119: Polole's Journey with Paola Morlet (Eng/Spa)

Paola Morlet  

For me in my own experience and that's part of like why every health coach could be different and you have to find your the one you make that makes sense for you. Is that like to me getting to know deep what is the main thing that make you eat more or eating a different way is part of helping you solve the problems since the beginning kind of like a functional doctor. They go all the way to what is the actual is not the symptom is what actually is getting you sick of of whatever you're, you're getting sick up. a holistic health coach for me is the same getting to know the base where everything started. So when you heal that everything else is like a ripple effect. Right? everything aligned goes back to line. Yeah.

Narrator  

Welcome to the Plant Based DFW Podcast weekly show with Dr. Riz and Maya, a show broadcasted from the Dallas Fort Worth area that focuses on lifestyle medicine. This is the use of evidence based lifestyle therapeutic approaches, such as a whole food plant based diet, regular physical exercise, adequate sleep, and stress management to treat, prevent, and oftentimes reverse lifestyle related chronic diseases that are all too prevalent. Every week, They feature a guest who speaks on one of these lifestyle medicine pillars. This show is for you, the person who is seeking to improve your overall wellness and quality of life. So whether you are driving, walking, or relaxing at home, we hope this show will provide you one more tool for your wellness toolbox. Let's meet today's podcast. Yes,

Maya Acosta  

Welcome back to another episode of the Plant Based DFW Podcast. This is Maya Acosta, and this is episode 119. Before I formally introduce Paola Morlet, I wanted to make sure that I mentioned some things that I'm putting in the show notes in this episode Paola talks about her essential oils, and some affiliate links in case you're interested in pursuing some of the work that she's doing. I enjoy promoting other people, but I am not associated, nor am I an affiliate, we do talk about the Integrative Institute of Nutrition so I will put a link to that in case you're interested. So she's an ambassador for the school. So if you're interested in being part of the school or taking formal training like she did, you can provide her name or register for a sample class and she'll give you a link. She's also part of Young Living premium oils and Aormaste. She includes her affiliate links along with a discount code, in case you're interested in sampling the essential oils. She did send me a sample of valor or valor. And I really enjoy it. I use it right before I interview for the podcast and also on occasions where I feel like I need a little bit more strength and I'm loving how I'm feeling using the oils. Also we do a segment in the same episode in Spanish because we do have Spanish listeners throughout the world. And so if you want to fast forward to 37 or 38 minutes you'll hear us speak in Spanish so that you get an sample of what it's like to listen to powerline Spanish but I really enjoy speaking with her. Y una vez mas, les aviso que en espanol para nuestros oyentes hispanohablantes les ofrecemos el podcast en espanol despues de los 38 minutos de este episodio. Y una vez mas les agradezco mucho por escuchado el podcast. And so once again, thank you so much for listening to the podcast and here's my introduction. She is a holistic health coach. Born and raised in Mexico City. She has a nutrition certificate from eCornell's Center for Nutrition Study and the Integrative Institute of Nutrition in New York. She transitioned to a plant based diet in 2014 in search of a healthier lifestyle. She is passionate to recreate Mexican recipes into vegan and plant based versions. She practices yoga, loves to travel and adores aromatherapy to learn more about Paola you can visit her blog called Polole's Journey, and I will include that in the show notes. Let's welcome Paola.

Paola Morlet  

Thank you, Maya very, very excited being here with you. 

Maya Acosta  

Well, it's such a pleasure to know about you. And I was just telling you that when we got involved in the plant based community that was about five years ago, I didn't know a lot of people in the Latin American community. And so I started watching some of your IGTV content and you do a lot of interviews in Spanish. Everything that you do is pretty much bilingual, isn't it? 

Paola Morlet  

It is. Yeah. My basically my Spanish will be like my main language, but I do things in English as well.

Maya Acosta  

Okay, so we're going to talk about that and we'll do a little portion where we talk in Spanish for our listeners from Latin America. Tell us about your journey because you are originally from Mexico City, but you've moved around.

Paola Morlet  

That's right. And I was born and raised in Mexico City. I got married with a Mexican guy. And we arrived to the US together for his master's in Chicago and then he got a job offer in Miami. So we moved to Florida and after like 14 years in Florida, we are now in Atlanta, Georgia.

Maya Acosta  

How long were you in Miami? Like for 14 years? Wow. Florida has become almost like a second home for us because we have a sailboat and just north of West Palm Beach.

Paola Morlet  

Okay, I still miss the beach and the hot weather. But yeah, there's my thought you go to Florida so often.

Maya Acosta  

So tell me about the plant based community in Georgia? Do you have any groups that you're part of there? Before COVID were you doing any activities there like with the community?

Paola Morlet  

Um, I wasn't able to. I mean, not yet. Because when I arrived to Georgia, I was traveling a lot. My my husband works for an airline. So we were basically not in Atlanta, basically. And then COVID arrived, and we have been home the whole year and three months. So everything I do, like I've been doing, like when I go to vegan restaurants and stuff, I've been documenting it in my stories, but I haven't been able to do anything yet. Looking forward to it.

Maya Acosta  

Right. Me too. So Paola. Now I know that you're a holistic health coach, and we'll talk about what that means. But how did you come to learn about the plant based diet?

