Gabrielle Reece On Optimal Nutrition, Homeschooling & Life With Laird

Today on the podcast, Rich and Julie Piatt sit down with uber-athlete and fitness / wellness advocate Gabrielle Reece to talk about health & fitness, the importance of good nutrition, Gabby's general perspective on marriage and relationships (…and yes, sex), how she makes it work with her husband — famed big wave surfer Laird Hamilton– homeschooling her girls, female role models, failing “upward”, dealing with negativity, food & fitness tips for getting started in the right direction for the new year, and of course her upcoming book, My Foot Is Too Big for the Glass Slipper: A Guide to the Less Than Perfect Life* (Scribner, coming April 2013). Enjoy! Rich [NOTE: apologies for the audio quality. Podcasting from a warehouse has its drawbacks, particularly when it's pouring rain, as it was today. The background noise is showers on a tin roof. Did the best we could.] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Rich Roll?

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• 0:44Rich Roll?

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• 1:13Rich Roll?

  The Rich Roll Podcast.

• 1:17Rich Roll?

  Podcasting from the warehouse.

• 1:19Julie Piatt?

  Welcome to the warehouse.

• 1:20Rich Roll?

  Yeah, episode eight of the podcast. How you doing?

• 1:24Julie Piatt?

  Doing great, Rich Roll.

• 1:26Rich Roll?

  Jacy.

• 1:27Julie Piatt?

  Thanks for having me back.

• 1:28Rich Roll?

  Yeah, it's good to be back. It's been a week. We gotta do, I think we need to up it up to like two a week, three a week.

• 1:34Julie Piatt?

  What happened? What happened to the schedule?

• 1:36Rich Roll?

  Life happened. It's busy.

• 1:38Julie Piatt?

  But you know what? I'm really excited because we've got a wonderful, exciting guest today joining us.

• 1:43Rich Roll?

  Who's that?

• 1:44Julie Piatt?

  The amazing goddess Gabrielle Reece.

• 1:49Speaker 02

  How are you guys?

• 1:49Rich Roll?

  Hey, Gabby.

• 1:50Speaker 02

  It's really interesting to watch the interaction between the husband and wife team. It was just kind of fun just to sit back.

• 1:57Rich Roll?

  Wait till we start arguing.

• 1:58Julie Piatt?

  I know the kids are like, "Yeah, you have no idea."

• 2:01Rich Roll?

  I know. Just for the listener out there, we have Tyler Manning, the audio levels, and my nephew Harrison here. They're our producers. It's a family affair.

• 2:10Julie Piatt?

  Absolutely.

• 2:11Rich Roll?

  Julie and Gabby. And we're sitting in a warehouse that is kind of a semi-functioning warehouse. There's people coming in and out, and they were pressure cleaning a minute ago, and we had to shut it down. And so if you hear a lot of background noise, you know, that's just, we're just gonna have to live with it.

• 2:26Julie Piatt?

  That's right. We really are in a warehouse, and we don't want Tyler to lose his mind, so we'll just deal with a little banging.

• 2:32Rich Roll?

  Right. It's like when you go to a yoga class, and at the end, there's the shavasana meditative part, and everyone wants it perfectly quiet.

• 2:42Julie Piatt?

  There's a car honking.

• 2:43Rich Roll?

  Yeah, and there's a car honking, and people get angry.

• 2:45Julie Piatt?

  Car alarm.

• 2:46Rich Roll?

  But if you go to India, there's people meditating all over the place, and it's the most cacophonous, you know, there's no quiet space.

• 2:53Julie Piatt?

  What does that word mean? Cacophonous? Is that what you said? Please educate me.

• 2:57Rich Roll?

  Loud. Lots of different noises coming at you.

• 3:00Julie Piatt?

  That's awesome.

• 3:01Speaker 02

  I think you two should sit next to each other.

• 3:03Rich Roll?

  No, that would be bad.

• 3:05Speaker 02

  Not across.

• 3:06Rich Roll?

  You need to mediate.

• 3:07Speaker 02

  I see why you really have a guest. It's just to sit in the middle.

• 3:11Rich Roll?

  Right. You have to mediate. We did get in almost a little bit of a spat a couple episodes ago.

• 3:16Speaker 02

  Well, that's good that you're assigned to your mics, and you can't really move, so...

• 3:19Rich Roll?

  Right. I can't reach her.

• 3:21Julie Piatt?

  We're keeping it real. That's what we're here to talk to Gabby about.

• 3:24Rich Roll?

  Exactly.

• 3:25Julie Piatt?

  Being married 15 years.

• 3:27Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. That's why I don't have Laird here. He is truly in a meeting, because we don't want to get that real, do we?

• 3:31Rich Roll?

  No, that's too scary.

• 3:33Julie Piatt?

  We're gonna keep our fingers crossed that we get you guys back.

• 3:36Speaker 02

  He wouldn't need a mic. He could just sit over there and talk, and we could all hear him.

• 3:39Julie Piatt?

  And you'd hear him?

• 3:40Speaker 02

  I'm not kidding.

• 3:41Julie Piatt?

  That'd be good, actually, because I don't think we have another mic.

• 3:43Rich Roll?

  I know. Well, yeah, if you're Laird, you don't need, yeah. You just walk in, and actually, the listeners on the other end would actually be able to see him.

• 3:52Speaker 02

  Feel the vibration.

• 3:53Julie Piatt?

  Absolutely.

• 3:54Speaker 02

  I'm not kidding. I can feel the vibration before I actually hear him. Yeah, anyway.

• 3:58Julie Piatt?

  It's a beautiful thing.

• 3:59Rich Roll?

  When he walks in.

• 4:00Speaker 02

  It is. It's lively.

• 4:01Rich Roll?

  Uh-huh.

• 4:02Speaker 02

  It's amazing.

• 4:03Rich Roll?

  He's a man's man.

• 4:04Speaker 02

  And he's a ladies' man, too.

• 4:07Speaker 02

  That's great.

• 4:09Rich Roll?

  So anyway, Tyler, there's a weird humming sound in the background. Can you hear that? What's going on? Alright, whatever. We're living with it.

• 4:17Speaker 02

  I can hear the Kauai rain.

• 4:18Rich Roll?

  Oh, that's probably just the rain. Yeah, so we're on the North Shore of Kauai. And we're getting into the rainy season and it pretty much rains constantly. And, uh, living in the yurts, you can hear, it's pretty loud at night. It's very loud. And everything like that.

• 4:32Speaker 02

  Well, yeah, we have a tin roof. That's perfect.

• 4:34Rich Roll?

  Exactly. I know, it's great, great audio. It wasn't raining before, so we thought, oh, we'll do it in the warehouse, and now it's raining.

• 4:41Speaker 02

  Okay, now I can't hear you. Your lips are moving across the, across the studio, but I can't hear you.

• 4:46Rich Roll?

  Well, we're just gonna do it anyway.

• 4:47Speaker 02

  I sometimes say that to my husband, as a joke.

• 4:50Rich Roll?

  What, your lips are moving, but I can't hear you?

• 4:52Speaker 02

  No, I'm like, what? What? She can hear you. And actually, she reads your lips, anyway. You could be across the room, having a conversation.

• 5:01Rich Roll?

  She reads my mind. She just looks at my face, and then she turns around and walks the other way.

• 5:06Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 5:16Rich Roll?

  So, thanks for taking the time to be with us today.

• 5:19Speaker 02

  Oh, it's my pleasure.

• 5:20Rich Roll?

  That's cool. So, you are a North Shore, kind of semi-native. You're going back and forth between Los Angeles. How much time do you spend here?

• 5:28Speaker 02

  Well, we base out of here, um... So Laird grew up on Kauai.

• 5:33Rich Roll?

  Mm-hmm.

• 5:34Speaker 02

  And, on the end, at the, you know, they called it the deep country. And, um... So, we, we, we live here for his surfing season, which is winter. The low pressures that bring snow bring large waves, so we sort of make our way here in late October, and usually stay here till, uh, mid to late April.

• 5:53Rich Roll?

  Mm-hmm.

• 5:54Speaker 02

  And, um, we've been doing that, um, and then we spend the other six months based out of, uh, Los Angeles. We've been doing that for about seventeen years, and, um, we used to go to Maui for about twelve or thirteen years. And, um, finally, about four or five years ago, had the opportunity to make our way back to Kauai. And, so, we, we do that with our, with our family.

• 6:15Rich Roll?

  Right, very cool. I remember I saw that, um... There was that show on, I think it was on the Sundance Channel Iconoclasts where like Eddie Vedder came out and hung out. And you got a really good feel. What I loved about it was just that it kind of took its time and you kind of got the sense and the feel of what your life is like. And that was Maui though, when you guys were in Maui, right?

• 6:36Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:37Rich Roll?

