#23: The Heart of a Hero

Featuring: Rip Esselstyn, Joe Inga, and City of Pittsburgh Employees

 
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Within each of us lies the Heart of a Hero.  Whether you realize it or not, by striving to embody the best version of yourself, you are a hero to those around you - your friends, co-workers, and loved ones. This season, our theme of the podcast focuses on celebrating the heroes among us - those leading the charge with brave and bold research, and everyday heroes- first responders and those going against the grain.  

On the Plant-Strong podcast, our mission is to drown out all of the noise and provide you with the science, tools, and resources you need in order to adopt and thrive in a whole foods plant-based lifestyle.

In Episode One of Season Two, we lay the groundwork, first, by looking back on Season One and giving you an update on our Bronx firefighter, Joe Inga, who was the subject throughout the entire first season.

You’ll also meet City of Pittsburgh employees and first responders as they, with Rip’s help, embark on their own Seven-Day Rescue Challenge. This campaign is aptly called “The Heart of a Hero,” which is the theme for this entire season.

These people are just like you. As you’ll hear, they have doubts and trepidations. The hurdles to a whole-foods plant-based lifestyle are universal, which means the solutions are universal.

Are their concerns the roadblocks they thought they were?
Are your concerns the roadblocks you think they are? 

If your New Year’s Resolution is to adopt this lifestyle, then our resolution is to arm you with experts, stories, and inspiration to help you succeed and thrive, just like these everyday heroes in the City of Pittsburgh.

Join us and show the world that heroes don’t always wear capes, but they are strong. Plant-Strong.

Resources in this Episode:

Rip Esselstyn

Rip Esselstyn

Engine 2 Founder Rip Esselstyn was born in upstate New York, raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and educated at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a three-time All-American swimmer. After graduation, Rip spent a decade as one of the premier triathletes in the world. He then joined the Austin Fire Department where he introduced his passion for a whole-food, plant-based diet to Austin’s Engine 2 Firehouse in order to rescue a firefighting brother’s health. To document his success he wrote the national bestselling book, The Engine 2 Diet, which shows the irrefutable connection between a plant-based diet and good health.

Rip left his job as a firefighter in 2009 to team up with Whole Foods Market as one of their Healthy Eating Partners to raise awareness for Whole Foods employees, customers and communities about the benefits of eating a plant-strong diet. As the founder of Engine 2, Rip develops and implements a range of programs and events geared toward education, inspiring and nurturing plant-strong living for individuals, families and organizations across the globe.

He has appeared on hundreds of radio and national television shows, including the Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America and The Dr. Oz Show. Rip is a New York Times Bestselling Author who has published four books. His most recent book is The Engine 2 Seven-Day Rescue Diet.

Rip lives in Austin, Texas with his wife Jill, and their three beautiful children.

[00:00:00] Rip and Guests Conversation : [00:00:00] "What are the guys at the station going to say?"

"We eat burgers every shift."

"So what are they going to say? Not going to be fine. And are you, are you okay with them busting your balls?" 

“It happens anyhow, so it's there.” 

Rip Esselstyn: right? (laughter)  

Rip Esselstyn: Okay. Let me set up the first episode of the season for you. It is week one of the New Year, and I wanted to check in with you, hopefully, provide some motivation to either help you maintain or start your plant-strong lifestyle as we enter into the New Year, and also share some updates on what I've been up to since we talked last.

[00:00:59] Welcome my plant-strong brothers and sisters to season two of the Plant-Strong podcast. I want to give you a heartfelt thank you for all of your support during season number one. We had some very impressive downloads and, in fact, Apple Podcasts named us a "Best-Seller" in two categories, "Best New Show of 2019" and "Nutrition."

[00:01:26] So, thank you for that. With the momentum that we have going into season two, we've been able to marshal up some really amazing talent, celebrities, and scientists for season two. So, it should be a lot of fun. I want you to know that our goal and our mission is to drown out all of the noise and all the confusion that's out there and send you right to the bullseye when it comes to the science and when it comes to the tools and the resources that are going [00:02:00] to allow you to live your best plant-strong life. So again, thank you. Huge appreciations. 