Paola Morlet  

Oh that was an amazing journey. It was a coincidence, actually, I wasn't planning to do that. I lived with overweight, I was overweight for many years. And I figured out well that's a different story. But I think my overweight has to do with emotional things. And I've been in that it seemed like back then I was in diets all along up. Like I gained weight, I lose weight, I can get weight, I lose weight. And at one point I started to take it to take some classes in whole foods in Coral Gables where they had like a healthy diet like a healthy class. And I started learning a little bit about how to make substitutes. Like instead of sources that have that is high in salt I usually do liquid aminos or tamari, this like liquid aminos and tamari are two ingredients that I there were new for me, I never knew they existed. So little by little ice, we're making changes and at some point, Whole Foods domestically, make a challenge, a 28 day challenge to be plant based with the like based on Engine 2 Diet book of Rip Esselstyn and I say well, 28 days not big deal. Let's do they say like take take your do your blood work to see your cholesterol and triglycerides to be to know where you are. And after 28 days where you're going to be. And I did everything they said it was only 28 days. And oh my gosh, after those 28 days, I never went back. I felt so energized. I felt so like brain sharp. I felt so good that there was no animal protein at home since then. But when I go out, I eventually have a whenever if I select a social event, and there's no other option, I'll have some animal protein, but at home, I'll never have it. So that's how my journey started. And it was like seven years ago, a little bit longer was 2014. So the guy that actually made me have a new lifestyle is Rip Esselstyn.

Maya Acosta  

It's so exciting that you came to this. And so you said that for many years of your life weight was not an issue. But then suddenly you found yourself wearing like six sizes larger than what you were wearing before. So it was this way of living that helped you to not only feel better, lose the weight feel better, but then you started kind of you decided that this was kind of a life purpose. Is that how you became a health coach as well?

Paola Morlet  

Um, yes, that was what that was part of the purpose. Like when so I became plant based, right? And maybe like for those four years 100% plant based have been the best in my life. My pregnancy was part of my plant based journey. And I had an amazing, amazing. I mean, I love being pregnant. I didn't have I felt so good. And I did exercise a lot. Like I did yoga five times a week I want to walk like two or three times per week, like I did. I would It was amazing for me. So my daughter then when I was born, she was born. And I started Okay, when I grew up, I grew up with animal protein. I don't that's the thing I know now this is good for me. But this is a newborn. I don't want her to be with any deficit of anything. So I decided to went back to school to i n and became a health coach and basically started for my daughter. Like for me for my own journey, but now it has, it has been different, like I've been sharing a lot about it and but that's how it started to get to know like me to get informed of how to have to grew up a daughter in a plant based diet in a healthy way.

Maya Acosta  

Do you find yourself often speaking with mothers or women who are pregnant and reassuring them that it's okay that you can actually have a wonderful pregnancy on a fully plant based diet?

Paola Morlet  

I have. And not all of them take in the same way as I did, I guess because I started before being pregnant. I knew what it was. But once someone is pregnant, like they take Okay, when I say no dairy. It's like, Oh yes, I get like the inflammation, I will take dairy out, there is no big deal. But meat, for example, for most of the pregnant woman, I've know is a huge deal for iron. And so, so I haven't have any good changes with them with meat, but I have had it with dairy. So I try to share I share and share and share and on my social media, what I do is try to explain you why you should do A instead of B why plant based? Or what are the substitutes that you can have. So trying to get out there a little bit of education to people that are interested in making this change. For me, it's not like a diet. For me. It's actually a lifestyle right now. So everything turns around, yes, what is in my plate, but also around it to have a balance in everything else in my life.

Maya Acosta  

Well, I'm familiar with the eCornell course I did do it as well. And I agree with you that it's important. Like if you want to live this way, like really have a plant based lifestyle, it's important to be well informed about nutrition, because that not only validates why it's good for you to eat this way. But also it gives you content and information to share with other people. Right, like so when people ask you why. And where do you get your protein, then you have the information because it's it's a well put together a program. The other one I've heard of the Integrative Program from New York, can you tell us just a little bit about that? Like how long is that course? And who takes the course?

Paola Morlet  

Okay, so it's open for everyone if you want to be in the business or not, if you want to be a health coach or just for personal growth, IIN is it an integrative Institute of Nutrition and is based in New York, the school is basically online and is I took their different options I took a whole year I hope it was a whole year program. But nowadays they have been in a six phase six month program. And they also have an in Spanish they have English and our Spanish. So what do you what I what you can learn there is basically um, IIN is based on real individuality, which is everyone is different. What is good for me is not necessarily good for you. I mean, I'm plant based and am I okay with it. But that doesn't mean that all the world has to be plant based depends on every lifestyle of different people. So you get to get not only about a sense of all the diets out there, but to try them yourself. Like sensibility to gluten. Well, if you if you're going to be a health coach, you have to be gluten free, at least for a week or a month. So you can feel it in your body and you can talk about it. So that's about diet, but it's also about your finances, about exercising about having joy home home cooking. Like that's, that's if you're plant based, you have to go to your kitchen is part of the as part of the show. And I mean, you have to cook yourself. So basically, IIN is an amazing program where you can learn all about having a balance in your life, primary food being everything besides your secondary food, which is what is in your plate, I recommended 100% even if you want to be a health coach and do this for a living or a part time job, or just for your own information. That's how I started now I do health coaching, but at the beginning, it was only like for my information like for my own growth. So it's open to anyone that is curious about their own health. 

Maya Acosta  

You said a little while ago that part of your journey in terms of weight loss is addressing the issues that were affecting your way of eating. And so as a holistic health coach, do you work with your clients on the aspects of dealing with some of the emotions?

