215: How Simple Lifestyle Choices Can Improve Our Quality of Life with Amy Tasetano

[00:00:00] Think a lot of people especially who take on leadership roles, they're so used to doing it all themselves partly because they may not want to give up control. Sounds like I'm not trying to be negative in a way. It's just that think that when you want to do something you want to make sure that it gets done with your vision. But if you don't ask for help you're missing out on other people's strengths and creativity. So this is the Healthy Lifestyle Solutions Podcast and I'm your host Maya Acosta. 

[00:00:33] If you're willing to go with me, together we can discover how simple lifestyle choices can help improve our quality of life. Let's get started Amy Tasetano is the leader of two pods in southwest Florida Venice's healthy eating and effective plant-based armchair activism and online pod The Venice Pod has been active with twice-monthly potlucks and recipe demos. Amy Tasetano is a health and life coach and founder of Begreenwithamycom, where she interviews plant-based physicians dietitians chefs, and more.

[00:01:07] Be Green with Amy, has a large YouTube and Facebook following as well as a regular podcast Virtual and local members can join a global audience for live question and answer sessions with plant-based experts on her Be Green with Amy live events. Amy holds a BBA in industrial and organizational psychology and earned a plant-based nutrition certificate from E.Cornell in 2018. Let's meet Amy. 

[00:01:35] Greetings Maya. Thank you for having me on. It's such a pleasure to have you here and to get to know you as a fellow Pac member. So, I know that you have a slide show for us, so feel free to start any time. Sure. 

[00:01:49] Well, this is a presentation I normally give when I attend meetings or do presentations at plant-based events. So, I'm going to skim through some of the slides because some of them pertain to the lifestyle and why certain foods are superior to others but they'll still be in the slide, so you can kind of get a feel. Because I think this could also be helpful to other pod leaders if they ever wanted to make a presentation or invite someone to present so that they could collaborate and have ideas as to what they might say to the audience. So, again, I'm Amy, and I'm Be Green With Amy. 

[00:02:29] I have a website Begreenwithamy.com and I share lots of free things for everyone because I'm so excited about this lifestyle. And as Maya was telling me back in 2012, my hubby Rick and I, were just the standard Americans but l think l was a little bit better because I think l really tried hard to eat healthily or at least what I thought was a healthy lifestyle. So, things just were getting pretty bad for us as far as our health and how we were feeling. 

[00:03:00] And I really didn't know that what I was doing was what thought was doing right was eating different low-fat cheeses and turkey burgers and taking the skin off the chicken. I thought that all those things were healthy and I ran across it on PBS. Actually, I just happened to be watching something on PBS, and Dr. Joe Furman came on and he was showing about this plant-based lifestyle and I just kept watching it all the time. 

[00:03:29] And my hubby kick said, we've tried things where we weigh and measure and push the plate away and nothing works. This guy sounds like maybe he has something to it so I said to Rick, I said, if I do this, then what happens? Because once you learn something and you know it's to be useful and maybe turn everything in your life upside down on its head, then what do you do, right? So, if I get this book and all the materials 

it's going to be something that I'm going to probably want to embrace.

[00:04:05] So, he was having a lot of health issues. He weighed like over 260 lbs. He was on blood pressure medicine and cholesterol medicine and these medications were not helping to lower these levels. And you're a wife of a physician so you know you're not in your head. You know that this is not really the way to go about it. 

[00:04:28] So he said, we like PDF anyway, support the station and if it tastes good, I'll do it. So, of course, he had frequent headaches and migraines | mean, he was getting disorientation and his joints were swelling so he was all in on that. Before the broadcast, I was talking to Maya because she saw my before picture and she commented as well as many other people do, well, gee, you weren't that bad. But you know it's not just about weight. 

[00:05:02] I was overweight with my BMI, but it's not just about weight. It's about the health issues and how later in your life it's not going to get better and it probably will get worse. And I had headaches I had digestive issues. I was always getting sinus infections and I just thought well, my mom always gets them so I guess that's why l get them too. But my mom and grandma also had type two diabetes and heart disease, and there were a lot of things that were running in my family. 