[00:02:08] For those of you that don't know, my name is Rip Esselstyn, I am the author of the "Engine 2 Diet," and I'm also the founder of Plant-Strong by Engine 2.

[00:02:18] I used to be a firefighter with the city of Austin, Texas. Before that I was a professional triathlete and I was inspired going back to 1984 by my father, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr and his groundbreaking research at the famed Cleveland Clinic to show that you can reverse heart disease with a whole food plant-based diet.

[00:02:44] On my journey, I have helped thousands and thousands of people, not only reclaim their lost health, but also burn away the pounds, bring down cholesterol levels and stabilize blood sugar levels. It's one of the greatest [00:03:00] honors of my life. I want you to know that one of the goals of not only the Plant-Strong podcast, but also across all of our plant-strong channels, is to show you how you can adopt this lifestyle at home, and we're going to show you countless examples of people that have been able to turn their health around with the power of the foods at the end of their forks. 

[00:03:26] For those of you that don't know about season one of the Plant-Strong podcast or how it ended, it's all about our Bronx, firefighter, Joe Inga, whose health was failing, reached out to me for help, and we marshaled together all these experts to really not only help Joe Inga, but every Joe and Jane that's out there that needed help reclaiming their lost health. And one of the things that Joe talked about was how he only thought that superheroes did triathlons. And so, that was our end goal. Right? In August of [00:04:00] 2019, we all convalesced at the Esselstyn family farm in upstate, New York, and we created our own triathlon.

[00:04:09] We all competed in it including Joe. And Joe absolutely nailed it. If you haven't listened to season one, I highly recommend you go back and you listen to those episodes. Now, many of you have asked me, how in the world is Joe doing? And I want you to know, I went to New York City about a month and a half ago. I made it a point to have lunch with Joe. We went to Sweet Greens and here it is.

[00:04:47] Rip and Joe Inga: [00:04:47] "You're looking more, smell, more handsome, more like firefighter studly than ever. What, where, where are you now?"

[00:04:55] Joe Inga: [00:04:55] Like in early November, since [00:05:00] we finished the podcast and stuff. I'm down almost 60 pounds now and  I just feel amazing. So. Right. My energy levels, obviously everything is all feeling great and now I'm enjoying, like since "Game Changers" came out and everything, now I'm enjoying all the chaos and everything and all the naysayers and all the people that are watching it.

[00:05:21] And you know, for nine months a lot of people didn't care and now they're picking my brain about it. A lot of it. So it's great. 

[00:05:27] Rip and Joe Inga: [00:05:27] You know, you say you're down 60 pounds, like what's your latest weight? 165. I started at 213. So about 60 pounds. I went from 40-inch waist to the 32 is starting to fit loose and went from almost a double X shirt to a medium.

[00:05:46] Rip Esselstyn: [00:05:46] "That's amazing. That's a lot of weight. What are the, what are the guys at the firehouse saying that?" 

[00:05:51] Joe Inga: [00:05:51] They're asking me a lot of questions now because now they're actually watching game changers and stuff and they're blown away by it and now everybody's trying to pick my brain. I actually went to, the [00:06:00] firehouse was working in the different firehouse the other day.

[00:06:03] They played "Game Changers," I heard, for three days straight in the firehouse. It's like six guys that are on board for it. When I walked into the firehouse the other day, your book, there were three of them on the table. There were three guys reading your Engine2 book. 

[00:06:15] Rip Esselstyn: [00:06:15] So since February, you feel like you've been at this now for a good eight, eight, nine months, you feel like it's going to stick this time?

[00:06:25]Joe Inga: [00:06:25] I'm actually scared to go back because I know what will be coming down the line, but I can't imagine how sick I would probably get like just to readapt all the other stuff back into my diet, so, and I'm just feeling too good. Why would I, I know what waits for me on the other side, and I'm not willing to make that, make that jump.

