077: Staying Healthy While Busy with Nicole of Splendid Spoon

Namaste. It's Sahara Rose. And welcome back to the Highest Self podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you your soul's highest evolvement. I'm so excited to introduce you to Nicole, the founder of Spring Blended Spoon. This is an incredible episode for anyone that wants to start their own business, particularly with health, nutrition, or is just interested in what it is like to be an entrepreneurial woman. She recently had a baby, she's a single mom and runs Splendid Spoon and does it incredibly. And it was such a privilege to sit down and talk with her. I've tried Splendid Splendid Spoon myself. It's an organic, plant based, very ayurvedic centric food delivery company that actually delivers food all around the country. You can use my code splendidspoon.com Sahara to get $25 off. It was such an amazing experience to see what really went behind that and how she came up with that idea and, you know, grew it this big because most people, when they think of food delivery, they're not thinking of, you know, kitchery and blended soups and low glycemic smoothies. So love this episode for that. And first, a note from our sponsor, four Sigmatic. So four Sigmatic is a mushroom elixir company and they just came out with two new products that have my name and your name. All the Ayurveda names written all over it. The first one is their golden latte. It has shiitake and turmeric. So it's all about awakening your inner beauty. It's very glowy. It has an adaptogen called tulsi, which is an Ayurvedic herb, very good for pitta balancing and detoxifying. It has warming ginger, so that also makes it tridoshit has the black pepper again, the turmeric, amazing for your skin. It's sort of like an amplified golden milk. And the other one is their chai latte mix. Oh my God. Heaven on earth. So this has this mushroom called turkey tail, which is a mushroom as well as reishi, which is very calming and different carminative spices. So it kind of is like this spicy chai with different adaptogens that help calm you down. So it takes your chai to the next level. So if you want to give these a shot, go on 4sigmatic.com f o u R S I G M a t I c.com Sahara and you will get 20% off your order. Highly recommend the Chai latte and their new golden milk. And our other sponsor is Hum Nutrition and I am so, so Obsessed with their green powders. My boyfriend is not one to enjoy the green powders. He does not like putting spirulina and chlorella and all those green things in his smoothies and whatever. But I gave him Hum Nutrition. They have these two incredible flavors. One is their mint chocolate chip and the other one is their tropical. It's like a coconut pineapple flavor. And he was like, can I have more? And I feel like a proud mom because I'm getting this boy to eat his greens. So I love Hum Nutrition. Their greens powders are amazing. They have great supplements for anything you need from digestive enzymes, radiant skin, hair, green tea formulas. So specific for just beauty and health and radiance. And I really recommend giving them a try. They are also evaluated by a registered dietitian. They have very cute packaging. It also makes really cute gifts. So you can give it a try over at Hum Nutrition. H u m nutrition.com use code sahara and you will also get 20% off your order. And remember to get the mint chocolate chip. Without further ado, let's welcome Nicole, the founder of Splendid Spoon to Highest Self Podcast. Welcome Nicole to the Highest Self Podcast. It's so great to have you here.

Thank you for having me.

Well, the first question that I'd love to ask you is, what makes you your highest self?

I love this question. I feel my highest self when I am in the present moment. That is sort of like what I'm always trying to ground myself into. And it's often, it's rare, I will say, you know, I have a meditation practice every day and I've dedicated my work to helping people find the present moment with their food. But it's hard. And so when I find that moment, it feels kind of euphoric. And that is absolutely when I feel my highest self.

Totally. And does that moment mostly come to you during meditation or other times of the day?

It's kind of unpredictable. Yeah, I think it feels really special whenever it happens. Sometimes it happens happens in meditation and that's really awesome. Maybe more frequently because I'm really still. I notice it, I guess, but a lot of times I notice it when I'm with my kids. They're very much in demand of me being in the present moment. And so that, like, helps me in a way to get there more quickly. And when I'm in my flow with work, that's the other time that I really, I notice it totally.

And we were just discussing the work ethic in New York and how amazing it is. So I would love to know more about your why. I mean, you've created this incredible, incredible brand. It's all organic soups and smoothies and very ayurvedic based. But why this? How did this come to be?

Yeah, you know, I mean, I think it's similar for a lot of entrepreneurs in that it's kind of self centered.

Totally.

