#212: Gigi Carter and Sersie Blue - Get Healthy for Your Divine Purpose
Gigi Carter and Sersie Blue, founders of Healthy For My Purpose
If you believe in a divine purpose, then get ready for an important episode.
The Daniel Fast is a scripture-based program that chronicles the story of Daniel from the Old Testament who “refused to eat the King’s Diet” of rich and indulgent food.
Instead, in order to stay strong in body and mind, he subsisted and thrived on vegetables and water - or what we may refer to these days as a whole food, plant-based diet.
Today, modern-day Daniel Fasts are conducted all over the world and that’s what brought my two guests together. Gigi Carter and Sersie Blue know the best way to live out their divine purpose with excellence is to be healthy and also help others who are on their own journeys.
Their first book, Daniel Fast - Why You Should Only Do It Once hits bookshelves everywhere on September 8th, 2023 and we're lucky enough to hear how they were called to eat the foods that serve their divine purpose - plants, of course!
Today, they discuss:
Their divine virtual meeting during the pandemic
Gigi’s background, spiritual journey, and connection to faith
Sersie’s physical and mental health struggle after the death of her child
The Daniel Fast - eating whole plant-based foods to strengthen your body and faith
The connection between our faith, food, health, and divine purpose
Collaboration and the birth of this joint venture of healthyformypurpose.com
Supporting women of faith, especially when there is resistance in the home
Making healthy plant-based eating attractive and overcoming limiting beliefs
Knowing what foods serve you to be the best you can be
Daniel Fast resources and their upcoming book release
Order Today! Release Date is September 8, 2023
This Daniel Fast will empower you to refuse the king’s diet. You will become a Daniel in your own life and a stronger, healthier version of yourself. Having your health means you can serve more, give more, and live out your calling with excellence by:
Connecting your health to your divine purpose
Eating like Daniel as a long-term lifestyle
Understanding how food can harm and shorten your life or extend and improve the quality of your life
Seeing your health as a spiritual practice, and
Fueling your body with foods that strengthen your temple.
Episode Resources
Reserve Your Ticket for our 12th Annual Plant-Stock - ticket bundles start at just $33!
Join our PLANTSTRONG Sedona Retreat - October 9-14, 2023
Healthy for My Purpose Website
To stock up on the best-tasting, most convenient, 100% PLANTSTRONG foods, including our cornbread, teas, stews, pancakes cereals, granolas, pizza kits, broths and soups, check out all of our PLANTSTRONG products HERE.
Give us a like on the PLANTSTRONG Facebook Page and check out what being PLANSTRONG is all about. We always keep it stocked full of new content and updates, tips for healthy living, delicious recipes, and you can even catch me LIVE on there!
We’ve also got an Instagram! Check us out and share your favorite PLANTSTRONG products and why you love it! Don’t forget to tag us using #goplantstrong 🌱💪
Transcript via AI Transcription Service
Intro: I'm Rip Esselstyn, and welcome to the PlantStrong podcast.
The mission at PlantStrong is to further the advancement of all things within the plant-based movement.
We advocate for the scientifically proven benefits of plant-based living and envision a world that universally understands, promotes, and prescribes plants as a solution to empowering your health, enhancing your performance, restoring the environment, and becoming better guardians to the animals we share this planet with.
We welcome you wherever you are on your Plant Strong journey, and I hope that you enjoy the show.
[1:48] I'm Rip Esselstyn, and I wanna welcome you to another episode of the Plant Strong Podcast.
If you believe in divine purpose, then get ready for a important conversation today.
For those who aren't familiar, the Daniel Fast is a scripture-based program that chronicles the story of Daniel from the Old Testament who refused to eat the king's diet of rich, meaty, and indulgent-laden food. Instead, he subsisted and thrived on vegetables and water, or what we may refer to these days as a whole food, plant-based diet. This was inspired, to not only deepen his faith, but also lead to better health and strength.
[2:36] Today, Modern Day Daniel Fasts are conducted all over the world, and that's what brought my two guests together.
Gigi Carter and Sersie Blue, what incredible names, met in an online class during the pandemic.
They quickly realized that their commonalities of using the power of faith to improve their health and the health of others was something super special.
They both have powerful background stories that demonstrate their own powers of strength and resolve.
And on September 8th, their first book, Daniel Fast, Why You Should Only Do It Once, hits bookshelves everywhere.
And I am thrilled to announce that Gigi and Sersie are two of our Brockstar chefs for this year's Plant Stock, that takes place September 22nd to the 24th.
If you want to learn more and register for PlanStock, simply visit planstrong.com, click on the menu and scroll down until you find 12th Annual PlanStock.
Now, here to talk about their journeys and their Daniel Fast resources are my special guests, Sersie Blue and Gigi Carter.
[3:55] All right, I am here today with Gigi Carter and Sersie Blue, and this is a thrill having you guys on the Plan Strong podcast.
And you guys, what I love is you guys have a very unique style and platform to get people, all things whole food plant based out there into the world. And so I want to dive deep with you guys about that. So but first, I need to know more about each one of you, because I know very little.
So why don't we start with Gigi only because Gigi is from Cleveland, like I am.
[4:44] Got a little bond like that. But Gigi Carter, let me ask you this before you answer the question about Cleveland. Is your real name Gigi or is it Genevieve?
No, it's actually Geraldine. Geraldine.
Yes, yeah. So not the Flip Wilson Geraldine, just regular Geraldine.
All right, Geraldine. Not my age.
So were you like, so you were born and raised in Cleveland?
I was. I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Went to high school there, college, went to graduated from John Carroll University, Cleveland State for my MBA. So I was in Cleveland for quite a while before my corporate career took me outside of Cleveland.
And where are you today?
I'm on Orcas Island in Washington State. So Pacific Northwest.