Paola Morlet  

Totally. I have to say like at the moment, I don't have clients because COVID is a different time for me and I have to deal with my daughter full time. But when I did have my clients before COVID yes is like for me in my own experience. And that's part of like why every health coach could be different and you have to find you're the one who makes that makes sense to you. Is that like for me getting to know deep what is the main thing that made you eat more or eating a different way is part of helping you solve the problems since the beginning kind of like a functional doctor. They go all the way to what is the actual is not the symptom is what actually is getting you sick of of whatever you're you're getting sick off. A holistic health coach for me is the same getting to know the base where everything's parted for so when you heal that everything else is like a ripple effect. Right? Everything got aligned goes a lot, like aligns Yeah, everything. Yes. goes back to line. Yeah.

Maya Acosta  

Yeah, everything is aligned, like everything falls into place, when you set off into this journey. So how did you decide on the name of your blog Polole's Journey?

Paola Morlet  

Well, that was easy. And when I when I want wanted to start sharing about it, this is my journey. This is my own transformation. And people start asking about it. Like, at least were like my friends, my family, I think I am the only one of them like after seven years that I'm plant based the rest and they so it's a weird thing. It's a different thing for most of them. So everybody asked, What is plant based Like I said before, but what is your protein? What do you eat? Like I mean, you eat you need me is like, well, I don't know, when you start explaining Is that okay? This transformation I made for my new lifestyle and then start sharing starting life for my family and friends and eventually is getting more people out there. And so sharing my journey and Polole's is my nickname for my undergraduate back in Mexico. That's that's my nickname. So it was easy Polole's journey.

Maya Acosta  

I love the name doesn't mean anything? I've never heard of Polole. 

Paola Morlet  

I'm actually not at the beginning. It was just my name Paola that was that that got into different names and finally get to Polole's. I know that and Portuguese Polola or Pololo means boyfriend. That does nothing has nothing to do without my own journey.

Maya Acosta  

Right? I love that. So okay, so you're currently not you don't have any clients, but you're very active on social media. And I think that's awesome. So you often get on IGTV you do these kind of conversations as well like interviews. Can you tell us what kind of content you have on your Instagram?

Paola Morlet  

Totally. Yes. Well, everything that has to do with a holistic lifestyle, I love it, which is obviously talking about food, plant based food, vegetarian food, veganism, plant based kids, everything that has to do with eating for plant a for kids, or for us in this kind of way. But that is on my plate, but also meditation also about yoga. Also, I'm a big fan of oil, I have my Oily Tribe. I do believe that they can change away help you to change you the emotions in the emotional state you are once you smell or inhale and aroma, it can truly change the way you're feeling. It goes and connect with your your limbic system. So I also have like a series about my oily talks. So basically, that's what I talk about everything that has to do with wellness in general.

Maya Acosta  

They're essential oils, right? Yes, I was looking at your essential oils. And some of them are related to the oils, like cedar like trees and things like that.

Paola Morlet  

Cedar wood, incense like most of them, but they come from plants. They come from trees from bark of the trees, they come from everywhere from nature. So now that you're saying that even though I haven't tried the forest bathing and I put it already on my wish list, I can say that earthing is another thing I love to do. Without knowing in living in Miami, I did it every day. And here in Atlanta, I have to I'm looking forward, at least in winter, that you're not barefoot, that I'm not I have a cold intolerance. So I'm not a big fan to being outside the weather in winter. So I'm trying to look for different things, how to do the earthing which is basically being a nature, how convenient in nature can actually feel you. So even though if I'm not in nature, I can smell my essential oils and transport myself there in this limbic system right and this memory system that we have on our brain. So yeah, that's that's what I use them for, basically, to stay healthy more than curing things.

Maya Acosta  

Yes. And I, you know, we never talked about essential oils on our show. And it just has been because I've been focusing on other areas, but I completely agree when it comes to the power of what these oils can do. Like for example, when you think of eucalyptus or you think of lavender and how soothing and relaxing aroma therapy can be, I realized that for me, working on calming myself and grounding myself, do you have an oil that kind of helps you to ground there's one that kind of gives you courage? I don't know which one it was.

Paola Morlet  

Oh, that's right here with me today. Valor is a blend is not only one valor like the ones I use are from Young Living and part of their affiliate program. And what I love about this guy that already passed away his name is or was Gary Young. He all plants have frequencies, right? So if you are sick, usually you're in around 65 mega hertz. But if you're well, like if you're okay, if you're healthy, around 75 megahertz. A rose, for example, the rose oil has 300 megahertz so we'd like taught like, if you're sick and you smell rose, emotionally, you will become getting better me is not from one minute to other. But that's what I'm frequencies. So getting to know the blends, I am talking about valor that you ask these. Gary Young blend depends on the frequencies of every plant to give you in this case, security, like valor when you need it. Like every time I do a podcast or an IGTV, this is what I use valor. Right? So yes, I'm a big fan of them. I use them they're a part of my life. They're my lifestyle too.

Maya Acosta  

Do you apply it like on your wrist or behind your ears, or where do you put it?

Paola Morlet  

I wasn't prepared, but I haven't. I have rollers made already. And it's easy just to put them on the back of my ears or my neck or here. So you can smell it. That the what I like the most is just putting a drop on my hands and activate it and smell it. If you smell it fixed breath, it will be around 20 minutes. And that's what it takes to take your to your limbic system. So that's when you make a different connections. And when you say about healing at your when you were younger on your child, there's a technique called Aroma Freedom Technique AFT with oils that help you connect to all those moments and heal with essential oils to make a different kind of memory in your mind. So there's many ways to use essential oils or oils for healing.