[00:06:58] Rip Esselstyn: [00:06:58] As you can tell, Joe [00:07:00] Inga is doing phenomenally well and continues to put his best fork forward every single day. In season two of the podcast, you're going to hear not only from Joe Inga, but you're also going to hear from a slew of other firefighters, including Kevin Duffy, who was on season one of the Plant-Strong podcast, and in fact, his interview was so inspiring that it inspired Keith, a Lieutenant with the FDNY fire department to not only drop t-bones for tofu, but also to start training for his first triathlon. I was lucky enough to marshall together all these firefighters at the FDNY Fire Academy, and we had a really open conversation about why this lifestyle is not fully embraced by the firefighter culture and why it is so difficult.

[00:07:55] And if it's difficult in a firehouse, I would imagine it's [00:08:00] also difficult in your house. I can't wait to share this conversation with you. 

[00:08:05] Hopefully you've seen "The Game Changers" documentary by now and, as predicted, it is pulling the plant-based conversation right to center stage. It had its worldwide theatrical release in September of 2019 and it had, its worldwide digital release on Netflix in October of 2019. It is shattering the world's most dangerous myth, which is most people think that they need meat for strength, for protein, and for optimal health - and nothing could be further from the truth. I encourage you to go out, watch it, and share it. 

[00:08:47] So the city of Pittsburgh, the Steel City, they reached out to us to do an Engine 2 Seven Day Rescue Challenge - not only with their city employees, but specifically targeting police, [00:09:00] fire, and EMS and their families. And we actually called this whole campaign.

[00:09:06] "The Heart of a Hero."

[00:09:11] Now, let's drop in on the event stage that explains the Seven Day Challenge guidelines and, speaking of the challenge, I want to challenge you, the listener to take the challenge at home. I would encourage you to check out the show notes for a free download of the Seven Day Rescue. Also, be sure to check out the video version of this episode that's now available on our Plant-Strong YouTube channel. 

[00:09:40] So we are here in the city of Pittsburgh right now. We're at union project hall where all the activities are going to be happening here in about an hour and a half, and we're going to be launching something called the Heart of the Hero campaign.

[00:09:54] I'm going to be working specifically with emergency personnel with the city of Pittsburgh, [00:10:00] firefighters, police officers, EMS, and we're going to show them the, or give them an on-ramp to this lifestyle so they can see with their own eyes what can happen with the power of a fork day after day, day after day, day after day for seven days.

[00:10:22] What it can do for officer's weight, lipid panel, potentially getting you off any medications that you're on, all these things... Mental wellbeing. All the intangibles, like constipation, energy levels, sleep, IBS, all that stuff. So, you know, it's the first of its kind, never been done before by a city to launch a campaign like this.

[00:10:53] And we're just super excited to have this be the launching ground in the template that we can then [00:11:00] take to other cities across the country and give back to these heroes who are constantly putting it on the line for us. And so we want all these emergency personnel to be fit, not only for duty, we want them to be fit for life.

[00:11:29] City of Pittsburgh Employee: [00:11:29] Wow. What can I say? The inspiration of the Heart of the Hero. You are in for a treat. I'm just excited that there are so many employees of you from various departments in the city that are taking part in this initiative. It definitely is serving as an example that other cities we hope will follow right.

[00:11:56] And let's welcome to this stage, [00:12:00] Rip Esselstyn.

[00:12:13] Rip Esselstyn: [00:12:13] And I want you to know that I truly believe that everybody in this room can do anything for seven days. And so just think of this as an experiment where you are pushing your health to levels that you probably never thought were possible. Alright? And we can have a lot of fun doing this. You're not going to believe the amount of support that you're going to get.

[00:12:34] And so let me just dive right in. What in the world is a, is a Jiffy Pop popcorn doing, hanging from a nail above a doorway in a house? So this is what we in the fire service affectionately call a redneck smoke detector. Now, I would propose to you that this is not a very effective smoke [00:13:00] detector, right.

[00:13:01] And the analogy that I want to make with you is that that redneck smoke detector is no more effective at protecting you from fire and smoke than the standard American diet is protecting you from chronic Western diseases. And there are five chronic Western diseases. I'm going to name them off for you because I think it's important that you know what they are, but there's five that comprise 75% of this country's 3.9 trillion healthcare bill.

[00:13:31] Number one is heart disease, number two and three are breast cancer and prostate cancer. Number four is type-two diabetes, and number five is obesity. Those five, and I would submit to all of you that all five of those, are either preventable or it can be slowed down or reversed with the program that we're going to be showing you tonight and over the next several weeks.

