Latest / NHA Today Podcast / 157: Easily Eat 42 Plants A Week: How to Actually Make Plant-Based Meal Prep Work

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157: Easily Eat 42 Plants A Week: How to Actually Make Plant-Based Meal Prep Work · NHA Today Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to NHA today, where we explore the path to lasting
• 0:04
  health and fulfillment through a whole food plant-based lifestyle.
• 0:08
  Each week we bring you real conversations with doctors, health experts, and everyday
• 0:12
  individuals who have transformed their lives through food, mindset and community.
• 0:17
  This is NHA today, powered by the National Health Association.
• 0:22
  Alright, Natalie Goba.
• 0:24
  Thank you.
• 0:25
  So much for being a guest for the podcast today.
• 0:28
  I'm so excited to interview you and talk about what you and Irina Swan are both
• 0:33
  up to together at the Healthiest Chef.
• 0:35
  So I'd love to just like highlight.
• 0:37
  Can you tell us more about what the Healthiest Chef entails and what
• 0:41
  led you guys to really wanting to create this platform for people
• 0:44
  to be their healthiest selves?
• 0:47
  Hi Stephanie.
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  Um, it's a pleasure to talk to you again.
• 0:50
  Uh, well, I and I at Healthiest Chef, uh, we help people, uh, to create,
• 0:56
  um, nutrition plans for longevity.
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  So.
• 0:59
  Basically it is a program for busy professionals who don't have
• 1:02
  time to figure out, do their own research, or they're overwhelmed
• 1:06
  with conflicting information.
• 1:07
  Uh, we educate them on nutrition with a specialist like, like
• 1:12
  yourself, you're in our program.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  We have then founder of, we have Darline, we have Dahlia, um, um, and
• 1:19
  James in our program from Mary to Health registered dieticians, uh, some
• 1:25
  PhD professors, and on very simple.
• 1:28
  Videos we explain, uh, theory part and then we teach you how to make
• 1:33
  food with all that you just learned.
• 1:36
  There are so many great programs that give you the tools, but then you don't
• 1:40
  know what to do with this information.
• 1:41
  So we teach you within two hours how to make food for the entire week.
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  If you're a complete beginner in the kitchen, uh, the food.
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  Completely balanced.
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  We have 42 plants that week, I think.
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  So there is a microbiome diversity.
• 1:55
  Uh, there is also, there is enough protein.
• 1:57
  You don't have to count.
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  You don't have to think.
• 1:59
  So it's not that hard to reach your macros.
• 2:03
  Oh, it's amazing.
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  I love it because it's so true.
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  There's so many programs that will give you the information, but it's like,
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  how can you execute this information in an easy and digestible way?
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  I personally now having like access to your course and being able to
• 2:20
  see what it is you guys offer.
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  It's so easy to execute and I myself have made some of your
• 2:25
  recipes and absolutely love them.
• 2:27
  But I'd love to know what really led you to wanting to create this, because I
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  mean, this is a big deal and a lot of hard work on your guys' end to really bring in
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  these different experts and interview them and then, you know, create these amazing
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  recipes and then have people come to you to be able to support them and being able
• 2:43
  to create these in their own kitchen.
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  So.
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  What really like is your why to wanting to do this for people?
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  Oh, it always starts with your personal story.
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  For me, it was a dramatic weight gain for no reason.
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  At, uh, my early thirties, I gained.
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  Probably 25 pounds.
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  I was 25 pounds bigger than I am now.
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  And no matter what I did, I was trying to eat healthy.
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  I was working out.
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  I had trainer, nutritionist, and uh, none of that worked.
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  And I didn't give up for three years.
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  Three years I blindly was following and doing, and I.
• 3:17
  Followed so many wrong advices.
• 3:19
  Mm-hmm.
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  Like with people who call themselves doctors and specialists.
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  Everyone was giving me different, confusing information and uh, it took
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  me so long to figure out, but I was like really committed to this idea.
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  I wanted to be healthy, I wanted to live long.
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  I wanted to look great and feel great.
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  That was all reasoning for me and my business partner arena.
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  Um, she went through.
• 3:44
  Dramatic gut issues since birth.