I didn't have an. I had a really up and down relationship with food. And I've always been very excited and stimulated by the food experience, the sensory experience, and then the how and the why behind where ingredients come from and putting them together to make meals. I studied biology when I was in college to kind of go deeper into that and understand how it all works in our system. And then also went to culinary school when I moved to New York and was working in media during the day. And so I've always kind of like wanted my hands in food. And then from an emotional perspective. I also struggled with eating disorders when I was in college. And so that has always been, you know, a real source of pain for me. That having that in my history and working through that was a deep period of pain, but also growth for me. And when I became pregnant with my first son, I took another look at my eating habits and they weren't disordered the way that they were when I was in college, thankfully, but they weren't balanced. And there was a lot of looking at food as this separate thing, like it's either this good thing or this bad thing, and not acknowledging the pretty magical relationship that people have with food. At least I was not acknowledging that. And when I was pregnant and feeling kind of all of the ups and downs and also beauty of being pregnant, I really embraced that as an opportunity to shift into a place of deeper balance with my food and really redefine what that relationship was so that I wasn't looking at food as this separate thing. And so Splendid Spoon is really a combination of all of these things that I've studied and explored and gone through or endured in my past in an effort to help me just eat more vegetables every day and tread a little bit more lightly on the planet by having at least one plant based meal every day. And I try to talk about that with everything that we do, that the big changes, the really monumental changes come in little bits and pieces every day. And so it really can be accessible. It doesn't have to be about shifting everything 180 degrees within a couple days, which is kind of the unfortunate way that we expect ourselves to behave totally.

100% and I can so resonate. And I think a lot of the people listening have struggled with eating disorders in the past. And I know for me as well, my big aha moment was like, oh, wow. At that point I wasn't getting my period for a few years. So I was like, I'm never going to be able to have a kid. And like, just that relation with our health and our fertility as women is something that we're only thinking about. How can I look skinnier, take up less space, be smaller that we're not thinking? Like my body is meant to provide life and I am not feeding it like that.

Yeah, yeah. You know, and I think that was also the bigger. You really hit on like a bigger realization that I had, which is that our lives, because of the requirements that we put on ourselves to perform and to do things on our lists and to be better every day more quickly and our technology helping us to get there even faster puts us into kind of a myopic mindset every day where it's very short sighted. It is like, if I eat this or if I don't eat this, then I will be whatever, I will look this way. And we forget so much of the bigger journey and the bigger relationship that we have with our body and with our food and with our environment.

Absolutely. And I would love to know, how did you get past the fear of certain foods?

Well, so when I was in college and really in the thick of eating disordered behavior, I found a wonderful therapist. So that's, I mean, asking for help is like the number one thing, which is that is such an enormous step to do in the first place. And I would not have gotten there if I hadn't asked for help. And then also a book that I found on mindful eating. And that was really the beginning of this journey that has brought me to where I am now with Splendid Spoon, where it was like waking up and realizing, oh, the food isn't the thing, it's how I feel with the food and my own emotional turmoil that I should be looking inward and being mindful with my meals was how I was able to confront a lot of those fears. And with, you know, guidance from someone kind of near me, a therapist, and then of course, like great family and friends, that was how I started to get over that fear. But I mean, as anyone knows with eating disorders, it's really tricky because it's not like a drug where you can say, okay, I'm just not going to do that anymore. Like, we eat every day. So I felt I didn't have a choice but to create not just like a passable relationship with food, but a really solid one, a really healthy relationship so that I wouldn't feel the victim of my sort of history or old compulsions that I could reframe my relationship with. The things that I had previously said were, were not good.

Totally. And what were the first ingredients that you probably started to bring into your diet when you were transitioning into having a more holistic approach to eating?

You know, it's so interesting. The biggest shift that I made when I was like, kind of consciously moving, creating the business and moving myself into a healthier space was literally just eat more vegetables. I was really having gone to French culinary school and living in New York, where so much of the behavior is to go out to really fancy restaurants and indulge and then do like a juice cleanse for a couple days, I was noticing, like, how strange it was that I wasn't. I would go a whole day and not have real fruits and vegetables. It was kind of scary for me, given my background in studying nutrition, that someone living in an urban area could so easily go without fruits and vegetables. And so that was a big transition for me. And then it became like this funny kind of rabbit hole that was hard to get out of with the ancestral health elements of eating more plant based and then also the environmental impact of eating more plant based. And so it just became like, okay, well, what if instead of adding chicken, I have lentils? And how does that make me feel? And how satisfied do I feel? And it's been. I mean, it's still baby steps for me. I don't identify as vegan. I don't. I'm an omnivore. I'm currently on a funny elimination diet for first skin situation that I'm trying to get to the bottom of. But generally I'm like, nothing is ever on the no, no list for me. And that's something that I talk about a lot with the brand.

So when you were. Did you have to change your diet to try to get pregnant and what was that like?