  But it was really cool and just a kind of a flavor of, you know, raising the girls and having this, you know, different kind of family life. And, you know, that's what really interests me, interests Julie is, is, you know, really looking into and kind of experimenting with different ways of raising our kids and different locations. And, you know, not just sort of saying, "Well, this is how everybody else lives and, you know, we live in the cul-de-sac and we go to this job" or whatever. But saying, "Hey, maybe there's something more. Let's take a step back and really evaluate how we're spending our time and is there a different way? Is there a better way?" or whatever. And I think that, you know, you guys have something figured out that's pretty cool.

• 7:17Speaker 02

  Well, I'll be honest, I don't know if we have anything figured out. But I do know one thing through this experience is that the minute that you sort of see a system in place, you are beholden to it when you say, "Okay, I'm gonna live by those rules." Like, "Okay, we're gonna enroll in this school and then we're gonna go through that system." But the minute that you, if you have that opportunity to step out of that, then you, I stopped pressuring out about it. Like, my kids, two, my younger two daughters are homeschooled with a teacher. And, um, and my oldest is gonna be going into university.

• 7:56Speaker 02

  But it was the minute I sort of said, "This is how we're gonna do it. It feels right for our family and this timing." Then I stopped worrying about that other system that's in place that I, that we weren't participating in.

• 8:10Julie Piatt?

  Like questioning if you were missing out on something or making a mistake.

• 8:14Speaker 02

  Correct.

• 8:14Julie Piatt?

  Right.

• 8:15Speaker 02

  You know, I have a friend right now, for example, she lives in Los Angeles and her daughter is a freshman in high school and a great kid. And she goes to a really good school, what's, you know, quote, "good school."

• 8:26Julie Piatt?

  Right.

• 8:27Speaker 02

  And it's not right for her. And the family has decided to take her out and... And homeschool her online through the school. They have an online. And I think the minute that they all sort of made the decision and they realized that that is what is right for this particular child, they were really relieved. But I think it's difficult. I think it's really difficult because it comes from us at all, from all areas. You know, about like, about, well, where would they go, you know, where would they go to school and what activities and all the activities after school. Right, they won't be properly socialized or they'll be, you know. Or even like sports.

• 9:03Rich Roll?

  It's threatening because it's outside of the norm. And so, you know, when somebody hears that, people get defensive. And, you know, we talked about this the other day on the podcast when we were talking about homeschooling, we're homeschooling our kids. And, and I come from a very traditional schooling and education background and, and it's a struggle for me, like, just to kind of accept it or, I guess, embrace it, really. Like, I have fears, or is this the right thing? I don't know. And I see my little girls and I know that it's right for them. It's not right for everybody, but, you know, especially with Mathis, our eight-year-old, well, she just turned nine yesterday. You know, I'm confident that we're doing the right thing for her. But it's also scary because you take on that responsibility in a whole new way.

• 9:47Rich Roll?

  You're not abdicating all of that to some institution where you can just go to sleep at night and figure, oh, it's being taken care of for me.

• 9:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, and that, and that is, and that is true, but then I think you can look around that, the way I look at it is, you see so many people that have gone through that system and even like, you know, went to an Ivy League university.

• 10:07Speaker 02

  And, and was that always the answer?

• 10:11Rich Roll?

  Yeah, you're talking about me. I mean, that's my experience. Yeah, I did all that and then I kind of got on the other side of it and I go, well, wait a minute, you know, like, is this, I don't even know if this is what I want to be doing or, you know what I mean? Like, I never asked myself those questions or it was never sort of enforced upon me to really kind of, you know, get to know myself or what I want or what I'm, you know, what I'm kind of here to do. Or, you know, I think everybody has a certain thing that they're here to do. You know, not everybody's going to be Michael Jordan or Gabby Rees or Laird Hamilton, but everybody has something, you know, in their heart or whatever that is kind of their legacy or their mission on this planet. And I think as parents, it's our job to help the child figure out what that is and support,

• 10:55Rich Roll?

  and support that as best as we can.

• 10:57Julie Piatt?

  But I think what Gabby was saying is key, though, is the school being in a system that requires you to be at a certain place on certain days, and even a system that, for instance, I had a situation where my grandmother came into town, and she lives in Alaska, and we were living in California, and she's in her 80s, and so I told, at the time Mathis was enrolled in a school, and I told the school administrator that she was going to be out for four days being with her grandmother, and I got cited for truancy, because it's a law, the only reason someone can be absent from school is, I think it's illness, grief,

• 11:40Julie Piatt?

  or, you know, pre-excused absence for some, you know, some activity.

• 11:46Speaker 02

  But they didn't hear you, you said, "My mother's coming in town, it's grief." Do you not know? I'm kidding, I'm kidding.

• 11:51Julie Piatt?

  So, I mean, I told them, thinking that that would be a great thing.

• 11:56Speaker 02

  Of course.

• 11:57Julie Piatt?

  Of course, right? We want to nurture them.

• 11:59Speaker 02

  How long is she going to be around? She lives far away.

• 12:01Julie Piatt?

  And then I was in trouble. That's why I was in trouble. So I think...

• 12:04Rich Roll?

  Well, they encourage you to lie. They're basically, we're saying, "Come back and tell us that she's sick. Don't tell us that she needs to spend time with her elder."

• 12:09Speaker 02

  A family member.

• 12:10Julie Piatt?

  Exactly. So then my children then saw me lie, you know, because I was like, "Oh, okay, that's interesting." So, anyway, I think, but what you were saying is, when you let go of that system, I mean, talk to me about the freedom that you guys have in your life.

• 12:24Speaker 02

  Well, it is freedom, but, and also to Rich's point, it's a scary thing, too, because you sort of go, "Well, it's up to us, and we're making this choice," and certainly people are much smarter than us at this, but the other side of it is this, is what is liberating even more, or reconfirming, is, I look around, and you, in this day and age, you could go to the best school and the best university, and it doesn't actually guarantee you, quote, "a job," which was the point, besides, you know, my grandmother was an educator, "Furthering your horizons," is what I was told, and even when I was a teenager, she also told me, "Well, you know, university isn't for everybody," and she looked right at me, and I was like, "Well, what does that mean?" And truthfully, probably the only reason I ended up going to university was because

• 13:08Speaker 02

  I won an athletic scholarship. But so my point is, is it, let's say we lived in a different time where it was sort of like, if you got a four-year degree, you sort of were guaranteed some kind of job, right? Now, you're not guaranteed that. You probably would incur quite a bit of debt if your family couldn't afford to pay for that schooling. And so, in a way, it alleviates me, because I'm like, hey, listen, everyone's rolling the dice on some level. If you're marching them through the door, um, to go through this system and not teaching them to think for themselves, um, I tell, Laird, and I talk about it, and I mean this in a positive way. Our kids now, they have to be hustlers. You better understand what you're good at, and what you are, enjoy doing, and you better, when you see an opening, understand how you fit in that opening, and be a hustler.

• 13:52Speaker 02

  Because the guaranteed of like, oh, you have your law degree, or your accounting, or business degree, that really doesn't mean so much. It doesn't exist. It doesn't, unless you're like, a tech genius, and that only, you know, how long, that's always changing as well. So, part of me goes, well, listen, it's, it's all a risk, at this point. So, if, if we can spend time together, and influence them, and impact them as long as we can, because at 12 or 13, they start to drift away anyway, at some, on some level. And it might change, like, they might-

• 14:22Rich Roll?

  It's always changing, and I think that idea, you know, as a parent, you want your kids to be safe, and you wanna, want them to have choices, and all that sort of stuff. But, um, I think a lot of that sort of, uh, security that you imagine is illusionary, and, and things are changing a lot. And, of course, if you go to law school, or medical school, you have a good chance of getting a job in those professions, um, but you, you better know that that's what you want, and you're not doing it just because it seems like a good way to make a living.

• 14:51Speaker 02

  Or someone else told you to do that, yeah.

• 14:53Rich Roll?

  The biggest problem is that the system is set up so that, when you graduate, you're in debt, you know, and, for a lot of people. And, and to start your sort of professional life, like, owing a bunch of money- Compels you to make decisions you might not ordinarily make about what you want to spend your time doing, you know?

• 15:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, but it is, it is a luxury too. I always acknowledge that, that the opportunity to homeschool your children, if your schedule permits, if your environment permits, or to even be able to ask that question, is still, it is a luxury. And I guess it's one of those things, like, is it a luxury because we've said, okay, this is important enough that we're asking it? But I also know that most people are just trying to make it happen.

• 15:35Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 15:36Speaker 02

  Every day.

• 15:37Rich Roll?

  Yeah, and it's hard, and I think a lot of people out there are like, well, I'd love to do that, but, you know, I'm busy, and I work two jobs, or my wife and I both work, and we don't have time, or we don't have the resources to hire

• 15:45Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 15:46Rich Roll?

  A tutor to come over, or whatever. And I think there are still options available for those people, if they're really, really want to explore it and are interested. But, you know, I acknowledge that it's not, you know, it's, it's a difficult thing. It's not, it's not going to work for everybody's lives.

• 15:59Speaker 02

  Right.