[00:05:28] But most of all I felt like I'm just too young to feel so low in energy. By three or 04:00 it was like, oh, I can see why they have that commercial for the fourth meal because you just feel like you need another boost. And I just couldn't like it would be like every three or 4 hours I had to eat something and if I didn't I felt shaky and weak. And throughout the years we just kept gaining more weight and our health just was not improving And I was really worried because the cancer was also in my family and my husband's family. 

[00:06:04] He had heart disease and other things come in his genetics. So, we're really worried about it but we just didn't know what to do. And when I started to explore this lifestyle I learned that every bite you take, either you fight disease or you feed it. And I learned that the processed foods that was eating even the ones that were low fat and baked not fried that these things were not healthy and that I really need to concentrate on unprocessed foods and I learned about the difference between the whole grain and not and thought that I was eating healthy. 

[00:06:36] And learned that the flour even though it said whole wheat on it really wasn't good for me. And I learned kinds of foods the weird names, things that had never heard of and didn't know that you could actually eat and incorporate in your lifestyle. Now l adopted SOS free lifestyle which means that there's no sugar, oil or salt. Not everybody who is plant-based goes in that direction but learned about sugar and white flour and how it raises your insulin and oil. Oh my goodness.

[00:07:06] 120 calories a tablespoon. An average American gets four tablespoons. And even if you're not pouring it on your salad, it's in those crackers. So there are many ways that l noticed that things were not that I was thinking that l was eating correctly. It wasn't and the salt, obviously with my husband's high blood pressure he needed to really eliminate or at least slow down on the amount of salt that he was having.

[00:07:31] And even though we weren't shaking it on our food it was still there I didn’t know I learned that there was more sodium inside of a slice of bread and there was a one potato chip, so that blew my mind. And of course, dairy, we learned about that. So the meat and fish, we're eliminating that.

[00:07:49] And then I learned about the difference between good fats and bad fats. So, when I saw this you probably have seen this too being that your husband's surgeon that you can be extreme by going on a vegan diet or have somebody rip open your chest. And I had family members, I had family members that went through this. And I was really frightened that this would just be something that would be in my future. So, I learned so much. 

[00:08:18] There wasn't that much available to learn other than books and maybe a couple of movies. The internet hadn't exploded at that point with this information but just by getting those books and doing a little investigating I said, I got to stop. I had to change. And so that's what we did. And I learned about that.

[00:08:35] Even though l love sweet things I could just put dates and dry fruit and things. And my husband started to take over the kitchen because he said, as long as it tastes good, I'll do it. And at first, it didn't taste very good, especially since we eliminated the sugar, oil and salt. But then he was converting recipes. He became the king of converting recipes and finding ways to make healthy taste delicious. 

[00:09:00] And things and what loved about this lifestyle the most is that love to eat and I don't like to push my plate away when I'm still hungry And now l don't get those feelings and I don't get those cravings that would usually get where every two or 3 hours now can go maybe 6 hours and not even think about food. And I realized it was an addiction and it was coming off of those terrible foods that my body was trying to get another hit from. And I learned about the calorie density chart which was so helpful and I use that when I coach others. And of course, PCRM had a wonderful help to the food plate, and I just started to incorporate those different things into my life. 

[00:09:46] And I remember when my kids were younger I read them a book called The Very Hungry Caterpillar and I used that a lot to talk to people because we became beautiful butterflies afterward. And it was so nice, it was such a freeing feeling and Rick just started making so many delicious foods and I started to experience we both started experiencing all these different kinds of foods that we never had before. And here we thought we would have deprivation but we were actually eating more kinds of foods than we ever ate before. And I do still like chocolate candy and we found a way to make that, Of course, we don't eat it in abundance but for a little treat, we found a way to make that healthy.

[10.20] And usually, in a day we probably because people like to ask me what do you eat? And I said, Well, I start off with a smoothie and I have as much of it as I think l need and then have a huge salad every day, very important. And then we have different cooked things for dinner. And it's just been so wonderful and so freeing and knowing what I learned it made it so. And probably a lot of people that are watching who experienced this when they've adopted this lifestyle all you want to do is just tell the whole world that there is a secret that they don't know. 

[00:11:04] And if they just knew it, it would change their lives. 

