#292: Erin and Dusty Stanczyk - Eat, Move, Rest: The Blueprint for a Happy, Healthy, Plant-Based Family
Dusty and Erin Stanczyk
Dusty and Erin Stanczyk grew up in Nebraska - yep, the land of corn – but also the heart of cattle country, which was a major part of their lives. Towards the end of college, health scares for both of them - like anxiety, panic attacks, and acid reflux- made them question their lifestyle choices. It took a few years and, with the inspiration and education from Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., Dusty and Erin transitioned to a whole foods, plant-based lifestyle and they haven’t looked back.
Now at 38, along with their three young children, the Stanczyks open up about how they thrive as a family on their YouTube channel Eat Move Rest. It’s also the three tenets we discuss today from their first book, The Happy Healthy Plant-Based Cookbook.
Key Takeaways from the Episode
Personal Transformation: Erin and Dusty Stanczyk transitioned from a traditional diet to a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle after experiencing anxiety and digestive issues.
Three Core Pillars: Their family thrives on three key principles—eat more plants, move daily, and rest intentionally.
Plant-Based Parenting: They share tips for making plant-based meals appealing to kids, including introducing a variety of fruits and vegetables early on.
Baby-Led Weaning: Encouraging children to explore food independently helps foster a healthy relationship with nutrition.
The Power of Community: The Stanczyks emphasize the importance of support in the plant-based journey and invite listeners to join their online community.
40-Day Challenge: They encourage families to participate in their challenge to integrate plant-based living into daily routines.
Lasting Health Benefits: Since making the switch, they’ve seen remarkable improvements in their family’s overall well-being and vitality.
About Erin and Dusty Stanczyk
Raised in the Midwest, Erin and Dusty Stanczyk ate a traditional American meat and potatoes diet, yet always felt tired, uncomfortable, and unhealthy. Then they made the switch to whole-food, plant-based eating. Amazed by the tangible transformations to their bodies, minds, and spirits, the couple launched Eat Move Rest. In their workshops and on their platforms, they have helped thousands discover how eating mindfully, moving purposefully, and resting intentionally are the keys to a happy, healthy life.
Episode Resources
Visit Eat, Move, Rest - Dusty and Erin’s Website
Order The Happy, Healthy Plant-Based Cookbook
Learn more about our 2025 Plantstrong Retreat in Sedona, AZ - April 6-11, 2025
Learn more about our 2025 Plantstrong Retreat in Black Mountain, NC - Nov 9-14, 2025
PLANTSTRONG Meal Planner - https://home.mealplanner.plantstrong.com/
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Full Episode Transcription via Transcription Service
I'm Rip Esselstyn, and you're listening to the PLANTSTRONG Podcast.
Introduction to the Stanczyk Family
[0:05] Today on the PLANTSTRONG Podcast, I am thrilled to introduce you to a wonderful and vibrant plant-based couple, Erin and Dusty Stanczyk. They not only are going to share their personal plant-based journeys from paleo to plants, but they're also going to unveil their secrets of creating a happy, healthy plant-based family with three pillars that you don't want to miss. I'm going to have their story right after these messages from PLANTSTRONG.
Plant-Based Journeys and Inspirations
[0:41] Cruciferous Cousins, I want you to know that we have created a new customized bundle builder at PLANTSTRONG.com. I understand that it can be hard to commit to large quantities of our products before trying them. So now you get to choose exactly what you want for your kitchen, and then we will pack it and ship it right to your door. This way, you get maximum flexibility, you get to enjoy only the items that you need, and you can save 15% when you decide to subscribe. I would encourage you, create your own customized box today by visiting plantstrong.com. My guests today are Dusty and Erin Stanczyk. They grew up in Nebraska, the land of corn, but also the heart of cattle country, which played a major role in their lives.
[1:38] However, towards the end of college, multiple health scares for both of them, such as anxiety, panic attacks, and acid reflux, made them question their lifestyle choices. It then took a few years and with the inspiration from this guy named Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr., they transitioned to a whole food, plant-based lifestyle and haven't looked back. Now at the age of 38, along with three young children, the Stanczyks open up about how they thrive as a family on their YouTube channel, Eat, Move, Rest. It's also the three tenets that we discussed today from their first book, The Happy Healthy Plant-Based Cookbook. Let's meet this wonderful couple, Dusty and Erin Stanczyk.
[2:31] Erin and Dusty Stanczyk, I want to welcome you guys to the PLANTSTRONG Podcast. It's an absolute pleasure to be looking at two young, beautiful faces with a young, burgeoning family. Congratulations. Thank you so much. We're glad to be here. Yeah. When Erin said that we were going to be on your podcast, I was pretty excited. It's a big deal for us. So thanks for having us. Definitely. I think your father was kind of our entry point into this crazy diet and lifestyle that originally we had thought we were going to wither up and blow away on. Yeah, well, that's hardly the case, right? No withering or blowing up. That's interesting. So I can't wait to dive into your stories, talk about your new book that just launched earlier. Uh, this last month in January. Um, and you do mention, you know, I, I read the book, you guys have done a phenomenal job with this right here, that happy, healthy plant-based, cookbook. Thank you. It says it all right. Very. It doesn't get more hashtag friendly than that.
[3:47] No, no. Was that, so was that intentional? Like, how did you come up with the name for this book? Honestly we didn't our team was just like guys they were like how do you describe this and we're like you know we're we're happy healthy family and they're like stop right there stop right there that's the title for the book so that's about as far as it went and we to be honest we weren't sure that we loved the title we thought it was kind of cheeky but they were like no this is great and so we're like hey whatever and honestly i feel like everything was taken it's crazy like there's no such thing as an original idea anymore it's like everything's already been yeah well yeah just when you think that's the case something new and exciting springs forward but this is this i think this is perfect um and where am i talking to you guys from yeah we're in we live in uh southwest florida a little bit south of sarasota kind of between uh tampa and naples over here on the west coast. So.
[4:48] All right. So have you been hit by any of the... All of them. All of them? We just keep having to evacuate. It's crazy. Are you talking about hurricanes? Yeah, I'm guessing that's what you're going to say. Well, we moved down here from Tornado Alley in Nebraska to Hurricane Central, apparently, which I never had paid attention that closely to hurricanes before. And everyone had told us, oh, they mostly go to the East Coast. Well, they decided to shift directions and hit us in the Gulf. We got hit head on with Hurricane Ian just months after we had moved down to Florida. And we're like, what are the odds of anywhere we could have picked to live in the United States or in the world? This awful hurricane passes right over our home and sustained 200 mile an hour winds, which was crazy. It was crazy. And we're still here. So apparently it wasn't quite crazy enough to scare us off.