Well, you couldn't get farther away from Cleveland if you tried. I know, right?
Wow. So is the weather, is it nice there? It is. I mean, it's kind of chilly and rainy and overcast, but for us, it's nice.
But maybe not for everybody. Yeah. Well, do you miss Cleveland at all?
You know, I do. My family's still there, so I do go back there usually about once a year to visit.
And, you know, it's kind of nice going back there.
[6:07] You know, just to hang out with family, friends, and just reconnect with people.
Yeah, yeah. Well, I don't know about you, but...
I love Cleveland, you know, people give it a bad rap. They say it's a mistake by the lake and, you know, all that other stuff.
But I think when you're there, you you know what a rich culture it has.
You know, the arts, the sports teams, you know, mentor Highlands Lake.
I mean, it's pretty cool place.
Yeah, I would agree. Very good. All right. So I'm going to stop there.
Sersie Blue, is that your name? Sersie Blue. What a crazy, wonderful name.
That is my name. Yeah. Wow. Wow. And so Sersie, where you didn't grow up in Cleveland, did you?
No, actually, I was actually born in Toronto, Ontario. And I moved to the United States. I live in Georgia, and Florida at the same time. I'm right on the border of Jacksonville, Florida.
So, yeah, gotcha. And so how is it that you guys got to know each other?
[7:17] Well, so like, you know, somebody in Washington State on an island, Orca Island or something like that. And then somebody in Georgia, how'd you guys cross paths?
Yeah, well, it's quite interesting. We actually met during the pandemic. We actually met online.
I had a podcast at the time and Gigi had a YouTube channel, um, and we just.
[7:38] Organically someone reached out to me and said hey, we'd love to come on your show, And Gigi and I connected and we really hit it off and then I went on her, um YouTube channel and I told her my story and we were like, wait a minute You know, we were both kind of connected on the issue that at the time this was in the middle of pandemic, a lot of the statistics were coming out that people with comorbidities were dying at higher rates of COVID and this was even higher in the black community.
So Gigi and I had this shared passion about that because we were like, wait a minute, we have the answer.
We were both doing things individually but then we collaborated once we got together.
So we actually met in COVID-19. Right.
And so both of you have kind of, I think it's fair to say a fierce passion around the benefits of a whole food, plant-based lifestyle way of eating.
I'd love to know, why don't we start with you, Sersie, and then go to you, Gigi.
But like, so what was that journey to plants? How did you find that?
Yeah, for me, my journey to plants was I actually, this happened, this was probably like 2010.
I was actually diagnosed with high blood pressure during my last trimester of my pregnancy.
And so at the time my, you know, my mother had high blood pressure, my grandmother had it, so at the time I wasn't really that alarmed, but now in retrospect, I realized that.
[9:07] People who have high blood pressure during pregnancy have a higher risk for complications before, during, or after.
This was even higher for African-American women. So I didn't know that at the time, but I know that now.
And so when I went into the delivery for my son, I actually had a complication and my son lost oxygen to his brain.
So he had to be flight lifted out. He had 24 hour care because he wasn't able to actually drink on his own. So it was a lot.
And so you could imagine at that time, it was very stressful.
And a little bit after his first birthday, he actually passed away.
And so at that time, I think I was at the lowest point of my life at that point.
[9:51] Depressed, using food.
And I was eating the standard American diet and then some, so to speak, even prior to that, I was just eating the typical foods and also using food during that time.
So I think I gained the most weight I had ever gained and things like that during that process.
And then just randomly out of the blue, a friend of mine said to me, hey, do you want to do a Daniel Fast with me?
And I've done the Daniel Fast before. This is a thing that people do in the church in January, basically kind of reset the year.
It's kind of like a Lent for the Catholics, but a lot of evangelicals do it, just to start the year off. And I don't think I've done it before, but I don't think I've ever truly done it because I would say, well, I'm gonna substitute eggs I'm gonna add cheese. I never really fully did it in its purest form.
Reluctance to Give Up Food for the Daniel Fast
[10:38] And so when she asked me, do you want to do the Daniel Fast?
I was like, Hmm, you know, I'm kind of not in a good mood right now.
I don't know if I want to give up all that food, you know, and I said to her, I'll do it, but I'm going to add eggs and I'm going to add cheese.
And at that moment, she just arrested me. And she said, listen, if you're going to do the Daniel Fast, you're going to have to do it exactly the way it's designed. And for those of you who don't know, Daniel Fast is basically a whole food plant based diet, but it doesn't have any preservatives, no sugar.
[11:05] Um, so it's really the holiest form of a, of a plant-based diet literally, literally.
So there's no preservatives, no coffee, no nothing.
You're just going 100% with real food. No booze, no booze, no alcohol, no alcohol, either, nothing.
It's just 100% whole-food plant-based. And um, that's what I'm talking about.
At the time though, I was using those foods for my comfort and I was in a dark place so I wasn't sure if I wanted to let go of all of those things.
And I was like, ugh. But when she arrested me in that moment and said, if you're gonna do it, you gotta do it exactly the way it's designed.
I said, okay, I'm gonna do it. And then the thing about the Danden Fast, it's eating those foods, but then you're also combining meditation and prayer and devotionals.
And so it's this whole big combination. And so- So was this part of a coordinated effort or was this just you and your friend doing it?
It was just literally me and my friend. she actually did it before January, before the church and everything would start. I don't know why she decided to do it.
I guess it was just a divine intervention at that point, but it was literally just me and her doing it at that time.
And so I jumped into it because she said, you're gonna do it, you're gonna do it right.
And I was like, yeah, okay, I'm gonna do it.
And I did it exactly the way it was designed. And I can't tell you if it was two weeks or three weeks, but it was almost as like.
[12:28] You know, you know that song, I can see clearly now. It's like my whole world changed.
