere with me from the trail to the dinner party. Put them on, feel the difference, and wear without limits. Unlock 20 % off your order with the code RITUAL at ROKA.com. That's R-O-K-A.com.

1:10:47What do you think is the difference between someone who's able to hear your story or some version of it and get it? They've got the knowledge, they have the inspiration, the motivation and the willingness and they make the change versus the person who just says, I can't do it. Like, but that's special. But you know, I can never do it. Why have family members like that? So what do you think that is? Like, what is the difference between those two people? Some people are ready and some people are not. Some people are ready and some people are not. And so every minister, every time he's in church, he's speaking to the folks that are ready.

1:11:27He speaks to the masses, but the people that get it are the ones that are ready. And what do you think leads to that readiness? Pain? I don't necessarily feel that it has to be pain. You just, hey, I got a word we're gonna use today. You just woke. You woke up. You just woke up and you decided it was time for change. Yeah, that's what I did. I met Rondle and fed me a meal and gave me a book. After he hiked backwards up a mountain with you, right? Yeah, showing off. Yeah, he was showing off. It worked. It did work. Yeah. I mean, you know. But prior to meeting him, you wouldn't have known that you were ready.

1:12:19I thought to be a vegan or vegetarian, you had to be Hare Krishna. I was so ignorant. I was like, no, I don't want your herbs. I don't know. Thank you. I was that. That was where I was. Do you think that part of it was you just you just you liked him and you wanted to kind of get on his page because you guys were early in your relationship? Let me just tell you. First of all, I wasn't a big reader, so I'm going to meet this brother and he's going to give me two books. It's like homework. Really? You can't just go on a date, you know? So once I began to read, I started understanding a lot of the stuff in Fit for Life.

1:13:04I was experiencing some of this discomfort. Eating different foods that shouldn't have been combined. I shouldn't have been eating them together and making myself physically ill. So come on, we're the only species that that has to medicate themselves after they eat Tums anyway. And once and when I read that, I could actually connect the way that I felt with a lot of what was in that book. And then when I read the mucusless diet healing system and his his thought was, I don't care what name you give your illness or your disease. it's an overload of mucus. You're inflamed, period. And that just hit me.

1:13:53And I understood, wow, I've been doing this all wrong. So I started playing around with the suggestions in the book of how to combine foods properly. And I never felt what I used to feel. Every time I ate, rich. Every time I ate, I was so bloated and I belched. I was so miserable every time I ate, but I was just combining my food poorly. Of course, eating some of the wrong things, but definitely miscombining food. Was your sort of journey around self-love, was that already underway at this point? No. It's sort of a chicken and the egg thing, right? You don't really want to start eating in the way that is healing to your body until you have some self-respect and some self-love, but it is in that, you know, eating that way is one way to kind of cultivate that, right?

1:14:51Right, exactly, exactly. The other thing that really, in terms of the whole love thing, was the fact that I understood that my connection, I began to understand my connection with everything and the fact that I felt one way when I was up and loving, and I felt another way when I was down. And I just felt like I had more power in a loving space. But to be perfectly honest with you, it did take a little bit more time after I met Ron to really, really have a grip on love and how I'm going to make that more important in my human journey than anything is loving and understanding and forgiving and forgiving me, all of that.

1:15:52It wasn't, yeah, it didn't come real quick. First, it was about, oh, I feel better when I eat. And then it was constantly learning, constantly. And I was really at Agape a lot back then. And just really, really understanding, understanding life. Understanding life, that's pretty much what it was. I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. It didn't, It didn't have to be as beautiful as it is right now because I really have a good life right now. You do. You do. I do. I recently returned from India where I had the opportunity to basically sit this far away from the Dalai Lama two days in a row. Man, how was that?