[5:43] And so you mentioned Nebraska. Yeah. So is Nebraska is where you two grew up and met? All of our family is still there. We were born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital, you know, Cornhusker Nation, Husker football. The license plate is the says the beef state, Omaha Steaks. You know, it's that's us. That's where we grew up. And Erin's brother played football for the Huskers. And it's very much a culture there. It's a, it's a nice place, you know, nice people, nice city. But we were tired of the cold. And so when we started, when we started, you know, earning a living with, with our YouTube and retreats and all these things, we were like, let's get the heck out of here for at least for a while. Let's try someplace warm. And so, yeah, we've, we've been here for three years and we like it. So, wow. So you mentioned YouTube and retreats and, you know, Instagram and now this, this new cookbook. So, so was it fair to say that you guys are.
[6:47] Plant-based, uh, plant-based influencer family? I think so. Yeah. I think so. You know, the word, the term influencer can sometimes have a negative connotation, but I'm like, I guess essentially that's what we are doing is having an influence on others. Let's, let's, you know, use this platform as a way to spread a good message, a wholesome, happy message, because there is so much darkness in the world. And a lot of people are like, Oh, why do you have your kids on the internet? We're like, we, we feel almost like we owe it to others to be like, Hey, this is what's possible. You know, like even people who feel like they feel good. I, I felt good, but I didn't realize I could feel great. And I didn't realize that like, same for our kids, you don't have to be raised on Skittles and all the different, you know, process packaged foods. So yeah. Yeah. Well, what I love is that seeing you guys seeing your beautiful family seeing what you guys are doing.
[7:53] I love seeing all these new faces that are now carrying the torch and being amazing representatives for what this lifestyle can be right the carly bode rugs the jackie ackerbergs the um dominique thompson uh gosh uh max lamana desiree nielsen and now you know you guys we need a huge wave of people showing other people what is possible yeah because we're drowning in our own sickness right now as you guys all know so speaking of that.
Health Scares and Lifestyle Changes
[8:31] Everybody has their own personal journeys. And I'd love to hear about Erin and Dusty, your stories, you know, where you came from. And because everybody has a beautiful journey story. Yeah. Yeah, totally. You want to you want to start? Yeah, I feel like that's what you know, how we got into this influencer position is because they always say the wound is where the light enters. And I feel like our mess has become our message, so to speak. And so it started kind of for both of us in college when we did the typical college thing where you, I was in a frat and I worked in a bar and, you know, it was tailgates on the weekends and beer and pizza. And yeah, it was, it was that whole thing for both of us. Yeah. And I think also in your twenties, I mean, most 20-somethings are led to believe that they're invincible. And we were definitely believers of that until one day we were not anymore. And we weren't even together at this point. But from my side of the story, I started to, you know, went above and beyond the freshman 15. And of course, that was the first thing that was kind of disheartening to me. I was no longer this straight-A high school student who was also an athlete. I wasn't eating healthy. I was staying out late and eating all the fast foods, processed foods, and probably just partying too much, sleeping in.
[10:00] And, you know, on top of that, I started to experience my first bouts of real anxiety and depression and not really sure what to do with all of that. And began to like kind of self-medicate a little bit with alcohol. And I felt like I was also this shy, anxious person that was very awkward. And so that was kind of like the bandaid for me. And it just, it just snowballed very quickly to the point where I was experiencing so many, um, disheartening symptoms, you know, from a lot of brain fog, which made me even more socially anxious and awkward. And then it was, um, a lot of issues with like breathing where I couldn't get a good enough breath. And I felt like I had, you know, some rare lung disease. That's what Dr. Google had told me. Right. And then, yeah, numbness and tingling. I had hormonal imbalances and irregularities and acne and mood swings. And just like, it was just all so much all at once that seemed to snowball.
[11:06] At the same time, and my, I come from a family of physicians, my dad's a family medicine doctor. And so it was very, very easy for me to, you know, go into his practice and say, Dad, you know, I've got this, this and this going on, you know, like, he lined me up with all the specialists to see. And after coming out of MRIs and CT scans and everything coming back fine, you know, you kind of feel like, oh, wow, what a relief. And then at the same time, you're like, but the symptoms don't just disappear because you don't have a diagnosis.
[11:41] And so I'm like, OK, so what am I going to do? I go back to the Internet and it's like, let's stop searching symptoms. Let's start searching for solutions. That's kind of along the same time Dusty and I had reconvened. We knew each other from high school, but then at the end of college, we kind of reconnected. We literally bumped into each other at a bar after finals. I think we maybe had one year of school left, but that was the end of probably our junior year. And we started talking, catching up, and we kind of agreed that while we were at a bar right then, we were both sick of it. And so that summer, we spent the whole summer on our bikes, buying groceries, cooking good food, better food. I, you know, I was still very much the, we need meat at every meal and I'm grilling and, you know, fish and steaks. And we were going to Trader Joe's getting, you know, the grass fed stuff and the healthy pizza, the healthy meats. And, you know, we thought we were doing good and probably were doing better than we had been.
[12:48] You introduced me to the protein obsession. I will say that. Right. Yeah. And so that was us. And we we kind of well, we had fun, obviously. And so we spent the next year, you know, finishing college and kind of eating this way, eating better, but still, you know, not still not eating great. And then I think it really changed when you went in for a regular physical checkup and your your cholesterol was high.
[13:17] Yeah. So we had been, you know, eating this supposedly cleaner diet with clean proteins and my cholesterol was high. And my dad said, well, you know, it runs in my side of the family. Heart disease is very prevalent. Same with your mom's side. So, you know, unfortunately you were just dealt kind of a not so great genetic hand. And so I, the nurses were like, it'd probably be best for you to go on a statin. Yeah. And we were like 24. Yeah. I'm like, you know, so for how long and, and getting the news that possibly forever, I thought, well, that doesn't seem right. Like no way.
[13:55] Same time. I had gone into the clinic to talk to your dad because I had acid reflux indigestion. I just didn't feel good. Um, but the reflux was so bad that it was, he put me on one medication. Then, you know, I felt great and I continued to eat whatever I wanted. Of course, I didn't change any of my eating habits. I just took the pill, felt good. And then it got worse again. He's like, well, take another one then. So now, you know, you're looking at a statin drug in your mid-20s. I'm on two heartburn medications, you know, like you see the funny commercials of the guys eating the chili dogs and, you know, they take their Tums or whatever. But I'm like, I'm 20 something years old. We should feel better than this. And so, again, we kind of both decided, all right, let's look harder at what we're eating. It's got to be. For context, how old are you guys today? 38, both of us. Yep. Got it. Got it. Okay. Yep.
The Journey to a Plant-Based Life
[14:52] All right. So this journey started about 15 years ago-ish? Probably. Probably, yeah. Yeah.
[15:04] We've been married for 12. We've been fully plant-based for a little over a decade now. Yeah. That's the way we... Yeah. The, you know... We kind of felt like, okay, now we've, we've gotten rid of all of our unhealthy lifestyle habits and we're going to bed at a reasonable hour and cooking at home. But my, you know, plethora of symptoms were not dissipating. And then, you know, going back to like being these straight A, straight A type individuals, very type A and getting that bad report card or The blood work that says, hey, this isn't so perfect, really, really was eating at both of us, I think.