My depression was gone. My mood was elevated. I lost weight.
My blood pressure was regulated.
I had mental and spiritual clarity. I felt like I could hear God in my life more clearly.
[12:44] Everything shifted. And so at that point, I was like, what in the world just happened?
Was this like a miracle?
Was this like, did the heavens open up and I'm some type of anomaly or was this something to this?
And so I started to dig into the research and I saw, you know, all of the work by all of, you know, that the plant based diet was the only one that could reverse heart disease.
And I saw the work by your father and Dr. Gregor and all of those wonderful works.
And I was like, wait a minute, this is a thing. And so then I started to compare it to the whole story of Daniel in the Bible, which just to give you a small recap, basically, I need a recap.
Okay. You know, and so then I said to him.
Pretend that I don't know anything. Okay, I will do that.
And so then I started to dig into the story of Daniel and I realized that, wait a minute, Daniel and his three friends were basically invited into the King Palace to basically be trained in linguistics and all this other stuff.
But they wanted to have these young men be very fit and trained and athletic.
And so they were supposed to eat the King's diet which was filled of dairy and meat and alcohol and all these other things, but they said, we're gonna refuse the King diet.
We don't wanna eat this thing.
[14:00] And they said, if you give us 10 days where we're just gonna eat plants.
[14:04] We'll put it to the test.
And if we're inferior to our peers or anything like that, fine, we'll go ahead and eat the King's diet.
And after the 10 days, what they found out that Daniel and his friends were 10 times healthier and physically stronger than everybody else that was eating the King's diet.
And so this is where, The modern-day church got this inspiration to say, hey, we want to eat like Daniel so that we could be 10 times healthier.
And so I realized, wait a minute, there was a connection there that, you know, Dr. Greger says that Daniel Fast is the first clinical study of the plant-based diet, you know?
And so I realized there was a connection between honoring my body and my faith and eating foods that were serving me.
And so then I totally went on a mission to help people connect their plate to their faith and their food, and I've been on that mission ever since.
So in the scripture, with the Daniel's diet, how do they refer to plants?
Do they say- It says pulse, but when you look into the Greek meaning, it talks about basically herbs, plants, just anything that grows from the earth, seeds, nuts, and all of that, yeah.
So were you already a spiritual person going forward?
Because I was a spiritual person.
[15:23] Eating the standard American diet, and I didn't realize that there was a spiritual connection, that I was literally harming myself.
I didn't realize that. So, I was a spiritual person.
I, you know, I was a believer, I was a Christian, but I never made the connection that what I was eating was actually a spiritual practice that could actually elevate the way I think and eat and interact with the world and God.
And then I started to draw all the other connections of taking care of the planet and all of those other spiritual connections that we make as being stewards of this planet.
And so, yeah, so for me, that was a mind-blowing experience, but it started with me refusing the King's diet in my own life to be able to understand that process.
Isn't that so wonderful, described that way, refusing the King's diet, which it seems like the vast majority of Americans are on the King's diet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
That's it. Yeah, yeah. No, I love to say, you know what?
If you want to live like a King, you want to eat like a peasant.
That's it, exactly.
But now, so Gigi, hang in there because I'm coming to you too. But Sersie.
[16:36] So you were a believer, you had this faith, but up until this point when your friend suggested that you do the Daniel's Fast, had you not been exposed to the Daniel's Fast or read about it?
It was crazy. Like I said, a lot of people, we were exposed to it, but again, I wasn't fully doing it because I was like, I'm not giving up.
I would do it in my own way. And even at the time, because it was called the Daniel Fast, it's like many people, even today, don't really connect the fact that that's a vegan diet.
You kind of just think, oh no, that's just the way Daniel ate.
And you never really made the connections. And it wasn't until.
[17:17] And maybe it's because I was at that real receptive point and I went in without making any adjustments.
And I did it for the 30 days that it made the difference for me that I was able to draw those connections.
Because at that point, I had already gained the most weight I could.
I was already at the lowest point spiritually and mentally.
So I was, so the benefits that just overtook me at that moment was so great that there was just no way to deny what was happening.
So when you say you were like the heaviest, like how much heavier than you are now?
I lost about, in total, I probably lost about 55, 60 pounds.
Mm-hmm, that's substantial. It made, it's a world of a difference in everything, yeah.
Everything. Yeah. And so in addition to, you said that, you know, when you were pregnant and you had diagnosed with that high blood pressure in your third trimester, were you also pre-diabetic?
Did you have any other comorbidities? I didn't have anything else.
I just had the high blood pressure that was diagnosed.
And like I said, it was a comfortable place for me because my mom had it and my grandmother had it.
So I just thought this was just a normal thing. And so I had no idea that just by changing what was at the end of my fork, that I could actually.
Break those generational patterns in my own life and start eating different.
And then I realized too that I became.
[18:44] I was able to live out my purpose better. And so that was where I got the passion in terms of people of faith to say, hey, people of faith are living lives that they're on a mission on this planet.
And so if you're not taking care of your body, you're not gonna be able to be healthy for your purpose.
And so that's how this whole thing kind of brainstormed and Gigi and I collaborated to help people realize that listen, you have to be healthy for your purpose.
It's not enough to just feed our spirit and not feed our body if we're gonna do this thing right.
Yeah, what a huge piece of the puzzle that is missing right now.
And it could address so many issues that so many of us are facing, especially, I mean, if you guys have this statistics better than I do, but it's something like, I think 80 to 85% of black women in particular, I think, are considered overweight or obese.
Is that what you guys have heard?
Yeah, that is correct. And one of the things that we also correlated was that 80% of black women say faith is very important to them.
Introducing the Daniel Fast for Faith and Health
[19:49] And so we made this connection that, wait a minute, here's this two dynamics going on.