No, you know, I mean, so much of what I talk about with Splendid Spoon is that if we can really reframe our experience with food to first be about how and then be about what, then we're so much farther along than we would be if we were starting with what. Because the how of eating, of shifting from, you know, the go, go, go really is moving into the parasympathetic system with your nervous system. So instead of thinking about what Is it that I'm supposed to eat now? What is it that I'm supposed to eat now? Starting with sitting down and actually quieting your system so that you can relax into your experience. That was probably the biggest shift. And then when I became pregnant, I just was able to kind of follow more of my instinctual eating, as kind of crazy as that sounds. I didn't want a lot of, with my first son, I didn't want a lot of meat, I didn't want a lot of dairy, I ate a lot of fruit. And so the only shift that I made was actually like healthier ones, which was pretty interesting that the more I slowed down, the sort of easier it was for me to, to navigate through the temptations that, you know, the self defined temptations and toward healthier options, if that makes sense.

Oh yes, absolutely. And I think that it's so important. I mean, a lot of people that I've spoken to, even their kids, like one of their kids like wants to be a vegan and the other one wants to eat meat all day. And it's just so interesting to see how the foods that we crave are so unique according to like what we nutritionally need.

Yeah, well, and speaking of cravings, this is a little bit of a tangent, but it's very interesting now that I have two kids to see what they gravitate toward because there is more science now to show that what the mother eats while the child is in utero has a big effect on their taste preferences as they age. And I ate hardly any meat with my first son and I ate more with my second. But both of them are not big meat eaters sort of by choice. It's really fascinating. I mean, I'm sure if I put a pile of chicken nuggets in front of them, they would devour them. But they're not like asking for it. And if I make a really nice grass fed steak every once in a while, they're kind of like, okay, cool.

It's so interesting. Well, I think a lot of kids these days are being born not craving or wanting meat. And I really sort of think it's like the universe trying to like fix our environmental situation and are like giving kids these like desires to be plant based because we simply won't survive as a planet if everyone is like eating meat the way that the baby boomers are.

Yeah, well that's a lot of my theory around food allergies too. And that's kind of so like with my, I have eczema that kind of has been flaring up, which I think is partly because of stress. But I mean, it could also be because of different dietary things, because like I said, I am omnivore. And having gone through that experience myself, I kind of was exploring a little bit more about agriculture and the effect of modernized agriculture and mono crops versus how we were eating when we were hunter gatherers. And there is just shocking lack of diversity in the standard diet. And it's no wonder that over a few generations of having the same corn, the same sugar, the same soy, not just as standalone products, but kind of infused into everything we eat, our genetics are starting to kick back and say, I don't want this. This is not how I want to perform anymore. You have to give me something different.

Yes, absolutely. And it's just, you know, even with, with ayurvedic stuff, and I write about this all the time, it's like we have to also keep in mind that 5,000 years ago, they didn't have to deal with the situations or even 100 years ago, 50 years ago. They're not dealing with the genetic modification and all of the like antibiotics and hormones and genetically modified everything that we are dealing with today. So it's like we have to upgrade and make an extra effort to include more of those alkalizing foods, superfoods, things like that. Back then they could just eat lentils and rice and not have to add anything else to it because that was enough.

Yeah. And our taste buds, your taste buds just change so much. I mean, that's something that has been a huge shift from, for me over the last five years since my big shift with food really happened, is when I, and I still really love the art and culture of going out to eat at restaurants. But one, it's almost like a drug experience for me. Like, it's so stimulating on a sensory level as to sometimes be overstimulating the amount of salt and sweet and sort of just like the intense contrast that's happening at a restaurant meal. And then I often have to take like the entire next data is sort of really focus on rehydrating to recover from it. And I'm not saying it like, oh, poor me, I'm going out to restaurants and having to like recover from it. But I think it's just important to hear if you haven't shifted your diet in that way, that there's a noticeable difference in your palate and how you perceive food and how you, quote, crave food. Also the things that you really desire change.

I'm literally dealing with that today. I was traveling from New York to LA yesterday, and I was in the airport, and there was, like, really no food. So I got, like, these, like, healthy, like, non GMO chips because everything had so much sugar in it. And today it's like, no amount of water can satisfy this deep dehydration that's in me. It's like, I feel like I'm hungover off of non GMO corn chips.

I know, I know, I know. It's very. I totally feel that. And it's the. The sweet, too. Anything. There's added sugar in so much. And also incredibly dehydrating.