[15:49] And actually, my uncle, who's a cardiologist, ended up with my dad's brother. He had decided to go vegan, and the whole family basically thought he had gone off the deep end. Oh, yeah. Uncle Steve had officially lost his mind. Yep. They're like, wow, if there was ever something as a midlife crisis, this is it. But dusty dusty your uncle was a cattle rancher too actually is yeah actually is and so we've got this like duality it's family though so you know you know we love you love them all and you talk about it and i grew up hunting and doing all the things and you know yeah that's that's a whole nother story that that side of the family but steve we looked up to because he was the healthy cool. He was the long distance marathon runner who decided to go vegan. And so we were like, okay, he invited us to this, to this thing, local hospital. He was like, Hey, I think you guys would dig this, this speaker. We show up and this old guy's talking about, uh, being about quesadillas and you know, all, all the, all the things we had never heard of showing us echocardiograms. And lo and behold, it was your dad.
[17:03] So this was where and what year? Can you remember? It was in Beatrice, Nebraska, about 20, 30 minutes outside of Lincoln, where we're from. Yeah. And that had to be like, had to be like 10 years ago, right? No. Yeah. 2014 something. So, so getting back, getting back to what you said at the top of the podcast.
[17:28] Um so you guys were on the struggle bus as you guys like to say on the struggle bus and then it was so was it, This talk by my father that somehow kind of shook the tree to the core to where you're like, wow, let's let's do something about this. One hundred percent. Yes. And I had my degree in biology thinking that I was going to go pre-med and join the family business. And I didn't do that, but I did have a very good understanding of biology. So actually seeing like the echocardiograms and the statistics like spoke to my the way my brain is wired. And I was like, if I see something that's a fact, I have to follow suit. It's just and then so, you know, we were both a little bit that way. And so we're finding out, you know, we're learning the news that we were kind of upset to be, you know, the reality of what we were eating was possibly hurting us and maybe obviously what what we needed to change. And so, again, like Erin said, being type A, we're like, oh, we got to do this. We got it. We got to do it. So Lent was coming up. It was just around the corner and we're like, let's go. Let's go plant based for 40 days. We all did it. My parents and my uncle Steve and us decided let's just try vegetarian for 40 days. Right.
Embracing a Plant-Based Cookbook
[18:49] We did it. 40 days is no joke. It was a big deal. It was huge. And I, again, I've, you know, I'm my head buddy saying, dude, you're going to shrivel up and blow away. You know, I've always been a lean guy.
[18:59] I've, even though I didn't feel good, I would never had issues with weight or anything. And they're like, you you're gonna blow away you know you can't what do you mean you're gonna you're not gonna be eating eggs and and meat or you know all these things but I felt great uh we both did and I was like dang and more importantly we were still alive at the end of 40 days I think that was our main concern like yeah how are we gonna survive but we did bounce back and Dusty's always like you know tells the story of going through the drive-thru and and rewarding himself with the
The Three Pillars of Wellness
[19:30] juicy burger day 41 day 41 I.
[19:33] Went back to the drive through to celebrate and slowly but surely started feeling lousy again and but I needed that I needed that that to see like it was right there in front of my face then I was like I ate this way and I felt good I started eating crap again and I feel crappy and it's like wow and that's no book can teach you that no no other person can teach you that like you kind of have to do that for yourself and I was like wow okay now I get it and now it's solidified let's let's dive into the book yeah which uh you basically have three pillars which they're they're simple and they're brilliant right just like the title of your book basically you're saying hey guys let's do these three things let's eat more plants let's move daily and let's rest intentionally so let's let's walk the plants through the plant strong listener through those three things. And let's start with, with.
[20:30] Eat, right? Because as you guys say, what you eat can make you or it can break you.
[20:37] So let's, and I've got a bunch of questions, but is there anything you want to say around eating? I think especially coming from the Midwest and the vegan or the V word, as we like to say, can have a lot of negative connotations with it and you automatically feel judged or isolated. We try to steer clear of it and instead be more inviting and say, look, nobody can argue with more fruits, more vegetables, more fiber, essentially, just more color on your plate. Because the way we were eating before and the way most people are eating is a lot of beige, bland, you know, lifeless foods. I know I used to say, you're feeding me, you're giving me another beige dish. And I was like, what? A beige? I'm like, oh, yeah, there's no color here. I get it. And so like by the content we create, you know, we bring the color even in our kitchen here. Everything is just bold and bright and beautiful. There it is. There it is. Yeah. We say, you know, eat the rainbow. So I think that nobody can really argue with that.
[21:38] It's started to seep into, like Erin said, even our house and our kids and everything.
[21:43] And maybe even moving to Florida. It's just we live a very vibrant, colorful life. And it really does.
[21:49] You know, they say you are what you eat. My grandma always used to say, you've always heard it, but it becomes true and it's the portal. Food is the portal for, I think all of us, right? You know, so it's like, oh, we could, we could yell at people till they're, till we're blue in the face, you know, saying they need to run and rest and all these things. But, but food, well, food, food can be fun and food is delicious and it can be rewarding and it's a good place to start. So yeah we're like we need to we need to come up with a book that has amazing delicious and easy recipes and foods that energize you to make movement possible and enjoyable so you have the energy and there's so many different modalities like we always just tell people do what moves you what excites you what do you enjoy especially when you're getting started like don't have somebody write you up this really intense weightlifting plan if you if you would rather be out on your bike or dancing um it's kind of like the eat move rest locomotive too you you start your morning with a healthy green smoothie we say for sure uh you you have the energy you feel good you're clear so you actually do want to go out and move your body and less less inflammation also totally you poop, right? My dad's always like, well, I don't need a smoothie and my coffee makes me poop. I'm like, yeah, this is a, this is a better type of poop that I try.
[23:15] I promise. So we feel good. We go out, we exercise. Yes. We're lifting weights or we're just playing with the kids or walking the dog or whatever. We're so active all the time, landscaping, you know, whatever it is for you, like Erin said, do what moves you.
[23:31] And you're tired at the end of the day. You're worn out because you had the energy. You used the energy. Now you're tired. Now you sleep like a baby because, you know, you eat a healthy, non-inflammatory dinner earlier in the evening. You sleep like rock and you wake up ready to do it all the next day. And it just repeats, you know, and it snowballs. And that's like eat, move, rest. Just rinse and repeat. And really, I'll top that by saying that it's not like the end all be all because we get so many people asking like, well, what about prayer and spirituality? And we're like, that is part of rest. Actually, it is the rest. And the reason why we want to get dialed in with all three of these things is so that we are clear and we can access those higher thought processes and really find this
Understanding the Importance of Rest
[24:22] like fullness of life and beauty in life and find meaning. So yeah well you're right i mean at all all three of those they feed on each other right to allow you as you guys say in the book to be basically the best most authentic version of yourself which is a beautiful thing i'd love to i'd love to move back to to eat yeah and then and then and then spend a little more time with move and rest because i can tell you rest is something that I don't do intentionally.