[00:11:09] My adult children they told me, hey, we've got the message. You need to start telling other people because we've got it. Because I just couldn't stop saying, hey, you really need to watch this movie or you really need to read this book And I had the opportunity to get my nutrition certificate from the T. Colin Campbell Cornell.

[00:11:30] And that was a wonderful experience and I learned so much from that as well. But the energy that have now you can probably tell here for me, it's the middle of the day. This would be the time of the day where l would be crashing and maybe thinking maybe I should have a couple of bites of a candy bar or something And I've been up since early this morning and I'm still ready to go. But the results that had where l wasn't in the overweight category with my BMI, and now I'm normal my numbers came down I was almost on medications and then I was able to reverse all these things before having to do that. 

[00:12:11] And after you're certain age, you do lose muscle no matter what you do. It's like you're walking up a down escalator. So, even when you exercise, you're still maybe in a neutral place, so you really have to work hard to keep from losing that muscle mass. And I exercised a lot before this lifestyle but I'm telling you, I have not had the results I've had since I've adopted this lifestyle, I can do things now that when I was a teenager, I dreamed of doing. 

[00:12:45] And I wasn't really overweight as a teenager. I just didn't have the energy and the nutrients pulsing in my body, I guess. So, here l am now. And no, this did not happen overnight. It was just something, I'm the type of person that when I have something in my brain that I want to do, I just keep trying and I keep going until it happens.

[00:13:07] And so I'm not a gymnast but eventually I did get to do some of the things that dreamed of doing. But Rick, my husband I am just so proud of him because losing over £100 and keeping it off for over a year because it's been since 2012, that is a big deal. And most people don’t have that experience that even if they do lose weight they gain it back, and usually, they gain back more. But most of all, I'm so happy that he's not on these medications anymore. And his levels for his blood test everything has come down lower than ever when he was on the medications. 

[00:13:49] So it took a little time. Rick had to have some elective surgery so he didn't even exercise. But that's the thing with men. They can even eat some foods that are higher in fat like some nuts and avocados, and they'll still lose weight. And we look at something and we gain a pound on our hips or something. 

[00:14:08] So, it did come off pretty quickly for him and it came off for me too. And I'm really happy with the results. And Rick said to me, I'm so happy for you and for us. And I know that you love the people that are rocking this lifestyle and are spreading the word so, on different occasions, he may take me on a cruise or locally. 

[00:14:31] We had veg fests and different kinds of appearances and I was able to meet a lot of the people that I very much admire and it was very exciting for me to meet them. And what happened was one day we were in our bedroom well actually happened a few times during this lifestyle as you lose the weight know that some people watching me also have experienced. You start putting a belt on your pants to make them tighter because they're starting to get loose and then it gets to the point where you're like now this looks kind of ridiculous. l really need to just get some more clothes It's really happening. So, every once in a while we would go through our clothes and say okay we're going to give these away and make room for the ones that fit us. 

[00:15:16] But there was this one sweatshirt that he just kept hanging on to and we were going through our clothes one day and I said hon this shirt try it on. And he put it on and I was like it's huge. I said when are you ever going to wear this? It's so big it just doesn't even look right on you. And so he started laughing and he said, Come here.

[00:15:35] And then he put it over my head and we both got into it together and my daughter was walking by the bedroom and she thought it was funny and she took a picture So, I tell people that now that I've adopted this lifestyle you're even closer but people say that Gene rode the gun and diet and lifestyle pull the trigger. But I say I don't worry about my jeans now that can fit into my skinny jeans. Look at that And Rick said you saved your wedding dress but if you ever because I saved it for my kids one day if they might want to use it. 

[00:16:12] And he said but if you ever fit into it I'd love to renew our valve. So, that wasn't the motivation because he said that long before we discovered this lifestyle. But l did it had all these tiny buttons on the back and as I was trying it on I was so nervous l didn't think l would fit into it but we did. But renewing our vows to each other was wonderful but it also felt like I was renewing my life and my vows to being healthy and really this is a lifestyle it's not a diet and it really was important to me to do that. So, I said you know l always get these ideas. 

[00:16:56] So, my next idea was hey I really would like to see if there's anybody out there in our area that is meeting that does this. And I checked around there was one group that was meeting and they were almost an hour drive away so that would be each way and we went and it was very nice but I said gee, I wish there was something closer. So, I decided that wanted to see if I could do this. And they had this thing on the internet called Meetup. So I said, okay, I'm going to put on Meet Up that we're going to meet but now l have to figure out what to do. 