If 80% of women think that faith is important to them, What if we were to introduce the Daniel Fast as a means of getting healthy through your faith and have them, because if they're making important decisions about who they're gonna marry, what job they're gonna take, and they're using their faith already, here's a blind spot that we can advocate to black women to say, hey, listen, you could use your faith to be healthy for your purpose.
Yeah. I think it's a blind spot, it's also a soft spot. Yeah, that's awesome, that's great.
So, if you were to rewrite the scripture, right?
Would you call it a fast or would you call it something else?
Actually, we probably would call it a.
[20:42] Daniel way of eating like Gigi and I actually were writing a book called why you should only do the Daniel Fast once, You believe that at the end of the day, it really shouldn't be something you do every January But it should actually be the default way of eating and so that is that that's the whole point Yeah, we would probably take away the word fast but fast is what they've been using But that's why we're coming out with a slogan why you should only do the Daniel Fast wants and make it a lifestyle, That's really smart. Yeah, you know or the Daniel diet, but in the original word diet, you know meant a way of eating But we've so kind of, you know bastardized it. It's just like Gigi's shirt eat and pray like Daniel. That's how we phrase, Gigi come to the forefront again.
Finding Passion for Plants, unrelated to Cleveland
[21:28] So Gigi How did you find your passion to plants? Cause I'm wondering if it was somehow through Cleveland or it had nothing to do with Cleveland.
Actually had nothing to do with Cleveland. I actually adopted a whole food plant-based diet when I was living in Jackson, Mississippi.
Of all places. Of all places. And there wasn't a Whole Foods there at the time either.
So yeah, it was in a very unusual place. And my journey started back actually in 2007 when I was living in Houston, Texas.
And I went to the doctor for a routine wellness exam and they did my lipid panel and then a carotid artery scan of my neck.
[22:12] And my cholesterol was high and they said that I had the arteries of a 46 year old but I was only 35.
And so the doctor wanted to put me on a statin drug And I politely refused and walked out.
And around the same time, I learned about the work of Dr. Dean Ornish and his lifestyle heart trial that was conducted back in the 90s.
And I remember saying to myself, there's no way I could give up fish or cheese or eggs or you name it.
And so I had this limiting belief that I literally couldn't live without these foods, which looking back is like ridiculous, but that's where my headspace was.
And I did what I thought was the next best thing was I followed what the government said was a good job.
Okay. Yeah. Silly me, silly me.
[23:05] So I, basically for about five years, my cholesterol went from basically horrible to borderline bad and stayed there for about five years.
And I knew I was kind of a ticking time bomb just because, you know, the number one killer of women is heart disease as well as men.
And I remember getting to a point where I was starting to put on weight, My energy level was dropping.
And I decided to experiment with some cleanses that a friend of mine was doing.
It's this weird cleanse with cayenne pepper and maple syrup.
It's called the master cleanse. Master cleanse, yeah.
With lemonade, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup, and distilled water.
Crazy, crazy. So you're supposed to do it for 10 days. I lasted for five.
Cleanses lead to the discovery of feeling great on a plant-based diet
[23:55] But I noticed, because I had done it a few times that year, and I think this was 2011.
And I remember noticing that, I think it was after the second or third time, that I felt best when I was eating what they call a transition diet, which was basically, you know, vegetable broth, fruits and vegetables, supposed to do that for a couple of days before you go back to your quote unquote, normal, healthy way of eating.
And I just remembered why I really feel great just eating vegetables and fruits and broth.
[24:27] And I decided after coming back from vacation in 2012 that I wanted to go vegetarian.
So at this point I still couldn't give up the cheese, like a lot of people say.
No, no, that's the dairy crack.
Can't give up the dairy crack. So over six months, I transitioned to a vegetarian diet and it was July of 2012.
So I was really vegetarian for about one month because I claimed to be a vegetarian June of 2012 and then July of 2012, I watched a couple of documentaries. One of which was Forks Over Knives and the other one was Earthlings.
And I just remember going into the kitchen and telling my husband, hey, I'm going vegan right now.
And so that was it. I mean, it was- And how did he respond to that?
You know, he actually said, okay, I'll do it with you. I mean, he was ready to do it.
I think he was actually ready before I was ready, which is kind of interesting now.
He was kind of in a pescetarian diet mode, you know, for a while.
And then, you know, he was kind of ready to just go all in because he knew the studies, he knew the data.
[25:40] So it was, that was it. And we never looked back.
And so I've been whole food plant-based since July, 2012.
And so you're July, 2012. And Sersie, when did you start? I'm 2000, 2020, 20, 20, 10, 11, 11, 2011.
[25:58] Gotcha. And Gigi, did you used to be, I read that you used to be like an avid cyclist. Is that right?
I am an avid cyclist today. I actually started bike racing at 42.
It was after I adopted my plant-based lifestyle.
Cause I was never, you know, in high school, people that knew me from high school.
They're just like, Gigi, you're an athlete? Because they know me as a couch potato. That was Gigi, Gigi the couch potato. So yeah, I just had all this energy and started cycling and running.
Well, now you're a racing sweet potato.
[26:39] Exactly. No more couch potato. No more couch potato.
And so what about you, Gigi? Have you always been a, you know, a religious person?
Gigi's spiritual journey and connection to faith
[26:54] You know, I have, I would say, I've never described myself as religious. I've always been a Christian, you know.
[27:04] Was very active in my church for a good part of my young adult life.
And then I would say that my focus when I started working for corporations and moving around the country, I kind of lost that connection with my church and not really being grounded in a church per se.
But I will have to say that I owe a lot to Sersie and this divine intervention that happened, because one thing she didn't mention that I'll just share right now is that I found out a year after we started working together that her son passed away on my birthday. And that connection was kind of like, it just solidified to me that it was, it was, it was, it was God bringing us together. I mean, we're 3,000 miles apart, meeting through Zoom in a pandemic, and then And it just all unfolded in a very natural way.
