Plant-Powered Living: Embracing the Vegan lifestyle

Hello everyone and welcome to Influencer Mindset Podcast. Today we are going to talk about nutrition, we are going to talk about the veganism lifestyle, and we have a very, very special guest with us, Mr. Norbert Ockermann, who has adapted a vegan lifestyle approximately 12, 13 years ago. And since then, he's been, you know, just living his life, you know, raising his children at the same way, in a vegan way. And, you know, being a vegan for so long gets you to be, how can I say it, somebody who knows one thing or two about that lifestyle. And we want to ask Norbert about vegan lifestyle, how does that affecting him, the benefits that he's feeling being a vegan parent with his children, and many, many, many more. Also, I want to mention that Norbert Ackermann is also the owner and inventor of a shoe brand called Zoona, right?

Zuna Shoes.

Zuna Shoes. And the website is zunashoes.com?

That's correct.

zunashoes.com. So check out his shoes at zunashoes.com if you ever interested in some very barefoot kind of style of shoes. Now, how are you, Norbert? How's it going today? How are you feeling?

Doing great. Thank you so much for having me on the podcast. Very excited to be here. I've been listening to your podcast and just really great content, especially about the content about parenting and just, just, you know, being always positive. So it's something that I highly recommend that people check out on a regular basis. And I appreciate, you know, what you do.

Thank you so much. That really, really means a lot to me, knowing that you're also listening to our podcast and to the other chapter. And definitely encouraging all the listeners to share this video, like, subscribe, and just to give us a little bit more motivation to continue and to keep on providing content that it's very valuable to the listeners, content that could really improve the lives of whoever listens to it. And that's the purpose of this of the podcast in general. So we really wanted to know, Anouar, what was the pivotal moment that led you to adopt the vegan lifestyle? What happened? What— I mean, when did it happen? And, and, and, and how come you already all of a sudden made that decision to completely change your life?

Yes, excellent question. So, you know, over the years I just was not feeling well. A lot of stomach issues, just, just, just wasn't, wasn't feeling well. I— nobody had an answer. I went to, you know, different doctors, etc. No answer. And then with my mom, I happened to go to a vegan, a raw vegan retreat, and I learned about how the body works, what food does to you, and it just really opened my eyes to everything. So I started, you know, got really serious about it initially. You know, I was— I don't know if I was exactly on the SAD diet, the standard American diet, but switching from the SAD diet to a vegan diet, your body's not ready. So like initially I wasn't feeling well. But over time it just, you know, I was feeling great. You know, you're light, you don't have that sleepiness after eating. So I just really enjoyed it. And ever since then I've stuck with it.

So you're saying that you were experiencing health problems and because of that you figured out maybe I'm not eating right, maybe it's my nutrition and maybe I need to change something. Your mom took you to this vegan retreat. Yeah. God bless her soul. And she, and then you really got hooked on the lifestyle. Exactly. And when you, so when you adopted the lifestyle, like how long did it take you until you started really feeling changes? Like feeling, I don't know, changes in mood, like you said, changes in the way you carry yourself. Etc.?

Probably 3 to 6 months. It took, took a while because when you completely change the way you eat or you completely change something about your life, initially you're, you don't know what's going on. You know, you're, you're kind of lost. So, so it took me, you know, a little, little while to, to get used to the new way of eating, the new way of feeling. So It took about 3 to 6 months, and then, then I, you know, got totally into the groove. Mhm.

Oh, 3 to 6 months. Wow. Okay. Um, that, that's, that's quite amazing. It's quite amazing. Uh, okay, I see that our live didn't work so much, so well. Okay, so I guess I'm gonna have to work on that for next time that we're gonna go live. But, uh, but anyways, um, we can continue here. So So that's really, really interesting. So I, you know, prehand prepared a few questions to ask you, obviously, because I wanted to kind of make sure I don't miss anything from the questions that I thought about and thought that also our audience will find valuable, that has value in them. So many people have concerns about obtaining adequate nutrition on a vegan diet. So they say, If you don't eat meat, you're not going to get enough vitamin B12, omega-3, or, you know, all those oils. So what do you say to these people?

So with any diet, you have to be really conscious about what you eat. So you could be vegan and eat, you know, pasta and really processed food all the time. So if you want to thrive in any diet and again, you don't have to be vegan, whatever diet you want to thrive, and you wanna get enough vegetables, you wanna get a variety of foods. So if you're vegan, you know, if you're really aware of what you're eating, so, you know, I make sure I eat a lot of greens, I make sure I eat a lot of nuts, things like that. So you get the protein, you get the right oils, you know, olive oil, add those things into your diet so then you could get all the nutrition you need. You know, just, just to be clear, B12 is an issue for all vegans. And actually B12, my understanding is, is an issue for, you know, all, you know, non-vegans as well. So I need to supplement with B12. That's the only thing that, that you cannot get from a plant-based diet.