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  She wasn't, she had a gut pain and I kind of recognized when we just met
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  that it, the reason she thought the reason was like some childhood trauma
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  like, or like some that she's always nervous, but I thought, like for me it
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  was obvious, I saw that it's related to food because each time like the wave of
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  anxiety will come exactly after meal.
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  So, uh, with the help of dieticians, we did find that she had sibo and
• 4:17
  then she was prescribed a certain diet, but it was so hard to follow
• 4:21
  because she never cooked before and like the food was not to her tasting.
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  So I created a menu for her for 16 weeks, which was.
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  Very, very hard.
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  But she was my friend and I was committed to idea, to heal her.
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  And then I saw that so many people who are not, um, um, don't have great
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  tools to start making their own food, don't know how to help themselves.
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  So my mission as a. Private chef in my past who worked with
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  the athletes and celebrities.
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  Again, like that's one of my other motivations I saw what
• 4:57
  a great results they have.
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  But the moment they bought by different team moved to the different
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  state or city or country, uh.
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  All the result will go back to zero.
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  And there are a few clients who I help.
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  I coach.
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  They couldn't afford me as a private chef, but they asked
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  me, just coach me what to do.
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  I'll do it myself.
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  And I saw incredible results that were life changing.
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  They still have these results years after.
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  Why?
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  Because I gave them the tools and they knew how to do it.
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  So my goal was not just make money with like very wealthy people, but.
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  Like normal, regular people, their families, their like
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  their, I see effect when people.
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  Follow our program because they love recipes that taste so good.
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  People committing to change their behavior, which is
• 5:45
  like very hard thing to do.
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  Most of people, most of the time, uh, don't wanna change their behavior,
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  but when it's 10 times better, when you feel 10 times better.
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  And then we see people building new traditions, new family traditions,
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  they make food every week, they love it, their kids ask for it.
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  So.
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  This is like, where are we going with this?
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  And I've seen a huge impact, um, that we're doing like besides, uh, besides
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  just helping people to lose weight.
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  We just see a new traditions, new family, and hopefully new generation who is gonna
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  make food healthy, plant-based food.
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  Oh, I love it.
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  I love it.
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  It's so cool because like, and just getting to know
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  you and Irene more is like.
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  You guys, you're best friends, you created this company together and like
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  you both bring like different pieces of like, you know, Irena is like so
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  amazing at like the analytical side of things and the technology side and
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  you're the creative side of like creating the recipes and doing this and that.
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  And both of you guys just like come together so fluidly, which is
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  like so unique and amazing as like best friends and business partners.
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  So I just love it.
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  And um, so I'd love to kind of hear a little bit more about.
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  You did talk a little bit about some of the transformations that
• 6:57
  you see in some of your clients.
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  I'd love for you to highlight a little bit more.
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  What are some, like maybe top two or three things that you see that
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  people benefit the most when they start to really switch over to like
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  a whole food, plant-based lifestyle?
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  Like what are some things that you have seen personally in a lot
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  of your client's transformations?
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  I see.
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  Besides like the obvious, but we still have to name it.
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  Weight loss.
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  Yeah, just reso res resolving their digestive issues that
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  they've been, uh, having for years.
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  Uh, I see the happiness, the shyness in their eyes, like the lightness
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  and just the, the positives.
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  Switch of the mood.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  Like you see before there were excuses and problems and things that don't work out.
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  Even like during the consultation session, everything is highlight.
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  So they do feel better, they do sleep better.
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  But the biggest transformation is still that people who never
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  cook before start making food.
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  Yes.
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  More than that.
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  Like the happiest I become, not when they just follow my recipes, when
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  they start experimenting themself.
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  So, and they start becoming creators.
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  They give me advice.
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  They ask me to check this thing that they just checked and it came out.
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  Like that's what inspires me the most.
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  So we are kind of creating a movement and culture.
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  Yeah.
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  Yes.
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  I love that.
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  And you know, I feel like at least with the first two where you were saying like
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  the weight loss and the brightness to their face and their body, it's like,
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  it's just like you're getting rid of inflammation in their, in your body.
