May 14, 2021 • 36 mins
Whitney Miner is a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Certified Yoga Teacher, Wellness Advocate and the Founder of Eat Plants & Prosper. She is passionate about helping her community get healthy through the transformative benefits of plant-based food, fitness and faith. She encourages others to achieve optimal health through a holistic approach of finding balance and mindfulness in all aspects of life.
TOPIC:
Whitney’s wellness journey and the importance of changing from the inside out as well as how your diet can impact your mood.
CONNECT WITH WHITNEY:
Please follow Whitney on IG: @eatplantsprosper and FB: @eatplantsandprosper. You can also check out her website: eatplantsandprosper.com
TOPIC:
Whitney’s wellness journey and the importance of changing from the inside out as well as how your diet can impact your mood.
CONNECT WITH WHITNEY:
Please follow Whitney on IG: @eatplantsprosper and FB: @eatplantsandprosper. You can also check out her website: eatplantsandprosper.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Good morning, and it's nice toformally talk to you. Yeah, good
morning. This is an honor.I'm really excited about this. I'm Whitney
Minor actually from Ohio, but fromManstwet, Ohio, really small town in
mid mid central Ohio. I've beenliving at Atlanta for just two thousand and
(00:24):
six, so this is definitely home. I am a certified holistic nutritionist and
thanks to Black Yoga Magazine aka BlackPrano Magazine, I am also a certified
yoga instructor and I just really loveto share the benefits of holistic wellness with
my community of black and Brown brethren. So what made you like go on
(00:50):
this holistic health journey? Was therea catalyst to you going it's time to
do this change? Like, whatwas the thing that rang the bell for
you? I was literally sick myentire life, like you know, just
cold food, sinus infections. Istarted getting migraines when I was seven years
old. I had no idea whatthey were, just sick all the time,
(01:15):
you know, I lived, youknow, my life going in and
out of doctor's offices and urgent caresand always on antibiotics. And back in
twenty eighteen, I got the Igot the flu. I got the flu,
and then I had a sinence infectionright after it. So I was
sick for like six straight weeks.And I was like, you know what,
we're not going to do this.This is not what we're gonna do.
(01:36):
This is not how you want tolive your life. So you know,
how can we make some changes?And so I started researching how to
boost your immune system naturally, andeverything I read was talking about a plant
based diet, and I didn't evenknow what that was. I was like,
yeah, what is that? Andso doing my research, I just
found out really that it was,you know, minimizing animal products and primarily
(01:57):
eating food from the earth, youknow, nuts, seeds, fruits and
vegetables, whole grains. And soI was like, I don't even want
to do that, okay, becauseI grew up eating meat like every day,
three times a day, and soI liked milk and cheese and all
of this. But I was tiredof being sick, and so I was
(02:19):
like, let me give it atry. I had done a dale fast
for years and years, and Iknew I felt great when I was on
the Daiel Fast, and so Iwas like all right, let me try
this, let me see if itreally works. And so I was like,
all right, let me do itfor ninety days and see if I
don't get sick. You know,if I don't get sick, then you
know, we can talk about makingthis change. Didn't get sick at all,
(02:42):
didn't get sick, wasn't on ambiotics, no migraines. I lost all
this weight. I was just likeskin was blowing. I had all this
energy. I was sleeping better.And I was like, all right,
you know, do you do youwant to feel good or do you want
to eat bacon? Like? Whichone? Like it was a cross roads,
you know, so I chose thefact of feeling good, and you
know, from there God really madeit clear, like this is this is
(03:05):
your purpose, right like you youknow, got healed through nutrition, healed
you from the inside out, andso now you need to share the benefits
of this with others. And that'show e Plants and prosper was born.
At the same time, I waskind of on the thing, like the
track of really adapting yoga into mylifestyle, and so that also became a
part of like the holistic wellness piece. And so haven't looked back since,
(03:30):
so how long have you been teachingthese concepts to folks? I started eat
plants and prosper in twenty eighteen.I started it yep in twenty eighteen,
and once I realized like, okay, this really did heal me, and
so I started. I went backto school to get certified and holistic nutrition
and really started, you know,giving workshops and posting blogs and getting active
(03:54):
on social media, just to tryto share with as many people as possible,
just the benefits of it, becausewe're just not thought this growing up.
If you could take yourself back andlike the time machine of when this
first started, when you're like,all right, this is a catalyst.
This is the thing I'm tired tobeing sick. I want to make this
change. What were these small stepsthat you started with to get you going
(04:15):
on this journey? So the smallthe small steps were really just taking a
step back and trying to figure outwhat the goal was for me, and
the like just breaking that goal intolike just baby steps. I mean,
my main goal has always been toreach as many people as possible, and
so I knew one of the bestways to do that was by building a
(04:36):
website and you know, being ableto promote that so people could go to
that as a place to you know, get nutrition tips and a lot of
eating recipes. So because my otherthing was that this food doesn't have to
be nasty, like you just thinkthat like you're eating beginners, like it's
going to be bland and playing.We're just eating boiled cares and broccoli.
(04:58):
And I was like, this isnot going to be a life that I
can sustain if the food doesn't tastegood. So I really went to work
creating recipes and so being able toshowcase that through a website was one of
the things that for me was likea logical first step. It was like
okay, between that and then makingsure I went back to get certified and
holistic nutrition, those were kind ofmy first like baby steps into being able
(05:20):
to feel legit and feel like,all right, this is a for real
business. It looks legit. Peopleyou know will not be like, all
right, this is a what isthis? This is a mess? You
know, Like really trying to focuson, you know, becoming a resource
and a place where people could feellike they could go to get information and
(05:44):
just really get some good recipes aswell has been super helpful. So to
me, those were the baby stepsalong the way that made it made a
lot of difference. Now, oneof the big things you mentioned that I
know that I struggle with, wouldI do this for myself to be plant
based for some time? And Iknow that it's a question that comes up
often is accessibility and sustainability. Sothose are like the two things that knock
(06:10):
off the square comes to making thisshame because if for me, if it's
not easy long term, being ableto stick with it is just not the
thing, right because we all haveother responsibilities. And then, like you
said, if it doesn't taste good, it's not going to be sustainable.
Because no one wants to feel likethey're dragging themselves through every meal, even
(06:32):
though they enjoy the results that thatthey that they see and feel and want.
It's hard to continuously convince the mindand the body of the spirit that
just keep eating it. It's goodfor you, you know. So how
do you speak to what do yousay to those who struggle in those areas?
(06:53):
So one of the things is reallyjust understanding what this lifestyle means,
because I think that is like ahuge barrier for a lot of people.
It was a huge barrier for me. It's like what can I eat?
Like I don't even understand like whatI can have versus what I can't,
And so just really kind of gettingan understanding something very simple of like this
(07:14):
is what I can have or whatI can't have, and really shifting your
perspective of I'm choosing not to haveit versus I can't have it. It's
super helpful. And then really forme, that's when my whole vibe is
really just finding recipes that taste goodbut that are not super complicated, because
that's the other thing is that peoplefeel like this has to be complicated and
it absolutely doesn't, like you know, you really can have some beans,
(07:36):
some brown rice, and like somegreens and that's it. You know,
it could be very simple, andso really trying to uncomplicate it was very
important for me because it is itcan be very confusing, like you know,
and that makes it not sustainable,you know if it is that way,
and so really simplifying this whole lifestyleand you know, getting out of
(07:57):
our own heads of like, youknow, it has to look like either
food that doesn't taste good or somethingthat is mega complicated and just really getting
back to our own roots of like, Okay, what it's going to make
me feel good? And this foodis it going to fuel my system?