So you buy separate supplements for B12?

Yes.

Okay. And Is there— besides, besides that, is there anything, any food source that you are consuming to balance those nutrition deficiencies?

So, I mean, I really don't think I am, you know, just based on bloodwork, I'm not deficient in anything. So, so you could get a, you know, if you're eating a wide variety, again, lots of vegetables, lots of fruits, lots of nuts, avocado. You really can thrive on this, on this lifestyle. Just, you know, supplement with B12.

It's really, it's really amazing because there is so much, you know, I don't know, stigma, misconception. People just don't understand that, that diet completely, you know, you know, what are some of those misconceptions or myths in veganism that you think that you could maybe shed a little bit some more light on and maybe, maybe even debunk them? You know what I'm saying?

Sure. I mean, everybody, first question is, how do you get your protein? You know, so that's everybody's concerned about that. So again, protein is extremely important, especially as you're aging. With your muscles. So, if you, again, if you eat, I mean, a lot of vegetables have protein in them. I make sure, again, going back to nuts, I get a good amount, I eat a good amount of nuts. So, those kind of things, you can get adequate protein. People think, again, like what you said, that you're undernourished, But actually, again, if you're going away from processed foods and try to eat as much whole foods as possible, you are, you know, you're better off than the standard diet. Absolutely.

Okay. So, you're saying that, I mean, either way you look at it, when you eat vegan, you're well off than eating the standard American diet, also known as SAD.

Right, exactly.

Which represent pretty much the burgers, fried.

Yes.

High fat, high carbohydrate, and then pizza and, and stuff like that.

Exactly.

So, so, so would be, so obviously just, just replacing that with any type of vegan alternative will already, absolutely improve your life, will already make a difference in your life in the long run. But, but could you also provide a little bit some practical tips, you know, like things that, you know, our listeners who are interested in transitioning to a vegan lifestyle, you know, how can they effectively navigate the challenges and ensure a smooth transition into this lifestyle?

Excellent question. So I think it's it's a mindset change. So if, you know, you commit to it but you want to eat a meatloaf or you want to try to replicate those comfort foods that maybe you were, you know, you're used to, then you will be disappointed. You know, I don't think those types of foods, especially when they're trying to mimic cheese or, or those kind of meat dishes, I think it's a mind change that now you're okay with a new type of food. They're delicious, new type of food, and it's just a different experience. So, I think being okay with trying new things, being patient with yourself, you know, and maybe go slow, maybe, you know, start one day a week or, you know, once in a while, like eat, less, less meat or less dairy products. Just slowly, slowly get into it.

Amazing. What about like socially? Sure. Do you feel that it's, you know, kind of so sets you back a little bit? It's a good—

it's a good question. So I feel like it's a positive and negative because if you— when you're vegan or if you follow kashrus, somebody at work gives you a candy bar or gives you whatever, you know, like they're eating some junk food, you can't just, you have to stop and kind of ask, is this, you know, does this have dairy? Does it have, you know, eggs or whatever? So same thing. So like I think it forces you to think before you eat. And just like, you know, we're proud being Jewish. If people see you're serious, they respect you. So I haven't found any downsides as far as social, especially if you live in a place like Los Angeles. There's many alternatives when you go out. It is a bit challenging for children, being completely honest. You know, there's always birthday cakes, etc. So if you, if you go and you really want your, your children to follow the same thing, you have to be prepared, you know, bring, bring your own snacks, bring your own, you know, sweets if you want to make sure that they continue being vegan.

Okay, so, so, so, so as far as parenting as a vegan parent, you always have to kind of be on the lookout, make sure, you know, you bring with you vegan snacks.

Exactly.

And you educate your children, you know, in a way that it's, it's a serious thing, right?

You know, I mean, and again, you want to do it in a way where you don't create negative feelings in the kids, you know, like where they, they resent the, the, the whole thing. So you want to try to do it in a positive way, right?

So, um, yeah, obviously children, uh, you know, they, they exposed to many commercials and billboards and stuff about meat, and, and, uh, and, and, you know, they see their friends eating meat. Exactly. It's not an easy thing to have them adopt a lifestyle which is required you to be very restrictive of many, many different things that are available to children there to eat. And yeah, so you're saying it's possible? It's possible.

Yeah, absolutely.

It's possible. What would be the tip you would give a parent that would want to, you know, tell their children, you know, to adopt that lifestyle without having the child, you know, rebel, right?