Maya Acosta  

Yes. And like you said, it works with the limbic system, right, which is where we kind of process some of the, or maybe where we get stuck, some of the emotions get stuck in the..

Paola Morlet  

All the emotions or in the limbic system. So yeah, all essential oils get their input in seconds, and they can help you feel different and or treat. I mean, if you do the AFT, the Aroma Freedom Technique, you can change beliefs, like for example, when I was if you have if you don't believe in something, or you were say would, or you were told as a kid that I don't know, I want to try to find an example at least on my own, what did I work with, where you're not good for, you're not good for this, you're not good for that. And that sticks in your mind and you start growing up be thinking I'm not good for that I'm not good for that. And when you're a grown up, it sticks with you. So a way to change it is using our my freedom technique and using essential oils to change that emotion you have in the limbic system with a different oil that might make that change, and forget about that old path but you have that's a quick example of how to use them.

Maya Acosta  

I saw one of your videos on IGTV where you talk about the system that you've put together to teach your daughter how to express her emotions.

Paola Morlet  

That's something I've learned during my yoga journey. Alright, so um, things typing wanted to do on my own or I have done with myself. I started counting with my child. So that could be her her way of living more than something more than 10 years of therapy that I have. For example, I hope she doesn't leave them with little things I'm doing for her. So the emotional oils is getting to know when she's angry when she's mad when she's happy when she's frustrated that she can get to know what is that she's feeling. But she's four years old right now and she doesn't read at all like She reads very few words. So I put labels like like faces like drawings like happy, sad, angry on, on mason jars, like I recycled those. And whenever we have a moment, or whenever she gets angry for something, I can say, feel, just take a breath, go and put your stone in the jar and let me know how you feel. And you can go to your room, make some breathing. And when you're ready, just come back, and we can talk about it. And oh, my God, like, I mean, it was not like that since day one, but just reinforcing day by day, how do you feel even though if you feel happy, go and put your stone and make me know you're happy. So we can make a little dance or just to celebrate that you're happy. So what I'm doing with that is just trying to teach her that it's okay that you feel sad. It's okay. You don't have like when I was when I remember that was a good example. When I was a child. It was Don't cry, you don't need to cry. And he was sometimes you need to cry. So if you need to cry, and she said, Go ahead, feel a feel for what needs to be sad. And then I will help you to come over to that. So yes, that's something that I learned in the kids yoga books I've been reading about.

Maya Acosta  

Wow, it's so fascinating because well, you're doing it with your own child, but also just, I feel that if many of us have been taught, it's safe not only to feel that emotion, but to express it, then we wouldn't be stuck, where a lot of us are at our age. And so as a health coach, and then for your own life, you work on yoga, you work on meditation, your aroma therapy, and other things. But you have also done a Vipassana. It's a 10 day Silent Retreat was that the experience you had? 

Paola Morlet  

First time you do Vipassana it's a 10 days, once you do a 10 day you can choose from three days or 10 days. But first time for all of us is 10 days. So and it's an amazing experience whenever you have a chance please go back and do it because it's noble silence, no phones, no books, no exercising? I mean, no like, like cardio exercising, no talking, no seeing to the eyes to anyone is only being with learning to be with yourself and meditating most I mean, you're going to be sitting like for eight to 10 hours a day meditating. So and it's 10 days, right? So the first days for me were like, is this gonna is really gonna work. I mean, I am already comfortable. And I'm moving and I need to go and have a walk and my mind my inter my inner voice is talking over me that this is not going to be a good thing like, but your friends told you. They did it in in India. And they say Vipassana was an amazing meditation experience of our language. So you have that inner voice talking to you all these things, right? There's people that if they want, they say, this is not for me, and they leave. And I mean, that's okay. I knew I wanted to make the commitment for 10 days. And by day eight, I finally was able to sit for more than an hour, maybe it was like three hours straight, meditating. So at that point, it's like, wow, I did it. But it's a process, it's not from minute one, they're gonna see that you're going to be there meditating. So he's an amazing experience, it's vegetarian diet is I don't know it was, it is really not only for meditating, but but being with yourself. Once I get out from Vipassana, my I was living in Miami, and the closest one was in Jesup, Georgia. So I also flew to Jacksonville, and then took a train an hour to get there. And when I was coming back, I was, I didn't want to like, turn on the phone, I knew I had to tell my husband, I'm out. And I'm about to go back home. But I really didn't want to do it. I was so good on my own. And for the first maybe five days, I was kind of I don't want any computers, any phones around me, people around me I want I'm like, I like investing on my own. And well after like, five, six days, and you start getting your life over and you're back to it. So I decided at that point that I was going to do that every year. So when I was pregnant, I went back to Vipassana it was in Mexico. Only for the three day Vipassana since I was pregnant and the diet is different. Well, if you're pregnant, they give you more food, but it's only I did it on a three day. And I loved it. And what happened afterwards. I don't know what half hour I was breastfeeding, so I wasn't able to leave again. When she was one year old. I wasn't able to leave and well since now. I haven't been back. But that's part of my thing. I want to do it every year.

Maya Acosta  

Yes, I you know, and I've mentioned now that I've gone through 2020 I feel not only am I eager to experience Vipassana But I feel like I can now do it because I really isolated myself. But you know, I isolated myself but I wasn't meditating like in a Vipassana. So I know that I'm ready for that. And I don't have a problem being with myself, I enjoy my own company. It's eliminating the distractions, right, like that's the main purpose of the whole retreat is to disconnect from everything and just being okay with yourself. That's so cool. 