Is it going to nourish me?And if the answer is yes, and
that's the path to go, andthen I guarantee you because we have been
(08:18):
raised eating scraps right like that,that is our lineage, and so we
know how to make garbage taste good, so we can make garbage tastes good.
We could definitely make food taste goodthat is from the earth. And
so just kind of a shift inmindset, I think is something that could
be super helpful for people that wantto embark on this journey. I know
(08:41):
for myself, like there's some thingsthat it's about the comfort of the experience
because I am hard pressed and I'vehad it both ways. I'm hard to
have collagreenes without forking it. Now. What I will say is some of
it is just the experience of thatfamily because that's something my grandmother makes.
(09:01):
It builds this bond and this connectionthat that's the house that I go to
to get that thing, you know. So part of my spirit is like
I'm just not getting rid of thisfight me if you want to with this,
you know. And then the otherpart of me is like, I
also want to make conscious, healthychoices. So if there's a way for
(09:24):
us to simply like relearn those samerecipes, like, that's what I'm here
for, right because I do wantthat comfort of that experience. And then
the other thing too, is thatI seem to run into and this is
a conversation that comes up when wetalk about changing food. Is food is
so communal, right, and andit's your you know, your family and
(09:46):
the drug. What do you dowhen you're together? You eat? So
either is the family and union isa funeral, or we do family dinner,
but it's all centered around food tosome degree. So the hardest thing
that I found in that trans especiallyfamily wise, it's like not feeling as
though you're now on the outside lookingin because you have changed the way that
(10:07):
you eat. Now. My sister, she's been vegan vegetarian since she was
thirteen. But in her case,she just didn't like me to start with.
Yeah, so it wasn't a hugeloss. It didn't think you know,
it wasn't like this epic, ohmy god, I'm giving up this
thing, and no, she justdidn't like it, so it didn't matter,
you know, it didn't make adifference. But what do you say
(10:30):
to those who like but my family, but this is our thing, Like,
you know, what do you sayto those folks? I love this
question because a lot of times Ialways say like food is like a part
of the family, like food itself, because like you said in you know,
every situation that you can think of, you know you are, there
is food involved with your family oreven with your friends. And so that
(10:52):
was definitely something that was challenging forme because it was like, you know,
like you said, you don't wantto feel like an outsider, but
I will say that you can veganizea lot of the recipes that you love,
like that has been part of mymission. So actually, my family
asked me to bring my collar greens, my vegan collar greens. They asked
me to bring that to the tothe holiday meals now because they're good,
(11:15):
they taste delicious, and they don'tmiss the meet My mom actually made them
herself this Christmas, and I waslike literally like my mind was blown.
So I was like a couple ofyears ago, everybody was looking at me
like I was an alien when Iwas like, you know, trying to
go vegan, right, and soyour family will come along for the ride
if the food tastes good, that'sall. It is a matter of right.
(11:35):
People are not going to be opposedto the food if it tastes good,
you know, like that's just it. And so you got to make
the recipes taste amazing. You know. I have prided myself and veganized in
a lot of my mom's recipes,so like her addressing, she makes amazing
you know, corner addressing for theholidays, and so I've learned to veganize
that. You know, my candyams. I brought that to the holidays
(11:56):
this year with my family. Theywere vegan. You know, they taste
just like the regular you know candym So no one complained about it.
And so I think the real keyis, you know, really making the
food taste good and people will notbe yeah kind of like what is this?
You know, and then just gettingover our own mental hurdles, because
(12:18):
like you said, we associate thesefoods with comfort, and you know,
there's nothing more comforting than food thatis healthy for you, you know what
I mean. And so we gotto get it out of our head that
it has to be bad for youfor it to be comfort food, you
know, it has to be youknow, something that's toxic to your body
and for it to make you feelgood. It's like, now you can
have some of these same things thatthey're just veganized, and we just got
(12:41):
to retrain our minds that you know, we don't have to have meat in
our greens, like you know whatI mean, Like I you know,
you don't have to you know,you don't have to have you know,
meat to season your vegetables. Likejust really retraining ourselves. And once you
taste the food food and it tastesgood, you're like, I really didn't
(13:01):
I don't miss it. I didn'tneed it, you know what I mean.
And so then it's like all right, it starts to become a little
bit easier. So and then onceagain the knowledge that you have, you'll
realize, like when you're going outwith your friends or you're going out with
your family, you know, thereare many things that you can still order.
Oh yeah, you know what Imean. Like we're blessed to be
in a time where there's just likeall of these vegan options. A lot
(13:24):
of places you go and so it'slike you're not really missing out, it's
just a reshift, the reset ofthe mind. Yeah, and I find
that you can always eat the side, so like, if I'm doing I'll
do it for thirty days or whateverhere and then so I'll just get whatever
the sides are on the menu.But my biggest kurdle, and I'm sure
I am not the first person toever say the seat, My biggest one
(13:46):
is poster. So I tend tocause it's quick and easy, right.
We trade carbs for vegetables, right, because you're going it's still vegan,
and it is. However, forthose of us have thyroid excitement and those
of us who have glycemic issues,it just all of that sugar how much
(14:09):
you want, right, Yeah?And it's like, and I know for
me personally, like if I've hadan excess of rice, if I've had
an excess of pasta, and thenI throw it because I still have a
sweet tooth, right, and wethrowing a cupcake on top of that.
We've been begging the whole day.Yeah, yourself, no favors because your
body is like what are you doingto me? And then it starts to
(14:31):
go if you eat some meat,just to put some variety in what you're
eating, Like we're not gonna makeit okay. So so that is my
So I turned into a carbetariant asopposed to a vegetarian. So please like
help the people with me, please. So yeah, this is this is
like such a common thing, likepeople were like I gained weight when I
(14:52):
started eating this way, and itis because a lot of reasons. And
it is you're eating a lot ofcars because you want to feel feel like
you're full, right, and it'salso the sense of comfort, and like
you said, it's also quick andeasy. And so you know, a
good rule of thumb, which Itell a lot of my health coaching clients,
is to make sure that half ofyour plate is full of vegetables and
(15:13):
then you know what the other half, even if you're eating pasta, at
least you have a lot more balancethan you did before just eating a whole
big bowl of pasta and then maybenot even any vegetables at all. So,
you know, just trying to findbalance in any diet is so important.
You know, whether you're eating meator you're not right, And we
(15:35):
forget that, we think just becausewe're not eating meat we should be fine.
It's like, yeah, no,if you are eating right, like
you said, a carbeteria, Ilove that term. You know, you're
just eating pure you know, that'sall your your intaking. Like you're still
not getting the nutrition, the nutrientsthat you need, even though technically it
was plant based. And so,like you said, I struggle too because
there's so much good vegan junk foodout there now. It's like you said,
(15:58):
you can have a cupcake, youcan have you know, ice cream,
ice free sandwich, all of thetype of stuff. It's like,
you still need to make sure thatyou're eating primarily plants. And so I'm
kind to focus on the balance ofmaking sure that we're having the foods and
vegetables that we need and not justeating solely from one food group. Yeah,
and then the other one I findtwo that comes up is trading fruits,
(16:23):
right, because this, once againit's an easy thing. So end
up taking in an excess of fruit. And then now, granted, fruit
has fiber, so it's good foryour system, right as opposed to like
eating a couple of cupcakes or somethingthat has no fiber whatsoever, but you
still are it's still an excess ofsugar right, because we're looking for that
(16:44):
taste and to be say shaded.So it's harder beginning. But I do
like the idea of if if youcan just get at least half your plate
are those vegetables, you got therest of the plate to be whatever else
you know, you need to makeit work and you can go go forth
from there. So one of thethings that I like to do, and
I don't know if this is arecommendation that you'd make, but since I
(17:07):
have you, Captain Balla, oneof the things that I do is I
find like three beacon restaurants that cookthe stuff that I like, and then
when I am doing this, that'sjust where I go. I don't even
pretend like I learn to cook thethings. I don't even pretend like I'm
gonna put. I don't do anyof that. I just picked my three
(17:27):
places. The price is reasonable.It's no more than me getting fast food
from anywhere else or whatever else atthis point. And that's just how I
how I make it work. Now, do you suggest that as a way
to go, or you like cookingat home is your best bed. I
just happen to like to cook,and so you know, but I know
(17:49):
a lot of people who cannot standit and do not want to be in
the kitchen and don't have time.Like you know people, there are people
that want to cook and just don'teven have time to do it. So
I am a huge fan of findingplaces that are cooking great food and that
you like you said, they're affordable, and you know, you just go.