[24:56] And you guys really focus on intentionally, you know, resting, moving, eating, but I want to come back to, to movement and rest. So with eating, Erin, you, you've, you've got three absolutely gorgeous babies. You and Dustin, but you're the birth to them, Max, Liv, and Zoe.
[25:21] Zoe's not on the cover of the book. Is that- She didn't make the cut. We definitely- I told Dusty, I was like, you know what's going to happen? We're going to finish this book, and then we're going to have another baby, and she's not, or he or she is not going to make the cut, and it happened just like that. And we tried, but the team was like, hey, the cover's been printed. Sorry, guys. We couldn't do it. But we did squeeze a newborn picture of her in there. There at least once i think yeah i just think that means there's more to come more books if you really want to see zoe and her insane head of hair that she got right just go to the eat uh, eat move rest at eat move rest on instagram and it's awesome yeah so three three pregnancies all.
[26:12] Do you guys, let's, let's take a step back. Do you guys refer to yourselves as whole food, plant-based, plant-based, vegan? What's your terminology? Definitely whole food, plant-based and high raw, I would say, but less and less so with the kids because, Hey, we got waffles and pancakes to make daily. Yeah. Yeah. I think, but definitely we, we try to steer clear, like Erin said earlier of the V word, because it can be a little divisive And there are people can politicize that word. And, you know, you can be a vegan and eat canned peaches and smoke cigarettes. I think maybe your dad even said that once. And it's true. You know, you have a vision of what a vegan is. So we say whole food plant based because it really is different. You know, it's different than just a vegan diet. You know, you can eat impossible burgers and, you know, some of these things that I probably wouldn't recommend if you call yourself a vegan. So we say whole foods, yeah, as much as possible.
[27:10] So as a whole food, you know, kind of plant-based family, are there any foods that you avoid in the plant-based kingdom? Like oils or, I don't know, coconut or something like that? Yeah. We are oil-free. We do put it like in the kids' dishes a lot of the times just for the sake of caloric density. But we both find that our digestion is better without the oil personally. And heartburn, again, for me, I haven't had any of my reflux medication or anything in 10 years since eating this way. But if we go out, we were in New York City and just over the holidays and went to little Italy and got, you know, had a feast there. And it was so much fun. But I, you know, too much oil gives me reflux, you know, and it's like, I just, so we don't cook with it. And I've found that my cholesterol level stays in check in, you know, Dr. Greger's heart attack proof zone when I don't consume it. And then as far as other things, I would say I kind of fell victim personally to like the...
[28:19] Gluten, the fear around gluten and wheat products, and then also soy products. And then I thought eventually I was like, you know what, I'm going to try those foods for myself personally and just trial and error, see how I feel. And I've never had an issue with either one. We just buy organic as good as possible. You know, with wheat containing foods, we buy like the Ezekiel bread and the kids love it with their PB&Js and seems to be fine for all of us. And then with, we have a lot of soy products now i would say organic you know tofu tempeh even the one ingredient or two ingredient soy milk yeah and i find that it's a really incredible source of protein and iron especially for the kids and if you're a parent you know we get this question all the time what type of plant milk do you use we say soy milk pound for pound it's got you know eight grams of protein it's got a similar fat fat content to cow's milk you know if you're trying to transition so you know i again i'm stronger at 38 than i've ever been i don't have man boobs that's that i think that myth has been busted um in fact now they're saying soy can be preventative against things like breast cancer and yeah things so we don't steer clear of soy we don't steer clear of wheat we just make sure to eat organic and as far as i guess another thing is like refined sugars we don't really do. I sweeten almost everything with dates and date paste.
[29:45] We do eat a lot of sweet foods. Baked goods and things like that. With the kids, we have pancakes and waffles every morning. Of course, we're making them from scratch with, And they're, they're not even, they're, they're not like we had, we had a friend, Erin makes these brownies. Actually, we had a party over the holidays and your friend was like shying away from the brownies and we're eating them. Like, I bet I had five brownies, but they're like a meal bar, right? They're not like a brownie. They're like, so that's how our, you know, our kids, they're, they're lucky kids, you know, man, they, they get to eat this way and grow up and they're, Oh, I'm, I'm right. Right. No. And, and as you guys talk about, there's nothing limiting about this. You're walking into this world of abundance, but everybody's like, Oh, what are you going to be eating? Carrot sticks and salads. And it's like, come on. Right.
[30:37] Yeah. Well, I want to go back to the three pregnancies. So how were they smooth? No issues, no deficiencies, everything good. Yep. Yeah. I mean, my dad always is like, you had the most uneventful pregnancies I've ever scene. I'm like, well, dad, you know what? I do this diet perfectly, but I still have this nausea and this morning sickness. And that was very frustrating for me, but keeping it real and keeping it honest, you know, like, Hey, thanks hormones. Unfortunately, you can't really escape some aspects of pregnancy and being plant-based doesn't necessarily make you invincible, but I definitely like my odds best. And I, I never once had a craving for any sort of animal product, which was another thing I was kind of wondering, oh my gosh, am I going to be like Phoebe on friends who is craving the cold sandwich, but never anything like that. And just really smooth sailing. Honestly, I was able to have completely unmedicated natural childbirths. And this last one, Zoe was born here at home. And on purpose, but you know, honestly, I would say If any mamas are expecting mamas are struggling with any of those aversions or nausea, just do your best version of what you can with. You know, the healthy whole foods. Um, your diet definitely looks different when you're pregnant. Yes, definitely.
[32:03] Um, but just do your best version. Like I, I just wanted noodles and pasta because it was just bland and simple. So I would do, you know, like the lentil or chickpea or brown rice pasta, which the kids and I were thrilled about. Yeah. It's just like, it's like, if I'm going to crave pasta or ramen, like do the rice ramen, do something that's got a little bit more protein and iron a little more sustenance to it so that's kind of how i navigated things like that yeah yeah um it's interesting you you brought up the phoebe where because i actually my my family is so into watching reruns of friends right now good we would all have a good time then yeah so that scene you're talking about joey's like well i won't eat cows for you know however long and They're trying to balance out the whole, you know, how many cows are going to be killed. Phoebe is now eating, you know, eating meat. It was hilarious.
[32:59] I love hearing that. You know, my wife, same thing, three children, all whole food plant-based during her pregnancy, all home births,
Family Life and Parenting Choices
[33:10] no problems, you know, easy peasy. Yeah, all good stuff. You mentioned how you do a thing with your children.
[33:19] Um, because everybody always asks, are your kids like also whole food plant-based? And I'm like, yeah, ever, ever since they were born, but you would do something called baby led weaning. Can you describe what that is?