So much. And it's. And you realize when you're like. Because sometimes we get into our, like, own healthy bubbles that we, like, eat at certain places, we eat at home. Like, and then when we go out into, like, the, like, regular world, we're like, oh, my God, how are people surviving? But the thing is, they don't know what it's like to feel very clear and pure. And, yeah, you know that that's the norm for them. It's like, you know, if you go back to when you were eating maybe junk food or something like that, like, that's just what life felt like for you. You didn't know any different.

Yeah. I mean, and I think we assume because of the momentum that generates and because of the momentum around us, of our peers doing the same thing, that that's just how it's supposed to be or how we're meant to be. And it's really not until you make that shift that you kind of see the other side. And I've experienced that in different baby steps throughout my life journey and sort of more rapidly, I guess, in the last five years. First with cutting down meat, and then I recently cut my morning. Actually, it's been a year now. I took my morning coffee out of my routine, and after talking to someone, this wonderful woman, Elissa Vitti of Flow Living, I love, love her work. I know. She's amazing. She. Alyssa, is really amazing. And I had a dinner with her, and she was talking about how women just metabolize everything differently.

So much so, yes.

Caffeine especially. So if you're having any issues with your endocrine system or your skin, for example, which is a real sign of your body's ability to detoxify itself, then try not having coffee. And I absolutely. We wrote a blog post about this because I absolutely love cafe culture. Like, I am such a sucker for a beautiful cafe with buttery croissants. And lattes and the. All of it. Like, I just love it. But I would never go back to it because I feel so amazing. Like, my energy is the same all throughout the day. My skin is like completely different. It's just. And it's hard. I remember being on the other side and hearing people say things like this and being like that. It's complete ball and like, why would I give this up if you know. And I was also someone who had a lot of like prescription creams and was on birth control pills and really thought that I had to have all of these different intricate sort of treatments to prevent myself from just having like a breakout. And really it was so much simpler than that.

So true. And with the coffee especially, like, I don't even drink coffee because every time I give it, I'm so vat it gives me anxiety. But it's such a. It's such a culture that I'm like, ooh. Like everyone's like posting about how happy coffee makes them feel and coffee this, coffee that, that. It's almost like you want to like, buy in just to like experience what they're experiencing. But it's. Yeah, but it's almost like, well, the only reason they're doing that is because if they don't have the coffee, they feel like absolute shit.

Yeah, well, and because it's a drug, you know, that's the, that's the other thing that I've noticed with my experience in trying to be in that present moment, which is where I feel my highest self, is that that space of being present is a really even space where my energy is neutral. It's that neutral mind. And all of the sensory experiences, food included, coffee for sure, alcohol, all of the things that we kind of were seeking on a regular basis as humans, as pleasure seekers, lift me out of that. And I have to really quiet my body to find a neutral mind with my food, you know, and that was something that I noticed only recently. Just how quiet I really wanted to be in order to appreciate my food and digest my food. And that's. That's a real shift that I think not everybody is aware is even there.

Absolutely. I know exactly what you mean. Because when you're, you know, for example, in a vipassana, which is a obviously no, but it's a silent retreat for people who don't know. And you get one meal a day and at first you're like, oh, am I going to survive? But then you realize you're fed off of breath, off of sun, off of emotions. These Things are all feeding you. That food is really just sort of like this like vehicle to get in the nourishment your body needs so you can really feed yourself from these higher sources.

Also how much slower you are. I mean I haven't been on Vipassana but I think whenever I'm in that meditative state I realize like I, when wow, I push my body to be moving so much faster than is really comfortable. In a way I am a modern person. I live in New York City and I have two kids and I fully like have opted into a fast paced lifestyle. But wow, I have to work. It's a lot of effort that I love and I find it to be beautiful work. But it's a lot of effort to truly carve out that space and slow down and sink into my present moment.

Totally. And I think what it comes down to is like fear that if we are not eating fast, moving fast, doing everything fast, then we're going to fall behind.

Yeah. And that's that reality. That, that's the narrative. Right? That's the narrative that so many of us have bought into. And I really see it as like my, my work. I find it to be a great privilege with Splendid Spoon to do whatever I can to remind people that you don't have to, you can totally have. Even if you want to just start with 15 or 20 minutes at your lunch break, you can totally just start there. I'm giving you permission to give yourself permission to do that and see how you feel.

And I think what you've done with Splendid Spoon is like hitting the spoon on the head of our issue is we don't have the time to make these foods. Sure, if it just showed up in front of me, I would gladly take 20 minutes to have it eat it mindfully. But it's the process of like blending the broccoli and the hemp seeds and the chickpeas and scallions.

And I'm like reading off of your.

Amazing menu, which all looks so good and tasted amazing. So how did it come to your mind that you want to create like a delivery service to make these foods accessible for people?