[28:17] Meant to be kind of way. And so she has really helped me to mature as a Christian.
[28:27] And so, I'm forever grateful for that. And I'm trying not to start crying on your podcast.
[28:36] But it's definitely a spiritual connection here.
Oh, I can feel it. Yeah, it's really powerful.
[28:48] So Sersie, you helped Gigi mature with her, I guess, practice, her faith.
Did one of you help the other mature with whole food plant-based?
Yeah, I would have to say Gigi was like a rock star, I'm telling you.
I'm still trying to keep up with Gigi. But, yeah, I learned so much.
Cause you know, Gigi, she hasn't mentioned all the, her going back to school to get her master's in nutrition, but she is like a walking encyclopedia with knowledge and about whole food plant-based.
And so when I connected with her, we both connected on the no oil, the whole foods, but she helped me level up to another level. Wait, timeout, timeout, timeout.
You guys, not only are you whole food plant-based, beautiful, whole food plant-based, NO, no oil?
No, yeah, we didn't do the oil. And we were so surprised that we both were on the same, but we don't do the oil, we don't do the process, you know, and all of that. And so, yeah.
Wow, this is really exceptional. I am so impressed with you two.
Now, so how long have you guys, so you got together, you said during the pandemic, when did you decide, all right, We got something special here.
Collaboration and the birth of a joint venture
[30:07] Let's collaborate here and bring something forth to the world.
It's really all women of faith.
We say a few good men, because we have a few men in our group as well.
What happened was, Sersie mentioned that she came onto my YouTube channel after I was on on her podcast.
And then we connected around a blog post that I was wanting to publish on my site.
And it really stemmed from her doing the Daniel Fast. And I was kind of subtle with it.
I was like, do you know anybody who could write this?
And she's like, well, I can write it, of course.
[30:49] So she wrote this article that was basically outlining how you can use the Daniel Fast as a jumping off point to a plant-based lifestyle.
And so I was on my bike trainer working out, you know, probably on a Zwift ride or something.
And I started looking at my phone, looking at the article after it had already been published and it just hit me.
And I was like, you know, this could really help.
[31:16] Lot of women, you know, and so I reached out to her, I sent her an email saying, Hey, would you like to collaborate and create something around this? And she said, Yes, like she responded, like, instantly. And and that's what it was. That's what happened. I think it was June 2020. When when when we were corresponding and made this happen. But yeah, so it's coming up here on three years.
Wow. So you guys, like, have you incorporated and you've got a business and all that other stuff? Yep.
Good, good, good. You know, you said something, I think, I can't remember if it was Sersie or if it was you, Gigi, but one of you said something that, well, you both, when you were starting this, were like, oh, I'll do the Daniels Fast. Sersie, you said this.
But uh, I I want to do some eggs and I want to do some cheese and your friend was like nah You gotta go all in and Gigi. You were like, yeah I don't want to give up my cheese or this and that and it's amazing how we have these, I think you said at Gigi these limiting beliefs.
[32:28] Are you finding when you're bringing people into the fold and?
Counseling people and putting them through your Daniel's plate Are you having?
What is the biggest food that you have to overcome because people have these limiting beliefs that they can't, could never give up this? Yeah, you know, so we have a five-day Healthy Christian Woman Boot Camp. And I will tell you that when we put people through our program.
[32:59] Those, it's interesting because they start, they're making a connection now between their food and their faith.
And then it becomes less a matter of like giving up a specific food.
But I'll say that when people are struggling, it's more around things like sweets, like processed foods.
[33:24] Not necessarily the cheese per se, but it's more around the processed junk foods or the comfort foods that people were going to to ease their emotional pain or their stress.
Emotional Eating and the Role of God
[33:39] And whatever that food was, it could be potato chips, which is vegan, we know, but potato chips could be, you know, Twizzlers, it could be donuts, cookies, pies.
And what we help women do is help them to understand they're going to food that's not necessarily going to solve their problem, but instead going to God because we have this thing around, you know, using food as an idol. And that's a huge issue, especially if you're a woman of faith, because you want God to be the center of everything, that that is who you go to for comfort. If something's stressing you out, that that, and Sersie could talk way better about this than me, but that is really at its core kind of the problem with emotional eating, is you're trying to replace, you're trying, you think the food's going to solve the problem, but it doesn't, it makes it worse, and you go to it for comfort, where you could be going to God, and so we help people make that connection. And then Daniel's.
[34:45] Plate is the vehicle with which we deliver recipes for people to go to, to eat that healthy lifestyle.
Yeah, yeah. Sersie, anything you want to add to that?
She said it well. I mean, you know, and it becomes what happens is we help the women realize that.
[35:06] If your why is about just losing the 10 pounds to fit back into the dress, you might end up, and I've been there, going through this vicious cycle of losing gain. But what we help the women to do in our program is to be healthy for your divine purpose. That you're called, everyone is called to do something here on this planet. And if you could connect that by taking care of your body and how you fuel it, that you are aiding to your ultimate purpose here on the planet, then it deepens their why so deeply and they make it a spiritual practice that they're more likely to follow it. And there was even a study that was showing that when they had people in the rural South do the Daniel Fast that they had a 98% success rate than when they called it a vegan diet. And so when people are able to attach meaning and faith and purpose, and something so much deeper than, oh, I'm just trying to struggle to do this, it becomes purpose driven. And so that is what we teach our women and what our passion is about to say, Listen, this is bigger than the plate. This is about your purpose. And that is how we bring the message and that's what resonates and that's what keeps it deep.
Yeah, beautiful. What have you found as far as, so for the most part it sounds like.