[00:17:28] I went to different restaurants and I finally found a restaurant that kind of serves some healthy food anyway and they said that they would be willing to give us up to 35 seats and that they would be willing to cook a meal that was compliant to our lifestyle. So I said, that's wonderful. And then l went on to Meet Up and I made this group and then l put it out to the universe. Hey everybody come to this event. And I didn't really know how many people would come, but we actually had more than 35 people RSVP, so every seat wound up to be full in that event. 

[00:18:10] And I would think maybe it would be cool if I could meet one or two people that was my goal. If I could just meet one or two people like this we could socialize, it would be great. But yeah, we met all those people so then I asked them what do you think? 

[00:18:27] Do you think you would like to meet like this maybe once or twice a month? And they said yes, but I didn't have a place to go and I really didn't want to meet in a restaurant because then you have distractions from other people but also if you wanted to maybe get up and speak to people that would be rude to the other patrons. So, I thought it was nice to meet in the restaurant but l also wanted to find a home for us. And I was surprised because I went to different churches and none of them were on board. Looking back, I think that should have gone with a little bit different approach. 

[00:19:02] I shouldn't have put on my vegan hat right? But I did find and we were very fortunate a little gym in our town which was a holistic center, and they do meditation and things like that. And they were very open to it, which was very nice. So, twice a month l had people come and it grew and grew and we had guest speakers. One time we had a woman who locally made hula hoops and did hoo hoop lessons. 

[00:19:35] So, she taught us how to hula hoop because it's not just about food. You have to have some kind of exercise or movement in your life. And we just had a really great time. Now, this was before Plant Pure Communities had their pod network so that what did then. But then l found out about the Pod network and I said, well, this is wonderful. 

[00:19:58] So, I joined and I was hoping that that would also help me get more members and I wound up taking over the other group that was an hour away because that leader had other things that she needed to do. So, then l wound up with two pods, and I was going back that one because it was far away. I only met with them once a month but my local one, we met twice a month and we did potluck dinners. And of course, each pot the members were always invited to join in the other meetings if they wanted to. So, one of the things that started to happen was I did some recipe demos because I thought that the food was a big factor in this lifestyle. 

[00:20:43] And my husband Rick, like I said, he basically took over the kitchen. I'm more like the sous chef, so I wash the vegetables and chopped them and clean the dishes and do all those things so that he can play and I can enjoy his food. But what I did was I found recipes that were easy to make that only had a few ingredients and most of them were pretty typical recognizable ingredients. They didn’t have to buy some weird thing and not know what to do with it after the recipe was over. So, Rick and I did recipe demos and I did them and it was a lot of fun. 

[00:21:18] So, I decided that wanted to share these things because we're doing lots of great demos at our Pod meeting. And also what did our members do recipe demos as well. One of the things l thought was important as everybody would have a name badge. So instead of getting the sticker ones, well, I had those for new people but people that were coming returning members I had plastic things that they could clip onto them instead. And what did was anytime that a member offered to do a presentation whether sharing their story, showing some hacks and tips or doing a recipe demo I gave them a green Star, kind of like when you were in school and your teacher might give you a star on the chart. 

[00:22:09] And I put it on their badge, and identified them as Green Star members. There were some of them that had they looked like they were in the military. They just had all these stars on their badges. And it was so wonderful started to put those recipe demos on my YouTubechannel be Green with Amy. 

[00:22:29] And then made a playlist called hey, I can make that. And it was of all the recipes that were as I described that you could just make them it didn't take much time. Sometimes you can make them in a hotel room. You didn't need a kitchen and just a few ingredients. So that was a lot of fun. 

[00:22:46] But then started getting invited to be on other people's shows, which was really fun because there's a lot of wonderful people out there that are doing great work. And it was really nice because it gave me more exposure. And many people started to say, hey, I found out about you through this show. And now they're becoming fans, which is great because for me, I just want to get the word out about this. I want people to know. 