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  You're supporting your body's natural detoxification pathways, which we've
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  talked about so much about the benefits of plant-based seeding and like, and
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  then naturally as a, as a result, like you lose weight, you're eating
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  more fiber and all the nutrients.
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  It's so wonderful.
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  And then I love that.
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  It's bringing about people wanting to be more creative, like, 'cause
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  they're learning from you and they see how excited you are to show them.
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  Like this way of eating like is so good for you, but it can
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  actually be fun and creative and you can create incredible recipes.
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  You don't have to eat the same thing every day.
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  So I love that.
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  Incredible transformations.
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  And that kind of leads me to the next part about.
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  Uh, with people being so creative and learning a lot of their
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  own stuff and tools from you.
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  I mean, I'd say a big reason why people are like, might just have like, kind of
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  like a wall put up to wanting to learn how to do more plant-based eating or wanting
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  to create more interesting recipes per se.
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  Is the time that it might take.
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  And I know for you guys it doesn't take you that long to really meal prep a lot
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  of your food in the week and that's what you're really trying to teach people.
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  So could you give a couple of tips or like what are like some of the tips
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  that you give your clients on how to.
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  Make meal prep easier.
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  Like, could you share a couple of the tools that you're teaching these
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  people to make it easy and not, you know, spend 10 hours in the kitchen
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  on a Sunday prepping your food?
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  Great question, Stephanie.
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  So, um, I, and I can tell you because we s. We speak and work with
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  different levels of clients, like complete the garage in the kitchen.
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  Those who have some experience, those who cook a lot but not healthy.
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  So when it comes for the people who don't have time and don't
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  have experience and have bare minimum, just start with one thing.
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  Probably the whole program committing to the whole program will overwhelm you.
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  You will do it once.
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  You're probably gonna fail part or just feel not accomplished.
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  Do one thing.
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  So making meals like overnight oats.
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  That literally take you 15 minutes to make it last three days.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  So for next three days, you're set.
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  And it's really just build this as a habit, something that you
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  can, can you commit to 15 minutes a week to make a breakfast?
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  Yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  I mean, it's not that bad of a deal.
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  If you add after this, if you add to this a soup mm-hmm.
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  Soup, yes.
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  You, you, it might take you half an hour, but it will last the whole week.
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  So you will have lunch.
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  Breakfast now, right?
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  Mm-hmm.
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  So after that, if you don't have more time or you don't wanna commit
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  more time on your weekend, which I still recommend you one day you do.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  Make five, 10 minutes, sell it is your third meal.
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  So that's not that complex.
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  Even do on a spot on a day, it's not that messy away Some things.
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  Start with one thing.
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  Don't think about making all your meals at once.
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  One thing, one commitment, uh, is gonna bring you far.
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  I love it.
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  I love it.
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  And just to kind of give a quick shout out, again, the first
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  time I went over to Natalie and Irina's Place in West Hollywood.
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  Um, it was, or in Beverly Hills.
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  Sorry.
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  Um, it was, I was like, you guys like, just, were like, oh, are you hungry?
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  Here's a smoothie.
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  And then you're like, oh, here's a, here's like a, um, a soup that we had
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  prepped like for the week or something.
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  You're like, try it.
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  And I was like, trying all this stuff and I was like.
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  This is delicious.
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  I was, and you're like, yeah, this took us 20 minutes to make yesterday this stupid.
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  I'm like, what?
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  I was like, teach me your ways.
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  So it really is incredible that you can, you know, create all this amazing
• 12:00
  diversity in foods into like one meal or a couple meals that you'll have every day.
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  And like you're hitting your food groups, you're hitting your nutrition, you're
• 12:07
  hitting everything, and it tastes so good.
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  And you don't have to take any time during your day, during the week to actually
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  prep the food because it's already done.
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  So.
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  What are some of the key like nutrients or food groups that you might be trying to.
• 12:21
  Incorporate like every meal or every day for people.
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  'cause obviously there's certain food, like all plant-based foods are
• 12:27
  incredible, but certain ones can really provide a lot of good benefits for us.
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  Are there certain ones you're trying to incorporate for people and for
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  yourselves too during the week?
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  Of course.
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  Of course.
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  Well, first of all, as I mentioned, we have 42 different, uh, plant
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  sources, so that's already good.