[33:32] Yes. So as opposed to like, you know, making everything into a puree and spoon feeding, which, oh my gosh, that takes forever. And we do that from time to time. But what makes a lot more sense is to just feed them like a baby safe version of whatever you're already eating, something that they can grasp. It's like, you know, like a long shape of like our pancakes or something like that, or even just like a bell pepper they can chew on. Um, so things that they can feed themselves essentially. And it's like, we can be eating as a family of five. I can be enjoying my meal while Zoe is nibbling on her own version of it. Because we have a little PA that comes to the house and she, one of the first questions she asked that now Zoe is nine months old. Does she have her, what do they call it? Pinsir? Pinsir grasp. Pinsir grasp. You know, that's a thing and they want to check to make sure. And so besides teaching herself how to eat, learning what she likes.
[34:33] She's, it's good for their brain. It's good for dexterity, you know, for them to be like actually feeding instead of just sitting there with food dripping down their face. You know, even though I was guilty of that yesterday, I was shoving smoothie in her mouth because she was loving it. But I think it's good for them. You know, I think it's, it's good for them. And then we're not having to make a separate recipe or meal. She's just eating some form of whatever we're eating and, you know, feeling acclimated to all of these healthy whole foods. Yeah.
[35:05] So do Max and Liv, are they acutely aware that they eat differently than most of their friends and families? And are they like cool with it? All of a sudden, they're like, grandma, is that vegan? Is this like, are you vegan? And, you know, it's weird because we don't, we don't, again, we try not to say that word. We don't want to make it. We don't want to be dogmatic. We don't want to be weird. you know max is a heck of a baseball player and they passed out cupcakes after one of the games this was last season and you know it wasn't vegan and and he had half of it down before i could before i could take it from him but but he told me himself he's like dad i don't i feel too sugared out i don't feel very good after that so you know i tell him well hey man that's got a lot of stuff in it that we usually don't eat at home and so he has now started putting it together and yeah they obviously, whether they're watching our YouTubes with us or something there, they've picked up on the fact that, that we are, we are vegan, even though we don't use that word.
[36:09] And it's really difficult to let go of that control because on one hand, you know, we want to limit their intake and exposure to those kinds of foods. But on the other hand, like, I don't want to be the food police that, you know, gives them this disordered perception of like, this is healthy. This is not, this is good. This is bad. Like we try not to label the foods and freak them out too much. And so I think a healthy way to do it, if you're a parent, especially with young kids, is like give yourself grace for that 1% of the time when they're at the birthday party or the baseball game or whatever it might be and focus more and harness that energy around like the 99% of the time that you're providing at home. Like how can you make the best possible choices there with doing with what's in your control, in your hands? Yeah. And make it, you know, make the other, the other opportunity, the other times opportunities.
[37:07] For, for a lesson, you know, like Max, we picked my mom up from the airport, you know, a few months ago and we went to a taco place and Max and I got our bean and rice burritos and grandma wanted fish tacos. And he had a lot of questions for her, you know, and I was, he's six now. And, and I was like, you know, buddy, you want to try fish? While we would probably get a lot of heat from a lot of our hardcore vegan friends for allowing that, I think it's important, especially as they grow up, like for myself, I had to, I had to recognize that this made me feel not so good. And this made me feel like I want him to come to this conclusion somewhat on his own because it's going to stick then as opposed to being like, Oh, my parents are crazy vegans and they don't let me eat this. You know, I think, I think the other way is going to be better. So yeah, no, I got a feeling that you guys are doing it the right way and they're going to absolutely, um, there's not going to be, I think, resentment. There's going to be more of admiration and respect. And I want to follow in my parents' footsteps because of everything that it represents. That's how my kids are. And I sense it with you guys. And I agree. I don't, you know, I've never presented it as, you know, this is bad. Like, you know, meat and cheese and dairy is bad. It's just, I say that you, it's just a weaker food. I can really like eat strong food. So you decide you I want a strong food or weak food and that's how I like presenting it.
[38:36] Let's move on to move. And you guys, you know, you touched upon it already and how it's an important part of the, the, your three pillars, but give me an example of how do you guys move during the day? I think for me personally, being this like crazy busy mom and always present with the kids working from home.
[39:01] The way that I sustain it is with our garage gym that Dusty and I have been like adding pieces to over the years. So we've got like a full weight set. I could be okay with that alone. It doesn't have to be crazy if you want to do it yourself at home and like a yoga mat, you know? And so I spend almost every late morning out there with the kids who are bouncing on the rebounder. And now Max has figured out that on my Peloton, there's this like, um, lane break. That's like kind of a video game where you turn the knob and the little wheel moves. And so he likes to get on the Peloton and pedal.
[39:36] And so we can all be out there together and it makes it possible for me to stay
The Role of Movement in Daily Life
[39:40] consistent with it. So that's kind of where I'm at with movement. I think, I think we always say too, whether it's food or movement, make the healthy choice, the easy choice. And so for us, you know, yeah, we could, you know, first of all, it's, it's hard to get to the gym. I, if I have time, I, I love an hour away from everybody at the gym. It's great, but let's be realistic. Max is, you know, we're always chasing kids. He wants to be out in the yard, throwing the ball or whatever the home gym, like Erin said, you know, it, it, it's a little expensive. Get on Facebook marketplace, get on eBay, you can find rowers and bikes and weight sets for so cheap and start collecting, you know, because it's a lot easier to just step outside in the garage, barefoot in your underwear on a Saturday morning, you know what I mean? And get some weights in, especially with kids. And there's so many guided, there's guided workouts for free on YouTube. So that's usually what we're up to.
[40:42] What, in your opinions, is the best type of exercise that somebody can do? Yeah, I think something that couples cardiovascular exercise with strength training, because they both have their place. But if you can get a little of both in, I think that's going to be the best case scenario. So I like to do like 30 minutes of, of heavy lifting. And then like I said, get on my Peloton for 20 or go out for a jog. We'll do it like I'll run and Max will ride his bike with me. So I think a little bit of both is the best. Same thing. If I, if I had my, my ideal workout and I, that being said, I have been going to the gym lately, I think more than anything, because I need a, a timeout from the chaos of work and home and kids that hour away is awesome for me. And I do, I'll do the same thing. I'll do 10 minutes on the rower. It's great for cardio, but it really warms up, you know, my back and my upper body. And then I, I lift, you know, I, I lift as, as, as heavy as I can, as much as I can. And I just, you, you hear about bone density and you hear about balance and you hear about so many things, uh, in regards to weight training. So we, even though Erin and I are pretty long and lean, we, we do prioritize, uh, heavy lifting, I think. So, yeah. Yeah.
Defining Rest Beyond Sleep
[41:59] Well, um, that's wonderful you know i like i tell people the exercise that's best is the one you're going to do exactly yeah i think and then we all know that everybody's in a different circumstance depending upon where you live access to you know gyms whatever walking i mean there's so much research showing the benefits of walking and so let's let's not um let's not you know deny ourselves one of the greatest forms of movement that we as hominoids were meant to do yeah yeah walking vegans right aren't walking vegans like the healthiest most long-lived something i could did dr greger say something i think so yeah maybe maybe but i anyway and i love the way you guys are just preaching be consistent be consistent right i i and that's something that i've done now for over 40 years with my swimming and uh and biking so love it good stuff let's move on to rest um you guys really have a lot of great things to say about rest you know you you open up that chapter you know benjamin franklin or you you said i think it was benjamin franklin that said well we'll be able to you'll be able to sleep when you're dead in your grave but you know that's not the right mentality right yeah so what is what's your definition of of rest yeah.