• 16:00Julie Piatt?

  Yeah, I mean, I think that, again, as, as we go along this path, and we're, you know, we're exploring it, that sort of new support systems will appear. And, you know, my favorite one that I've been calling in and asking for is, just give me five families. Just five. That's all. Five that basically have similar, you know, lifestyle. And let's have each of those parents donate four hours a month. Okay? Now, I already know, just combining our family and your family, Gabby's family, we already have a wealth of people, and, you know, the, also, the older brothers, as well as the parents.

• 16:39Julie Piatt?

  So if people just donated four hours a month, and then we hired a teacher and split, and I'm a big fan of not splitting the grades, I like the whole tribe together. I think that that is an enriching life experience. It's something that I experience every day with my own family, and, you know, we're learning French as a family in the car, listening to tapes. It's hilarious, it's fun, and we're all doing it together.

• 17:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:08Julie Piatt?

  It's amazing.

• 17:09Rich Roll?

  Yeah, it's cool. So, but, you know, not easy.

• 17:12Speaker 02

  It's easy.

• 17:14Rich Roll?

  It's easy.

• 17:15Speaker 02

  Just let go. That's what I was telling him.

• 17:18Rich Roll?

  All right, I'll work on that.

• 17:19Speaker 02

  But I do think it's, you know, that I've learned from being with someone who's very, I always sort of said, one of the things I really appreciate about Laird was that he

• 17:31Speaker 02

  He's not gonna be changed, you know, I'm not gonna change him. And that actually brought out of a good side of me because women have a tendency to try to mother, change, control situations. Even if we don't mean to, that's just in our nature. And so when you're with a male that you can't change, you put the energy to other things. And also you actually continue to respect them because they're not letting you change them. But is, is that I think the interesting thing to study about domestic living as it's set up is, men love their wives and their children, and they gotta get out. At the same time. It's like this constant conflicted thing that you see, like you see the love. Like they come in and you're like, oh, there they are, there's the children, there's my wife, I love her.

• 18:16Speaker 02

  And then after a few moments, they're like, oh my god, I gotta get out of here. And it's, I think it's so natural, and it's so not to be taken personally, but I have really learned that over the 17 years, that it's just in them, you know, it's just a natural. So for a woman, it's like, yeah, let's all be together. And homeschool, and the guy's like, uh huh, oh my god, I gotta get out of here.

• 18:34Rich Roll?

  Keep speaking the truth.

• 18:35Speaker 02

  But it's true.

• 18:36Rich Roll?

  It is true. You know, it's really, and that's a, that's like, that, that issue is a, or that subject matter is like a huge thing in our family. And it's a big part of our personal story in our marriage and in our family. I mean, I think that, and we, we talked about this a couple of episodes ago too, but, you know, we kind of went through that where, you know, I was in a certain place and Julie kinda wanted me to be different, and we, we played that game out, you know, and that didn't really go in a great direction, you know, and that caused a lot of problems in our marriage. And, yeah, we did, you know, have a little, you know, we split for a day. But like, we had, you know, we had, we had some, you know, we had some problems, and then kind of Julie's evolution with, with coming to terms with exactly what you said,

• 19:20Rich Roll?

  and, and how that kind of changed our relationship and our, in our marriage, and so.

• 19:25Speaker 02

  It shifted everything, actually. And it's funny, it's like, I wrote an article, it was posted on Mind Body Green, and.

• 19:31Julie Piatt?

  It was basically about bringing a divine awareness into the relationship. So you're talking about the human relationship, which is basically a business agreement. Because you say, you meet somebody and you fall in love and you project your image of who you want them to be, who they really were never, they were never that. But then when you find out they're not that, then you get mad at them and it's this whole cycle. So we had this big shift in our relationship, you know, really after seven years of really everybody telling me how right I was and nothing was shifting, like it wasn't shifting. And I finally had to really look inside myself and see that the fact that I wanted him to change was in fact an energy that was paralyzing the entire transformation.

• 20:13Julie Piatt?

  And when I actually got that and I was able to let go and just go, he is who he is, I love him just for his essence, purely. He could do whatever he wants. Like it's not, it was at that moment that everything shifted.

• 20:26Speaker 02

  Right. And I think it's, well, and I mean, not to be crass, but I think it's really important for men to keep their balls, if you will. And I think women that try to take them away, not only, again, she will no longer be attracted to him.

• 20:42Rich Roll?

  Yeah, if she's successful in that, then she's not gonna like the guy that she...

• 20:45Speaker 02

  It's not at all. Not at all. And he'll resent her. And the other interesting thing I have found, well, and I think even with children, it's harder with children because we're so responsible for them on some level, but is, I sort of have decided and I have noticed that Laird has done the same on his side, is I'll worry about how I'm acting and being and treating you and what I'm bringing to the table and I'm really gonna hope that you're gonna do the same. And I have found that that seems to be the best method because if the person isn't willing anyway, you're not gonna make them. And so then you don't have that struggle of, you know, I want this and I need that.

• 21:30Speaker 02

  It's like, no, I'm gonna treat you with love and respect and honor, I'm gonna try to have some fun and have a smile on my face when you come home and deliver whatever that expectation is, right? My family, in some ways, we're very old fashioned. I cook and we do the thing and if it's stinky and dead, Laird's digging the hole and burying it and we have that understanding. And that seems to help it flow better. You know, and every couple, you guys have a diff, you know, everyone has their own...

• 22:01Speaker 02

  What are we bringing? But I think the minute you sort of trust them that, "Oh, you know what? My girl or my guy, he's gonna, he'll pull, he'll bring it to his, from his side."

• 22:14Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 22:15Speaker 02

  You know?

• 22:15Rich Roll?

  But you had to learn that through experience, right? I mean, this is not, you know?

• 22:19Speaker 02

  Listen, forget one day breakup. Try like six month breakup. You know, I think we, Larry and I, I'd say we had two very, very challenging times. One in particular. And, you know, he always says, "If you don't stay together through the hard times, you don't ever get to really enjoy that next sort of rebirth." That you, you really do, you value because you, you see the growth. And people, I think, people don't realize too, you can genuinely not like someone and not even feel attracted to them and go through the really hard time and you can get through that.

• 22:57Julie Piatt?

  Absolutely.

• 22:58Speaker 02

  You know, you can, you can genuinely do that, but both people have to be willing. And I, I do think kind of fundamentally, there probably has to be some connections there.

• 23:07Julie Piatt?

  Yeah.

• 23:08Speaker 02

  That can propel you through it, you know?

• 23:09Julie Piatt?

  There has to be a very good, solid core, I believe. But yeah, absolutely. And it's really, I mean, I always say now from where Rich and I, we've been together 14 years, so married last time, and you guys have been together 17.

• 23:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:22Julie Piatt?

  Yeah, wow. I'm bowing to you right now.

• 23:25Speaker 02

  Oh, gosh. One day at a time.

• 23:27Julie Piatt?

  Yeah, no, so, but, um, you know, uh, now where we're standing, it's like where we stand now, we've earned it. Like, no one can take that from us, or nobody can just, you know, fly into the room and have really any effect. It's like, we've earned it. We've, we've stood together, we've been through the ups, we've been through the downs.

• 23:50Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:51Julie Piatt?

  And we've had this incredible experience and it's, it's, uh, it's really very powerful and very deep. It's a very deep relationship.

• 23:59Speaker 02

  It is deep. I, I think, I think the other, well, not interesting, I think another thing of it too, it's like your health, like you guys live this every day. The thing about a relationship is, I do believe, even when you go through it, you still have to kind of earn it every day, if you will. And so I, I kind of also take the, the attitude of, um...

• 24:24Speaker 02

  I'll keep working for this, not like, okay, we've been together, now you're in my backpocket and we'll just go on.

• 24:31Rich Roll?

  Right, there's no stasis, there's no static point. You're either moving, you know, towards a healthier relationship or moving towards a more unhealthy relationship. I mean, I learned that lesson in recovery, like, you know, I want to be on cruise control with sobriety or whatever.

• 24:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 24:46Rich Roll?

  But at every given moment, I'm either moving towards, you know, a relapse or I'm getting more healthy, you know, but there's no place where you can just cruise and say, it's all fine. You know, it's work, it's always work, and it will always be work. There's no, that work never ends. You can never...

• 25:04Speaker 02

  But I think it's good when it doesn't surprise us. I think when we kind of understand, it doesn't, and work doesn't, sometimes I think work has the idea of like, it's not a good thing, but I think work can be a really good thing. It's just, it is that, it is kind of a form of work. It's like if you go ride your bike or you're doing your yoga discipline, it's like, but it's still, sometimes people attach work as like a negative thing, instead of, I think, one of the things that really gives us a lot of real deep pleasure and fulfillment, which is to be...

• 25:34Rich Roll?

  Of course.

• 25:35Speaker 02

  Working towards something.

• 25:36Julie Piatt?