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  But if you think about, uh, a food group mm-hmm.
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  Means, mm-hmm.
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  Something that we're always hearing the most is someone who tried plant-based
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  diet or who had a reservation about starting plant-based diet.
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  Like what about my protein?
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  So if you hit beans, legumes, and we have a variety and diversity of it
• 13:03
  every single day, also we make sure we teach you how to soak it so it's better
• 13:09
  digestible and you start with, uh, the beans that are easier to digest.
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  Or you start with, uh, legumes, like clean tails that are even easier and
• 13:19
  start and adding it slow into your diet.
• 13:21
  However, um, this is something that we try to incorporate as much as we can.
• 13:26
  So no matter if you're an athlete, this diet would work for you or.
• 13:32
  I love it.
• 13:33
  No, I love it.
• 13:34
  That's amazing.
• 13:35
  And you know, you guys do incorporate tons of diversity into each of your meals.
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  So it's like your breakfasts, your lunches, and your dinners have all
• 13:41
  the different types of food groups and beans and legumes and all the
• 13:44
  things that we know are at the center of like the centenarian diet.
• 13:48
  And the things that are so important for us to incorporate, and you
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  make it taste delicious too.
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  So when you are actually creating your recipes, because you're, you
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  know, the plant-based chef and, um, Harvard plant-based chef, I don't even
• 14:00
  know if you mentioned that earlier.
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  But, um, and you really spend a lot of time in the kitchen prepping your foods.
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  So how, how long will it take you to have a recipe that you are just like.
• 14:11
  Very happy with, and you're just like, this checks all the boxes of
• 14:15
  what it is that I'm looking for, that I wanna deliver to my clients
• 14:18
  or to the people in the course.
• 14:20
  To be honest, it takes a lot of iterations because I'm a
• 14:24
  perfectionist and I'm on spot.
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  I have a, I think I have a great taste when it comes to food.
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  I mean, it could be good and bad.
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  Like for me, the nutrition value is already there because I don't
• 14:35
  even come and create, I create recipes often from scratch.
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  It just something come into my mind.
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  I try something somewhere to get inspired to get and combine
• 14:45
  certain things, but, um.
• 14:47
  What I focus the most now is I know the nutritionist flavor because I know
• 14:52
  for clients the only reason to commit to something and make the change.
• 14:57
  It must be mind blowing and it must taste 10 times better than processed
• 15:01
  food and something that I have a lot of.
• 15:03
  Salt and a lot of other things.
• 15:05
  So the Flo flavor combination would take me very long.
• 15:09
  Sometimes it could take up to 20 iterations of the whole recipe.
• 15:13
  Wow.
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  So, because I just like not quite there.
• 15:16
  Not quite there.
• 15:16
  Not quite there.
• 15:17
  Mm-hmm.
• 15:17
  Like the minimum was three, but it's again, like, uh, it was just luck
• 15:22
  probably once, but I make it over and over and over in some recipes that I made.
• 15:26
  Maybe even a year or two ago.
• 15:28
  Sometimes I still feel like just a tiny bit of this.
• 15:31
  I sometimes I just, so constant process.
• 15:34
  Every week I create two to three recipes.
• 15:38
  Oh wow.
• 15:39
  That's amazing.
• 15:40
  Well, that's just, it's always just incredible to know, like the love and
• 15:44
  the thought process that really goes into like each of the recipes, because that
• 15:47
  makes like a world of difference too.
• 15:49
  Right.
• 15:49
  So that's amazing.
• 15:50
  Well.
• 15:51
  Thank you for sharing all this incredible information about Healthiest Chef and
• 15:57
  would love to hear a little bit about more of the future plans that you
• 16:01
  and Irena have for Healthiest Chef.
• 16:04
  And then let us know anything else that you're up to.
• 16:07
  Uh, thank you for this question.
• 16:09
  Uh, well, we actually, after a lot of things, well, first of all,
• 16:12
  on July 4th, um, after July 4th, we're launching our detox, uh,
• 16:18
  with, with Dr. Stephanie Peacock.
• 16:24
  He is, uh, which has been a lot of work, a lot of learning for myself.
• 16:29
  Uh, so we created this, um.