[43:24] Oh, man, there's like Erin said before, we often say it's the rest, you know. So for years, I would not wear my my fitness trainer and my Apple watch because I just either wouldn't put I forgot to put it on or I didn't want the Wi-Fi or I didn't want the text message constantly getting me. But now I really love it. It reminds me to breathe if for no other reason, my Apple watch reminds me to breathe every three or four hours. And that alone has changed my life more than anything simply slowing down taking breaks throughout the day so i consider stuff like that rest um every evening max and i lay down on the floor and we stretch you know whether i whether i got on the bike that day or whether i went to the gym that day or not i stretch and i think that's also a time for he and i to kind of connect you know whether we're speaking or not it's kind of you know me and the kids usually I'm like being tackled and pushing the kids off of me, but it's, it's a, it's a fun time, you know, besides being really good for me and for everybody to stretch, you know, I consider that also rest. Um, and then for sure sleep with the kids sleep can be hard, but man, I don't think there's a night that we don't get at least eight hours of sleep, you know? And we, we really, we were fortunate to have a little bit of that flexibility, you know, we're working from home.
[44:52] But if we go to bed at midnight, we don't get up till late. You know, if we go to bed at 10, we can, we can get up, you know, we'll get up earlier. Like today we were up, we were up early.
[45:03] But you know, we're like eight hours, let's just prioritize it. Hormone, you know, just everything. We decided when we were naming our business, Eat, Move, Rest, we can't call it Eat, Move, Sleep, because there's so much more that comes into play besides just sleep. And I feel like so much of it happens throughout your day, like those moments of 60 seconds to breathe. And so many of these practices are free. Also, like I think of when I go outside barefoot in the grass to get grounded, and I'm looking at the sun, and this is like getting my circadian rhythm dialed in. And yeah, and it's getting everything just getting rid of all the EMFs and the negative buzz in your brain.
[45:42] And all of these things help at the end of the day when it comes time to lay down to sleep. And it's free. Yeah, it's all free. It's free. You can buy the EMF mat and the red light and before you know it, you've spent $10,000 on contraptions or yeah, you can take your shoes off and stand on some dirt and stare at the sun before 10 a.m. I think they say, all of these things. And we consider that, The rest, the recovery, the recharging. And then, of course, you know, family time and just slowing down the spirituality, you know, higher power, all of that good stuff. It all comes into play. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you also you have the seven types of rest, which really, you know, and going through that list, really, I was like, wow, mean, I'm not I'm not resting all those different ways. And i i i could benefit from focusing on like one of your types of rest is sensory rest right from all the screen time and all the conversations and all the people and creative rest and you have social rest i think about how social i can get during the day and spiritual emotional and physical and mental so each one of these are wonderful different uh individual kind of uh.
[47:06] Types of rest that can benefit us. Yeah. You know, like, like the Benjamin Franklin quote, or like Gary Vee, if anybody's familiar with Gary Vee, he's got a podcast and he's like a loud mouth businessman. He's probably, you know, a billionaire or whatever, but he's like sleep when you're dead. I'll sleep when I'm dead. You know? And he talks like this and I'm like, dude, you're going to be dead before you know it. You're probably going to be dead before the rest of us if you don't rest. And so I say, forget about that, man, get your rest. You know, again, whether it's any of those seven types or simply just more, more sleep, man, my life has changed for the better. We focus less on pace and more on just the direction, keeping our feet pointed in the right direction. Yeah. That's, that's good. You got a lot of, a lot of really profound quotes there. The wound is where the light enters. That's a good one. That's Erin's specialty. I love that. Our mess is your what? Message. That's good. That's really good. So I got one more question for you on this.
[48:18] Little section and then I want to move on and talk about some of the recipes. You talk about building a relationship with a higher power. Yeah. What is your higher power? What's you two and your family? Yeah, we're Christ followers. We were born and raised, I guess you could say, cradle Catholics or Christian. Even though we sometimes struggle with being Catholic, we definitely are Jesus people, I think.
[48:48] We both have taken the courses and met with the people and attended the churches from our honeymoon in Italy and, you know, all these things. We've really dug in to our faith and learning more about that over the years. And you do research on religion and there's so many religions that have a common denominator of like the people seeking after God, right? And we're supposed to be doing things to please God and searching for Him and finding Him. And then I heard a pastor and an author, one of my favorite guys say, Christianity is completely different.
[49:26] It gets turned. It turns that idea on its head because God made himself man in the form of Jesus and sent him to find us. And I was like, oh, that hit me one day really hard. And I was like, wow. Yeah. And so you study, you know, was Jesus a real, even a real person? Did he actually walk this planet and you find more accounts? There's 10,000 accounts of the life of Christ compared to the two written accounts of the life of Caesar, who we never question, or George Washington. We never question whether or not these men were who they actually were or whether they did what they said. We don't question them, but there's so much more proof and cross-referencing about Jesus Christ. And I'm like, I find it harder to not believe than to. So, so I guess that's where faith comes in. And, and, uh, that's, that's where we are. We struggle, you know, with kids, you know, whether, whether we make it to church or don't make it to church or do church at home or.
[50:30] Or nothing at all sometimes you know where we're we do our we i probably can't even say we do our best but we're always learning and trying and then we think it's super important for sure so yeah yep i read a quote somewhere recently it was like i i looked high and low in every church synagogue mosque and i found god in my own heart love that love that it's so true yeah there's i went on a.
[50:57] Retreat years ago, um, in the Rockies, of course, and it was just a bunch of worn out church, church guys. Uh, and they said, you know, I'd rather, and I'm sure you've heard this quote. It was, I'd rather, I'd rather be on a mountain thinking about God as opposed to in church thinking about the mountains. And I'm like, dude, that was me. That was me as a kid, you know, all these just poking fun being the worst kid in church, you know, doing all the things. And now here I am in the mountains. And this is the most pure connection I've ever felt. Except there are no mountains here in Florida. It's actually flatter than Nebraska, believe it or not. But we'll go to the beach. We do these like church and beach, we call it. We'll go to church and then hit the beach right afterwards because our church is right there. And I find like for the kids, especially like I'll take, we've each got one of them in our arms or three now out into the water. And we're like, look at the clouds in the sky and like this beautiful, clear water and these fish and like talk about how God created all of these things. And I feel like that's their church and that's where they're really learning and soaking it all in literally. Yeah.