You'll pick out what you want andbring it home or haven't delivered to
(18:11):
the home better yet, so youdon't even have to go out. And
it is whatever it takes to makesure that you are, you know,
being able to proceed in this lifestyleand make it comfortable for you. And
so if that is that I have, you know, I'm going to eat
out a few times a week.You know, at least it's healthy,
right, it could be so muchworse. Is it's better than me like
(18:37):
drives doing it for some junk thatI don't need. So right, there's
a spot here. My hope isthat we'll do yoga retreat here so we
can experience this. But there's aspot here that does their version. They
call it the mac stack. Soit's an impossible burger. Let us cheese,
pickles and onions and then the airthe French fries and like that's probably
(19:04):
not helping anybody, but it is. That whole experience is amazing. Yes,
I wait for them to be open, you know, and if you
don't go early enough, they willbe out. Like it is that good.
And one of the other students thatcame out when the studio was open
for in person class, they camein and they told me about it,
(19:26):
and they're like, you gotta go. It's like, all right, I'll
go down there, and it isso good. And then they also do
vegan milkshake. So there's a lady, a local lady here that like makes
all the stuff to make it soyou can make a milkshake and they have
fifty eleven flavors. I had aorange cream sickle the other day. Girl,
I didn't know I needed it.I didn't know I needed it.
(19:48):
My life it's been forever changed.I love this place. It is so
so good. So but again it'svegan back to like junk food, right,
it's vegan junk food, but it'svegan, so you know, I
still just feel like it's so muchbetter than a lot of the things that
we could be eating and it's justin moderation, like you know what I
mean, Like it's no different thanwhat you would do, like on a
(20:11):
Friday night, you know what Imean to like treat yourself. And we're
still in the middle of a pandemic, and so those things are important for
us to be able to, youknow, just treat ourselves when we feel
like we need to. So I'mI'm in favor of it. Cool.
See, that's that makes me feelbetter because sometimes it's just like, look,
I just want the thing that makesme feel good, you know out
(20:32):
here in a whole pantein provy,Like we're trying to just make it through
this experience, okay, Like thepandemic is not ending and we're still here
like a whole Yeah, it's hardout here. Okay. So the other
part that gets me too about likediet change and just diet change in general.
It doesn't matter whether you're going,you know, whether you're vegan,
(20:53):
vegetarian, paleokuto, it doesn't matterwhat it is. Food is the only
thing in our life lives that wehave full control over what we eat,
regardless of where the food comes from. Right, So even if you live
in a food desert, you stillget to walk into that place that you're
getting food from and make a choice. So it's the only thing in our
(21:15):
lives that we have full control over. And sometimes I know that I battle
with that. I just want todo the thing that I want to do
without anybody else's permission, right,I don't want to have to like follow
a certain set of rules, LikeI just want to make this choice for
myself. So that's one that isa struggle that I know that I've come
(21:36):
across, and I've had the conversationbefore with others that that's like the it's
my only place I get to choose, right, every other facet of my
life is controlled in some way orform, but I get to control what
I eat. And then the otherpart that the struggle is when trying to
manage emotions and look into food forsome version of comfort, It's like I
(21:57):
don't have a a set of clearmechanisms aside from what I'm eating. So
it's the now you're gonna to ornow we're going to put rules around that
around the too. How do youhelp support people in that way? So
one of the things that these aregreat questions. One of the things a
(22:22):
lot of us have grown up withassociating, you know, the food with
comfort. You know, I thinkas you know, brown people black and
brown people like that is just extraextra for us because it's a Sunday dinner.
It is the you know, thefan like it is just center of
everything, and so we just associateit so much with comfort and there's nothing
wrong with that until we cannot controlit. So we say that we want
(22:47):
to be in control of it,but we don't actually have control of it.
If we're unable to make some healthierchoices, right, it is controlling
us then if we you know,cannot and it's one of those things again,
just the perspective shift in how doesthis make me feel like when I'm
eating it? Right, we getthe sense of comfort when we're consuming these
(23:07):
things, but afterwards, do wefeel like we need an app like that's
always like the determining factor. Dowe feel sluggish when we wake up in
the morning. Do we have ahard time feeling like we have energy you
know, to sustaining through throughout theday based on what we're eating? And
so literally, you know, whenyou're eating, how are you feeling afterwards?
(23:29):
Is this food really fueling you?Is it fuel Is it fueling you
well? And so we got tostart really listening to our bodies because we
have kind of become disconnected from them. And you know, we can tell
when we've done the most, Likewe've done the most, it doesn't feel
(23:49):
good, We do not feel right, We may feel sick. You know.
I was somebody who would overindulge ineat way too much. Like that
was always like what I've shortched rugglewith all the time, you know,
to the point where you feel sickor you got to loosen your belt,
buffle. It's like, you know, these things are not really they don't
really feel good to us, andit's a temporary, you know, pleasure,
(24:12):
but later on you don't feel goodabout it. You know, you
can tell when you've had too manydays in a row where you drank too
much, right, or you've beeneating too much, your body doesn't feel
good. And so really trying toget tuned in. This is why I
love yoga so much, because itdoes help you connect and start to understand.
Like him, that did feel goodwhile I was eating in It's totally
fine, And I moved on rightand I'm on to the next thing.
(24:34):
It wasn't something that unpassed me oraffected me. Right, what we're talking
about with you had the orange creamstickle and whatever else, Like you felt
fine after you had that, itwas cool. If you have that seventeen
days in a row, you're notgonna feel good, yeah, you know.
And so it's like your body isgoing to tell you like, hey,
we need some vegetables, we needsome fruit here. And so it's
just really tuning in and listening toself and starting to understand like, all
(24:57):
right, my body is letting meknow, oh, I feel that great
right now. I need to makesome changes or I need to make sure
that you know, I've been eatinggreat all week, you know, and
so that I can go ahead andenjoy and indulge over the weekend and feel
fine with it and be able topick it back up on Monday. You
know. It just really is beingkind to ourselves and understanding that, you
(25:18):
know, our bodies are meant tofunction and feel well. And if we're
feeling sick, not feeling good,we're sluggish, we can't get out of
bed, our joints are aching.That is a sign that we need to
make some changes and really start feelingour systems with what they need. And
then from that point that we're goingto talk about self care. I mean,
if you're not feeling good and youknow that if you start to eat
well, you'll feel better, that'sa form of self care and we need
(25:41):
to make sure that we're doing that. And so it's just again the shifting
perspective of yes, this food makesus feel good temporarily, and it is
meant to be something that is anindulgence, but most of the time we
should be eating some things that arehelping us function the way that we should.