Paola Morlet  

Maybe this is your moment he was not before is now and you're gonna love it. 

Maya Acosta  

Okay, I don't want to forget, let's talk about you have a cookbook that you published, and I had the opportunity to look through it and you basically have kind of traditional plan based Mexican dishes, and I went through and I do cook traditional. And before I went vegan, pozole was one of my favorites. 

Paola Morlet  

You have to try my posts online. The book is just delicious. 

Maya Acosta  

When I make it I'm gonna share with my family because I am the only one that's also plant based just like you tell us the name of your cookbook, what was the inspiration? And how can people find it?

Paola Morlet  

Okay, so it's called the Mexican Vegan Cookbook and English and Mexican Spanish is a Recetario Mexicano Vegano. And it's basically a mini collection of plant based dishes that I grew up with back home in Mexico City. And I started to veganizing them like I did I make a transformation for them to be plant based vegan, no refined sugars, not refined flours. So they're really healthy. And they're my favorite, I have a pozole there, a pozole verde. And I have tell you, like many people have done it, that they have, have shared with me, and we are all in love with it. How we started was, um, was it was I just went with the flow. And it happens because I didn't plan it. I was I was writing Actually, I'm and I'm continued to write my book, like my own journey. And eventually, hopefully, I'm planning to publish this year. But and then my friend, and co author and amazing nutrition nutritionist, Su-Nui, she once told me we should do a cookbook together. And I will I mean, I love your recipes. And I say like, well, I'm in but you have to I have to let you know that when I cook, I don't measure like when I if you asked me how many cups how many spoons I want. I can't give you an estimate. But I will do in a cookbook. We need to give the exact amounts. And she said don't worry about that. Just give me your recipes. I'm very good at that. Because she also she has, or before COVID she used to go to Latin American TV shows and make fragments about like yeah, how to cook. So she knows exactly how to measure things. So that's how we started it was an amazing team work cookbook, because then she so she make the measurements, right? So I put the recipes a mini collection we wanted to do with this cause she is from Chihuahua, and then in the north of Mexico, I am from Mexico City. We'll figure out that we have 12 different plates or dishes from one place to another. We'll figure out which ones we want to put there. For instance, we have a Power Guacamole. Guacamole, I think is the easiest thing to do. But to make it healthier, we show you options have to add kale or something else. And she always said and cumin and cumin. I was like, Why come in, I don't do that. And then he's like, Alright, I figure out Chihuahua use cumin for everything in Mexico City. I use it like once every other day, but not in all my dishes. So we finally figure out which recipes we're gonna publish. She make the measurements. And she has she works in a hospital in Florida. So she has a group of interns that help her. All of them were all aboard and all of them cook all of the recipes to make sure the measurements were right to see if there was something which changed or not. Most of them were on most of them. We have Mexicans and there was Venezuelans, there was Colombian, I think there was an American girl too. So we have like different. I don't know, palabares like tastes like different people like different flavors all around from different countries. And that's how it happened. It took us maybe like a month to have all the cookbook written in English. And what it takes us the most was to actually upload it to Amazon. But it has been quite a very nice journey. I have learned a lot of what to actually do a book is and how to publish it and that design or the evasion like not to have any misspelled or typos It's been quite a it's, even though it's a mini cookbook, it was quite a job. It we invested a lot for a time in there. But we are so happy to have finally share it. So we have it in Amazon. anywhere in the world there is Amazon. If you Google the Mexican Vegan Cookbook or El Recetario Mexicano Vegano  or my name Paola Morlet, you'll find it. And also, if you go to my Instagram in Polole's Journey, you can download it in a PDF version in English or Spanish. So that's, that's the story about the cookbook and my I have my fave one of my favorites, as I said before, is the Pozole Verde. Ceviche like the almond ceviche is one of my other favorites. And like the churros, we have a churros recipe. But it has like coconut sugar instead of refined sugar. Like we change everything. We modified it to be a healthy churro. I mean, it's fried. It has to be fried. But we suggest a saf safflower oil instead of the regular corn oil that people use. So we make it although the recipes are the healthier with that they can be with no sugars or flours processed in there. 

Maya Acosta  

Well, I'm telling you that me my mouth is watering as you're talking because I saw the recipes and I just I still gravitate towards the flave, the Mexican flavors, because that's what I grew up with. I was born in Mexico City, but I was raised here. Now that your plant based do you see Have you seen a change every time you go back to Mexico? are more Mexicans starting to eat healthier, Like this way plant based?

Paola Morlet  

I would say yes. Oh, I don't know if Mexicans in general are eating healthier? I don't think so. But restaurants offer a lot of option for us plant based and they are very flexible if you have the beef enchiladas instead of beef that they can put veggies inside. So if you ask the waiter there's they're very flexible in helping you out to have a plan based Mexican dish wherever you go.

Maya Acosta  

That's right. Yeah, I like the idea what you were talking about how throughout Latin America well in the world, but in general we all have our favorite flavors like our favorite ingredients that we like to spice up our food and when I make a dish that I've never met before I taste I continue to taste it and then I had a little bit of what I like which is usually more garlic and more onion and everything but it is true that we use cumin and a lot of things specially the beans

Paola Morlet  

Oh really I don't Yeah, like now I do. But not at the beginning. Like neither you say spices for example. I before be plant based I use salt and pepper and maybe paprika or any other now you open my kitchen and I have like 30, 50 different spices is amazing how they can flavor food that you cannot even imagine and you get to know many other spices that you didn't know before.