[00:13:57] So what is the standard American diet look like and [00:14:00] why is it, why is it such an abomination? Well, close to 58% of America's caloric consumption is coming from processed and refined foods, white bread, white rice, white flour, chips. Ding-dongs Twinkies, right? Coca-Cola, all that stuff. Another, almost 35 to 40% is coming from meat and dairy and dairy products, all right.

[00:14:29] And then a paultry, 6% is coming from whole plant, strong foods. So our goal over the seven days that we're going to be doing, this experiment together. There's to basically bring that around. So 100% of our caloric consumption for seven days is coming from whole nutritious plant-strong foods, right?

[00:14:55] We're not going to be eating weak food. We're going to be eating strong food exclusively. And you're not going to [00:15:00] believe how fast the body responds. We want you to enjoy, like it says here, the simple seven. So all the vegetables that you can eat, right? The green leafies, the potatoes, the squash, the bell peppers, the mushrooms, knock yourself out. Whole fruit. Okay. Whether it's fresh or frozen, we don't care. We love frozen. Frozen is picked at the peak of its ripeness. It's very nutritious. It's cheap. It doesn't go bad. Intact. Whole grains. We're a huge fan of all these Brown rice, oats, quinoa, farro, bulger.

[00:15:36] We also don't mind 100% whole grain bread, but we want to make sure it's 100% whole grain bread. And if you're going to do bread, I want you to do open-face sandwiches. We're not putting the lid on there cause it's too calorie-dense. And if your goal is to lose 40 to 150 pounds over the next year, then just forgo the [00:16:00] bread. Instead, use like a collard wrap or a romaine lettuce or something like that. But just forgo with the bread, you don't need it. We don't mind pasta, legumes. Legumes make the world go around. Right. They are a wonderful source of everything. They fill you up. They're satiating. Black beans, white beans, Pinto beans, lentils, you name it.

[00:16:21] Hummus. We love herbs and spices,  vinegars, hot sauces, mustard, ketchup, barbecue sauce. We do gotta be a little bit careful about reading labels and then when it comes to beverages, we're drinking water. If y'all do coffee, let's make sure it's black and we don't mind unsweetened plant-based milk on your cereals.

[00:16:45] Now one of the things that I would encourage you all to do is start eating green leafies at every meal, whether it's spinach, whether it's bok choy, whether it's a collard greens, mustard greens, kale, find [00:17:00] something that you like, and we ideally want you to do five to six fist-sized servings a day. I don't care if it's raw, cooked, steamed, you name it, but these green leafies are true superheroes. They're calorie-light, they're nutrient-dense, and they're going to allow your endothelial cells to absolutely sparkle.

[00:17:20] Let's see, you guys know you're avoiding all animal products and all animal byproducts. That includes chicken and fish that many vegetarians eat and includes eggs, the yolk and the white.

[00:17:36] We're also staying away from juices and smoothies for the seven days, cause we want you masticating and chewing your calories. When it comes to nuts, I don't mind if you do once one small fist size serving of walnuts a day, but they are the most anti-inflammatory friendly nut out there. So we're okay with walnuts, but almonds, [00:18:00] pistachios, cashews - we don't want you snacking on. Those things are too calorie-dense or too inflammatory in nature, and most people can't moderate. Same thing with nut butters. Um, all coconut products, coconut has more saturated fat than any food on the planet. It's 91% saturated fat. And despite what the paleo and the keto people say, the science does not support saturated fats, especially when you're trying to prevent heart disease, type two diabetes, lose weight, and, and reverse autoimmune diseases. 

[00:18:37] Now, when it comes to avocados. It might be easier for you guys just to eliminate them altogether, or if you want to do them, we want you to limit it to about a quarter to a half a day, just because they're so calorie-dense. When it comes to walnuts, I already talked about that one.

[00:18:53] Small handfuls of seeds. We don't mind flaxseed meal, but it's gotta be ground and we don't mind chia  [00:19:00] seeds or hemp seeds. And a little dried fruit. If you want to do a few raisins in your cereal, that's fine, but we don't want you snacking on dates and figs and prunes. These guys are just too calorie-dense.  Okay. And again, they're not a whole food. They're dried, they're processed, they don't have their water. 