Yeah, I mean, I think that's very, very tough, especially like we started with the kids from when they were born there, they, you know, we started out like that. So it's more of a challenge, I feel like, when, when they're older. However, if you introduce foods that they really enjoy, which may take, you know, many tries, you know, fruit or special kind of dishes, and then they start liking that. I think they'll be, you know, just be patient, I think, is the, with everything with children, try to introduce them to things that they would like.

Cool. What would be like a regular day in your life? Like you wake up in the morning, what do you eat for breakfast?

Sure. So, you know, recently I completely changed my diet. I'm still 100% vegan, but I started using a CGM, continuous glucose monitor, to monitor how my body reacts to sugar. So, you know, previously I would eat lots of grains for breakfast with fruit, and I could really see on the CGM how it affected my body. My blood sugar would go up like crazy, especially oats, those kind of things. So, I'm not 100% ketogenic, but I really believe in that kind of diet where less sugar. So, for breakfast now, I basically eat lunch for breakfast. So I will cook a ton of vegetables, whatever's in season. So, you know, for example, today I, I cooked broccoli, beet leaves. Let's see what else. What else was in there? Carrots. Let's, let's see what else. Fennel, those kind of things. Lots of greens. And cook that with some, you know, with some oil and some salt and ate it with different kinds of nut butters and some tahini. That's, you know, that's for breakfast. For lunch, I'll have, I'll create a smoothie that has, you know, nut butters, spinach, a little bit of banana, those kind of things. So that's like, you know, Typical, typical, like breakfast, lunch for me.

So, so, so you don't eat dinner, are you?

No, no, no. Yeah, I— dinner is different because it's with the kids. So, you know, today I had a big salad for dinner with avocado and tahini and oil. So that was— that's a typical dinner for me. Okay.

Like you would have more vegetables. So, so you're saying that you know, even though you are adapting a vegan lifestyle, you still try to keep it low carb?

Yes. Yes.

Gluten-free?

Uh, not— yeah, I mean, not 100%, not 100%, but definitely. I mean, if you, if you see like how the sugar affects your, your body, it's like, it was so, so eye-opening. Um, so I, I'm, uh, you know, what you want to keep your sugar levels like steady. So, I, you know, I experimented with many foods. It took me probably 6, again, 6 months to kind of figure it out. But now, like, I feel like this is a good, you know, good type of food where like everything is kind of keeps my sugar level steady. And you could still, you know, build muscle, you could still do all that. You just don't have these spikes. Oh, I see. I see.

What do you say about, you know, about, you know, many research that, uh, that came out about, uh, vegan meats that they are actually not good for you? For example, like Beyond Meat.

Yeah.

And Impossible. Some people say like Impossible is genetically modified, uh, food, it's not healthy. Same thing with Beyond Meat, that it's actually, uh, even worse for your health than, uh, than beef.

I mean, you know, we use it sparingly. You know, we do use those things. However, I think you're fooling yourself if you think those things are good for you. They have to, you know, kind of mimic and kind of change the way the, you know, the different grains and et cetera to kind of have that same feel. So, I am, You know, I definitely don't think those are, those are good for you. They're highly processed. So again, you know, once in a while it's okay. But if you're, if you're turning into a vegan lifestyle and that is your staple, I think you're, you're doing yourself a disservice. Right? Right.

Yeah. I mean, I mean, personally, I was, you know, I tried the burgers, you know, Beyond Burgers, I still buy them. You know, I have them in my fridge. It's a good alternative for sometimes. But yeah, but like you said, not all the time. But again, it's, it's never the same, you know what I'm saying? Like, I've been, I've been hearing a podcast about, about nutrition, that there are certain things in red meat that nothing can replicate.

Sure, true. Yeah, nothing.

Like, you can't replace it. I mean, this is only there, and it's the only source, right? And if you want to get those, you know, essential vitamins and minerals that are essential for brain functioning— and, and, and, and, and there was even, you know, research researchers that, that came out and said that if you don't if your body is lacking those, you know, minerals and vitamins that are inside the meat, then you might even find yourself, you know, developing all kind of mental illnesses like depression and anxiety, you know, God forbid. But I know that this is more also, you know, has to do with, you know, gut health in general. Gut health is something that really affects everything in our life, the way we feel, the way we, you know, our energy level during the day and all that good stuff.

Yeah, just to interrupt, like, gut, I completely agree. So, you know, try to incorporate fermented foods. So, you know, sauerkraut is a big, big deal in our house. Wheat that all the time, you know, just that, that good bacteria, I think, is very, very important. I completely agree.