• 16:33
  This detox, um, based on everything I've learned from Dr.
• 16:37
  Stephanie, based on everything we've learned over the years,
• 16:40
  so we, uh, supporting, uh.
• 16:43
  Uh, we created foods that are easy to make again.
• 16:47
  Mm-hmm.
• 16:47
  That you're not gonna be starving.
• 16:49
  They're delicious and mind blowing, and they're kind of partly meal prepping.
• 16:53
  So you make recipe that is gonna be good for three days.
• 16:57
  How are we change little things so you don't eat the
• 16:59
  same things every single day.
• 17:01
  So we also have.
• 17:02
  Theory part, uh, with a non-toxic masterclass that is
• 17:06
  free to watch for everyone.
• 17:08
  Uh, just follow, uh, my Instagram at Natalie Goba, or Dr. Stephanie
• 17:13
  Peacock who's gonna be promoting this free access to everyone.
• 17:18
  I think if I would come, uh, through this information earlier, I would save
• 17:22
  myself years of struggling, uh, years of not being able to lose weight.
• 17:27
  Uh, but thankfully I did.
• 17:29
  And, um.
• 17:31
  On the other note, like what are we, where are we going with healthier chef?
• 17:36
  Um, I want, uh, to start helping people with, uh, certain diseases like people
• 17:43
  who are going to the cancer treatment.
• 17:45
  I think they need a diet to get, uh, help them get ready to build a
• 17:50
  healthier microbiome before chemo.
• 17:52
  Like what do you have to eat during chemo and after something that is, uh, that is.
• 17:59
  Design specifically for your disease or something you're going through.
• 18:03
  Cardiovascular disease, one of our biggest targets as well.
• 18:07
  And people in that moment are advised by doctors what they should
• 18:12
  exclude, but again, how to do it.
• 18:14
  What to do, what would be the next step?
• 18:16
  So this is like my big passion and big desire.
• 18:19
  I've been thinking about it for the last two years.
• 18:21
  This is one of the.
• 18:23
  Underserved category of patients.
• 18:24
  Yeah.
• 18:25
  And I've seen, uh, people in France dying from those diseases
• 18:29
  just because they get lost.
• 18:30
  They listen too many conflicting information on the internet, on the
• 18:34
  clickable videos, and they believe one day, one thing, second day, another thing.
• 18:39
  And then there is no.
• 18:40
  Guidance.
• 18:41
  Um, I don't want to replace, uh, the, the medical doctors.
• 18:45
  I wanna support what they're doing.
• 18:47
  And ideally, we want to be advised by a doctor as a program
• 18:51
  who support, uh, treatment.
• 18:54
  Yeah.
• 18:54
  Oh my gosh, that's incredible.
• 18:56
  I, well, I know we were talking a little bit off air about, um, what you have
• 19:01
  planned in store for the healthiest chef, and that is just so exciting to have.
• 19:06
  'cause again, it's, it's just helping people take the stress and the thought
• 19:11
  out of like, what do I do then?
• 19:13
  And you're providing them with the support that tastes really good too.
• 19:16
  So, um, that's incredible.
• 19:18
  Really love to hear what you and Irena are both up to.
• 19:23
  Just wanted to say thank you so much for being a guest.
• 19:25
  I can't wait for people to listen to this and to hear, you know,
• 19:28
  all that you have going on with Healthiest Chef currently and then
• 19:31
  what you have for the future plans.
• 19:32
  So super exciting.
• 19:33
  But thank you so much today for the interview.
• 19:35
  It was such a pleasure getting, thank you so much.
• 19:38
  Thank you so much guys.
• 19:38
  And check healthiest chef.com for our program.
• 19:42
  Uh, to see what's going on there.
• 19:44
  Perfect.
• 19:45
  Amazing.
• 19:45
  Thank you, Natalie.
• 19:47
  Thank you for joining us on the NHA Today Podcast.
• 19:50
  Subscribe and follow the National Health Association on YouTube and social
• 19:55
  media for the latest in plant-based science and healthy lifestyle support.
• 19:59
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• 20:03
  conference visit health science.org.
• 20:06
  Until next time, here's to your plant powered health.