Supporting Women in Dealing with Resistance at Home
[36:29] Most of the people that you are working with are women. You've got a few good men.
No, when these women go back home.
And if they have a partner, let's say they're married, and the man is like, what?
No, we're not doing that. I need my burger and my steak.
How do you equip them to deal with these belligerent men? Yeah, I'll kick it off and Sersie, you can add to it.
But it starts off with, obviously helping the woman learn how to eat and acknowledging that not everybody in the home going to be ready for this change.
But one of the things that we offer is this supportive community.
Because a lot of times, women just need a place where they feel supported in whatever change they're making to improve their health situation, that they're not alone on this island.
And so we offer that supportive environment so that they can continue down the path, even if it's not happening at home.
[37:41] And then, you know, being a leader in their house and leading by example.
And I'll tell you, you know, we've been doing this, you know, for, like I said, coming up on three years and we have, you know, spouses who are by default getting healthier because she's doing all the cooking and maybe when they're out and about, you know, he's eating whatever, but they're seeing health improvements just in the changes that she's making at home with the meals that she's cooking.
And so that's always encouraging too, because, and then, you know, so if you could see your cholesterol going down, you know, 20 points or whatever, because, you know, the dinners that she cooks at home are whole food plant-based, then, you know, it's just a natural benefit and buy-in that will happen, you know, over time.
Right, right. And then we of course, we've also we all know about the benefits that can happen, uh With the well the women and the men but the men as far as getting their virility back, right?
If they've uh, if that's something that's gone by the wayside Yeah due to the king's diet. Yeah.
[38:54] Yeah Sersie anything that you want to add to what Gigi just said there?
But yeah, a lot of it too is that that, you know, we try to tell the women to focus on the change in yourself first and not try to go in and change everyone because a lot of times the mere nature of them seeing that authentic change in their wife or mother or whoever, it breeds curiosity.
Authentic Change Breeds Curiosity in Family Members
[39:19] And then you have an open door to now present this in a way that's totally different from coming in with that, hey, we're all changing this.
When they're able to see the change, it creates that openness for them to be curious.
And I think curiosity is a big opening for families.
Diverse Women in the Workplace
[39:40] Find that most of your, the women that you work with, are they single? Are they married? Is it, or is it kind of a collection of everything? It's a collection of everything. We have, we, I mean, we have women all over the country, all over, I would say North America, because we have some, some folks in Canada as well. And it's kind of a mixed bag, but I would say most of the women are probably between the ages of 35 up, and some are single and some are married.
Some are married with children and some are married without children.
So it's kind of a mixed bag.
Yeah.
Gigi, you wrote a book back in 2018 called the Plant-Based Workplace Book or the Plant-Based Workplace and all the reasons that the workplace could benefit, from going plant-based.
Empowering Women in the Workplace
[40:40] And you cite a number of powerful ways of making that happen.
Is this something that you've carried into this work with you and Sersie or not?
Yeah, I would say indirectly I have, in part because a lot of the women that are going through our program do work outside of the home.
And so, recognizing that the workplace is oftentimes a place where there aren't a lot of healthy options.
[41:10] Making sure women feel equipped to be able to feed themselves and not let triggers kind of keep them from maintaining gains that they may have made, I think is also helpful.
But I'll say that people who are also in positions you know, in positions of influencing, you know, what gets served in workplaces, you know, it's a responsibility I don't know if people take too lightly, just because of the healthcare costs.
[41:52] The productivity, just the moral implication of feeding toxic foods to your workers, I would say is, I don't think it's on the consciousness of a lot of leaders, but I do weave it in a little bit through the bootcamp that we offer because we do talk about how you're being played.
You know, you're being played by a system that's designed to make money off of you being sick.
And I'll say that a lot of employers are not dialed into this and how it's affecting their workers who most companies will say is their most valued resource or asset.
Yeah, no, without a doubt. It's something that John Mackey really tried to tackle as the CEO at Whole Foods and really tried to create this culture of wellness.
[42:47] And it's challenging. It's challenging, you know, eating people's are changing people's eating habits.
You know, you guys know firsthand, you just said it, I think, Sersie.
You changed the verbiage from, let's do a vegan fast to a Daniel's Fast, and now you got 98% more buy-in.
And so much of this is the salesmanship or saleswomanship of what exactly is this?
How do we make it attractive so that people understand that it doesn't come with all the baggage and the crap that people think that it does.
It's just absolutely the polar opposite of that.
Making Healthy Eating Attractive and Overcoming Limiting Beliefs
[43:32] Right. Yeah, yeah. Which is the irony.
Yeah. Yeah, it's like, what do you, no, you can't take away that.
It's like going back to the whole limiting beliefs and arguing for your, you know, arguing for your weaknesses.
[43:48] Yeah. Can I add something? I just wanna, you know, You just said something that really, I feel like.
People don't understand how they are being played by in a system.
And I think when that connection is made, then you have to ask that person, are you choosing to be played?
Like, are you choosing to be played by the system? And if you are, okay, you've made a conscious decision, but I would say that most people don't like that.
And I could tell you the women who go through our bootcamp, once they realize that, don't want to be in that system, that it, the dynamics change, the perception changes from.
[44:30] You know, food is here to nourish us and to sustain us, not necessarily for some, you know, emotional comfort or, you know, experience that's just completely just very fleshly in nature, It's not just 100% solely for pleasure?
Well, yeah. And when you realize that the food is designed to tap into that hedonistic desire of being high in fat, high in sugar, high in salt, and you realize that it triggers this dopamine cascade in your brain on purpose, that they hire these very smart people from these very important top schools in the country to design that food specifically for that purpose, and that you have been hooked and hoodwinked and tricked into eating it. And then that then translates into you being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and then having to go through kidney die out, when you start threading it all together, and you see how that all links back, then you're then you start to realize, wait a minute.