[00:19:19] This is the varsity program. The 28-day program that I introduced in 2009 in my first book -  looking back at it, that's kind of the JV program. So. I am asking you guys for seven days to do, to go all in and do the varsity program.

[00:19:46] So as I'm sure you can imagine, most of the people that came to the kickoff event had really no idea what they were getting into after the. Initial orientation [00:20:00] meeting. Many of them were super pumped up and optimistic about what they had just heard. Many rightly so were very skeptical, right? I mean, they'd never heard any of this information before.

[00:20:12] It was like telling them that the sky was green and the grass was blue, so you're going to hear exactly what people thought. After the break,

[00:20:23] Ad for Wild Earth: I want you to know that we have a new title sponsor for season two of the Plant-Strong podcast. It is Wild Earth, plant-based dog food. I'm super proud to be associated with these guys as seen on the Shark Tank. They believe truly that there's a better way to not only feed your pets, but also to help the environment and save the lives of unnecessarily slaughtered animals.

[00:20:56] I want you to know that these guys are in [00:21:00] complete alignment with our values, and what I like is that they're also changing the way people think about nutrition for their pets. So we love people to think outside the box. Also be aware that throughout this season we're going to be sharing some expert advice from their chief veterinary officer, a guy named Dr. Ernie Ward. He's the author of "The Clean Pet Food Revolution" that was just released on December 9th. And the amount of science and research that went into this conscientious brand is really phenomenal. I want you to know that if you love your dog as much as I love my dog, I would encourage you to try Wild Earth plant-strong dog food. Go ahead and visit wild earth.com or amazon.com and use the code plantstrong for a 40% off your first order.

[00:22:08] [00:22:00] The reality is that we live in a society in 2019 that does not really in any way, shape or form support this lifestyle. Everywhere you turn, everywhere you look, you've got fast food restaurants, you've got drive-throughs, you've got people that are shouting at you, you're not gonna get enough protein, you know, if you eat plant-based. And so we're going to teach these City of Pittsburgh emergency first responders how to rise above of the noise, how they can be the absolute best versions of themselves. And you know, ultimately we want these emergency first responders to be fit not only for duty, but also for life.

[00:22:55] Rip and Guests Discussion: [00:22:55] "It's tough. It's not easy to go in there and say, Oh, I'm a vegan, or I eat [00:23:00] plant-based, but I know a couple of guys that do it. They don't have trouble. They don't. He'll give them a hard time. You know, the guys in your line know that they plant-based, they only do their own thing, or they tried to cook in a way that they could, you know, appease everybody."

[00:23:12] "Yeah. Well hopefully it'll become more and more the status quo and firefighters will realize that it gives them a leg up. It allows them to be the best firefighter they can be. And anyway, I'm really proud of you guys, right? And hang in there and let's get you over to the good side. I'm going to give it a try."

[00:23:34] "I'm gonna give it a try."

[00:23:40] "What's your name again? Megan. Megan. And you're a police officer and why are you deciding to do the challenge?" 

[00:23:49] "Something different? Yeah. I've been a meat-eater my whole life. I just, you know, I'm tired all the time. I work nights here and we work crazy schedules. I just want to try something different."

[00:23:58] "What's your biggest concern. [00:24:00] Not eating meat. I mean, when you're used to something and that's what you do, what is, what is like, what does look like for you over the course of a day? Pretty much every meal. What do you have for breakfast?" 

[00:24:14] "Usually eggs. I do have oatmeal, which is good. I've had steel-cut oats. I like it with Apple sauce. You know, I have a sandwich, burritos and things like that. Chicken. I mean, we eat it with my schedule, with court, everything. You just kind of eat and go. It's all, you know." 

[00:24:28] "So besides, you're concerned about meat. Yeah. Interesting. You're also concerned about protein." 

[00:24:34] "Yeah. Protein intake and preparing meals is another concern cause I don't always have the time to do that"

[00:24:44] "What are the guys at the station going to say?"

[00:24:47] "We eat burgers every shift." 