1:16:42And it was a series of talks led by this man, Arthur Brooks, who teaches at Harvard Business School, but really has kind of become this scholar on happiness. And he led this discussion over two days. And what was interesting about it was that no matter what question was posed to the Dalai Lama, his answer was some variation of one single idea, which is that the answer is always love. Like it's just on one level infuriating, like really? Like we came all this way and like we're hearing this thing that we already know. And on another level, like perhaps the most profound thing that he could say.

1:17:22And I think we hear that word so much that it's difficult for us to really like embrace the true profundity of it if we were to actually like live it in the way that you're speaking about. You have to live it. And because we're created in and of that, that's what we are. And once we live it and continue to live it and understand the importance of living it, wow, it just makes such a massive difference. Is the restaurant mostly an expression of that love? I feel like it's sort of a way for you to show your love with your community. Well, I only want Rondo if Rondo ain't coming to me. But with the people who come in and have the food.

1:18:04They love it. They love it. And like I said, sometimes, come on, Rondo 76, he could be grumpy sometimes. Can you turn your phone down, please? Well, I don't want to hear your speaker. But other than that, they understand what we do with the food. Come on, I pat the burgers out myself. They're made out of walnuts. You know what I'm saying? I pat them out myself. And I feel like people ingest that love. And we have some really great customers, very, very, very loyal customers and so many brand new people coming in loving what we're sharing. I feel like it's almost an act of courage to eat this way and live this lifestyle because all of the incentives and all of the messaging everywhere we go, every single day from the moment we wake up are pushing us in the other direction.

1:19:08You are so... You know what I mean? Like all the food that's accessible, that's cheap is the food that's killing us. All the billboards that we see in the television that we watch and the news that invades our brains is selling us on this idea of separateness and division as opposed to oneness and love. And so you really have to be intentional and determined to rebut all of those incentives and all of those cultural forces that are pushing us apart and making us sick and making us loathe ourselves and separating us from our true nature, which is to really embrace this idea of oneness and love is kind of the answer to all.

1:19:55You got it. Man, you are on point. But like I say this now and five minutes later, I'm gonna be grumpy and like, I'm not a naturally grateful person to that. You know, like I can brush up against it once in a while, but you know, I'm lost in the Maya most of the time. No, you're not. Yeah. No, no, no. I communicate with you too well. You get it. You get it. I just want to tee you up for a sermon. You get it. Like, tell me the truth. What do we need to know? What's the secret? I'm giving it to you. That's all I got. I gave you all I got. There's more. I gave you all I got. There's more. But I am a happy girl.

1:20:38And I don't want this to come off like I'm sitting here trying to act like there's perfection here. Come on. I busted my knee showing out. So, but once you live it and you experience it and you live that whole loving thing, you don't want to change that. You don't want to go back to anything else. I watch MSNBC. That's my news source, MSNBC. I listen to political news. That's what I do. But it does not stop me. It does not hinder me being able to embrace love. It does not get in my way because I know how I feel that way versus the other way. And there is such a difference in the way that I feel.

1:21:32The other thing that Dalai Lama said was that if you don't understand what he means when he's talking about love or you are challenged to really feel that energy, look to the mother's love of a child or look to an animal's love for its offspring. And all the answers can be found in that incredible bond. And it's this metaphor, like basically what he's saying is, can you take that and bring that into your lived experience and treat all life in the way that a mother treats its young? In other words, like the mother energy is the most powerful force. I believe that. In the universe. I would agree with that.

1:22:22If someone comes to you and they're like, oh my God, I just, you know, I want what you have. How do I change my diet? How do I, you know, how do I cultivate more compassion for myself? Like, how do you, how do you set, yeah, like I'm sure people ask you this all the time, right? Like, how do you, how do you get people to take that first step and move forward? I usually talk to people about knowledge. I can't go away from that. I don't want you to try to transition or do anything differently if you don't know why you're doing it. If it intellectually is not important to you or you don't have a full understanding as to why it is important that you transition, I think for me, a lot of times we just don't succeed.