Yeah. So yeah, totally tons of fragmented food. And also if you can get like a probiotic supplement, which I add personally, I take a probiotic supplement plus I also take enzymes that help me break the food that I eat and fiber sometimes, you know, when I feel like that my food doesn't have enough fiber and I eat fiber. So yeah, I mean, I have really experienced with different lifestyle. I also did raw vegan, which was amazing. I remember when I did raw vegan, that was like really major drop in weight. That's something that I remember. Because you're pretty much eating only live and live fruits and vegetables and nuts, stuff like that. But it's a very hard lifestyle and it's hard socially and you have to constantly be busy with your food, constantly busy preparing and buying and shopping and all that stuff, which is like having another part-time job. But, you know, then I kind of started adopting the ketogenic diet which really made a difference, made a difference that I felt with the energy levels that I had. Like, I felt, you know, more energy, more desire to just get out there and just go and do and go to the gym and work out and just, you just feel more vitality. I can't even explain it, more vitality. But then Passover came and that kind of broke a little bit this, uh, this, this lifestyle. So now I'm like maybe 70/30, but I'm starting to go back to the, the ketogenic lifestyle, which is just happened to work out for me, uh, for now until I get to the goal of how much, uh, for the weight that I want to drop. Okay, so sometimes we also hear about, you know, just like, you know, vegan lifestyle has many advantages, not only like to the person who actually adopting the lifestyle, but it's also, you know, something that it has a very positive environmental impact on our planet. So can you elaborate a little bit on how veganism contributes to the system, to this sustainability? And the preservation of our planet?

Yeah, I mean, I'm definitely not an expert in this, this area. My understanding is it takes a tremendous amount of water, it takes a tremendous amount of, um, you know, like grass and, and feed to, to produce a cow. Um, also my understanding is, you know, the methane gas for that, the, the the livestock produce, it has lots of negative effects on the environment. So, I think if you, you know, again, I'm not an expert in this area at all, but, you know, my understanding is if we consume less, you know, less meat, less poultry, it'll be less strain on the environment.

Fantastic, fantastic. You know what, anything that's good for the environment, it's good for me. Yes, even though, you know, I'm not, you know, vegan, but I can tell you that I really care about the planet, and, and I know that vegan lifestyle does help in that manner. And I hope that, you know, eventually, you know, the whole food industry will be an industry that will not only hurt the planet but will do the exact opposite, actually, you know, help the planet and preserve whatever it is that we still have to preserve so we can live here for many, many more years happily and sustainably and have beautiful vegetables and fruits and whatever it is that we need that it's being provided to us, but our Creator will keep being provided. Thank you so much.

Just maybe a couple things I could add if you're okay. Sure. You know, I think, you know, with any nutritional lifestyle, it's only one part of your overall health. So, you know, like, you know, one thing that I'm a big proponent of, including in, in addition to, to that, is, is fasting. So I think, you know, fasting has a huge benefit to, to your overall body, gives your body a chance to rest. And I'm not talking about a dry fast, you know, a fast that you can, you could drink, or maybe even just, you consume minimal amount of calories. So my understanding from the, you know, the research I read is, you know, after a few days of fasting, something happens called autophagy, where cells that could be maybe precancerous cells or cells that could have potential issues, they basically like, you know, just die. So your body gets rid of them.

That's— you're talking about intermittent No, no, no.

I'm talking about full, full-on fasting where you don't eat for maybe 48 hours.

Just water.

Just water. Just water. So like lots of, lots of things happen, you know, in your body. You, you start using up the excess, you know, fats that you have in your body as fuel, gives your body a break.

That's amazing. You know what? That's, that's actually a subject of its own. I'd love to, you know, invite you maybe one more time to do another episode and talk about fasting in general and the benefits of fasting and how, you know, we can utilize it and what research out there that we can, you know, back on and really, you know, take advantage of this amazing thing called fasting. And amazing. Yeah.

And then one more, one more thing, just, just so like, you know, again, I think about, you know, like nutrition as just one part of your overall being. I think to be healthy, you need to move, you need to, you know, lift weights, you need to do these kind of things where, you know, again, from my understanding is, is nutrition could do a lot of harm. But once you get your nutrition to like a really good level, there's only so much you can do. But moving your body, doing, you know, putting strain on your muscles, that is, is huge for your overall health. So, you know, I want to make sure that everybody understands that it's not, you know, you want to do all these things to have optimal health, right?

So it's not only what you eat, it's also make sure you get your exercise, make sure you move your body. You know, there is a saying that I love to use. It's called Eat less, move more.

Yeah.

So we should all eat less and move more.

Yeah.

And, yeah, and get, get our juices flowing and get all this extra weight that we accumulated during COVID off. So thank you guys for watching, and we're looking forward to see you at the next podcast. Thank you so much, Mr. Norbert Akerman. And remember to check out his website, uh, Zunashoes.com. And also, uh, please like, share, and subscribe. See you next time.