Yeah, I think it was like how do I get people to that space of slowing down and finding some peace? And it meant really acknowledging the demands of a modern lifestyle and acknowledging that as much as it would be ideal to teach people to cook and teach people to create meals with lovely, seasonal, locally sourced, organic ingredients that probably wasn't going to. My likelihood of touching lots of people was very, very low. And if I could somehow make it accessible and make it easy to come back to every day by taking care of the food part. Then wow, they could just focus on the practice and that could be a real habit changer that could transform someone's life totally.

Yes. And especially people who are working, who are mothers who just have a lot going on. Even myself, like writing this cookbook, I like barely had time to make my own food because it's like we're so busy in our roles that like, you know, historically there was like a woman whose full time job was just to cook and take care of the family. And you know, now luckily women don't have to do that anymore if they choose not to. But who's gonna make all the amazing food?

I know. Yeah. Well, it's just about being practical, right? It's like I've had this great experience that I feel really lucky to have had in spite of my very hectic, anxiety ridden life. Like somehow I kind of came out of all of that and saw some simplicity that I was able to hold on to and bring into my everyday and oh my gosh, like how much harder would it be if I lived somewhere that was not close to, couldn't access a csa, let alone like a great grocery store with fresh produce. I have two kids and I find it difficult the idea of like one more child and lots of people have more than two kids or lots of people have less of a support system than I do. I'm a single mom, their dad is amazing and is a super supportive co parent. So I have that and lots of people don't. That's just the world that we live in. So whatever I could do to bring the food product into some kind of convenient space that was also really wholesome. Just felt like it would be such a gift.

Absolutely. And there's so many times that like I go, you know, just a few hours from LA and I'm like, wow, there's like no grocery stores here. Like, like what do people eat? And like food deserts are a real thing. So I love how you guys ship nationally because if you live somewhere that you're not close to your local Whole Foods or whatever, it's like you can still have this food come to you.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that that is, I'm really proud that so many of our customers are, are actually between the coasts and not in urban areas because, you know, the wisdom is there. We all know we're supposed to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and that we're supposed to be moving more and that we're supposed to be more mindful. And you know, I knew that five years ago and wasn't able to do it in spite of even like deeper training with learning how, going to culinary school and studying the science of it when I was in school. So you might know that you need to do something, but you, you need tools to get there and then you need the practice to come back to.

Totally. And for a lot of people also who have never cooked like this, they don't even know what it's supposed to taste like. So it could help them to just like try, you know, eating these types of foods so then they can even look at the ingredients and like make it on their own. This could be like an amazing like in between step.

Yes, exactly, exactly. And I think that that's also part of it. It's like I have my higher mission with the business which includes the practice and the deeper self awareness. But I'm also totally cool with you just want to get a few more vegetable servings in your diet or this just makes your work lunch incredibly convenient or you're vegan or gluten free or whatever it might be and there are fewer options for you and this is just convenient. I'm like so cool with that too. You know, it's like whichever path brings you there. I'm really proud of the product and really proud of all the love that my team puts into it. So it's cool. However you want to share that with us.

Absolutely. And it's an amazing product. So I'd love to learn more about how did Ayurveda become part of your practice? I mean, you have Masala Kitcher and it's soup based, which is all warming. So how did that come to be?

So that is not necessarily from any readings that I did or teachings that I learned in Ayurveda before the business, but it has been a really happy coincidence because as I have learned more about Ayurveda, it's like, oh wow, this is a lot of how I already eat and I am also very vata. So wow, this kind of, this works for me. And I think the real thought around it originally was that what is going to make me feel taken care of, what makes me feel nourished. And we have such a cultural draw to a pot bubbling on the stove or you know, way back when over a fire and that hearth, that community and that life source being in soup. And so that was really the beginning of it was that I would freeze soup for myself and eat them sort of one by one out of my freezer for lunch. And it was also just very practical. And I think it kind of met all of these needs that I had. And then when you went into the science of it, it was all kind of backed up. It was like, oh, grandma kind of knew what she was doing. Making soups all the time. It does make sense to have soup when you're not feeling well, because guess what, the nutrients, you're starting the digestive process. When you're cooking, you're breaking down some of the fibers and even toxins in plants and making certain nutrients more bioavailable. So vitamins K and vitamins E and A. So which is part of the beta carotene family. Those are all better digested by your body when they've been treated by some heat and when they're combined with fat. And so you can't get that when you're eating, you know, certainly not an all raw plant diet. And so that was really great, you know, and I think there was also the element that you're able to receive so much more plant nutrient in a cooked product in terms of the volume. So there was also just this, like, practicality of, wow, if there's a busy mom somewhere out there who she doesn't have time to chop up carrot sticks and apple slices, and she certainly doesn't have time to prepare her own big pot of kitchri. How many servings of vegetables can we get into her in that one sit down meal? And so there was kind of the efficiency element of it that appealed to me too, definitely.