1:23:14So the first thing that I'm telling people is to, you know, the first thing Ron did was gave me books. Boom. That worked for me. Okay. And then I start thinking about once you know what works for the human species in terms of nourishment and what doesn't work, what are the foods that clog arteries? Is that coming from the apple, the corn, the peach? Is the clogged artery coming from that? Or do you know where the clogged artery is coming from? Make yourself understand who and what you are and why there's a certain diet that works for you. Those are the first things I talk to them about. I try not to go hard.

1:24:01Like we talked about it before we used to, why are you not eating that salad? We don't really mess with people like that anymore. Now you can choose if you want a salad with your entree or not. but I just don't believe in killing animals to nourish yourself. So, I mean, you know, they understand that that's how I feel and I don't have a problem asking them questions like, would you, with the pus, would you ingest body fluids from yourself? Would you do that? And most of the times the answer is no. So why are you ingesting body fluids from another species? Why would you do that? So it's just, you know, just think about certain things.

1:24:43And a lot of times people say to me, you helped me so much. I never thought about it that way. I never did. But let me tell you what I've been doing. I got that book you talked about. I got this book you talked about. I'm doing this nowadays. That to me is everything. Because I didn't have to spend a lot of time with them to just make them aware. just start with that. Just start with the real reason that you need to make a transition. Just start with that. And that's not to say that I have things that I probably need not to ingest right now, that I don't know that I don't need to ingest it. I'm not running a hundred, but I know the way that I feel and I prefer to feel like this than the way I used to feel.

1:25:34I think your superpower though is just modeling this aspirational way of being. I think that's the most powerful thing because people experience you, they encounter you, they see you, they see what you're capable of doing. They feel the energy that you're putting out into the world. And that's something that's infectious. People want, you know, like, how do I have more of that in my life? So then you have the opening and you can say, here's a book or you can read this or try this meal or what have you. But I think just being a lighthouse where you're standing in your power, emitting this, you know, beam out into the world that is luring people towards you.

1:26:12And I think that's a very different energy from the activist energy or the protester or the person who's, you know, judging and criticizing and shaming. Because I think that that's the antithesis of love. Like that's just leading to more separation and division. It's true. And it's not winning the hearts and minds of people and it's not inspiring them. And it's not an aspirational thing that somebody wants more of in their life. And I think to each their own and we need activists and we need people who are out there on the front lines, you know, demonstrating what's right and what's wrong and the need for change and the like.

1:26:45But your energy is one that I think is served best in the way that you're using it now. It works better that way. Which is bringing people together. It does, it really does. Yeah, cause gluing my hand to that counter, that was some weird shit, I'm telling you that right now. Super glue? It wasn't super glue. It was some kind of super glue. It was weird. Because you're going to peel the skin off your hand. How'd you get your hand off that counter? It was just really weird. She put something on there and got my hand off. Yeah. But I did get a few messages from friends going, really? Yeah. You into that now, huh?

1:27:14I mean, it's cool you did that, but I don't know that that's the best use of your superpower. But my superpower is just what you said. Yeah. That just extending the love. Yeah. Yeah. It's a beautiful thing. Just sharing. You know, I think, and the thing is, it's like, this is work that has no end. And no. You know? I know. And you're a drop in the ocean, but you believe that, you know, the decisions that you make and the way that you carry yourself in the world can make a difference. Yes. And you're doing your part to do that. Yep. But it's not gonna overnight solve the urban food desert crisis.

1:27:52And it doesn't. or the disproportionate way in which lifestyle illnesses are afflicting black and brown people? Inch by inch. You just put it out there. You do your part. That's all you can do is do your part. So what's the dream? What's the dream? You know what I really want? I love gardening a lot. I've had one garden in my life and we moved from that place and I have not had a garden. So I believe that before I leave this planet in this human form, I would love to have a plot of land that I can actually spend time growing food. I would love to do that. Are there urban community gardens in New Orleans?