  To be of service, really. It's to be of service to, you know, this relationship or this beautiful family. I mean, what more, what else is more worthy than that? Absolutely nothing.

• 25:50Rich Roll?

  But I think that probably, you know, I'm interested in how you deal with people that kind of project onto you some kind of fantastical idea of what your life is like, you know, like this notion, like this sort of Disney, you know, kind of fairy tale, Laird and Gabby, you know, living in Hawaii and living in Malibu.

• 26:09Speaker 02

  You know, the dolls.

• 26:10Rich Roll?

  It's all perfect, and, yeah, it's all perfect all the time. And, you know, whatever kind of, either reverence or jealousy or whatever comes along with that.

• 26:21Speaker 02

  Well, I think, you know, I think...

• 26:25Speaker 02

  Well, I grew up in the Caribbean. I grew up on an island. And Laird grew up on an island. And there was something about that where, you know, as you know from just even being here, the currency of living on an island is, it's who you are. It's not what you are, or what you have, or what you drive, or what you live in, right? So, or even attractiveness. Like, that's got a different, you know, it's a different thing. So, I think both of us grew up, and we grew up a little bit behind the eight ball separately and for different reasons. And so, I, well, first of all, we're both very, hopefully, kind of right there with it. You know, like, I don't think either one of us want to pretend that everything is perfect,

• 27:09Speaker 02

  or we're afraid to show this is really who we are. But having said that, it's like, we both acknowledge that we have sort of these lives that we've been fortunate, you know, doing sports for a living, or living in two places, and some of that. So, I think it's more, you know, kind of other people's stuff. Even when it's good stuff coming your way, even when people are like, "Oh, you're great", I think that's their stuff. That's still not your thing. And same with the negative. It's like, "Oh, well, you guys, it's easy for you", or whatever. It's like, "Okay, well, that's your stuff too." And I think that's been an important thing, is to not get caught up in the cycle either way. Because you know who you are, and you're trying to get through your life, and you're

• 27:52Speaker 02

  trying to, you know, reach your mission. And if people are singing your praises, you can't really let that influence you. It's nice, but you have to go, "I know what that is." And it's the same with the other. You know, Laird told me a story the other day where he was out surfing. And it was a smaller day, and he said, "God, I had like two left feet, and I fell off the board", or something like that. And then some guy comes up to him, and he goes, "Oh, my God, like, you're human, and you fell off the board." Because you can go out there on some days, and he's spinning his board around, or doing whatever. I mean, that's one of his gifts, right? And Laird looks at the guy, and he said, "Listen." He's like, "I have fallen off more waves than you have ridden." He's like, "I've wiped out more times than you've ever surfed a wave."

• 28:34Speaker 02

  And I guess the point of that is, is that, that is the point, is that we have failed so much separately and together, that whatever people say, you just go, "Oh, gosh, okay."

• 28:47Rich Roll?

  Yeah, for sure. I mean, yeah, it's those projections you can't take on negative or positive.

• 28:52Speaker 02

  And they're everywhere and...

• 28:54Rich Roll?

  All the time. For you, I would imagine.

• 28:57Speaker 02

  Well, no, I don't even mean that. I just mean for all of us, going, working in a nine to five job. It's just, it's all, it's all around us, right? And, you know, it's been interesting for me, for me, and, and very, very good to have a, you know, I've started working over 20 years ago and had, had, I've had like an up and a down and an up and back down. And there's something really good about that because you go, is my value in how busy I am? And how many people recognize or don't recognize me? And am I less valuable because I'm less busy or? And you've got to come to, come to terms with your ego and with that whole thing. And that's, that's been a very good teacher.

• 29:38Rich Roll?

  But it is cool that, I mean, essentially, your professional volleyball career ended in like the late 90s, yeah?

• 29:45Speaker 02

  Yeah, and then I played a little bit in the 2000s on two different, for two different seasons, yeah.

• 29:50Rich Roll?

  Right, and then you made a go at the LPGA for a little bit?

• 29:54Speaker 02

  Well, what happened is, is then I, before I started having my, before my second daughter, someone said to me, "Okay, we're going to pay you to play golf in this, um, with this certain technique." Because they say in golf, it's the only sport you can make money through intellectual property, right? Because they, you know, people go like, "Oh, new swing and a new technique," or whatever. And I sort of thought, I was in my early 30s and I have a knee that really gives me a hard time. And I sort of thought, that would be interesting to be in an athletic environment that would, I could prolong being in a kind of that stress, which is enjoyable, you know? Like, working hard and competing and stuff. So, the whole idea was to try to get my card. And then I started having children and I was spending eight hours a day at the golf course.

• 30:38Rich Roll?

  Wow.

• 30:39Speaker 02

  And so, it just wasn't possible. So, after my second daughter was born, and then I, I went down and I, I started doing the long, world championship long drives because it's one club, right? And then that just, it just, golf is a very hard sport. And, uh, and also, the other thing I learned about that was, I became good at volleyball because I fell into it and I, I really enjoyed it. And with golf, I ended up putting the goal first. Instead of like, I grew up as a kid golfing and I liked walking around and it was fun and then I enjoyed it and then the goal started, it was switched around. And I think that that was really, really prohibitive.

• 31:19Rich Roll?

  Yeah, I think you see that a lot in professional athletes too, when the fun goes out of it, gets drained out of it and the pressure is amped up and it's about the money and all that kind of stuff. And then the performance starts to wane. And I think it's relevant also, just for, you know, anybody out there who's trying to get fit or maintain their fitness and people ask me all the time, like, how can I get started? Or what should I do? Or what do you recommend? And my answer is always like, find something that you enjoy, you know? Like, if you hate running, then, you know, yeah, you could go out and force yourself to run for a while and maybe lose a little weight and whatever, but your chances are you're not going to stick with it. And the point is to find something that's sustainable within your lifestyle so that

• 32:02Rich Roll?

  you will continue to do it. So whether it's a skill or whatever it is, something that's active, that's exercise oriented, that you find joy in, right?

• 32:11Speaker 02

  Well, I think that's exactly right. I mean, I see people and I have people I know and they really like, they hate the gym. And I'm like, well, then don't go to the gym. Because that's, and it's almost, you see that a lot though, because we all sort of go, well, I've got to hit that mark. And so what's it going to take to hit the mark? Instead of, well, what is it that I could do that I would enjoy doing along the way to the mark? And almost if the mark happens, great. And if it doesn't, that's almost a sidebar.

• 32:38Rich Roll?

  Yeah, it shouldn't be about the goal. Or, I mean, obviously it's motivating, like, I want to lose 10 pounds or I want to, you know, my 10K time or whatever it is, those can compel you to show up on a rainy morning to do something you don't ordinarily want to do. But it's about the journey. If you're not enjoying, you know, if you're not locked step into the day to day of whatever it is you're doing, then it's not, the goal is not going to mean as much and you're not going to stick with it. I mean, it's not going to be part, it's not going to become part of who you are.

• 33:08Speaker 02

  Right, but we're not taught to try to really understand.

• 33:14Julie Piatt?

  Who am I? That's a really scary notion.

• 33:18Rich Roll?

  That's the whole shebang.

• 33:21Julie Piatt?

  That's the whole deal.

• 33:22Rich Roll?

  This is where Julie comes in.

• 33:23Julie Piatt?

  No, we've talked about that extensively. I mean, really, what we're supporting and what we're advocating and what we're sharing just by sharing our own experience is that very thing, how to connect to your own heart. And I always say that the divine consciousness that creates all things, creates each being in a perfect design. And the big trauma is that we've all been hypnotized through greed. And it's really mostly money-driven. You're trying to be okay in society. And not that many of us have been nurtured to really find out who we are.

• 34:03Julie Piatt?

  And that, again, leads us back to my big support of our choices of education for our kids is, at least I know that their self-esteem is intact. And to me, that's the number one most important thing. Because we are all smart, we are all creative, I mean, all humans, I mean, everyone. Right. And each being has a gift. And I always say, I said on an earlier podcast, wouldn't it be wonderful if, instead of trying to make everybody the same, or study the same things, we started out asking, please tell me who you are. Please tell me what you came here to share.

• 34:41Rich Roll?

  But the person has to ask themselves that question first. And they need tools to... Even when we talked about this before, I was getting emails like, well, what do you mean? I don't even know, what are you even talking about?

• 34:53Julie Piatt?

  Well, right. And that, in the beginning thing, and one thing that really surprised us with Rich's transformation and how we were sort of organically led into this nutrition. I mean, I was never going to write a cookbook, I'm an artist. I was just cooking for him out of the love of supporting him and his training and his newfound... You know, joy and, and, but what we really notice and from everybody contacting us is just how much food plays a part in this awareness.

• 35:21Speaker 02

  Well, think about food, it's huge. It's celebration, it's depression, it's boredom, it's gathering, it's social, and if you have, if you're an addict in any way of it, you still have to do it three or four times a day. So it's not like you go, "Oh, okay, I was a drinker and I'm not now," and you just bail it. You still have to find a way within it to function with the food.