Yeah, I really do. Doyou like that? As a first
repective of approaching this in your ultimatelyyou don't have control of it right when
(26:07):
it goes off the rails. Sothe thing that you are seeking in the
first place, you're already giving upessentially, which is that mon come of
control. And then you know,secondly from a self care perspective, like
it does matter if you are takingcare of yourself, like are you are
you here for self or not?Are you just are you? Are we
extending life expectancy or shortening it?What? That's usually pretty much the tunes
(26:30):
of the spectrum that that we workfrom so so so so some good insight
there. Then the last few questionshere is rewind it down. So how
would you say that your your nutrition, your vegan lifestyle connects with your yoga
practice and vice versa. How doesyour yoga practice connect to your nutrition?
(26:51):
And it's so interesting because those journeyswere like happening simultaneously, you know,
like where I was getting healthy throughthe nutrition and then the yoga was just
healing me from a mental, emotionaland spiritual standpoint as well, and so
it was kind of like that fullcircle moment where it was like, you
know, you want to make surethat the nutrition is there and you know
(27:15):
that is healing in so many ways, but also then you add a yoga
on top of it, and it'slike it's just a full body kind of
an optimal wellness thing. And sofor me, the veganism started to take
different shapes because I did not govegan for the animals, like that was
not where I was. But thenit did make me a more compassionate person
(27:37):
and to understand, you know,why people you know, are going vegan
for animals and for the world,you know, the the globe and the
health of what is going on andthe place that we call home. And
so it was one of those thingswhere it was a true connection connection with
yoga and all of the non violentaspects of that and just really trying to
(27:57):
be your best self on an offthe mat. And so it was like
a huge aha moment when those thingsstarted to click for me and connect,
because you know, you start torealize that not the yamas and yamas,
and you know, it starts toreally you start to really understand how the
(28:18):
vegan lifestyle is one of non violenceand you know yoga is the same way
and just honestly, the sacrifice anddedication that it takes to live this lifestyle,
you know, is something that youcan relate to with with yoga and
how it kind of burns away allthat doesn't serve and kind of forces you
to really go within and you know, find your true soul and its purpose
(28:42):
and and that journey in that path. And so it definitely was an alignment
for me and really helped kind of, I don't know, they they work
together to you know, Uh,the yoga was helping me to be you
know, dedicated to this lifestyle andto continue to share with others. And
then the veganism was doing the samefor yoga. So it was definitely a
(29:03):
full circle moment, I would saywith that. And you know, yoga,
I think, I don't we don'trealize the connection between our guts and
what's going on in our in ourminds mentally, and there's a huge connection
there, you know, between whatwe're eating and how we're feeling. And
so again, then yoga pushing onthat spirituality piece on top of it was
(29:26):
just really a beautiful, holistic thingthat I just wanted to be able to
share, you know, as partof my journey and hopefully get others on
the mat too. Yeah. Idefinitely see the connection between the two and
taking care of both parts of yourbody and essentially just uh living your yoga
(29:47):
both on and off the bet.You know, it's not it's not just
so well, I'm here in thestudio, I got my mat out,
I'm in my Austiner practice and thenwe roll up the mat and it gets
rolled up too. Yeah, right, that you're you're taking, you know,
taking it with you. Another thingthat you brought up to is going
vegan for animals. So this issomething that I deeply, deeply grapple with
(30:08):
because it's a struggle for me becauseI also see it as and I don't
know if this is like the marketingof it or what have you, but
this idea that people care more aboutanimals than they do about people. Right,
So there's a soapbox that wants tobe stood on about how we're supposed
(30:30):
to you know, industrial farming andyou know, green egg and renewable agriculture
and all of those things are importanttoo, But there's a part of me
that goes, hey, like there'speople over here that that are indeed need
before we even start talking about what'sgoing on with with farming and egg and
(30:53):
what have you. Now, branded, yes, we can have the both
conversations at the same time. Thatisn't given how Whoever, what I find
in quasi vegan community that there's nowillingness to have both of the conversations at
the same time. It's more about, well, what about the animals and
what about the earth and what aboutthis the other Yes, those things are
(31:14):
important too, but it's like,but don't you care about the actual humans
that are over here that are insuffrage or in some sort of suffering.
So was that something that you hadto reconcile for for self or was it
just more like from the health perspectivefor you? I definitely, I'm so
(31:34):
glad you brought this up because asa black van we are obviously underrepresented in
the space of wellness in general,and so veganism is no exception to that
rule. Same thing with yoga,right, And so I did find it
excumunly difficult because there is a hyperfocus on animal rights by the same people
(32:00):
who do not seem to be asconcerned that people that look like us are
getting murdered in the street by policeofficers for just being black, you know.
And so it was one of thosethings where it was like, it
was one of those things where itwas difficult for me to want to take
(32:20):
up the cause of like animal rightsor anything, or be able to even
be open to it given the currentclimate that we've been living in in this
country. One of the things Idid have to realize was that you can
want love and peace for all livingbeings, you know what I mean.
And so for me, my priorityis always going to be my brothers and
(32:43):
sisters, Like that's always going tobe my priority, That's always going to
be my first, Like I amblack and first and foremost before I am
anything else. Right, Like,so the beganism did not come in and
like supersede all of a sudden overon top of right, like me being
black. That's always been my focusand my primary goal. And for me,
(33:04):
I think and and people might getoffended by this, but it's just
my truth. I mean, thethe animals being saved are a pleasant byproduct
of the veganism. For me,it is about health and the health of
my community, and that has alwaysbeen the primary focus of the plants and
prosper is that I want to getmy community healthy, and it's the animals
being saved pleasant by product, thegrowth being saved, and our earth being
(33:29):
a better place because you know,we're not destroying it with the animal agriculture.
That's a pleasant byproduct. My goalhas always been to try to help
my brothers and sisters get healthy andso that they can live out and walk
in their purpose. And so that'sthat's my spiel on that. Yeah,
thank you for sharing that. Itjust it's nice to kind of hear somebody
else, let's say that they strugglewith the same thing. Because I was
(33:52):
really a big deal for me asI go back and forth through this conversation
and just just thinking through like Ifeel like, in that particular community,
in that particular space, sometimes thepriorities are a little skew just a bit,
so well with me, I'm soglad that we got a chance to
(34:13):
have this conversation. If people wantto connect to you online, where is
the best place for them to findyou or the best place is for them
to find you? The best placefor them to find me is definitely my
website, Eatplants and prosper dot com. Lots of good begon recipes, nutrition
tips, and so much more there. I'm really active on Instagram. I'm
(34:34):
at Eat Plants Prosper on Instagram.They can also find me on Facebook eat
Plants and Prosper. I just wantto really quickly just thank you so much,
Ashley. The Black Yoga magazine experienceand my teacher training really did change
my life in so many ways.I met so many amazing people who I
(34:57):
still am in contact with on adaily basis. It was truly life changing,
and it gave me the opportunity toteach yoga, which is so near
and dear to my heart, andI just am forever grateful for you and
what you're doing for our community andgetting our voice out there and making a
mark in the wellness community. Youknow, I'm just forever grateful. So
(35:20):
I do want to just thank youso much for what you're doing and what
you continue to do. You're welcome. It's it's my assignment, it's what
i'm It's what I'm here for.So if I can share a little bit
about a little bit of what Ihave to help others, you know,
prosper and grow and what they haveto offer the world as well, that's
that's what I'm here for. SoI'm glad that you found us and were
(35:42):
able to connect with us through yourtraining and bring this this because it is
something that I definitely wanted to bea part of the things that we do
and things that we share with thecommunity. It's just not a lay that
I'm particularly in. So it's perfectthat we have you here and to share
the articles of the magazine and totalk to folks about living this healthy life
and how they can get started andwhere they can get connected. So I
(36:07):
look forward to reading and seeing moreof your recipes in the future, and
maybe I'll get myself in the kitchenand yeah yeah, well Whitnie, I
thank you so much for today andfor all you folks out there and podcast
land. We'll catch you on thenext one. Make sure you look out
for our next Yoga teacher training isstarting in March eighteenth. You don't want
(36:30):
to miss it.