1:28:44I'm sure there are, but I want to have my own. You want your own. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like you could grow the food for your restaurant. I loved doing that so much. I had watermelons, I grew watermelon in LA. I grew watermelon, my zucchini, of course they were too damn big, but they used to get big as watermelons. I really, really enjoyed that. And that's something I would really, really love to do outside of truly learning to swim. I've taken swim. I can help you up with that. I've taken so many swimming classes, I'm so pitiful. That's an easy one to solve. Even though you've almost drowned two or three times, it's still easy.

1:29:26I think I could help you get there. You could help me get there. Yeah, I'd be happy to help you. Would you? Yeah, I really wanna know how to swim. I mean, and be out there on my own without my, like I have a brand new pool that I have access to. I got this big styrofoam thing that I have to put on to go to the pool. I wanna go in my bathing suit and look like a chick. I don't want to go out there with a big old star, big blue styrofoam. Yeah, we have to solve this problem. You can help me. It's not. No, I can. Even though with all the love in my heart, I'm still scared as hell in that water. There's no reason why you should be scared.

1:30:05We'll sort that out. Please. So maybe we can end this with just a powerful call to action for people to reclaim their health by being more conscious about the choices that they're making. You know, when you open that Bible and you believe in it so strongly and you believe in the word and please show appreciation through the practice of loving self and caring for self. Show that appreciation. And that includes knowing how to nourish yourself, movement, loving, watching your thoughts, practicing love of self is everything. because then you are saying to the oneness, to the intelligence that gave us this life, thank you, thank you.

1:30:55Yes, so now I'm healthy and I can be on my purpose and stay on my purpose and feel good while I'm on my purpose. You oughta let me get down there and do you a pushup or two. I wanna see it. When? Right now. Okay, watch. Yeah, do it right now.

1:31:13All right, let's see it. Ready? All right.

1:31:21You got form too. Say what? The form is dialed. I'm slipping though. Okay, can I get up? You're good. You proved it. You proved your point. Yeah. Amazing. Sit back down. Let's take people out properly. How are we going to take them out? So we're gonna take them out by me throwing a little love at you. You gonna throw some love? How you doing? Which is me saying, I just wanna honor you a little bit. Can I do that? Please. You are an incredible spirit. You're a powerful manifester and a powerful change agent. I think that you are a catalyst for growth and expansion and so many people through the work that you do and the way that you live your life.

1:32:05And I'm just, I'm very inspired by you. I'm in awe of you. And I just want you around for many more decades. And I want you to spread this message, this powerful message that you have, you know, as loudly and as broadly as you can. So I am winning your sails for anything you need. And I just wanna thank you for coming here today again. Thank you, Rich. I love you. Peace. Love you too. Bye y 'all. Bye. Peace, plants.

1:32:39That's it for today. Thank you for listening. I truly hope you enjoyed the conversation. To learn more about today's guest, including links and resources related to everything discussed today, visit the episode page at richroll.com where you can find the entire podcast archive, my books, Finding Ultra, Voicing Change in the Plant Power Way, as well as the Plant Power Meal Planner at meals.richroll.com. If you'd like to support the podcast, the easiest and most impactful thing you can do is to subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, and on YouTube, and leave a review and or comment.

1:33:18This show just wouldn't be possible without the help of our amazing sponsors who keep this podcast running wild and free. To check out all their amazing offers, head to richroll.com slash sponsors. And sharing the show or your favorite episode with friends or on social media is of course awesome and very helpful. And finally, for podcast updates, special offers on books, the meal planner, and other subjects, please subscribe to our newsletter, which you can find on the footer of any page at richroll.com. Today's show was produced and engineered by Jason Camiolo. The video edition of the podcast was created by Blake Curtis, with assistance by our creative director, Dan Drake.

1:34:00Portraits by Davey Greenberg, graphic and social media assets, courtesy of Daniel Solis. And thank you, Georgia Whaley, for copywriting and website management. And of course, our theme music was created by Tyler Pyatt, Trapper Pyatt, and Harry Mathis. Appreciate the love, love the support. See you back here soon. Peace. Plants. Namaste.

1:34:36No!