I mean, you see like when you cook spinach or something, the moment you put it on the stove, it just like wilts down to this like tiny thing.

Yeah, yeah. And I think there was also. That was the element too that I really liked about it, was that you can preserve all of the cooking liquid. You know, there's very little waste. So we're able to use vegetables that aren't totally perfect looking. That's okay. And we're cooking in kettles that are certainly larger than the ones that you have at home, but it's just like at home. And you're able to preserve a lot of the nutrient right there in the kettle itself. Because you're not like steaming and discarding the water, for example.

Totally, yes. And it's easy to travel with. You know, I think a lot of the reasons we do these like juice cleanses is because it's just so convenient. But even I tell people, like, if you have a smoothie like maybe have some warm water with it or if you have a salad, like put some soup on it, just add something more warming to it because it will make it so much easier to digest.

Yeah. I mean, your body has. Your body is 98.6 degrees and it needs everything to be at least that temperature for it to be working smoothly. And I think, you know, again, it comes back to that rest and digest moving out of that stressful sympathetic nervous system and into that peaceful parasympathetic mode and. Exactly. If you have something that is room temperature or a little bit warm, your body is like, gets to stay nice and cozy.

Totally. Yes. I always talk about the 98 degrees and you know, something that frozen. Think about it. Freezing is like 32 degrees. So let's say that thing is 30 degrees and your body is 100 degrees. That's a 70 degree temperature change your body has to create to make that food the same temperature as your internal organs. So it can be easily digested and your body can do it. Your body can do anything. But that's going to take away the energy from digestion and nutrient assimilation and detoxification, all the other healing processes your body has to do with.

Exactly.

Yeah.

It's all about that neutral mode as much as possible. Right. It's like neutral mind, neutral body. Like things move a lot more smoothly.

Totally. And I think we haven't been taught to work synergistically with our bodies. It's always kind of been like us against our bodies. Like, how can you get you to stop wanting sugar, to stop craving this? It's like I remember when I was like younger, like a teenager, literally praying, like, I wish I no longer had taste buds because. Because then I wouldn't be tempted with unhealthy food. Like, what a thought. I would rather just not taste food again.

I know. You know, and that's. I so relate to that. That's such the predicament that so many young, especially women, but men too, feel with food, that you think food and you think about your weight and food is life force. You know, food is literally the sun's energy manifest in a plant. And if you're eating an animal, then that plant is converted into the animal and then you eat the animal or the plant and all of that energy is converted into the very cells that are letting you eat the food. It's such a magnificent power and you really only experience it if you can.

Be quiet with it.

And it's hard with the noise of aesthetic and cultural demand kind of weighing on you. All the time.

Totally. I mean, we just look at magazines and it's like 100 calories of this versus 100 calories of that. And it's so numerical. And you go to a doctor and it's, what's your bmi? And it's like, okay, we're not like calculators.

They can figure us out.

This is definitely a huge thing that we're all. I think we're all, like, globally trying to heal this. But definitely still a conversation that really needs to be had, especially with younger people, like, before they get caught up into it.

Yep. Yeah, I totally agree.

Amazing. So you went the warming direction. So how has it been now? I mean, you're living out this massive Dharma and you have this incredible company. So how has your own health practice and routines shifted since having this massive role that you're playing?

Oh, my gosh. I am just so deeply grateful that this is the path that I took and that I have this opportunity to be in contact with myself every day because my self care has just kind of become my life in a way. It's so interesting now looking back at my relationship with wellness, let's call it, when I was, you know, sort of more than five years ago, before I had my kids, before I started the business, and it was looking at wellness as like a prescription of I have to do this to counteract this or I have to do this just because it's been told of me kind of thing. And like a task on a to do list. And my experience now, again, kind of going back to that present moment is, you know, mentally, what do I need to do to be in that present moment, Emotionally, what do I need to do to be in that present moment, physically and spiritually and kind of doing this check in with myself every once in a while to see where I am there. Someone actually recently gave me that. It's called the Metal Check in. And I love it. And so I'm able to kind of do those check ins and call on one of my tools whenever I feel off balance. I have a meditation practice now, which the mindful meals that I created with Splendid Spoon have. That's totally led to me having a deeper spiritual practice. And that deeper spiritual practice has given me a lot more body awareness, which has given me a much deeper connection to my physical output. So I have a yoga practice now that is more like a couple times a week. And I would love for it to be every day. So we'll see how that evolves over the next couple years. And then you Know that leads to me being emotionally more present for my kids, which feeds back into my being present and being aware and mentally being clear and present in my daily work, which is also. That's part of my flow. Like that's part of my self care is being with my work and that's my creative output and that's my imprint the world that I will be leaving. So I mean it's such a transformation. It's a fun question because it's like the answer is everything totally.