Good morning, and it's nice toformally talk to you. Yeah, good
morning. This is an honor.I'm really excited about this. I'm Whitney
Minor actually from Ohio, but fromManstwet, Ohio, really small town in
mid mid central Ohio. I've beenliving at Atlanta for just two thousand and
(00:24):
six, so this is definitely home. I am a certified holistic nutritionist and
thanks to Black Yoga Magazine aka BlackPrano Magazine, I am also a certified
yoga instructor and I just really loveto share the benefits of holistic wellness with
my community of black and Brown brethren. So what made you like go on
(00:50):
this holistic health journey? Was therea catalyst to you going it's time to
do this change? Like, whatwas the thing that rang the bell for
you? I was literally sick myentire life, like you know, just
cold food, sinus infections. Istarted getting migraines when I was seven years
old. I had no idea whatthey were, just sick all the time,
(01:15):
you know, I lived, youknow, my life going in and
out of doctor's offices and urgent caresand always on antibiotics. And back in
twenty eighteen, I got the Igot the flu. I got the flu,
and then I had a sinence infectionright after it. So I was
sick for like six straight weeks.And I was like, you know what,
we're not going to do this.This is not what we're gonna do.
(01:36):
This is not how you want tolive your life. So you know,
how can we make some changes?And so I started researching how to
boost your immune system naturally, andeverything I read was talking about a plant
based diet, and I didn't evenknow what that was. I was like,
yeah, what is that? Andso doing my research, I just
found out really that it was,you know, minimizing animal products and primarily
(01:57):
eating food from the earth, youknow, nuts, seeds, fruits and
vegetables, whole grains. And soI was like, I don't even want
to do that, okay, becauseI grew up eating meat like every day,
three times a day, and soI liked milk and cheese and all
of this. But I was tiredof being sick, and so I was
(02:19):
like, let me give it atry. I had done a dale fast
for years and years, and Iknew I felt great when I was on
the Daiel Fast, and so Iwas like all right, let me try
this, let me see if itreally works. And so I was like,
all right, let me do itfor ninety days and see if I
don't get sick. You know,if I don't get sick, then you
know, we can talk about makingthis change. Didn't get sick at all,
(02:42):
didn't get sick, wasn't on ambiotics, no migraines. I lost all
this weight. I was just likeskin was blowing. I had all this
energy. I was sleeping better.And I was like, all right,
you know, do you do youwant to feel good or do you want
to eat bacon? Like? Whichone? Like it was a cross roads,
you know, so I chose thefact of feeling good, and you
know, from there God really madeit clear, like this is this is
(03:05):
your purpose, right like you youknow, got healed through nutrition, healed
you from the inside out, andso now you need to share the benefits
of this with others. And that'show e Plants and prosper was born.
At the same time, I waskind of on the thing, like the
track of really adapting yoga into mylifestyle, and so that also became a
part of like the holistic wellness piece. And so haven't looked back since,
(03:30):
so how long have you been teachingthese concepts to folks? I started eat
plants and prosper in twenty eighteen.I started it yep in twenty eighteen,
and once I realized like, okay, this really did heal me, and
so I started. I went backto school to get certified and holistic nutrition
and really started, you know,giving workshops and posting blogs and getting active
(03:54):
on social media, just to tryto share with as many people as possible,
just the benefits of it, becausewe're just not thought this growing up.
If you could take yourself back andlike the time machine of when this
first started, when you're like,all right, this is a catalyst.
This is the thing I'm tired tobeing sick. I want to make this
change. What were these small stepsthat you started with to get you going
(04:15):
on this journey? So the smallthe small steps were really just taking a
step back and trying to figure outwhat the goal was for me, and
the like just breaking that goal intolike just baby steps. I mean,
my main goal has always been toreach as many people as possible, and
so I knew one of the bestways to do that was by building a
(04:36):
website and you know, being ableto promote that so people could go to
that as a place to you know, get nutrition tips and a lot of
eating recipes. So because my otherthing was that this food doesn't have to
be nasty, like you just thinkthat like you're eating beginners, like it's
going to be bland and playing.We're just eating boiled cares and broccoli.
(04:58):
And I was like, this isnot going to be a life that I
can sustain if the food doesn't tastegood. So I really went to work
creating recipes and so being able toshowcase that through a website was one of
the things that for me was likea logical first step. It was like
okay, between that and then makingsure I went back to get certified and
holistic nutrition, those were kind ofmy first like baby steps into being able
(05:20):
to feel legit and feel like,all right, this is a for real
business. It looks legit. Peopleyou know will not be like, all
right, this is a what isthis? This is a mess? You
know, Like really trying to focuson, you know, becoming a resource
and a place where people could feellike they could go to get information and
(05:44):
just really get some good recipes aswell has been super helpful. So to
me, those were the baby stepsalong the way that made it made a
lot of difference. Now, oneof the big things you mentioned that I
know that I struggle with, wouldI do this for myself to be plant
based for some time? And Iknow that it's a question that comes up
often is accessibility and sustainability. Sothose are like the two things that knock
(06:10):
off the square comes to making thisshame because if for me, if it's
not easy long term, being ableto stick with it is just not the
thing, right because we all haveother responsibilities. And then, like you
said, if it doesn't taste good, it's not going to be sustainable.
Because no one wants to feel likethey're dragging themselves through every meal, even
(06:32):
though they enjoy the results that thatthey that they see and feel and want.
It's hard to continuously convince the mindand the body of the spirit that
just keep eating it. It's goodfor you, you know. So how
do you speak to what do yousay to those who struggle in those areas?
(06:53):
So one of the things is reallyjust understanding what this lifestyle means,
because I think that is like ahuge barrier for a lot of people.
It was a huge barrier for me. It's like what can I eat?
Like I don't even understand like whatI can have versus what I can't,
And so just really kind of gettingan understanding something very simple of like this
(07:14):
is what I can have or whatI can't have, and really shifting your
perspective of I'm choosing not to haveit versus I can't have it. It's
super helpful. And then really forme, that's when my whole vibe is
really just finding recipes that taste goodbut that are not super complicated, because
that's the other thing is that peoplefeel like this has to be complicated and
it absolutely doesn't, like you know, you really can have some beans,
(07:36):
some brown rice, and like somegreens and that's it. You know,
it could be very simple, andso really trying to uncomplicate it was very
important for me because it is itcan be very confusing, like you know,
and that makes it not sustainable,you know if it is that way,
and so really simplifying this whole lifestyleand you know, getting out of
(07:57):
our own heads of like, youknow, it has to look like either
food that doesn't taste good or somethingthat is mega complicated and just really getting
back to our own roots of like, Okay, what it's going to make
me feel good? And this foodis it going to fuel my system?
Is it going to nourish me?And if the answer is yes, and
that's the path to go, andthen I guarantee you because we have been
(08:18):
raised eating scraps right like that,that is our lineage, and so we
know how to make garbage taste good, so we can make garbage tastes good.
We could definitely make food taste goodthat is from the earth. And
so just kind of a shift inmindset, I think is something that could
be super helpful for people that wantto embark on this journey. I know
(08:41):
for myself, like there's some thingsthat it's about the comfort of the experience
because I am hard pressed and I'vehad it both ways. I'm hard to
have collagreenes without forking it. Now. What I will say is some of
it is just the experience of thatfamily because that's something my grandmother makes.