• 35:43Rich Roll?

  It's the number one way of managing your emotions.

• 35:46Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, it's just, and even, I mean, I, you know, I, I go back and forth where I handle it very well, but every once in a while, a little stress, a little boredom, a little something, and I go, "Oh, check that out." Where you, you know, you can go for it. And, um, and like I said, and you, and you have to deal with it every day. It's not like you can go, "Okay, you know what? That's it, no food, I'm gonna walk away."

• 36:09Rich Roll?

  Done with that.

• 36:10Speaker 02

  That is a dance.

• 36:11Julie Piatt?

  That's powerful.

• 36:12Speaker 02

  That's a dance. Yeah. So I mean, that, you know, that's been really, really enlightening for us, and that's why we, you know, we're spending a lot of our energy in that direction.

• 36:21Rich Roll?

  Cleaning up your diet is the first, what you're saying essentially is cleaning up your diet is the first step towards trying to create a greater relationship between you and yourself.

• 36:31Speaker 02

  You and yourself, exactly.

• 36:32Rich Roll?

  Because if you're, if you're sort of trying to manage all your emotions or suppress your emotions through food all the time, then you're preventing yourself from taking that first step of looking inward.

• 36:45Julie Piatt?

  Yeah, absolutely. Or if you're eating, you know, so many processed foods that have toxins in them, you can't feel yourself. You can't feel who you are because you're, you're not really you. You, you've got all this other stuff in your system.

• 36:57Speaker 02

  Well, I always, I did a cleanse, like, a couple of different times, a pretty extensive one, and I always have another friend that was considering it, and I go, "But be careful, because at the end of the cleanse, you'll get rid of all your bad friends." Because all of a sudden, you'll have this whole clarity, and you'll just be like, "Oh, wait a second, I can't, I can't be friends with you anymore," you know? I'm kidding, but it was like, you know, it was a pretty long, I mean, it was two weeks and pretty, pretty extreme, but of course, I think the, the drug of, of food is, it's powerful.

• 37:28Julie Piatt?

  It's really powerful.

• 37:29Speaker 02

  Powerful, yeah. And it's hard to get. See, that's the other thing, is you, when you see people write in and they, they, you know, they ask, "What do you mean?" You know, if you live in certain places that the food is readily available, you're fortunate. If you live in certain places, you can barely find the food.

• 37:46Rich Roll?

  For sure.

• 37:47Speaker 02

  You can barely find the food. I had a thought that I wanted to take one of the doctors from, you know, like Forks Over Knives and just say, okay, listen, you and I, we're going into a Walmart, and we're going to go into a Kroger's Market, and we're going to go into a Target, all the places they sell food, and I want you to tell me what we can eat. And I want you not only to tell me what we can eat, I want you to prepare three meals and how it gets done. Because also, that's the other thing, is people forget that you drive down the road, you only have a certain amount of money in your pocket to spend, and it's what can you eat and where can you get it?

• 38:22Rich Roll?

  Right. I mean, not everyone has a Whole Foods, not everyone has a farmer's market. There's pretty much Walmarts and Costcos and Targets and stuff like that around, and you know, a lot of people, that's where they get their food. And there has to be a way to make it easier for the consumer to be judicious in their choices. And so, I think, you know, yeah, if you took Dr. Russellson or T. Kong Cam.

• 38:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's exactly. I was like, I'd like to take Russellson and go, let's go, you and me, right now, let's go into Walmart. What can we eat?

• 38:48Rich Roll?

  I can make that happen.

• 38:49Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm just saying, I think that that, because at a certain point, you know, I'm, I mean, unfortunately, and I wish I was more right-brained, I'll be honest, like, my husband is very, like, artistic and creative and I'm like, really linear and like, pound through the goals. But there's a part of me, it's like, I wanted to do a show, just call it Solutions, and go, okay, issues, solutions. Because we can, you know, I always say, people go, oh, well, I go, all right, do you just want to, do we want to find the solutions? And just take someone like that, who's so brilliant and dedicated their whole life to it and lived it, you can see it, and just go, all right, let's at least realistically figure out, how can you do that?

• 39:29Rich Roll?

  Right. There's still always going to be people, there are people, though, who say they want to change or they want help, but they really don't.

• 39:38Speaker 02

  No.

• 39:38Rich Roll?

  And they love to say, well, I can't do that.

• 39:49Julie Piatt?

  So what, I mean, you know, what would be, just between the three of us, what would be some ways, like, what would I do? What would I do if I lived in one of those cities where that was only available? Well, I guess I would look to see if there was anything organic, which there probably is, maybe three or four items.

• 40:05Speaker 02

  But even like in Target?

• 40:06Rich Roll?

  But even if it's not, like, if you're, yeah, it's better to eat produce than not eat produce that's conventionally grown.

• 40:11Julie Piatt?

  But I'm saying that that's one solution. Like, let's just pretend that I'm...

• 40:14Rich Roll?

  And there are, there is, you know, that information is out there. Like, maybe it could be presented better, but like Jeff Novick is a great example.

• 40:22Julie Piatt?

  Right, I was thinking about Jeff.

• 40:23Rich Roll?

  Of all his DVDs, and he's like, you know, buy frozen vegetables.

• 40:26Julie Piatt?

  Right.

• 40:26Rich Roll?

  Because they're packaged fresh, like, right after they're harvested, they're immediately frozen. And so even if they're not organic, it's still great. And you can, and he has these DVDs where he makes these, literally in five minutes, he makes 20 different stews, and he's like, he has his rule of thirds, which is great, which is you make a huge pot of something, and he has all these recipes that are super easy. And a third of it you eat with your family. A third of it you put in the fridge for like later or the next day. And then the other third of it you freeze.

• 40:55Julie Piatt?

  Mm-hmm.

• 40:55Rich Roll?

  And so every time you make a meal, you're doing that. And then your freezer starts stacking up with stuff that's, you know, you can thaw out and eat. So you always have something in your fridge that's healthy.

• 41:04Julie Piatt?

  Yeah.

• 41:04Rich Roll?

  It prevents you from making that, like, you know, bad, impulsive choice.

• 41:08Julie Piatt?

  Yeah, that's a good solution in some scenarios. The other one is, have you guys seen those, um, those towers or those portable gardens where you can order, like, uh, they're vertical gardens, I guess. You can order one, I think they're like 500 bucks or something. And you can actually grow produce in your own kitchen wherever you are.

• 41:31Speaker 02

  Right.

• 41:32Rich Roll?

  Yeah, you hang these things, and I think it's pretty...

• 41:33Speaker 02

  Have you seen those ones, like the tomato one? That's really funny. It's like a 15 or 30 second spot on the TV. It's awesome.

• 41:39Julie Piatt?

  I haven't seen it.

• 41:40Speaker 02

  It's like, oh, tomatoes.

• 41:42Julie Piatt?

  You get it.

• 41:43Rich Roll?

  I know, like, people in Manhattan are doing that, like, growing food in their apartment.

• 41:46Julie Piatt?

  Right, yeah.

• 41:47Speaker 02

  So I agree with you that it needs to be made easier, but I think it's almost like, it's gotten so, we've gone so far away from it, but so now then the answers are all coming. I think, because before, no one had to think about it, right? Right. They sort of go, "Well, that's not a problem." And now everyone goes, "Oh, wait a second." Okay. That's right. Now it's a problem. So, and the fact that it's, it will affect, you know, healthcare and the taxes and everybody's pocketbook now, it will, you know, the discussion will get bigger. Absolutely.

• 42:16Rich Roll?

  Well, it has to. I mean, we're headed for, I mean, it's such a, we're in such a ridiculous situation right now. I mean, healthcare is absurdly expensive. It's a broken system. Heart disease, you know, is killing people like crazy.

• 42:28Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:29Rich Roll?

  Six hundred thousand people a year, or something like that. Diabetes, obesity, you know, diseases that come from being obese. And these are all, you know, preventable and reversible conditions with proper nutrition and a few simple lifestyle alterations. And yet, we have this huge problem that is, you know, by all indications, it's this weird dichotomy because it seems to be getting worse. And yet, you know, there's resources like forks over knives and all these, yeah, there's all this information coming at us. And it's very, you know, and there's a, there is a, you know, like, a willingness to pay attention to that, and there's an audience for that. And there is this movement, like, it's never been kind of more in the zeitgeist. But, at the same time, it seems like there's a, I don't know if it's another segment of

• 43:14Rich Roll?

  the population entirely, or whatever, but it's like the problems are runaway train, nonetheless.

• 43:19Speaker 02

  Well, it's, it's, it's the, it's television and the internet. And I think it's, like you were saying earlier, the system where we're sort of going, you know, we have to work, we have to make money, we have to get bigger cars and bigger houses. And I, so I think the focus of priorities has, has been crazy. But we, there's a, there's a huge time suck with TV and the internet, and it's easy.

• 43:47Rich Roll?