Well, I don't know anybody that would say, Oh, yeah, I yeah, I know I'm being played. And I'm okay with that. No, once you once you have your eyes open, it's it's I think it's a whole new. It's a whole new day.
[45:59] Yes, definitely. So you just spoke about the food, right, and how many of us have been hoodwinked and bamboozled with just kind of all this hyper-palatized, highly processed foods that typically have 20 to 50 ingredients in them as opposed to the ingredients that, recipes have, which are like one or two or three. Speaking of the recipes, and you guys have some delicious ones, who is the cook between you? Or do you hire out to somebody else?
Collaborating on Recipes and Healthy Breakfast Choices
[46:34] I do I do most of the cooking, but Sersie will help me sometimes I make my husband is kind of my taste tester. So, he's the designated taste tester in the house. But yeah, we we kind of collaborate on recipes, Sersie will like either send me something that she's made that's super yummy and fits in, you know, with kind of what we're trying to do. And then, and then I'll remake it and do the photos and everything. Other times, she'll, she'll send me something like Gigi, figure out how to make this. Like a real she found on TikTok, figure out how to do this, so it's healthy.
I'm telling you, some of those too, but yeah.
[47:23] That's good. What did both of you have for breakfast today? I had rolled oats.
They were just cold oats with, I took a whole Fuji apple and diced it up.
And then I added some kiwi.
I started eating kiwi with the skin on, like the furry kiwi, which, yeah.
Yeah, I was like, okay, I'm gonna do this. I know there's more nutrients in the skin.
I'm like, I'm gonna do it. So I got some really nice organic Kiwis at my local store here.
And then I had some raisins, chia seeds, and cinnamon, and that's what I had for breakfast.
That sounds really delicious. And I love the fact that you just used pure old-fashioned oats, right? Just cold.
That's what I love too. How about you, Sersie?
Had this ancient bowl that I'm addicted to that Gigi just posted online the other day, but it's like a five grains. It's like sorghum, millet, black rice, oats, and I think what's the last one, Gigi? I don't even remember.
Millet, you said millet. Garlic.
[48:32] Five of that I put that in the Instant Pot. So yesterday I had it over a salad. But this morning I made it into like a savory blueberry bowls. I added like a plant-based milk, some flax seeds, cinnamon, a little bit of dates, and I added some blueberries. So yeah, that's my new thing right now. The diversity, after reading that book, you know, the diversity is like, that gives me a bang for my buck right there. Yeah, yeah. And so in looking through your Instagram, I noticed some really delicious recipes, I'd like to ask you guys about them, and then just kind of, you know, take it from there. So let's start with I've never heard of this before, but it looked absolutely delicious sweet potato toast.
Delicious Sweet Potato Toast
[49:16] Yeah. Yeah, that is. So you slice the sweet potatoes, you keep the skin on you slice the sweet potatoes into like, like.
[49:27] Like little steaks or little slices of toast, you put them in the air fryer and it kind of par cooks them and firms them up. And then when you're ready to eat, you know, like, let's say it's a grab and go breakfast thing, you just pop it in the toaster, and then finish it off. And then you could add, you know, almond butter, peanut butter and bananas, or sweet potato. Yeah, or you could hummus, you know, with some arugula or smashed avocado with some tomato. And then I've got a no salt everything bagel seasoning recipe that's really good with that too. So it's, it's just a fun way to, you know, just something to mix it up. Because a lot of times we do a lot of oats and porridge and stuff, which is great. It makes me feel good and keeps me satisfied. But it's also fun to just mix in some toasts. Yeah, now and then.
Yeah, yeah. Do you guys ever do...
[50:25] Like on the weekends, for example, pancakes or waffles? Yeah.
I do it usually for Easter. Like I did it for Easter or like some holiday, but most weekends I don't, it'll be whatever recipe testings.
So we just talked about oats, how much we all love oats. I think in another life, I was a horse.
The Pristine Oat Groat and Roasted Chickpeas
[50:49] I noticed you had on your Instagram, you had oat groats. Yes.
Oat groats, they like take oats to like the top of the mountaintop. And I'm wondering how often you both have oat groats. Well, Sersie just had it this morning. I just had it this morning in that ancient Granville. That was one of the five. It was nice. Yeah, because that is like the most pristine form of the oat. Yeah, no, it's it's even more pristine than steel cut oats, old-fashioned oats. For people that don't know, the oat groat is where it all begins.
Oh, yeah. Yes. The OG of oats. The OG of oats, for sure. So I noticed you guys had a roasted chickpea dish with no oil, of course. Can you tell me how you make those roasted chickpeas? You just put them on parchment.
[51:40] Paper and bake them with spices or what? Yeah, it's super easy. Yeah, you just sprinkle the seasoning, the spices on them. I think there's cumin, maybe a little cayenne, some other seasonings, and then just spread them out onto a baking sheet, a parchment-lined baking sheet, and just bake them. And they come out great. They're a great snack.
Dr. John Baxter How do you get the spices to stick on the chickpeas?
Dr. Kimberly Jackson Usually, I mean, there's just the natural water that's on the chickpeas. And a lot of times we do canned, but you could certainly make your own in the Instant Pot, but they start off with having a little bit of water on them.
Seasoning and Roasting Cauliflower Steak
[52:22] You put them in while there's still a little water on them, you just kind of shake them in a little bowl with some seasonings and it sticks. Most of it sticks. Some of it falls off, but a lot of it does stick. Yeah, yeah. I also noticed a cauliflower steak. I'm a huge fan of cauliflower.
I think it's so versatile. You know, it really is, for the most part, considered a, cruciferous green leafy vegetable, right? Kind of make our, help our nitric oxide.