(09:01):
It builds this bond and this connectionthat that's the house that I go to
to get that thing, you know. So part of my spirit is like
I'm just not getting rid of thisfight me if you want to with this,
you know. And then the otherpart of me is like, I
also want to make conscious, healthychoices. So if there's a way for
(09:24):
us to simply like relearn those samerecipes, like, that's what I'm here
for, right because I do wantthat comfort of that experience. And then
the other thing too, is thatI seem to run into and this is
a conversation that comes up when wetalk about changing food. Is food is
so communal, right, and andit's your you know, your family and
(09:46):
the drug. What do you dowhen you're together? You eat? So
either is the family and union isa funeral, or we do family dinner,
but it's all centered around food tosome degree. So the hardest thing
that I found in that trans especiallyfamily wise, it's like not feeling as
though you're now on the outside lookingin because you have changed the way that
(10:07):
you eat. Now. My sister, she's been vegan vegetarian since she was
thirteen. But in her case,she just didn't like me to start with.
Yeah, so it wasn't a hugeloss. It didn't think you know,
it wasn't like this epic, ohmy god, I'm giving up this
thing, and no, she justdidn't like it, so it didn't matter,
you know, it didn't make adifference. But what do you say
(10:30):
to those who like but my family, but this is our thing, Like,
you know, what do you sayto those folks? I love this
question because a lot of times Ialways say like food is like a part
of the family, like food itself, because like you said in you know,
every situation that you can think of, you know you are, there
is food involved with your family oreven with your friends. And so that
(10:52):
was definitely something that was challenging forme because it was like, you know,
like you said, you don't wantto feel like an outsider, but
I will say that you can veganizea lot of the recipes that you love,
like that has been part of mymission. So actually, my family
asked me to bring my collar greens, my vegan collar greens. They asked
me to bring that to the tothe holiday meals now because they're good,
(11:15):
they taste delicious, and they don'tmiss the meet My mom actually made them
herself this Christmas, and I waslike literally like my mind was blown.
So I was like a couple ofyears ago, everybody was looking at me
like I was an alien when Iwas like, you know, trying to
go vegan, right, and soyour family will come along for the ride
if the food tastes good, that'sall. It is a matter of right.
(11:35):
People are not going to be opposedto the food if it tastes good,
you know, like that's just it. And so you got to make
the recipes taste amazing. You know. I have prided myself and veganized in
a lot of my mom's recipes,so like her addressing, she makes amazing
you know, corner addressing for theholidays, and so I've learned to veganize
that. You know, my candyams. I brought that to the holidays
(11:56):
this year with my family. Theywere vegan. You know, they taste
just like the regular you know candym So no one complained about it.
And so I think the real keyis, you know, really making the
food taste good and people will notbe yeah kind of like what is this?
You know, and then just gettingover our own mental hurdles, because
(12:18):
like you said, we associate thesefoods with comfort, and you know,
there's nothing more comforting than food thatis healthy for you, you know what
I mean. And so we gotto get it out of our head that
it has to be bad for youfor it to be comfort food, you
know, it has to be youknow, something that's toxic to your body
and for it to make you feelgood. It's like, now you can
have some of these same things thatthey're just veganized, and we just got
(12:41):
to retrain our minds that you know, we don't have to have meat in
our greens, like you know whatI mean, Like I you know,
you don't have to you know,you don't have to have you know,
meat to season your vegetables. Likejust really retraining ourselves. And once you
taste the food food and it tastesgood, you're like, I really didn't
(13:01):
I don't miss it. I didn'tneed it, you know what I mean.
And so then it's like all right, it starts to become a little
bit easier. So and then onceagain the knowledge that you have, you'll
realize, like when you're going outwith your friends or you're going out with
your family, you know, thereare many things that you can still order.
Oh yeah, you know what Imean. Like we're blessed to be
in a time where there's just likeall of these vegan options. A lot
(13:24):
of places you go and so it'slike you're not really missing out, it's
just a reshift, the reset ofthe mind. Yeah, and I find
that you can always eat the side, so like, if I'm doing I'll
do it for thirty days or whateverhere and then so I'll just get whatever
the sides are on the menu.But my biggest kurdle, and I'm sure
I am not the first person toever say the seat, My biggest one
(13:46):
is poster. So I tend tocause it's quick and easy, right.
We trade carbs for vegetables, right, because you're going it's still vegan,
and it is. However, forthose of us have thyroid excitement and those
of us who have glycemic issues,it just all of that sugar how much
(14:09):
you want, right, Yeah?And it's like, and I know for
me personally, like if I've hadan excess of rice, if I've had
an excess of pasta, and thenI throw it because I still have a
sweet tooth, right, and wethrowing a cupcake on top of that.
We've been begging the whole day.Yeah, yourself, no favors because your
body is like what are you doingto me? And then it starts to
(14:31):
go if you eat some meat,just to put some variety in what you're
eating, Like we're not gonna makeit okay. So so that is my
So I turned into a carbetariant asopposed to a vegetarian. So please like
help the people with me, please. So yeah, this is this is
like such a common thing, likepeople were like I gained weight when I
(14:52):
started eating this way, and itis because a lot of reasons. And
it is you're eating a lot ofcars because you want to feel feel like
you're full, right, and it'salso the sense of comfort, and like
you said, it's also quick andeasy. And so you know, a
good rule of thumb, which Itell a lot of my health coaching clients,
is to make sure that half ofyour plate is full of vegetables and
(15:13):
then you know what the other half, even if you're eating pasta, at
least you have a lot more balancethan you did before just eating a whole
big bowl of pasta and then maybenot even any vegetables at all. So,
you know, just trying to findbalance in any diet is so important.
You know, whether you're eating meator you're not right, And we
(15:35):
forget that, we think just becausewe're not eating meat we should be fine.
It's like, yeah, no,if you are eating right, like
you said, a carbeteria, Ilove that term. You know, you're
just eating pure you know, that'sall your your intaking. Like you're still
not getting the nutrition, the nutrientsthat you need, even though technically it
was plant based. And so,like you said, I struggle too because
there's so much good vegan junk foodout there now. It's like you said,
(15:58):
you can have a cupcake, youcan have you know, ice cream,
ice free sandwich, all of thetype of stuff. It's like,
you still need to make sure thatyou're eating primarily plants. And so I'm
kind to focus on the balance ofmaking sure that we're having the foods and
vegetables that we need and not justeating solely from one food group. Yeah,
and then the other one I findtwo that comes up is trading fruits,
(16:23):
right, because this, once againit's an easy thing. So end
up taking in an excess of fruit. And then now, granted, fruit
has fiber, so it's good foryour system, right as opposed to like
eating a couple of cupcakes or somethingthat has no fiber whatsoever, but you
still are it's still an excess ofsugar right, because we're looking for that
(16:44):
taste and to be say shaded.So it's harder beginning. But I do
like the idea of if if youcan just get at least half your plate
are those vegetables, you got therest of the plate to be whatever else
you know, you need to makeit work and you can go go forth
from there. So one of thethings that I like to do, and
I don't know if this is arecommendation that you'd make, but since I
(17:07):
have you, Captain Balla, oneof the things that I do is I
find like three beacon restaurants that cookthe stuff that I like, and then
when I am doing this, that'sjust where I go. I don't even
pretend like I learn to cook thethings. I don't even pretend like I'm
gonna put. I don't do anyof that. I just picked my three
(17:27):
places. The price is reasonable.It's no more than me getting fast food
from anywhere else or whatever else atthis point. And that's just how I
how I make it work. Now, do you suggest that as a way
to go, or you like cookingat home is your best bed. I
just happen to like to cook,and so you know, but I know
(17:49):
a lot of people who cannot standit and do not want to be in
the kitchen and don't have time.Like you know people, there are people
that want to cook and just don'teven have time to do it. So
I am a huge fan of findingplaces that are cooking great food and that
you like you said, they're affordable, and you know, you just go.