And I think it's like when you're working in something that's health related, it's both a reminder for you to keep on being healthy because it's obviously what you're preaching. But then sometimes you can and slip yourself trying to make everyone else healthy that you forget about your own practice.

Oh totally. Well, and I think I'm always joking, like if I didn't have splendid spoon, I would just be succumbing to my own desires. Like I really want to have a croissant every single day. And I've done that before and it has not made me feel good. And so I'm grateful that again for my modern life I created something that is an easier go to that also happens to be healthier. And you know we are human, right? Like yeah, those tendencies to then help everybody else can kind of put you off balance and you have to reset. And that's where I've realized just how important all those tools are. We tend to be our own worst enemies in some way. Kind of no matter what. Like no matter how deep we are into these wonderful self care practices. We are just humans and we are flawed.

Absolutely, yes. And we're all figuring it out as we go along. It's like no one really knows what they're doing. Especially because the landscape is changing on a daily basis that we're all just winging it. Guys. No one knows we're just winging it.

You know it's funny though because we were talking about this. I don't remember who I was talking about this with. People often ask me like what's your, what's your like vice? Or like you know, what's your guilty pleasure? And I love mezcal and I love chocolate and I rarely am kind of of like out drinking but you know, it's New York and all of a sudden I'm like, oh, it's been like four nights in a row that I've gone out. And so I have. One of my only sort of like check ins is if or Like, I wouldn't call it a rule, but it's like a check in where if I've had anything three days in a row that is like. Like mezcal or like a croissant or something, I'll ask myself if I can take the next day off from that thing and see how I feel. And it's a really good check in because it creates a little bit of a speed bump. Because I'm human. Because, like, I love mezcal and I love croissants. And, like, yeah, this is kind of a party. Let's keep it going.

I love that. So you'll ask yourself, like, okay, we've been drinking a lot of mezcal. Is it okay if we take tomorrow off?

Yeah. Is it okay if I take. It's only if it's been three. My sort, I don't. I guess it's just the laws of three is kind of easy for me to work with. But if it's been a third night in a row or like, I notice it three times in sort of like a week or something, I'm like, how would I feel if I did not do this tomorrow?

Yeah, I like that. I mean, it's a lot. You know, most of our narratives are like, you stupid idiot, why'd you hurt three times in a row? What's wrong with you, you pig? You're not gonna eat tomorrow? I'm gonna make you pay the consequences for this.

Yeah, I mean, I remember that voice. So it's like, I find can be tricky to find the right voice that can call you out on yourself, but also be compassionate.

Totally. I mean, and that's what I come. The reason that we even get into these unhealthy cycles is because the lack of compassion. And the lack of compassion makes it work. And it's just like this, like, continuous, like, circle.

Yeah, exactly.

So we have to break it somewhere. And it's after the third day now. Now we know the trick.

For me, it's the third day. That seems to help.

That's a good one. Yeah. I mean, it's like, you. But then you take the day off, then what if the next day, it's like, you know, I really want another tequila.

You know, I mean, like, then I let myself, you know, it's more about, like, well, how does that really make my feel? The thing is that I think because of my practice of meditation and also yoga and, like, my kids, like, I have all of these really amazing structures to my life that tend to kind of keep me in line and I can't take credit necessarily for that. I think that's the way that my life has kind of like, laid itself out in this way. But I Usually on that third day, I'm like, huh, how would I feel? Because it gets me thinking and, you know, I might journal about it. It's like, how would I feel if I didn't? And it's like, well, how would I feel if I do? And then why am I. Why. Why do I feel so pulled to have a tequila drink at this time every day? What's going on there? It just. The layers kind of come off and you end up sitting with yourself and your emotions. And it kind of. It comes back a lot to the mindful eating strategies that I learned when I was struggling with eating disorders. Is that the behavior is not the thing, you know, symptomatic of something else usually.

Exactly. Yeah. One thing that I do is like, it tends to be like, I'll eat a lot of, like, chocolate stuff, but it's only at night, so I'll be. I'll ask myself, like, okay, would I eat this in the morning? And it's like, no, of course not. I would never wake up and be like, all the chocolate, you know, like, in the morning you're like, ah, clean, pure.