  Mm-hmm.

• 43:48Speaker 02

  And, and then, I think even like, I know it sounds silly, but the kind of glorification of bad reality

• 43:56Speaker 02

  Programming of like people thinking that that's kind of funny. You know, that sort of humiliation and that, you know, destructive behavior. It's actually just tragic. Yeah, but it's seeped into our culture. Like somehow that's, it's like sort of okay.

• 44:09Rich Roll?

  Not only that, like these people have become role models.

• 44:13Speaker 02

  Right, exactly.

• 44:13Rich Roll?

  Which brings me into like another thing that I wanted to talk to you about, which is, we don't, you know, like, right now, the female role models in our popular culture are Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan and Snooki and people like that. And, and, you know, and you have three girls, you have three daughters, we have two daughters. Are these the women that you want your children looking up to? And, you know, and as much as you try to police it or control it, you know, short of turning the television off all the time, even in the grocery store, they're on the cover of all the magazines. And, and they're, and, and we really don't, we're not set up to adequately celebrate female role models like yourself.

• 44:50Rich Roll?

  Like, you know, the astronauts and the scientists and the, you know, the, the public servants or what have you to be role models for our girls.

• 45:00Speaker 02

  Well, I think here's how, and it's always gone back to this, and you guys know this in your house, it's really up to the parents. And I think, you know, like when you were saying, oh, have the kids go to school and that gets taken care of. Nothing gets taken care of. You have to take care of it, like you guys are taking care, taking care of it in your house. And so, for example, that stuff comes through our airways into my house and it just becomes a discussion. And not like me being a mom going, oh, I can't believe it, you know, I don't get into all that. I just keep it as an open flow, but because there's so much other discussion and so many other examples within the home. My, by the time my one nine-year-old, she sees right through it. You know, my 17-year-old, she can't be bothered, you know, it's like, I think it's never taboo.

• 45:45Speaker 02

  I think it's certainly if we want to talk about it. And I think it's up to me and the, and also the women I'm choosing to spend time with and who they're around, their aunties and, and, you know, and such, that they see it. Like they kind of go, oh, wow, this woman over here is kind of badass. And that girl, yeah, everything's slick and shiny and perfect, you know, the eyelashes and the shoes and the handbag.

• 46:11Julie Piatt?

  But there it's, kids are smart, you know, and, and as long as you're offering something else, I think it feels, it will feel right to them. But yeah, it's, it's totally crazy because it's a train wreck and everyone, makes everyone else feel better about themselves. You know, they go, "Oh, you know, her life's a disaster. She's a disaster. I'm doing pretty good," you know.

• 46:29Rich Roll?

  We must all feel really bad about ourselves.

• 46:31Julie Piatt?

  Yeah, but that's a, but that's a real thing.

• 46:33Rich Roll?

  It's true. And it's getting, and it's getting worse in this tabloid call. I mean, living in Los Angeles, you're, you're exposed to it, you know, in a way that you're not living elsewhere. I mean, you go into town and, and you, you can see the little pockets of paparazzi following around somebody and you see the hysteria that ensues with that. And people are making money and, you know, there's no, it's not gonna, unless they change the laws or something like that. I mean, I don't see it changing.

• 46:57Julie Piatt?

  No, but it really comes from within the home. I mean, it's the same thing as with, you know, our diet. It's like you can't, you can't be eating, you know, fudge pies under your bed and then telling your kids to eat their vegetables. It's the same thing. It's like, we live a certain vibration in our house and it doesn't mean we never, you know, eat a potato chip or there's never, you know, a time where a tabloid flies by. But it's like, we don't buy those things. We actually turned TV off in our house some years ago. And, um, has it been a year yet?

• 47:25Rich Roll?

  That was tough.

• 47:26Julie Piatt?

  Yeah, Rich went kicking and screaming on that one.

• 47:29Speaker 02

  Wait, no TV at all?

• 47:30Julie Piatt?

  No.

• 47:31Speaker 02

  What, film?

• 47:31Julie Piatt?

  Yeah, films, yeah.

• 47:32Rich Roll?

  Well, we, we watched DVDs and movies and stuff like that.

• 47:35Speaker 02

  But you can watch everything online anyway.

• 47:37Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 47:37Julie Piatt?

  Yeah. So, but we just, you know, just that incessant news program that just keeps...

• 47:42Speaker 02

  Football, sorry.

• 47:43Julie Piatt?

  Well, we have one son, actually Trapper, who would like to come over and watch football with you.

• 47:47Speaker 02

  He can come over.

• 47:48Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 47:49Julie Piatt?

  He's a...

• 47:49Rich Roll?

  Poor Trapper.

• 47:50Julie Piatt?

  He's our one sports person.

• 47:53Rich Roll?

  He's a football fanatic and he's been deprived.

• 47:55Julie Piatt?

  Like, I'm not kidding. He'll call you later.

• 47:57Speaker 02

  Okay, he can, he can.

• 47:58Julie Piatt?

  And he'll be like, "Please."

• 47:59Rich Roll?

  He's been going over to Chris's house.

• 48:00Speaker 02

  Yeah, perfect.

• 48:01Julie Piatt?

  We try our hardest to be enthusiastic, but it's really, it's a lie, actually.

• 48:06Speaker 02

  I know. I, you know, sometimes I, you know, Laird, one time we're sitting there and he's like, and he was dead serious. Um, he appreciates, you know, obviously the athleticism and stuff, but he'll, I heard him say, "Oh, these man-on-man sports." And I was like, "Did you..." Like, because for him, right, it's about the exploration and the whole thing. He's like, how can a referee decide if that's good or not? Like, it just blows his mind, you know? But, um, but listen, I mean, football, they are kind of gladiators, you get, you know? But anyway.

• 48:34Rich Roll?

  I've never been like a big, and I can't, like, I, my dad is a crazy, you know? Like, I grew up watching football games, and my dad loves it, and, you know, I went through a period of time where I was into it, but just, I don't know, I'd rather be out riding my bike and, you know, stuff like that.

• 48:48Speaker 02

  You'd rather be doing, instead of watching the doing.

• 48:50Rich Roll?

  But, you know, I respect that Trapper loves it, and I want to support him, and, you know?

• 48:54Julie Piatt?

  That's right, so we're glad, we're glad to meet you. It's great, awesome. No, but getting back to, I mean, it's really, we were talking about girls and having good role models, and I think it's, you know, I think, again, it's nurturing. If you have a child, and you respect that child, and respect what that child loves to do, or wants to do, and they're seeing you live your heart also, and express yourself, it's like, that kind of stuff doesn't even really, doesn't even really factor in. I mean, it's kind of like, oh, that's an interesting view.

• 49:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, and they go through teenage hormone weird take over the body type stuff for, you know, I sort of think 13 through 15, especially for girls, 12 to 15 is a bit

• 49:36Julie Piatt?

  We haven't gotten there yet, so.

• 49:37Speaker 02

  Intense.

• 49:38Rich Roll?

  I'm terrified.

• 49:39Julie Piatt?

  Oh, you should be, you should be.

• 49:41Speaker 02

  You should be. Be like, who is this person that's moved into my kid's body? But I think it's also even honoring and trusting, um, that too, that like, oh, they'll, because I remember, I came out of it, I mean, I have some of the dearest friends of mine that are the greatest adults, and they were, you know, lunatics for a couple of years, being teenagers. So I think it's also giving them their culture, because that is also part of the culture that they share with other kids.

• 50:09Julie Piatt?

  Mm-hmm.

• 50:10Speaker 02

  You know, like, whatever, you know, think about your social context when you grew up, it was, you know, I don't know, you know what I mean? Like, those shows, those music, and then, but

• 50:21Julie Piatt?

  A way of communicating.

• 50:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, and then letting them, but they're going to grow out of it.

• 50:25Julie Piatt?

  They're going to grow out of it.

• 50:25Speaker 02

  Absolutely.

• 50:26Julie Piatt?

  Absolutely.

• 50:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 50:27Julie Piatt?

  Well, we're hoping, I don't know, ours came in, sort of, in, already, they were born in puberty, so.

• 50:33Rich Roll?

  That's what she's saying now, but, no.

• 50:35Julie Piatt?

  I don't know, I'm hoping that they're going to already be done with it, and like, we've already done that chapter.

• 50:40Rich Roll?

  Yeah, we'll see how that, we'll see how that works out.

• 50:43Julie Piatt?

  We'll see how that works out.

• 50:45Rich Roll?

  So I want to talk about your book. You have a book coming out this spring.

• 50:49Speaker 02

  Yeah, I want to know all about that.

• 50:50Rich Roll?

  My Foot Is Too Big For The Glass Slipper.

• 50:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 50:53Rich Roll?

  So tell us about that.