You'll pick out what you want andbring it home or haven't delivered to
(18:11):
the home better yet, so youdon't even have to go out. And
it is whatever it takes to makesure that you are, you know,
being able to proceed in this lifestyleand make it comfortable for you. And
so if that is that I have, you know, I'm going to eat
out a few times a week.You know, at least it's healthy,
right, it could be so muchworse. Is it's better than me like
(18:37):
drives doing it for some junk thatI don't need. So right, there's
a spot here. My hope isthat we'll do yoga retreat here so we
can experience this. But there's aspot here that does their version. They
call it the mac stack. Soit's an impossible burger. Let us cheese,
pickles and onions and then the airthe French fries and like that's probably
(19:04):
not helping anybody, but it is. That whole experience is amazing. Yes,
I wait for them to be open, you know, and if you
don't go early enough, they willbe out. Like it is that good.
And one of the other students thatcame out when the studio was open
for in person class, they camein and they told me about it,
(19:26):
and they're like, you gotta go. It's like, all right, I'll
go down there, and it isso good. And then they also do
vegan milkshake. So there's a lady, a local lady here that like makes
all the stuff to make it soyou can make a milkshake and they have
fifty eleven flavors. I had aorange cream sickle the other day. Girl,
I didn't know I needed it.I didn't know I needed it.
(19:48):
My life it's been forever changed.I love this place. It is so
so good. So but again it'svegan back to like junk food, right,
it's vegan junk food, but it'svegan, so you know, I
still just feel like it's so muchbetter than a lot of the things that
we could be eating and it's justin moderation, like you know what I
mean, Like it's no different thanwhat you would do, like on a
(20:11):
Friday night, you know what Imean to like treat yourself. And we're
still in the middle of a pandemic, and so those things are important for
us to be able to, youknow, just treat ourselves when we feel
like we need to. So I'mI'm in favor of it. Cool.
See, that's that makes me feelbetter because sometimes it's just like, look,
I just want the thing that makesme feel good, you know out
(20:32):
here in a whole pantein provy,Like we're trying to just make it through
this experience, okay, Like thepandemic is not ending and we're still here
like a whole Yeah, it's hardout here. Okay. So the other
part that gets me too about likediet change and just diet change in general.
It doesn't matter whether you're going,you know, whether you're vegan,
(20:53):
vegetarian, paleokuto, it doesn't matterwhat it is. Food is the only
thing in our life lives that wehave full control over what we eat,
regardless of where the food comes from. Right, So even if you live
in a food desert, you stillget to walk into that place that you're
getting food from and make a choice. So it's the only thing in our
(21:15):
lives that we have full control over. And sometimes I know that I battle
with that. I just want todo the thing that I want to do
without anybody else's permission, right,I don't want to have to like follow
a certain set of rules, LikeI just want to make this choice for
myself. So that's one that isa struggle that I know that I've come
(21:36):
across, and I've had the conversationbefore with others that that's like the it's
my only place I get to choose, right, every other facet of my
life is controlled in some way orform, but I get to control what
I eat. And then the otherpart that the struggle is when trying to
manage emotions and look into food forsome version of comfort, It's like I
(21:57):
don't have a a set of clearmechanisms aside from what I'm eating. So
it's the now you're gonna to ornow we're going to put rules around that
around the too. How do youhelp support people in that way? So
one of the things that these aregreat questions. One of the things a
(22:22):
lot of us have grown up withassociating, you know, the food with
comfort. You know, I thinkas you know, brown people black and
brown people like that is just extraextra for us because it's a Sunday dinner.
It is the you know, thefan like it is just center of
everything, and so we just associateit so much with comfort and there's nothing
wrong with that until we cannot controlit. So we say that we want
(22:47):
to be in control of it,but we don't actually have control of it.
If we're unable to make some healthierchoices, right, it is controlling
us then if we you know,cannot and it's one of those things again,
just the perspective shift in how doesthis make me feel like when I'm
eating it? Right, we getthe sense of comfort when we're consuming these
(23:07):
things, but afterwards, do wefeel like we need an app like that's
always like the determining factor. Dowe feel sluggish when we wake up in
the morning. Do we have ahard time feeling like we have energy you
know, to sustaining through throughout theday based on what we're eating? And
so literally, you know, whenyou're eating, how are you feeling afterwards?
(23:29):
Is this food really fueling you?Is it fuel Is it fueling you
well? And so we got tostart really listening to our bodies because we
have kind of become disconnected from them. And you know, we can tell
when we've done the most, Likewe've done the most, it doesn't feel
(23:49):
good, We do not feel right, We may feel sick. You know.
I was somebody who would overindulge ineat way too much. Like that
was always like what I've shortched rugglewith all the time, you know,
to the point where you feel sickor you got to loosen your belt,
buffle. It's like, you know, these things are not really they don't
really feel good to us, andit's a temporary, you know, pleasure,
(24:12):
but later on you don't feel goodabout it. You know, you
can tell when you've had too manydays in a row where you drank too
much, right, or you've beeneating too much, your body doesn't feel
good. And so really trying toget tuned in. This is why I
love yoga so much, because itdoes help you connect and start to understand.
Like him, that did feel goodwhile I was eating in It's totally
fine, And I moved on rightand I'm on to the next thing.
(24:34):
It wasn't something that unpassed me oraffected me. Right, what we're talking
about with you had the orange creamstickle and whatever else, Like you felt
fine after you had that, itwas cool. If you have that seventeen
days in a row, you're notgonna feel good, yeah, you know.
And so it's like your body isgoing to tell you like, hey,
we need some vegetables, we needsome fruit here. And so it's
just really tuning in and listening toself and starting to understand like, all
(24:57):
right, my body is letting meknow, oh, I feel that great
right now. I need to makesome changes or I need to make sure
that you know, I've been eatinggreat all week, you know, and
so that I can go ahead andenjoy and indulge over the weekend and feel
fine with it and be able topick it back up on Monday. You
know. It just really is beingkind to ourselves and understanding that, you
(25:18):
know, our bodies are meant tofunction and feel well. And if we're
feeling sick, not feeling good,we're sluggish, we can't get out of
bed, our joints are aching.That is a sign that we need to
make some changes and really start feelingour systems with what they need. And
then from that point that we're goingto talk about self care. I mean,
if you're not feeling good and youknow that if you start to eat
well, you'll feel better, that'sa form of self care and we need
(25:41):
to make sure that we're doing that. And so it's just again the shifting
perspective of yes, this food makesus feel good temporarily, and it is
meant to be something that is anindulgence, but most of the time we
should be eating some things that arehelping us function the way that we should.
Yeah, I really do. Doyou like that? As a first
repective of approaching this in your ultimatelyyou don't have control of it right when
(26:07):
it goes off the rails. Sothe thing that you are seeking in the
first place, you're already giving upessentially, which is that mon come of
control. And then you know,secondly from a self care perspective, like
it does matter if you are takingcare of yourself, like are you are
you here for self or not?Are you just are you? Are we
extending life expectancy or shortening it?What? That's usually pretty much the tunes
(26:30):
of the spectrum that that we workfrom so so so so some good insight
there. Then the last few questionshere is rewind it down. So how
would you say that your your nutrition, your vegan lifestyle connects with your yoga
practice and vice versa. How doesyour yoga practice connect to your nutrition?