[00:23:12] Everybody has the right to know just like they have the right to see on the package of cigarettes that it's dangerous. They have a right to know about this lifestyle. What they choose to do, that's up to them. But I think everybody has a right to know. So we started working on a plant-based recipe book but I've been so busy that haven't been able to complete it, so I'm not going to talk about that now. 

[00:23:35] But it's in my slideshow so that's me trying to manifest my future. But I do offer that to anybody who wants I will send them five free recipes. And some of them are things that my husband created and they're really delicious. So, all they have to do is just go to begreenwithamycom join and I'll send it.

[00:23:59] And also with the recipes, I'll send them some pictures that maybe you didn't see on this slide show and also some motivation quotes that keep me going. So, one of my daughters told me that l needed to have some kind of thing to say at the end of my broadcast because I've been doing live broadcasts with a lot of the people that l admire. So, at the end of the broadcast, this is what I say, and then l asked the people to join me at the end to say Be green. So if you want to, Maya, you can say the Be green part and I tell people at the end of the broadcast be strong be well, and be green. 

[00:24:44] I love your presentation. What a beautiful way to share your story of how you became plant-based, but also how you lost weight and you got off your medications. So, wherein Florida do you live? I'm in southwest Florida, so kind of close to Sarasota. I haven't explored that area. 

[00:25:03] When I am in Florida, I'm usually just on the east coast of Florida, just north of Palm Beach. That's where we keep our sailboat. So, I was on the vegan cruise in 2019. Any chance that you were on that one as well? I might have skipped it.

[00:25:18] 2019. I think l may have been thinking about doing it and didn't I know l was on a few of them before that though. Well, Amy, I love your brand I think it reflects your wonderful personality your light your joy. 

[00:25:32] I love your little emoji and I love that you go by Be Green with Amy. It's very fun and playful and I'm assuming that's sort of how you ran your pots as well. So, you were up and running as a leader before you officially joined Plant Pure Communities as a Pod leader and became part of the network. You have been very involved in working with restaurants and so you were very successful in the restaurant campaign. Yes, I was. 

[00:26:00] I actually won a competition because of it. Really? Yes, because like I said in my personality when I have something that really want to do, just do it and I go all the way, full throttle. So when I learned about this restaurant campaign and for those that are watching what it is, is that we wanted to support these restaurants that are offering this healthy food for us because they need the support. Some of them really want to do it but they're worried about not getting enough support.

[00:26:33] So, when I heard that l could help restaurants get a certificate that they could put in their showcase in their restaurant or in their window and be listed on something that's similar to Happy Cow that said that they offered plant-based food without oil, I was so excited about it because that's what helped me start my group I had somebody willing to do that a restaurant that was willing to do that so of course that was the first restaurant that I went to. And I told them I know that you offer these things and this is what you need to do to qualify And I got them on board. 

[00:27:13] And then started to realize that sometimes when I went into restaurants where they didn't know me, they were thinking was trying to sell them something because it's too good to be true. Right. You're offering them something and you're not getting paid for it and you're not asking them for any money for it. So there has to be a catch. You can't be wasting your time doing something like this and nobody really benefits from.

[00:27:41] My husband helped me design something to hand to the restaurant owners to show them they could get something so it was just some kind of material that designed to help them encourage them so that they could see. And I gave it to share it with Plant Pure Community so that other Pod leaders could also take advantage of that or copy it and make it the way that they wanted to because I wanted to. As you said, when you go with this become a Pod, you have to make sure that you're going along with any kind of guidelines that they have. Which seemed to be very liberal.

[00:28:23] But I still didn't want to do anything by putting their logo on something without their permission so they permitted him and I just got so excited about it that kept going everywhere could. Even I didn't really eat out very much but still kept going to restaurants and said, hey. And then sometimes I  would travel because maybe l had relatives somewhere or. I was going to do something 

[00:28:46] And I always had that little paperwork with me so that knew l would be eating out because I was traveling maybe I'd be eating out more. And was always asking for people to want to do that And every time l did, I tried to take a picture with the restaurant manager or the owner. And then what I would do is once I got the certificate for them instead of emailing them the certificate. I printed it out. And then went to the Dollar store and bought a frame and I put it in a frame and then l brought them the certificate and took a picture with them with the certificate.