• 50:55Speaker 02

  Well, that was sort of born out of, I was writing a blog for years called Death By Domestication. And that sort of concept was obviously to have fun with the idea of sometimes how tough domestic living and cohabitation can be. It can be not very creative. You know, you're sort of like, we're washing the sheets again, and, you know, there you are again, over there, across from the table, it's you again. You tell your kids for the 50th time, can you brush your teeth? Have you not figured that out? And just kind of that running conversation about what it is and how to have fun with it and kind of move through it. And also, so anyway, I got approached by Simon and Schuster, and they said, well, do

• 51:40Speaker 02

  you want to turn it into a book? So I had done a book in 97 with a very funny writer named Karen Carbo. And so she came to see me, and she goes, oh, your book's done, based on all the blogs. She goes, I'll just help you build out the chapters and stuff. And so the book is really kind of my, there's no finger wagging. It's just my observation and my experience in marriage, raising children, you know, the expectation of that. There's bits about exercise, nutrition, you know, aging gracefully, sex, you know, kind of all of these things that, you know, you learn as you go. And I sort of think for a woman in her 40s, that's a, you can kind of have that conversation

• 52:24Speaker 02

  and have fun with it, but then also, hopefully, there was, there's real takeaways. One valuable lesson I learned, and you might actually know this too, is...

• 52:34Rich Roll?

  She's pointing at me.

• 52:35Speaker 02

  I am. I'm pointing at Rich because I have, I can be feeling all kinds of things, but you can't tell on my face. I'm a very, you know, kind of level, we joke, you know, I'm 70, moderate and sunny and lards, you know, the weatherman, we call him. And I used to come home and drive home, and he'd see me, and I'd think to myself, I'd see him, and I'd go, oh, my God, there he is. I'm so happy to see him. I love him. It wouldn't register. And so by the time I got out of the car, he'd look at me and he'd go, "Oh, how was your day? What's up?" And then it was done, right?

• 53:04Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 53:05Speaker 02

  It started right there. I'm like, "What do you mean?" Like, inside, I'm thinking, I'm...

• 53:08Rich Roll?

  You already shot the bed at that point.

• 53:10Speaker 02

  I was loving you. I was, didn't you feel it? So I wrote in the book, talked about shiny eyes, which means like, when I see my husband, pretty much unless something serious is going on, and I don't mean my kids acting like lunatics, I just mean like, a heavy thing. I make sure I have really, like, an open face, shiny eyes, I'm happy to see him, even if it feels pushed. Because then what happens is, he sees that, and when he sees me, he's like, "Hey, babe", you know, and then it's in the right cycle. Because he is very transparent and very overtly loving, and I've had to work on showing those emotions. And so I talked about how like, a lot of women, a guy comes home from a long day of work, or work period, and she's the kids, and she looks at him and she's like, "Ah",

• 53:53Speaker 02

  and it's that whole thing that you kind of have to learn, that doesn't work. Not really. I mean, so, anyway, that's just, you know, sort of an example, and I talk about fitness and having a lot of strong female, you know, sort of tribe members, because I think that's really healthy. I learned it through sports. Women, guys get it because they play together. Like, boys go play, right? Girls, unless they're in sports, they don't get that opportunity so much, how to relate that way. And also teaches you how to be in your male. I think the more women can be a balance between male and female, and same with men, I think it's, it sort of suits us. And not fight being women.

• 54:36Speaker 02

  I think now I see a generation of women who have, they're confused, and the men are confused. They don't know what to do. Should I open the door? Should I not open the door? Should I tell her she looks pretty? Should I not? Should I pay for dinner? Shouldn't I? And it's created a really weird space.

• 54:49Rich Roll?

  Yeah, there's definitely disorientation. I think in both sexes. I mean, I can only speak to being a man, but yeah, it's like, "Do you want me to be the man, or do you want me to be the sensitive guy?", and like, where do you draw those lines? And I think it creates a lot of confusion.

• 55:01Speaker 02

  I want you to be both.

• 55:03Rich Roll?

  Yeah, I know, see?

• 55:04Speaker 02

  But when she wants you to... At the same time, when I want you to... But I do, I think it's hard because you see that the system has failed men miserably. School systems and what have you.

• 55:15Julie Piatt?

  Absolutely.

• 55:15Speaker 02

  And in some level, women are thriving, but it, there's a harshness that's come to it, but they're actually, so anyway, so the book sort of is just that talk because I think people see me and I, I think I can have that conversation because I, I, I am, come from this kind of sports. So by saying, hey, listen, I am, I serve my husband. I do, like through, I think men understand a few languages, one being sex and another being food.

• 55:41Julie Piatt?

  Food.

• 55:42Speaker 02

  Correct. So that is their, their language of service. So I am happy to, to serve him that way. And I'm not, I'm, I don't, I'm not, it's not because I have to. It's because I understand that he enjoys that and that is, that's good for the situation. And a lot of women have neglected that side of themselves because they think it's a weakness.

• 56:02Julie Piatt?

  Yes.

• 56:02Speaker 02

  And so anyway, there's just all those kinds of conversations.

• 56:05Rich Roll?

  But it's like subservient or something like that.

• 56:07Speaker 02

  Yeah. And in a way, instead of, even like service, why has, is service as a community service? It's like punishment. Service through personal, through your personal choice is a great thing and should, I think it should just be part of living. And, and being female and, and nurturing does not mean, I, the last bit of my book, I say, be the queen. You know, princesses is like for amateurs. Be the queen, you know, the queen will work harder than everybody. She's probably stronger than everybody. She's fair. She's just, you know, she'll listen. But yes, she'll cut your head off. And so there's no confusion because I'm willing to make dinner for you and serve you and never speak to you in a disrespectful tone, doesn't mean I can't be strong. It's just choosing.

• 56:51Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 56:51Speaker 02

  And I, I think sometimes the art of that is, is getting lost.

• 56:56Julie Piatt?

  Yeah, it's true. And I mean, also, I mean, the, you know, the women hold the... The pure mother frequency and the spirituality from the fire in the kitchen. I mean, that's actually where the spiritual teachings first came.

• 57:12Speaker 02

  Right.

• 57:13Julie Piatt?

  And it's the biggest blessing to serve people food.

• 57:17Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 57:17Julie Piatt?

  It's the biggest blessing and offering you could make from your soul to another being is to serve them food.

• 57:24Rich Roll?

  But what you're saying, but you say that and then it can be misinterpreted as saying like a woman's place is in the kitchen.

• 57:32Julie Piatt?

  No, but I'm not, I mean, obviously, you know, you're standing, you're sitting here with two very powerful women, you know, between Gabby and me. It's not that. It's a taking responsibility. It's a being the great mother. It's actually having the energy to say, I can hold this for others.

• 57:51Speaker 02

  Well, and it's not fair.

• 57:51Julie Piatt?

  And I can serve.

• 57:52Speaker 02

  It isn't fair. Like, I have a, I have a good friend who's an acupuncturist on Maui. And he goes, of course, women are more interesting. They suffer more. And I think what that means, though, is that a woman's role, no matter how you slice it up, even if she's a breadwinner as well, is more. There's more to it. And I think when women are like, it's not fair. I say my nine-year-old knows that fair is at the fairground. Like, life isn't fair. What does that mean? And sometimes that's in our favor. But I think for a woman to understand, if you're going to take the role on of being a woman and decide even to have children, by the way, like Laird says, if I could give milk, I'd be worthy. Guess what? Just based on sheer nature and body parts, you have a different load, period.

• 58:33Julie Piatt?

  Yeah.

• 58:34Speaker 02

  And I sort of thought, well, why, you know, let's address that and also be equipped, like, going into it. Don't be, oh, he's going to come on the horse and save me. In essence, a really good female will save the male and hopefully produce an environment for the male to be the best male he can be. And I think if a woman wants a king, she has to treat him like that. I think that's also part of the communication is like, hey, if you, it's like a child, you know, if you say, you know, you want them to do all these things, you have to treat them like that. But part of the conversation, I stick up for men a great deal in my book because I love men, but also to men, it's like, but you have to show up. You know, like if my husband comes home, one thing I appreciate about him is he's

• 59:17Speaker 02

  present when we're speaking. And I don't need him to sit there, you know, all day like, "Do you want to spend a, you know, let's play quality time?" I really don't. Actually, I don't want to.

• 59:27Rich Roll?

  She just, we talked about that the other day, where Julie's like, "I don't need you to go to like, do Ron Aron's with me. I just want a good, I want a good date," or like, "I want that quality."

• 59:36Julie Piatt?

  That quality connection.

• 59:37Rich Roll?

  We don't have to hang out all day.

• 59:39Speaker 02

  But what happens with women, the reason they're scratching for more is because when the guy's around, he's not present. He doesn't know how to, I sort of say, hit a hair with a laser, like, "How are you? You look beautiful. I desire you. Do you want to talk to me about something that feels important to you?" And then they can go. If men understood that...

• 59:57Julie Piatt?

  It's a fast in and out.

• 59:58Speaker 02

  They'd be fine. And if they have a chick who needs more than that, then they need to evaluate that situation.