(26:51):
And it's so interesting because those journeyswere like happening simultaneously, you know,
like where I was getting healthy throughthe nutrition and then the yoga was just
healing me from a mental, emotionaland spiritual standpoint as well, and so
it was kind of like that fullcircle moment where it was like, you
know, you want to make surethat the nutrition is there and you know
(27:15):
that is healing in so many ways, but also then you add a yoga
on top of it, and it'slike it's just a full body kind of
an optimal wellness thing. And sofor me, the veganism started to take
different shapes because I did not govegan for the animals, like that was
not where I was. But thenit did make me a more compassionate person
(27:37):
and to understand, you know,why people you know, are going vegan
for animals and for the world,you know, the the globe and the
health of what is going on andthe place that we call home. And
so it was one of those thingswhere it was a true connection connection with
yoga and all of the non violentaspects of that and just really trying to
(27:57):
be your best self on an offthe mat. And so it was like
a huge aha moment when those thingsstarted to click for me and connect,
because you know, you start torealize that not the yamas and yamas,
and you know, it starts toreally you start to really understand how the
(28:18):
vegan lifestyle is one of non violenceand you know yoga is the same way
and just honestly, the sacrifice anddedication that it takes to live this lifestyle,
you know, is something that youcan relate to with with yoga and
how it kind of burns away allthat doesn't serve and kind of forces you
to really go within and you know, find your true soul and its purpose
(28:42):
and and that journey in that path. And so it definitely was an alignment
for me and really helped kind of, I don't know, they they work
together to you know, Uh,the yoga was helping me to be you
know, dedicated to this lifestyle andto continue to share with others. And
then the veganism was doing the samefor yoga. So it was definitely a
(29:03):
full circle moment, I would saywith that. And you know, yoga,
I think, I don't we don'trealize the connection between our guts and
what's going on in our in ourminds mentally, and there's a huge connection
there, you know, between whatwe're eating and how we're feeling. And
so again, then yoga pushing onthat spirituality piece on top of it was
(29:26):
just really a beautiful, holistic thingthat I just wanted to be able to
share, you know, as partof my journey and hopefully get others on
the mat too. Yeah. Idefinitely see the connection between the two and
taking care of both parts of yourbody and essentially just uh living your yoga
(29:47):
both on and off the bet.You know, it's not it's not just
so well, I'm here in thestudio, I got my mat out,
I'm in my Austiner practice and thenwe roll up the mat and it gets
rolled up too. Yeah, right, that you're you're taking, you know,
taking it with you. Another thingthat you brought up to is going
vegan for animals. So this issomething that I deeply, deeply grapple with
(30:08):
because it's a struggle for me becauseI also see it as and I don't
know if this is like the marketingof it or what have you, but
this idea that people care more aboutanimals than they do about people. Right,
So there's a soapbox that wants tobe stood on about how we're supposed
(30:30):
to you know, industrial farming andyou know, green egg and renewable agriculture
and all of those things are importanttoo, But there's a part of me
that goes, hey, like there'speople over here that that are indeed need
before we even start talking about what'sgoing on with with farming and egg and
(30:53):
what have you. Now, branded, yes, we can have the both
conversations at the same time. Thatisn't given how Whoever, what I find
in quasi vegan community that there's nowillingness to have both of the conversations at
the same time. It's more about, well, what about the animals and
what about the earth and what aboutthis the other Yes, those things are
(31:14):
important too, but it's like,but don't you care about the actual humans
that are over here that are insuffrage or in some sort of suffering.
So was that something that you hadto reconcile for for self or was it
just more like from the health perspectivefor you? I definitely, I'm so
(31:34):
glad you brought this up because asa black van we are obviously underrepresented in
the space of wellness in general,and so veganism is no exception to that
rule. Same thing with yoga,right, And so I did find it
excumunly difficult because there is a hyperfocus on animal rights by the same people
(32:00):
who do not seem to be asconcerned that people that look like us are
getting murdered in the street by policeofficers for just being black, you know.
And so it was one of thosethings where it was like, it
was one of those things where itwas difficult for me to want to take
(32:20):
up the cause of like animal rightsor anything, or be able to even
be open to it given the currentclimate that we've been living in in this
country. One of the things Idid have to realize was that you can
want love and peace for all livingbeings, you know what I mean.
And so for me, my priorityis always going to be my brothers and
(32:43):
sisters, Like that's always going tobe my priority, That's always going to
be my first, Like I amblack and first and foremost before I am
anything else. Right, Like,so the beganism did not come in and
like supersede all of a sudden overon top of right, like me being
black. That's always been my focusand my primary goal. And for me,
(33:04):
I think and and people might getoffended by this, but it's just
my truth. I mean, thethe animals being saved are a pleasant byproduct
of the veganism. For me,it is about health and the health of
my community, and that has alwaysbeen the primary focus of the plants and
prosper is that I want to getmy community healthy, and it's the animals
being saved pleasant by product, thegrowth being saved, and our earth being
(33:29):
a better place because you know,we're not destroying it with the animal agriculture.
That's a pleasant byproduct. My goalhas always been to try to help
my brothers and sisters get healthy andso that they can live out and walk
in their purpose. And so that'sthat's my spiel on that. Yeah,
thank you for sharing that. Itjust it's nice to kind of hear somebody
else, let's say that they strugglewith the same thing. Because I was
(33:52):
really a big deal for me asI go back and forth through this conversation
and just just thinking through like Ifeel like, in that particular community,
in that particular space, sometimes thepriorities are a little skew just a bit,
so well with me, I'm soglad that we got a chance to
(34:13):
have this conversation. If people wantto connect to you online, where is
the best place for them to findyou or the best place is for them
to find you? The best placefor them to find me is definitely my
website, Eatplants and prosper dot com. Lots of good begon recipes, nutrition
tips, and so much more there. I'm really active on Instagram. I'm
(34:34):
at Eat Plants Prosper on Instagram.They can also find me on Facebook eat
Plants and Prosper. I just wantto really quickly just thank you so much,
Ashley. The Black Yoga magazine experienceand my teacher training really did change
my life in so many ways.I met so many amazing people who I
(34:57):
still am in contact with on adaily basis. It was truly life changing,
and it gave me the opportunity toteach yoga, which is so near
and dear to my heart, andI just am forever grateful for you and
what you're doing for our community andgetting our voice out there and making a
mark in the wellness community. Youknow, I'm just forever grateful. So
(35:20):
I do want to just thank youso much for what you're doing and what
you continue to do. You're welcome. It's it's my assignment, it's what
i'm It's what I'm here for.So if I can share a little bit
about a little bit of what Ihave to help others, you know,
prosper and grow and what they haveto offer the world as well, that's
that's what I'm here for. SoI'm glad that you found us and were
(35:42):
able to connect with us through yourtraining and bring this this because it is
something that I definitely wanted to bea part of the things that we do
and things that we share with thecommunity. It's just not a lay that
I'm particularly in. So it's perfectthat we have you here and to share
the articles of the magazine and totalk to folks about living this healthy life
and how they can get started andwhere they can get connected. So I
(36:07):
look forward to reading and seeing moreof your recipes in the future, and
maybe I'll get myself in the kitchenand yeah yeah, well Whitnie, I
thank you so much for today andfor all you folks out there and podcast
land. We'll catch you on thenext one. Make sure you look out
for our next Yoga teacher training isstarting in March eighteenth. You don't want
(36:30):
to miss it.
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