[00:29:24] Because to me, it was just such an exciting thing because I want to be a part of making a change in this universe And those things sound like small changes. They really don't sound like much but l think that every little pebble makes a ripple and I just wanted to be that pebble. Congratulations Well, what a wonderful way to reward the restaurants by getting them to put together a plant-based meal, giving them a certificate and then encouraging vegans to patronize a place. 

[00:29:56] I'm hoping to do that in my community and I'm hoping to learn from you. So, let's talk about your experience going through the pandemic and what happened with your pods and how were you able to kind of navigate that time. Yeah, it was really difficult to navigate because, like we said, the potluck was a big thing about that And of course that ended And then I'm going to tell you a sad story. 

[00:30:28] We had a storm and that beautiful gem of a holistic center, their roof collapsed. Oh, no. So there really wasn't going to be any hope of meeting anytime soon, even if things were lifted. That really sealed things for me as far as trying to get that gathering back together any time soon. So, I decided to do Zoom meetings. 

[00:30:57] And I think there's something about food and that's probably why some people hesitate to adopt this lifestyle because there's something about food and community that just brings people together when they break bread so to speak. And when we did the Zoom meetings I had attended and people were really glad to have that talking with the members and missing people but it really wasn't substitute for the actual meeting. And also, I think that zoom started to become a substitute for many things. And maybe some people were kind of getting Zoom burnout to participate in all these different zoom meetings. So we weren't getting the attendance was just starting to drop off. 

[00:31:48] And I felt that it was nice to meet with these people but really just wanted to touch more than a few people in attendance. And that's what happened and that was what made me decide to do these live interviews on my B green with YouTube because I knew that my Pod members could join anytime they wanted. They could join during the live or they could watch afterward. But l would also be helping a bigger audience as far as learning about the lifestyle And what happened was during the and it's still happening during the live events, some of my Pod members are coming on and they're saying, hey Amy, how are you doing this interview.

[00:32:34] They're making comments and we open it up for questions they can ask the presenter. And some of them they're liking to see what they're hearing or watching but they're here also to chat with each other or they might comment oh, that was really interesting. Do you do that too? What recipe do you oh, I like to buy mine. They're talking about this particular nutritional yeast. 

[00:32:55] I would like to get mine from here so I can still see that there was a need, a need for the community and the need to be around like-minded people so that was one way that was able to do that But not everybody is the type of person that wants to get onto YouTube and make interviews and presentations. But that was a big part of right now what we're doing until we figure out what our next step is. Well, your podcast is very interactive fun and energetic 

[00:33:30] I love how you get your listeners involved I love how, when you're going live, a lot of your followers are interacting with each other and asking questions. I think you do a wonderful job. Thank you. That's a big compliment coming from you because you have a wonderful podcast and I admire what you do. 

[00:33:47] So that’s very nice. Thank you. Thank you. And so now you're part of the Pod Advisory committee Let's talk about that. 

[00:33:54] Our goal is to help revive the Pod network and to inspired Pod leaders to become more involved. Would you like to say anything about being part of Pac? And also, by the way, welcome to Pac. Well, thank you. I guess I don't know much about Pack because I haven't really been doing anything with it yet. 

[00:34:13] We're about to have our first real meeting. We had to get to know you, but we're about to have our first real meeting to figure everything out I'm a strong believer of the universe and everybody can believe what version of a higher power if they believe in a higher power. But I'm a strong believer that there's some kind of force out there that if you open your eyes to it you'll realize that that's the direction that you need to go into and that the more things you put towards that energy, the more opportunities. I’ll open up for you to do even more It's been since 2012 that I learned about this lifestyle and I just can't get enough.

[00:34:50] I can't get enough about the learning and I can't get enough of the sharing. And yes, having this setback with what's going on in the world has kept us from meeting together in person but it allows us to tool up. It's kind of like sometimes I don't know if anybody has had that experience when you go in the car wash, you can't drive anywhere but you can go and say, oh, I can clean off my dashboard while I'm going through this car wash. I can pick up those gum wrappers that somebody that l was driving dropped out of their pocket or whatever it is. You can tidy up and make everything nice. 