Exploring Spiritual Connections
[52:03] I think our diet, like we said before, last thing I'll say about this is we are, yes, we eat this way, but in the beginning we wanted to get healthy. You know, we wanted to continue to get healthy. And now after our retreats and connecting with people and now being on the spiritual journey i i almost what keeps me on this diet more than the health and the saving the animals and all the things that are great about it it really does feel feel to me like i am on a heightened level you know i i don't not every day of course but i really do feel like uh like this this way of eating has paved way or opened up a, something inside of me, uh, whether it's just more, less harm, more love, or, you know, I can't put a finger on it always, but it really does seem to be real to me. Yeah. Well, you're definitely glowing.
The 40-Day Challenge
[53:02] I wouldn't say that. Let's go. So you guys, your challenge in this book is you challenge people to eat this way for 40 days. I love it. You know, I've written four books. My first book, It was the Texas firefighters, 28 days, save your life challenge. Burn away, burn away the cholesterol and drop the pounds. My third book was the engine to seven day rescue challenge, where I challenged people to rescue themselves by eating this way. 40 days is no joke. So how did you pick 40? Is that because of something with it was because of our, it was because of our 40, you know, again, it just, it seems to be a very symbolic number. I mean, you see it all over in the Bible and it just, it just felt right. Because I mean, you get about 30 days in a month, but like how often do we do something for a month? And then we're like, all right, I'm done. I'm going to move on. But like, let's go a little bit, let's push the envelope a little bit more. And so those last 10 days of the plan, it's kind of like where the training wheels are off. You kind of have to like piece it together and do the eat, move, rest thing yourself. So that being said, we're, we're, we have a group right now, a private Facebook group. If you go buy the book, we just started it, what, four days ago. You join the Facebook. We have a couple of questions on there. Join the group. And as much as you are alone, you're not. We're all there in a community and we're doing the challenge together, which makes it easy.
[54:29] We'll be doing a lot of those challenges throughout the year now, I think, with this book. Good. Well, let's dive into some of the recipes because you got 75, as you say, here, uh, colorful recipes and boy, are they colorful to nourish your whole body. Feed your family and have fun along the way. I'm in. Sounds good. And you guys, each one of these is either a K. It means it's kid-friendly. You have an R, which means it's raw or no-cooking kind of friendly. And then DIY, which is what? Do it yourself, right? Make your own.
[55:08] So what I'm going to do right now, I've selected of these 75, about 10, 11 recipes. And I'm going to hold it up so everybody can see how beautiful the photography is and just get a little taste of these recipes so Erin yeah that is I think your banana oat waffles if I'm not mistaken yep yes it is those are a family staple yeah they're they're gorgeous and there's no uh But there's, I mean, no dairy in there. What do you know what like some of the main ingredients besides banana and oats are? Yeah, we've also we like to do chia and flax for those healthy omega three fatty acids. And I think usually we'll put in some soy milk as well. Just a little extra. Protein in there and iron. And yeah, they're just, they're really simple and straightforward. And we actually use the same recipe to make pancakes, or sometimes we'll do buckwheat pancakes just to change up our, our grain.
[56:15] So yeah, the kids, the kids eat them up. Their favorite way to have them is with a spread of cashew butter on top, which is definitely not a, not cheap, but. Which one is with the waffles? yeah the yeah the banana oat waffles but on the next page you've got the flip free.
[56:33] Uh pancakes why are they flip free explain that to me what how do you do a flip free pancake yeah we do them in the oven on parchment mostly because you know a lot of pots and pans are non-stick and they're laden with the forever chemicals the pfas and pfoa it was the netflix documentary that built it for us so then we're like let's find a way to not have to flip them on that and then also or you use stainless steel and then you've got to use oil and then we didn't want to do the oil so anyway that was our creative way to do it but we have since found a good griddle that's ceramic coated and non-tox so we kind of use that too nice you guys have done your homework yeah oh yeah so here this is so one of my favorite things in the whole wide world is building bowls no recipe recipe bowls yeah this is your better for you burrito balance bowl and it looks like one of my bowls that just caught my attention. Look at that people. Yeah. Those are our favorite type of meals to eat. You know, it's, they're very easy to make. If you, if you like to do meal prep, you know what I mean? Like you make it all in the fridge, you make the brown rice, the instant pot beans, the, the tofu sofrito or scramble, you slice and dice your veggies, and then you pop everything in those individual containers in the fridge. And then you can just throw those together however you want each day and put them in a wrap for the kids. Yep.
[57:57] And you've got about, I think, 10 different sections in the recipe book, everything from juices and drinks all the way to delectable desserts and everything in between. This is page 128. This is your pineapple unfried rice. And I just look at how creative this is. Let me, um, all the photos and everything ourselves. So this book took a long time, but it's because we, we made, we photographed and we ate every single one of these recipes. Uh, so it did, it took us a long time, but it was fun because, you know, when you see little kid hands in the photo and most of the time it wasn't me being like, Hey, hand model, come here. It was me batting them away. Don't eat it. Until I'm done photographing. So it was like just, it's fun. It was natural and organic. Yeah.
[58:53] Well, that one of my favorite things is pineapple stir fries, pineapple fried, unfried rice like that. And I never have thought to serve it in the pineapple. Yeah, we stole that from a restaurant back home. We being even though we're in Lincoln, Nebraska, it's a decent Lincoln and Omaha are good sized cities. And they've got great restaurants. One of our favorite Thai restaurants, I would say we eat Indian and Thai food more than anything. And they serve, they make a dish in, in the pineapple and it was, but it wasn't, it wasn't vegan. You know, it was, I think it was a chicken, something that I used to get all the time. And I'm like, you know what, I'm going to, I'm going to, we're going to flip it and we're going to, we're going to make our own inside the pineapple. So we stole that idea. I love it. So, uh, I'm on page 144 right now, and this is the stacked veggie sandwich. And I'm showing this because, you know, when I first came out with my book, the NG2 diet and the recipes in there, I had people say, these recipes are man-tastic, right?
[59:57] I look at this and I'm like, who can get there? Let me, let me do this. Who in the world besides Dusty can get their mouths around that? Yeah, right. No, it's, it's, I think that's actually Max holding it too. It's a massive, it's a massive thing. You know, Erin and I used to eat sandwiches like crazy. We would eat, we would meet for sandwich sandwiches at lunch, lunchtime. And so we were big sandwich people and still, still love sandwiches. But when you, when you get rid of the cold cuts and the, and the cheese and stuff, and then you're kind of like, oh, what the heck, you know, what now, what do I have left to put on a sandwich? Well, it turns out you can still make Epic. Large sandwiches. We used to live off of Subway until I realized I'm eating a massive loaf of bread with iceberg lettuce, unripe tomatoes, and cheese, and then like your carcinogenic cold cuts. So what was the point of that? No, exactly. So in the soups, curries, and stews section, you've got on page 152, 53, you got this. And one of my favorite things in the world is a kind of curry cauliflower dish. This is your creamy cashew cauliflower curry and air fried spiced potatoes. I mean, wow. That one is an absolute favorite. It is so good. We're going to have to make something like that for dinner.