Maya Acosta  

Yes. And I was also lucky because when I met my husband, his mother wrote a cookbook for Indian Pakistani dishes. And that's when I learned to cook with spices so when I do make my black beans, I do add cumin but I also add Cayenne. All right, yes, yes, because I realized like I like those flavors. And so now I learned you know how to use ginger for example and tumeric, ingredients that I never used to use in the past. So that's so cool. Okay, so uh Paola this is the moment in the interview where we can switch a little bit to Spanish because we actually have listeners in Mexico, in Spain. Sometimes we have people listening in Brazil. I know that's Portuguese  but I was hoping that we can speak a little bit in Spanish so that our listeners can learn about the work that you do on your IGTV and all of that. 

Maya Acosta 

Habíamos hablado, Paola que eres health coach. Platícanos un poco acerca de cómo llegaste a esta forma de vivir consumiendo la comida basada en plantas. 

Paola Morlet

Pues fue algo que no planeé, que se dio y me encanta cuando esas cosas fluyen en tu vida de forma natural, sin planear. Yo viví con sobrepeso varios años de mi vida y en ese sobrepeso de subidas y bajadas, y dieta tras dieta, tras dieta empecé a tomar unas clases en “Whole Food” de comida saludable, y empecé aprender de cómo hacer conversiones de ciertos alimentos como la soya a lo que se llama: “La falsa soya” al “Liquid Aminos Tamari.” El “Nutritional Yeast” que no lo conocía, ahí fue donde conocí la levadura nutricional, en fin. Estaba en este proceso cuando avisan en “Whole Food” que van hacer un reto de 28 días totalmente plant based, que quién se quiere inscribir y le platico a mi marido, y los vamos: “Bueno, son 28 días, no perdemos nada. Vamos a probarlo”, y te instruyen. Fue basado en el libro de: “Engine 2 Diet” de Rip Esselstyn, que mis respetos. O sea, de ser atleta… O sea, él es atleta profesional después de haber sido bombero y lleva más de 30 años, bueno toda su vida ha sido plant based, desde su papá y creo que la mayoría… Bueno no sé si toda la vida porque su papá hicieron su cambio de alimentación en algún momento, pero 30 años seguro lleva y se ve, se ve el tipo súper bien y saludable para la edad que tiene. Entonces fue bueno, vamos hacerlo y nos sacamos la sangre como dijeron el antes y el después, para medir nuestro colesterol, los triglicéridos y al final del reto que eliminamos proteína animal, aceites, harinas refinadas, cafeína que esa fue una fuerte porque tomábamos café todos los días, por mencionar algunas. Fue, nos sentimos realmente, no nada más perdimos más peso, nuestros niveles de colesterol y triglicéridos, en mi caso estaban bien sólo mejoraron, mi marido sí estaban altos, se pusieron en orden. Y nos sentíamos mentalmente súper bien, o sea como muy ágiles mentalmente, en el ejercicio también, como más ligeros. Nos encantó esos 28 días que experimentamos y decidimos hacerlo un estilo de vida en casa. Y así fue como surge el que yo empiece a comer basado en plantas, gracias a Rip Esselstyn.

Maya Acosta

Se me hace bien padre que tu esposo también decidiera acompañarte en esta forma de vivir porque muchas veces se escucha que la mujer… Bueno, la que hace el cambio y luego batalla con su familia y es tan difícil, es siempre tener que preparar otro tipo de comida para la familia. En este reto que hiciste los 28 días, ¿Ellos te ofrecieron las recetas?

Paola Morlet

Sí. Eso fue algo que me facilitó muchísimo el camino. No que me ofrecieran lo que iba comer toda la semana, pero el libro de Rip Esselstyn tiene muchas recetas y aparte en “Whole Food” sí no daban todos los lunes en las clases que teníamos, nos daban recetas de un desayuno que generalmente eran smoothies, un plato fuerte algún postre, snacks. O sea nos daban ideas de muchas cosas y muchas de ellas impresas. Entonces mi primera… O sea fue, nos acompañaron de la mano, la verdad es que eso lo hizo muy fácil. Pero en el desayuno sí, yo me acuerdo que yo desayunaba huevos con jamón y queso todos los días, era mi desayuno y de repente de un día para otro es de pues no huevo, no queso y no jamón. Pues ¿Qué voy a desayunar? Pues que un smoothie, que el cereal pero el cereal no “Lucky Charms” que está lleno de azúcar, tiene que ser un cereal que sea integral. Entonces ahí vas viendo y pues esos 28 días fueron muy drásticos. Tienes dos opciones en libro, como lo hicimos nosotros que de un día para otro cambias todo o la primera semana quitas aceite, la segunda semana quitas azúcares, la tercera semana quitas proteína animal. Nosotros decidimos: Ya que lo vamos hacer, lo vamos hacer bien. De un día para otro fue el cambio y fue todo un aprendizaje porque pues son recetas nuevas, ingredientes nuevos. O sea, yo no cocinaba ni con tofu, ni con seitan, ni con tempe, vaya ni sabía qué era. Hoy en día pues en mi refri están todos los días pero en aquel momento ni sabía que existían. Entonces fue un proceso de familiarizarme con nuevos ingredientes de aprender a cocinarlos y hasta el día de hoy, siete años después sigo aprendiendo cosas. O sea, esto no acaba; las combinaciones, el cómo marinar, tu tofu, tu tempe, para darle diferente sabores, que si va a ser para un sándwich o va a ser para tu ensalada. O sea puedes jugar tanto con las cosas como tú lo desees, y así fue como empezó. ¡Ah! Y ahorita que decías del marido, fíjate que sí, me siento muy agradecida de que así fluyó porque muchas de mis amigas que me dicen: “Claro, es que pues…” Beto es mi marido. “Beto le entró y está padrísimo pero el mío para nada va a dejar la carne.” Y yo es que te lo juro que Beto es carnívoro de toda la vida y dije: “Yo pero la carne no la dejo” y acabaron los 28 días y no volvió a probar carne como en tres años fácil. Fuimos súper estrictos. Entonces sí, o sea si lo… Para mí todo es mental. 28 días no te quita ni más ni menos, es cuestión de que lo quieras hacer, y si te gusta lo sigues al 100 % o solamente lo que yo sugiero es un día a la semana que sea lunes sin carne o Meatless Monday o todos tus desayunos que no tengan proteínas. O sea, no te tienes que ir al extremo, puedes hacer ciertos cambios que al final te van a beneficiar en tu salud.