And then at night, it's like the.

Like, monster comes out.

Yeah, like, I wouldn't. I wouldn't be having a tequila shot as soon as. After my. After my morning meditation.

Right, exactly. So I think it's like in the morning, we're all. I think there's been a lot of, like, talk about having a morning routine, like, starting your day. Right. That we've been doing it, but there's been a little less talk about the nighttime routine that we're like, I'll still kind of go into the chocolate, tequila, whatever works. So that. And then another thing is sometimes, like, I will know, like, okay, I am eating this entire bar of chocolate. But I'm like, okay, just. Just at least go a little slower when you do it. Like, I'm letting myself do it. Just go a little slower. So at least it's not like. Because sometimes it's like you rob yourself of the moment and then it's, like, done. Especially, you know, with tequila or something like that. It's like, there's so much ice in there. Like, three sets later, it's. It's done. At least enjoy it, because when you don't, then that's how it turns into seconds, thirds, fourths, et cetera.

Oh, yeah, definitely. I absolutely I try if I'm eating on the run or. Yeah. If I'm like eating something that I'm really excited about and I want to really, like, keep going on that. That special raw vegan chocolate bar from Fine and Raw, which is my favorite, which is always on my. Like, oh, my gosh, I have to have this list. I ask myself to sit down. And that is hugely helpful for me. Totally. Again, like, finding that neutral place, it's a big reminder of like, oh, okay, I wasn't quite there and that's okay. But now I'm sitting and already you start to slow down. And the how helps you to understand a little bit more of the why and the what becomes a little bit less charged.

Absolutely. And even just noticing your breath before you come into that state, like noticing how am I breathing before I eat? Because if it's. Chances are you're gonna inhale that meal at the same rate.

Exactly. Yeah, yeah.

Our breath is like this constant MRI of like, what's going on inside.

Yeah. Yes, it absolutely is.

Yes. I think if people just did that, just take a few breaths and then eat, it's like we would not have all this binge eating issues and whatever it is, obesity largely would be cut if we just breathed.

Yeah, you just breathe and sort of trust that the time is there for you. You're not having to make up for anything. The time is there. Right.

And, and also another good thing that I've always done is like, put your food on your plate. Because I feel like sometimes when we do these like family style meals and it's in the middle, it's like this almost like hunter gatherer instinct comes out. It's like, oh, I need to make sure I get enough food, otherwise I'll be like left hungry. That we're all just like shoving food into our mouths and it's like, okay, just have a plate. You know, this is for you. It's still gonna be there. And now take your time with it.

Yeah, yeah.

So many. Just great practices. And I think that this is going to be like the next thing that they start teaching in universities and hopefully in therapy programs and things like that. Because I think everyone's had an issue with food in the past. I mean, it's the only thing that we have so much control over and that we're doing three times a day.

Yeah, it's so true. I like to think it's this mundane activity that is lying in wait for the potential of awakening, really.

For sure. And I mean, you know, the foods you put into your body is eventually what's going to become you. And it totally changes your vibration. And as you shift foods, your thoughts change and you begin to open your mind to things that would have never stricken your curiosity in the past.

Yes, it's very true. It's very true.

I love that. So how can people find you and try out Splendid Spoon?

So Splendid Spoon is available on our website, Splendid Sponsor Splendid Spoon.com we're also on Instagram @ Splendid Spoon NY and we ship everywhere in spite of the handle having the NY on there. And then my recipes are in the Splendid Spoon Soup Cleanse Cookbook which was published by Rodale last year. So you can pick that up on Amazon. And then I am N I C C E N T Nick sent on Instagram.

Perfect. And I'll post all of those links in the show notes.

Awesome.

Yay. Well, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us and we all look forward to having your soups.

Thank you so much.

Namaste.

Namaste.

How inspiring was that interview? I love seeing women follow their dreams and really make them happen and serve the world and make it a healthier place and just making it more accessible. Accessible for people. I mean there's so many great recipes out there, but really who has the time? So thank you Nicole for really making healthy plant based ayurvedic warming foods more accessible to all of us. And as a special offer to highest self podcast listeners, Splendid spoon is offering 25 off your order. You can head over to splendidspoon.com forward/sahara for $25 off your order. I'm obsessed. You can get it three times a week, five times a week or every day, cancel anytime. They deliver all around the country, which I've really never seen a food delivery do, especially like an organic plant based ayurvedic warming one. So this is really like the highest self podcast's ideal food delivery and I'm so excited to have them here. Namaste Sa.