[00:24:49] "So what are they going to say? It's not going to be fun. It's like going and are you, are you okay with them busting your balls?"

[00:24:57] "It happens anyhow. [00:25:00] You think that you could get any of the other firefighters to join you between now and Monday?"  I don't know. 

[00:25:09] "Do you have that kind of sway. I'd like to think so. How long have you been in the fire department? A year. A year? Yeah. So you're, you're kind of way is about, okay. Yeah. So you just, if I were you, what I would do is I would just like stay low and keep it under the radar. I'd be a good idea if possible."

[00:25:28] "I wouldn't even let them know when you're doing, until you've done it, and then you can show them your amazing results.  (inaudible) Say, guys, we'll get that cholesterol 220 down to one 167. 

[00:25:50] "I'm a captain with the Pittsburgh purifier. I was curious to see what it's about. You know, I'm looking for a lifestyle change for real, you know, I'm [00:26:00] overweight, you know, and I'll say I'm skeptical too, but you know, I'm giving it a try, man. You know, to be honest, it seems kind of weird.

[00:26:12] You know, all the beans and all that. He was talking about, you know, how am I going to eat that for the rest of my life? Beans and greens and rice and you know, no steaks and no, no ice cream and no cake, no pumpkins. I don't know, man. I'll give it a shot though. It makes me skeptical. I've tried a lot of things before and back to where I am, so I'm looking for something that if I eat it, I know I'll like it, but will it sustain me to continue doing it?"

[00:26:47] It looks easy enough to cook. I'm skeptical. It's not going to be as easy as it says to fix the milk. If it really fills me up, I would love it. Um, also lower [00:27:00] my blood pressure also and regulate my blood sugar.

[00:27:15] Rip Esselstyn: So, you know, the reactions that you just heard are completely normal. And what we find is that people usually come to us one of two ways: one, they're really excited, but they don't know where to begin. Or, two, they get dragged kicking and screaming to us, and they really have no idea how to begin. But I want you to know that the hurdles that people have are universal, which means the solutions are universal as well.

[00:27:46] You're going to be hearing more from each of these Pittsburgh challenge participants over the next few months, and let's see if their concerns were really the roadblocks they thought they were. So, in [00:28:00] season two of the Plant-Strong Podcast, it is all about celebrating heroes. It is about celebrating people that have the heart of a hero.

[00:28:08] People who are going against the grain, who are creating a big swath that others can follow behind... People that are doing heroic things, not only in their communities but also with their individual health. And, throughout the season, we're going to be targeting firefighters because, these heroes, they absolutely deserve 100% our love and support and they need rescuing from all the health hazards that they are exposed to day in and day out.

[00:28:54] If you've been a fan of cable news, my next guest is going to blow your lid off. Please [00:29:00] tune in next week as I sit down with the iconic, the one and only the former host of the Daily Show, Jon Stewart, and his incredible life, Tracy Stewart. No one, but nobody cares more about firefighters than John and Tracy has truly become a force of nature in the plant-based movement. Together they are living and loving the plant-strong lifestyle. I can't wait for you to listen.

[00:29:32] Before we wrap up today, I want to personally invite you to sign up for our first Rescue 10x tribe of 2020. It starts January 7th and this online program is 100% dedicated to helping you start and sustain the daily habits needed to make real behavioral change. We want to help you stop the dieting cycle if you've tried going plant-based and failed, or you've [00:30:00] never tried because it just seemed too hard.

[00:30:03] Our coaches and community are ready to help you be successful. Visit the resources page at plantstrong.com and register for Rescue 10 X today. Use the code plantstrong for $50

[00:30:21] Thank you for listening and subscribing to our show. I want you to know that we read each and every one of your reviews and we appreciate each and every one. If you want to learn more about this season or today's guests and sponsors, please visit plantstrongpodcast.com. The Plant-Strong podcast team includes.: Scott Battishill, Laurie Kortowich, Ami Mackey, Patrick Gavin, Wade Clark, and Carrie Barrett. I want to thank my parents, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr and Ann Crile Esselstyn for creating a legacy that will be carried on for generations and being willing to go against the current and trudge upstream to the causation. We are all better for it.

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