[1:01:25] We had a friend actually send us that one. The coolest thing about the cookbook is we've had a YouTube channel now for years. And you know you we don't know if anybody's ever watching you know friends family members etc but now all of a sudden we've got friends that are sending us the recipes they're like hey i'm cooking my way through through your cookbook and i'm talking friends that i never expected would would buy a plant-based cookbook and that's been really exciting and somebody actually just sent us that recipe i think it was our friend amelia i think we are those people there's so many of our recipes hidden all over on different places on social media and now it's really nice to have all of our favorites in one pot because we still have to refer to our own recipes to make them a lot of the times right so one of my favorite dishes in the whole wide world besides a curried.
[1:02:20] Cauliflower potato dish is a shepherd's veggie pot pie this is something that i want to make tonight at home with the potatoes on top i think the potatoes might have been your idea Erin on top i think that is crust yes it doesn't get more comfort than that but it's it's good for you too it loves you back right out loud we got to open this thing up we just we get lazy with the kids we forget we need to make so one of the things that you guys have it's really creative and i love some of the things that you've done that i've never seen before and this is on page 187 this is under the sweet and salty snack section it's banana sushi who knew i mean it's like you got to get fun and creative with the kids and right.
[1:03:15] Karen got invited on Fox News, believe it or not, New Year's Day.
[1:03:22] Unfortunately, the bit got cut, but we flew all the way there and we prepped. And I think that was their request was they wanted the banana sushi on TV. We got bumped because of breaking news. Otherwise, you would have seen that one on national TV. So how do you put a hole through the banana or what have you done there to get something in the head of it? Slice it lengthwise and then kind of spoon or scoop out the middle of both sides and then fill it with whatever you're going to fill it with and put it back together and slice, slice, slice. Yeah. You have to get creative with kids, man. Otherwise they like something one day and the very next day they decide they don't like it. So you got it. You got to surprise them. You got to, you got to throw curve balls at them. Tell me, what are you, what do you have on top of the bananas and what do you have inside of them? Yeah. Um, on one of them it's chia seeds. I think I spread like some nut butter on there and then put chia seeds. And then the other one is like a homemade jam in the middle, which is just like chia and raspberries or any other type of fruit. And there's some hemp seeds on another and shredded coconut on one. So, yeah, you can get super creative with all the little seeds and superfoods.
[1:04:35] Can't wait to show that to my youngest daughter, who is our creative chef in the house. Yeah. Let her figure that out. Oh, it'll be fun. So page 227, this is in the section of Delectable Desserts.
[1:04:53] You've got a raw rainbow fruit pizza and this, this photo just, isn't that nice for me? Yeah. Yeah. Well, that was my absolute favorite thing to make with my mom. Yeah. I'm growing up as a kid. So I'm like, I have to veganize this because it's just so, so good and so pretty and fun to make too. Like that's a fun one to let the kids decorate. Yeah. Get creative with. Yeah. Yeah.
Delicious Recipes from the Cookbook
[1:05:18] It's sweet like a dessert, but of course, you know, it's, it's not gonna it's not gonna make you feel like most desserts do so it's it's great it's we need that too tonight i guess well let me tell you and everybody that that is a uh avid listener of the podcast knows one of my weaknesses my true weaknesses yeah is chocolate and peanut butter and you guys one of the last recipes in the book under delectable desserts is peanut butter chocolate rice crispy bars oh they're so good help me lord yeah yep that's another childhood classic that we had to figure out how to make a little bit better gosh you know i wish now i just wish we had somebody to make these for us now that we're seeing them yeah yeah uh you guys i mean you You guys have out outdone yourselves with this book.
[1:06:17] Well, what's what's the next big thing in your lives that we should know about? Uh, the, well, first we just mentioned the challenge. If you haven't already go by the, by the cookbook, join the, the 40 day challenge. Um, and then jump into our online community. Honestly, um, eat, move, rest club. It's kind of like nobody talks about fight club. Nobody don't talk about, yeah, we don't talk about what goes on in eat, move, rest club. I'm just kidding, but it's so much fun. Um, it's just a great place to, um, get that accountability and that community piece, which, you know, like Dusty said, like, I don't know, back in Nebraska, we kind of found like we went away, like into hiding because a lot of our old playmates and playgrounds fell by the wayside. And then we started building it back up with this online community. And then we started hosting retreats and getting to meet people who knew everything about us. And so another thing that's on our radar is picking back up with our worldwide retreats. We'd love to continue doing more in Costa Rica, but also, um, we're looking into Italy and Portugal.
[1:07:25] We've got a friend in Portugal who is, she's, she's gung ho. And I'm like, Hey, if you're what, if you're going to help us plan it, let's do it. So possibly Portugal in October. So stay tuned. Wow. Yeah, that's exciting. Yeah. Well, so where can people follow you, uh, on Instagram and how can they purchase the book? Yeah. On Instagram at Erin Stanczyk at DB Stanczyk and then at eat, move, rest, but we're very active on our personal accounts. We answer all of our DMS and, and all of that stuff. And then as far as the book goes, eat, move, rest.com slash book has many different places you can select from, or just get on your favorite online retailer and you'll be able to find it. Yep. Hmm. Well, well, You, you, you too. It's been great to meet you. Yeah.
[1:08:12] Yeah. Yeah. And we've met your dad at least a couple of times at various conferences and things. And, but like I said, in the beginning, have always listened to every podcast that you've been on and, and we, we've got your food in our freezer, the product. The kids devoured the cornbread the other night, by the way. So thank you. Thanks for having us, man. This has been fun. Absolutely. You know, and I'm glad that you guys were wounded so badly back in the day because the light is shining through. All right, you guys. So do me a favor on the way out. If you could give me a virtual plant strong fist bump.
Closing Thoughts and Future Plans
[1:08:56] Yes. Ready? One, two, three. PLANTSTRONG.
[1:09:04] I can't tell you how gratifying it is for me to hear stories of people, especially young families like the Stanzics, who have been influenced and inspired by the work of my father. He was most certainly my inspiration and I'm so thrilled that his legacy for building healthy lives and families continues on to learn more about all things Dusty and Erin I would encourage you to go to their website eatmoverest.com there you'll find links to order their book the happy healthy plant-based cookbook as well as links to their YouTube channel and I'll be sure to put all that information in today's show notes to make it super, super easy. As we chatted about today, don't forget to move your body daily in a way that feels good to you. Rest and connect with your source. And of course, always, always keep it plant strong. Thanks so much for listening.
[1:10:08] The PLANTSTRONG podcast team includes Carrie Barrett, Laurie Kortowich, and Ami Mackey. if you like what you hear do us a favor and share the show with your friends and loved ones you can always leave a five-star rating and review on apple podcasts or spotify and while you're there make sure to hit that follow button so that you never miss an episode as always this and every episode is dedicated to my parents, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr. And Anne Crile Esselstyn.