Maya Acosta

¿Esta forma de vivir puede ser difícil si haces, si no te preparas, si haces el cambio de un día al otro, verdad?

Paola Morlet

Así es.

Maya Acosta

Y habías dicho que también uno puede empezar a comer un platillo, un plant based por semana o lo que sea más fácil para esa persona de hacer. Es el cambio poco a poco de por lo menos dejar la comida procesada. Bueno, ahora Paola tienes un libro que acabas de publicar con recetas tradicionales y mexicanas. ¿Nos puedes platicar acerca de ese libro?

Paola Morlet

Claro. De hecho es un libro que me encanta porque es un gran acompañamiento para aquellas personas que quieren hacer un cambio a este estilo de vida o probarlo, y que dicen: “Bueno pero ¿Por dónde empiezo?” Compra mi cookbook ¿No? Mi recetario, es digital y tiene 18 recetas. Es una colección de 18 recetas que escogimos con mi… En conjunto con mi co-autora que es la autora Sunnis Escobar. Las dos somos mexicanas y crecimos en México, y fueron nuestras favoritas y que son, yo creo que fáciles de hacer. Por ejemplo el ceviche de almendras, te lo juro que es una delicia que sabe, tiene tanto limón que puede saber como al pescado. Quien lo haga tiene, o más bien, quien lo ha hecho me ha dicho, por ejemplo cuando hicimos el recetario esta Sunnis tenía un grupo de internas en el hospital que nos ayudaron a cocinar todas las recetas para asegurarnos que todo estaba bien antes de publicarlo. Fue en la época de Navidad y esta, una de ella que es venezolana hizo el ceviche de almendras como entrada de su cena de Navidad en la casa. Nadie, o sea todo el mundo: “Está deliciosa. Es que está buenísimo.” Pero nadie se dio cuenta que era de almendras, o sea de verdad es una delicia. Bueno, ese entre, esa es una entrada que tenemos pero de platos fuerte está el pozole verde que es sin duda de mis favoritos y que se hace no sé, media hora, o sea 20 minutos en que se pone todo a cocer más que le metes la salsa y agarra los sabores. Entonces en realidad este libro se dio junto con Su-Nui que ella es experta en todo lo que son medidas de recetas e hicimos como la lluvia de ideas, yo bajé todo lo que son mis recetas favoritas que como te mencioné en algún momento, yo cocino como con el corazón, lo que me nace y le voy poniendo tanto. No sé cuántas cucharadas fueron, no sé cuántas cucharadas o tazas le eché sino lo que fue fluyendo. Entonces Su fue un complemento perfecto para poderle poner esas medidas, las internas fueron el equipo ideal para probar todas las recetas antes de publicarlo y pues ahí está. Nuestro primer libro que es así como… Es como mi hijo, es un orgullo el poder meterme a Amazon y buscar mi nombre o buscarlo por su nombre el recetario mexicano de vegano y que ahí aparezca, es así como… Mi primer libro. Sí, es increíble.

Maya Acosta

Acabas de decir de tu ceviche vegano, es el sabor que le ponemos a la comida que nos satisface, que nos recuerda de la comida más típica tradicional que antes comíamos. Entonces sí, eso es lo que me gusta de tu libro, es la forma en que yo voy a convencer a mi familia es en el preparar la comida tan deliciosa como por ejemplo tus recetas, ahí es donde convences a la gente de que esa forma de comer no solamente es saludable pero también es deliciosa.

Paola Morlet

Totalmente. Fíjate ahorita que dijiste esto, recuerdo una vez viviendo en Miami llegó un primo con su esposa que se quedaron en la casa, iban a su Baby Shopping y cenamos hamburguesas en la casa, plant based por supuesto. Y mi primo la probaba y decía: “Júrame que esto no es carne. O sea es que está buenísima.” Y yo: “Pues para que veas que plant based puedes comer sin necesidad de que sea carne.” Otra por ejemplo era que yo te compartía que yo desayunaba huevo revuelto todos los días, entonces digo, hoy en día son mis smoothies porque ya no me hago tofu revuelto todos los días por el tofu revuelto y que le puedas poner la especie que usas mucho de la cúrcuma para que tenga ese sabor amarillo con vegetales ¿No? Es una… De verdad es una cosa deliciosa y en el recetario también tenemos un tofu revuelto. 

Maya Acosta

Platícanos del otro ingrediente que yo ahora uso, el Jackfruit, Yaca. 