[00:35:27] And then by the time you come out of the car wash, the outside looks great but now the inside looks a lot better too. And maybe there was some text messages, there were phone calls that you had to make or whatever you had to do. You could do all those things while you're in the car wash. So, we have to look at this as an opportunity to tool up, to be even better than we were when we were trying to tool up and be pod leaders at the same time because that's what was happening and sometimes that was overwhelming, I was a pod leader mentor as well, and I would get a lot.

[00:36:03] Before we were going through this I was having active pod leaders asking me what to do to engage their pods or how to find it like you said, how to find a place to meet So this is our opportunity to tool up and without the distraction of having to host the meetings and think of what to do at the meetings if we're not meeting at this time. So I wouldn't look at it as something that now l have to give up and not be a pod leader anymore No, you're going to be a better pod leader because you're going to use this time to strengthen up and to find more resources so beautifully said. 

[00:36:44] What an awesome opportunity to tool up. One of the things that I wish I had done as a leader was basically asking for support from other people who attended my events. One thing that you do to encourage participants has rewarded them. You reward your members and you encourage them to participate And so that kind of help to alleviate some of the responsibilities that you have. 

[00:37:06] Tell us more about that. Yeah, I think you're right about asking for help. I think a lot of people especially those who take on leadership roles, they're so used to doing it all themselves partly because they may not want to give up control. Sounds like I'm not trying to be negative in a way. It's just that l think that when you want to do something you want to make sure that it gets done with your vision. 

[00:37:32] But if you don't task for help you miss out on other people's strengths and creativity. So I think that is a very smart thing to reach out to other members and ask them for help. And I think that there's a lot of people that want to help, but when they see that you're just doing it all, they think well, I guess I can't offer to help because they already are doing it. There may be a lot of people that really wish that they could do something. When you ask for help and delegate even the smallest tasks, that can really help alleviate burnout. 

[00:38:08] Absolutely. What a great point. By allowing others to share in our passion and our mission of spreading the good word we prevent burnout is there anything else you'd like to share with our listeners and what is the best way for people to learn more about you? Well, sure, you can always go to my website which is Bgreenwithanycom, and all of my social media is the same. 

[00:38:34] Be Green with Amy so you can find me. I have my live interviews that you are welcome to join if you subscribe to my YouTube channel Be Green with Amy, you can get reminders for that you can listen to my podcasts almost everywhere where podcasts are available under the Green with Amy. And you can also I had mentioned before I think with the recipes if you want to get some recipes from me sent to you, and it's all free there's no obligation for you to sign up for anything as far as or paying for anything and it's begreeingwithaimxcom. Join, I am so just psyched up about this lifestyle.

 [00:39:19] And that's one of the things that I'm doing is I'm helping to coach others that are looking for help with this. My husband and I, we do zoom recipe lessons, and that can be to a class or to an individual and we also do coaching so they can either be on the phone some people don't want to do a zoom but they just want to talk on the phone So I'm there for them too. Because when people are adopting this lifestyle it seems like for some people it could take even as long as six months before they're really ready to go off on their own because of so much of social pressures and other food addictions and so many other things that are connected to trying to adopt this lifestyle. But that's the main reason why I joined the Pod network why I joined the Pod Advisory Committee because I'm really so happy to share information about this lifestyle and I want the world to learn about it.

[00:40:16] So any time that any of you can go and watch or listen to Maya's episodes and like and share and subscribe to them with mine and anybody that's doing this plant-based if you can just support them that's your vote. I mean, you're voting when you go to the grocery store and you're buying the healthy food and you're not buying the deleterious to your health food but you're also helping movemen twhen you support things like what Maya is doing and what I'm doing and other people are doing so I think we have power. We have power to make the change. And just like in the plant pure nation it has to start from the. 

[00:40:56] Groundup, yes, at a grassroots level. Well, Amy, it's been such a pleasure learning about your journey your contribution so plant your communities and I look forward to working with you on Pack. So thank you once again for joining me. Thanks, everybody. Thanks for watching. 

[00:41:16] Thank you, Maya. You've been listening to the Healthy Lifestyle Solutions Podcasts with your host Maya Acosta. If you've enjoyed this podcast do us a favor and share with one friend who can benefit from this episode. Feel free to leave an honest review as well. At rateispodcastcomhls. 

[00:41:35] helps us to spread our message. And as always, thank you for being a listener.