So how do you prepare your cauliflower steak? Yeah, so it's very actually similar to the chickpeas. You rub the spices onto the actual steak and then you just pop it in the oven and then roast it and it comes out great. That is one of my favorite dishes on the website.
I don't make it very often just because I'm making a bunch of other recipes, but it is one that's really good. And I don't even, sometimes I'm not all that great at cutting the steak into an actual steak. So I'll just, just cut it as best as I can and just toss it in the spices and kind of rub it in there with my hands a little bit and then pop it in the oven. It is so yummy.
Yeah. Are you guys a fan of salads? Oh my goodness.
Rainbow Salad: A Nutrient-packed Delight
[53:40] That's what I'm going to eat as soon as we're done with this.
So what's that salad look like? Yeah, so it's a huge like rainbow salad.
So I do a lot of mixed greens as a base and then some kind of legume like a chickpea, lentils, black beans, whatever kind of bean.
And then it's just a rainbow of vegetables. I love purple cabbage.
I do a red bell pepper, sometimes jicama, just a lot of different.
We have these really awesome salad in a jar recipes that we're going to be meal prepping this weekend for our bootcamp.
They are just phenomenal. Everybody that eats them loves them because you just get all these layers of goodness in a jar and you just shake it up and then pour it onto a bed of mixed greens.
Your salad ends up being huge, as big as almost a mixing bowl.
For some people, that's their main meal for the day. You feel good afterwards.
You're full, you're satisfied, and you feel good just from all the nutrients you get. Yet light.
The thing that gets me with salads is I would love to eat a huge salad every day.
[55:03] What to me makes the salad is the dressing. Do you guys have a particular dressing that you're fond of?
There's a few that- There's a lot. Yeah, Percy, you name your favorite salad.
There is a green goddess dressing that is just to die for. There's a walnut, balsamic.
There's like, there's just so many. There's so many. The dressing does make the dish.
And what's nice about the dressing is you could put it on a salad or you could just drizzle it on like a bowl, a Buddha bowl.
And that dressing is like, is definitely the key.
Yeah. I know some people that don't mind just doing like a flavored balsamic vinegar on top of your salads, but that doesn't quite do it for me. Yeah. A little more than that. Yeah. Yeah.
Definitely. Definitely. Or sometimes I would even just smash avocado and use that as my dressing, add some seasonings and just roll that through it.
And that could be a dressing. So if you're, you know, strapped for time, That's an easy way to do it too, is creamy.
Yeah, I agree. Yeah. Tell me you two, what is a prayer for your health journal?
Prayer for Health Journal: Combining Nutrition and Scriptures
[56:16] Yeah, go ahead, Sersie. Okay, the prayer for your health journal, I guess, is basically it's just the devotionals.
What we do is that when somebody is doing the Daniel Fast as a jumping off point, we actually give them nutritional information in scriptures regarding their health, that's from the Bible, so that they could actually not only just eat the food, but build up mentally and spiritually around the concept.
So we'll use biblical verses that talk about edifying your body or eating well, and we'll use nutrition facts to talk about just little nuggets in that journal as well.
So somebody will do the Daniel Fast from a different perspective about edifying their health.
So that's how it's kind of connected. It's like a devotional to go with the Daniel Fast.
Very, very nice.
Gigi, Sersie, this has been really enlightening for me in a number of ways.
I think it's so...
[57:17] That you two met a couple years ago and what you guys are doing, it's absolutely wonderful.
And I want to thank you for all the lives that you're helping and saving through your passion and through your work.
Well, thank you for all you're doing. I mean, you inspired us.
I mean, we're big fans. We're like, yeah.
And just having this platform for us to be able to share what we do, we're very grateful to you for that.
Yeah. So, before we close out, any last words you guys would like to impart or like let everybody know where we can find you?
Well, you could find us, we are at healthyformypurpose.com. When you get there, you can find all of the ways you can connect with us.
We're on @danielfasttohealthyliving on Instagram.
We also have a podcast called Healthy for My Purpose Again.
So if you go there, you can attach to our meal prep, our boot camp, the upcoming book, which is why you should only do the Daniel Fast once, and our four-week program of the Daniel Fast Bridge to Healthy Living.
Yeah, we're just excited about that.
[58:35] Yeah. When is that book coming out, or is it out? It is actually coming out this fall, but we're going to start pre-sailing and bringing it out probably this summer, but so you can look out for that, why you should do the Dandefest ones. Wonderful. All right.
[58:53] Well, you guys, can I get a Plant Strong fist bump on the way out?
Yeah. There you go. Boom.
Keep it Plant Strong. Yes. Yes, I'm strong.
Living out your divine purpose through improved health
[59:08] The best way to live out your divine purpose with excellence is to be healthy.
Gigi and Sersie are living examples of using their power of faith to improve their health, and providing education and inspiration for others who are also on a faith and health journey.
For more information on their workshops and their new book, Daniel Fast, Why You Should Only Do It Once, visit healthyformypurpose.com.
And don't forget, we'll be sharing and cooking a few recipes at this year's 12th annual Plant Stock Celebration, and you do not wanna miss out.
Thanks so much for listening, and always keep it Plant Strong.
Support the Plant Strong Podcast
[59:58] Thank you for listening to the Plant Strong Podcast. You can support the show by taking a quick minute to follow us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.
Leaving us a positive review and sharing the show with your network is another great way to help us reach, as many people as possible with the exciting news about plants.
Thank you in advance for your support. It means everything. The PlantStrong podcast team includes, Carrie Barrett, Laurie Kortowich, Ami Mackey, Patrick Gavin, and Wade Clark.
This season is dedicated to all of those courageous truth seekers who weren't afraid to look through the lens with clear vision and hold firm to a higher truth.
Most notably, my parents, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. and Anne Crile Esselstyn.
Thanks for listening.