Paola Morlet

 La yaca. Bueno, la yaca es te saca de cualquier apuro. La yaca, si bien es una fruta es un excelente sustituto para cualquier platillo que tenga que ver con carne o pollo deshebrado. O sea, si vas hacer un salpicón, pues saca tu yaca y la cocinas. Si vas hacer… Por ejemplo, en el recetario tenemos unas enmoladas de yaca, pues es todo lo que sea deshebrado, lo cocinas me imagino de cierta forma antes de meterlo en la tortilla. De hecho, ahorita se me hace agua la boca. Tenemos unos tacos al pastor hecho de yaca, te lo juro. Están en uno de mis IGTV con Johenys Blanco cocinamos juntas los tacos al pastor. Ella aunque es de Puerto Rico vivió en México y al momento de probarla te dice: “Es que es como en México, estos tacos están buenísimos.” Y tiene que ver con el sazón, o sea el hecho de que le pongas al adobo a esta yaca, no tiene que ser el cerdo, y sabe igual o más rico, pero obviamente tu paladar va cambiando entonces para mí es delicioso. Ella está fascinada con plant base pero bueno, ya lo probará cada quien. Pero sí, el punto es… La yaca es una excelente opción para cocinar todo lo que sea deshebrado: carne, pollo, puerco, todo lo que sea deshebrado. 

Maya Acosta 

¿Y nos puedes platicar acerca de cómo preparas la yaca?

Paola Morlet

La yaca en efecto, salida de la lata pues no, sí hay que darle un poco de sabor. De la fruta como tal es tu trabajo muy tedioso el poderla sacar de la fruta. Entonces la verdad poderla comprar en lata te va a facilitar la vida. Y lo que yo, lo más fácil si son para los tamales por ejemplo, es sofreír ya sea con un poco de aceite o incluso en agua ¿No? Que el plant based diet te evita los aceites y tú puedes poner tu cebolla y tu ajo en el sartén bien caliente y ya cuando se empiezan como a quemar le agregas agua ¿No? Va a salir el vapor pero evitas usar aceites. Le agregas la yaca y de ahí yo siempre le agrego un chorrito de vinagre de manzana para quitarle el posible sabor ácido que traiga de la lata. Entonces le echo un chorrito y de ahí lo que quieras. Llegas a que le ponga le salsa verde si lo que voy hacer son unas tortitas de yaca en salsa verde, o le pongo verduras ¿No? Si voy hacer así con… No sería un picadillo con pues cualquier verdura que le quieras meter como picada para cocinar y rellenar tus flautas o hacer unos tacos, o lo que quieras. Ahí ya que estén sofritos con su cebolla, su ajo y el chorrito de vinagre, agrégale todo lo que quieras o sácalo para tu tamal. Para el tamal yo creo que sería padre, sería rico con salsa verde ¿No? El yaca, como si fuera el pollo en salsa verde pero de yaca. 

Maya Acosta

Y hablando acerca de tu IGTV, he visto que tienes varias entrevistas, hablas mucho acerca de tus aceites. 

Paola Morlet

Claro, mira soy súper fan. Los aceites llevo usándolos yo creo que más de 10 años en mi vida. No sabía, no tenía el conocimiento que hoy tengo hasta el año que empezó en pandemia por la parte emocional ¿No? Que aunque haces tu ejercicio, comes bien pues sí te pega, sí te pega y entonces empecé a usar más los aceites y han sido la salvación en mi casa. O sea el hecho de poner aromaterapia con una mente… Por ejemplo, mi marido que está work office todo el tiempo, su menta con limón. La menta le ayuda a concentrarse, el limón le ayuda a estar energético y sin que él sepa, nada más con que le esté llegando el olor el aceitito ya está trabajando en su mente. Yo por ejemplo emocionalmente me encantan las flores ¿No? Entonces si un día me levanto así como cabizbaja, con que inhale directo mi geranio de la botella, me cambia el día. Con mi hija manejo los roles para dormir, le hago diferentes y jugamos a que le hago dibujitos en la espalda, ella sabe que igual se los pone. Cuando hemos viajado, igual para el sistema inmunológico. Se lo ponemos en el pecho o en el tapabocas, en fin. Son parte de mi vida, no cualquier aceite los que yo uso, son aceites Premium de la marca “John Living.” Soy parte del programa de afiliados, si alguien está interesado en Instagram pueden conseguir más información pero sí, estas botellitas se me hacen el poder de las plantas, todo, o sea el poder de la planta está aquí ¿No? Para poderte ayudar a sanar algo o a prevenir algo. 

Maya Acosta

Bueno, gracias Paola. Vamos a seguir en inglés. Just so that we can wrap this up? And is there anything else that you would like our listeners to know about you?

Paola Morlet  

In case you're curious, you can always find me on Polole's Journey in Instagram or in Facebook. And I love to make engagement with my people. So in case you have any question, feel free to go and make me a DM and I'll be happy to get in touch with anyone. 

Maya Acosta  

Wonderful. And your blog is in both languages in English and in Spanish as well. 

Paola Morlet  

Well, it's mostly in Spanish, but I have few in English. It's Pololesjourney.com. 

Maya Acosta  

Okay, great. 

Paola Morlet  

I need to make it bilingual, but I just haven't get the time to get to know those of them. Yes,

Maya Acosta  

It's a lot of work to translate. I'll include all the links in the show notes. And it's been such a pleasure speaking with you. I'm so excited about your work and your cookbook. And then of course, like I said, All our listeners should follow you on IGTV because you have so much great content. Thank you again. 

Paola Morlet  

Thank you and it was a pleasure. Thank you for the invitation Maya. 

Maya Acosta  

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