• 1:00:02Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 1:00:03Speaker 02

  Because that might be a hole you can never fill. So, I can't help you with that. So I think it's understanding that most women probably actually don't want to really hang around every second with their guy, but when he's around, if he can sort of express those few things, then he can satisfy those needs. If she's always like, "Cck," it's because she's, she's not getting what she wants. And I, and also, I have good friends that don't, aren't necessarily the biggest cooks in the world, and that's not what I meant. I also mean it kind of figuratively, as in the service part of it. But yeah, so the book sort of talks about that.

• 1:00:41Rich Roll?

  Right, interesting. And I love that, you know, the title really is a clever inversion of this Disney fairy tale. And, you know, our daughters, you know, watch those movies, or, "Yeah, it just, it makes me crazy," because it's sort of like, the helpless female who literally is, especially in the older Disney movies, where literally her life is on the line. Like, she is going to die.

• 1:01:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, if he doesn't kiss her.

• 1:01:03Rich Roll?

  Unless this prince rescues her.

• 1:01:06Speaker 02

  Not only that.

• 1:01:06Rich Roll?

  And then when he does, everything is perfect, and they get married, and it's, and the story's over, happily ever after. And it's, it is a message that just enrages me, and I think is really, like, not, it's not a good message for young girls.

• 1:01:20Julie Piatt?

  It's been set up on purpose as well. So, you know, you just, you, all of those stories carry that thread.

• 1:01:26Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:01:27Julie Piatt?

  A very, very strong.

• 1:01:30Speaker 02

  Well, and then the problem is you get into day-to-day life and then you're like, "Oh, wait a second. Nobody ever talked to me about this stuff." So it was just in a, you know, kind of attempt to address some of those things. And the expectation too, women living through their children instead of understanding that, how do you simultaneously stay self-defined and be a good wife and be a good mother? Because otherwise, guess what? She's pissed. She's 50 and she hasn't done that. She gets spit out. The man's continuing on with his life. The children leave. Thanks a lot. She's angry. And I think that's because she got forgotten. But the problem is, is the only one who can remember her is herself.

• 1:02:10Rich Roll?

  Herself.

• 1:02:11Speaker 02

  And so I think that that is, you know, just sort of small things.

• 1:02:16Julie Piatt?

  Well, it's huge. I mean, it's funny because we were on Big Island last year in December and we were on the beach and somebody had gifted us Laird's book. It's a lifestyle book. Beautiful book with photographs.

• 1:02:29Speaker 02

  Oh, the force of nature.

• 1:02:30Julie Piatt?

  Right, right, right. And we were really enjoying it and I was really feeling like I wanted more of you.

• 1:02:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, but it was Laird's book.

• 1:02:38Julie Piatt?

  I know. But I was like, where's the chapter all on you? So I was really happy to see that you wrote this book and I think it's a perfect time. And I really feel like in 2013, we're really, we're really coming into embodying the feminine as being honored as that frequency. And not only just women, but that, that energy, as you said, within men.

• 1:03:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:03:02Julie Piatt?

  So as we return, as we return our knowledge back to the support of the divine feminine, I think it's perfect timing for your book. And I'll be excited to read it.

• 1:03:12Speaker 02

  Well, thank you.

• 1:03:12Julie Piatt?

  It sounds amazing.

• 1:03:13Speaker 02

  We were gonna call it How Not to Impale Yourself on the White Picket Fence, but that didn't translate so well.

• 1:03:17Rich Roll?

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:03:17Julie Piatt?

  I kinda like that title.

• 1:03:18Speaker 02

  Well, that's, we made it a chapter instead.

• 1:03:21Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:21Speaker 02

  Because it's like, I'm just saying, you know, they go, "Nah, nah, nah," you know.

• 1:03:24Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 1:03:24Speaker 02

  But, no, it was, it was fun. And listen, people either really like it or they won't. But I thought, if I'm gonna do it, I'll, I'll say my truth. Because that's the other thing too, right, is, is saying, hey, listen, it's just, it's what has been my truth. And everyone getting their thing out of it.

• 1:03:40Rich Roll?

  Well, that's the only way it's gonna work.

• 1:03:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's the best way.

• 1:03:42Rich Roll?

  Like you said, people are gonna like it or they're, or they're not. But you're speaking your truth. And, and, you know, I experienced that when I was writing my book. And I was like, I don't, you know... Really, that's the only thing, that, those are the marching orders. Like, it has to be authentic, and it has to be coming from the heart, and it has to be your truth, instead of, "What's gonna make me look good?", or, "What is the..." you know, you can't, you're never gonna write anything meaningful that way.

• 1:04:06Speaker 02

  No. Well, they say everything's the thirty, thirty, thirty, right? No matter what you do in the life, like, "We're gonna save the babies." Well, what about the babies in this country? No matter what you do, thirty percent of the people will love it, thirty will hate it, and thirty won't care.

• 1:04:19Rich Roll?

  Won't care.

• 1:04:20Speaker 02

  No matter what, so you might as well make yourself happy.

• 1:04:22Rich Roll?

  Absolutely. Well, it's, that's the worst, if people don't care. You know what I mean? Like, it's better to have people, like, if you're, if you're taking a stand, then you're gonna ultimately divide people, right? There's gonna be people that don't like what you're saying, or whatever, threatened, or disagree, or what have you, but at least you're making a stand.

• 1:04:39Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 1:04:40Rich Roll?

  Right? And so how do you deal with the negative, well, how do you deal with, like, negative criticism or blowback?

• 1:04:46Speaker 02

  You know, a lot, I think, years ago, probably in my late twenties and thirties, it was harder for me. Again, as a girl, you're, you know, you're taught, you wanna make everybody happy. And then you, I think you reach a place where you accept that you cannot, and so, it's one of those things, like, you can't, and you can't control it, so you might as well... I had a volleyball coach tell me, "I've got twelve people on the floor, probably eight play." So I look at the whole situation, I make the best decision I can for the situation, and in the end, she goes, "You know, at least one person's happy." And she's like, "Me." And I think, if I do the best I can, and I'm, I'm trying to do that, I, I sort of, I'm okay with that.

• 1:05:30Speaker 02

  And I also have learned through the years of being in a job that's a little bit public at times, that people are not gonna like you for a number of reasons. And it may have nothing to do with you. You know, "Oh, your, your eyes are green, or you're, you look like a girl that my husband left me for..." whatever. It's like, you learn that, with all that good, you're out of your mind if you don't think some negative's coming your way, and you just say, "Okay."

• 1:05:58Rich Roll?

  Accept it. It's hard.

• 1:06:00Speaker 02

  It's wise. It hurts.

• 1:06:03Rich Roll?

  You know, when my book came out, I was in the public in a way that I'm not a seasoned, I'm not used to being, and I'm not like a, of course, I'm not like a celebrity or anything like that. I'm just a guy who wrote a book, but it did put me in the kind of public spotlight in a way that I'd never been before and wasn't used to. And for the most part, it's overwhelmingly great and positive, and so the work is, don't buy into that just as much as you, you know, like I go on Amazon, I see, you know, there's, the reviews are great on the book for the most part, but then there's the, a couple one stars.

• 1:06:36Speaker 02

  You only remember?

• 1:06:37Rich Roll?

  People are like personally attacking me, you know, and I'm like, I wish I could tell you that that doesn't hurt, or I don't get upset about that, but like, I do, you know? They're talking about me as an individual, and so...

• 1:06:49Speaker 02

  But they're not. It's through their filter, and it, you know what I mean? Like, it doesn't, they don't know. See, the thing is, is that they came up and shook your hand and spent the week with you, and then wrote something. I'm like, well, you know, it's personal.

• 1:07:03Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 1:07:03Speaker 02

  They don't even know you. And I went recently...

• 1:07:06Rich Roll?

  It's pouring rain, sorry. It's pouring rain.

• 1:07:09Speaker 02

  I know, you can hear it. I recently saw Oprah Winfrey speak at something. A friend of mine is the editor in chief at her magazine, and anyway, you know, you can imagine her

• 1:07:20Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 1:07:21Speaker 02

  her realm, right? And she says, yeah, somebody wrote something on some, about her network going down and her going down, and she goes, "All I can say is, come say it to my face."

• 1:07:32Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 1:07:32Speaker 02

  And Laird calls it, you know, internet courage. He's like, more eyeballs, less emails. And really, in the end, if you sort of say, hey, what affects us is what's happening here, right now, in front of us, and all of that actually has nothing to do with us. Even the good stuff.

• 1:07:49Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 1:07:50Speaker 02

  It doesn't really influence, it doesn't influence your relationship with one another or with your children.

• 1:07:54Rich Roll?

  No.

• 1:07:54Speaker 02

  And so, it's also separating the thoughts with the reality, and good and bad.

• 1:08:01Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 1:08:02Speaker 02

  Like, oh, someone goes, wow, you wrote an amazing book, or your songs are beautiful. That doesn't make you a better guy, or a better parent, or a better husband. Just like, oh, you suck, and I don't believe anything you say, doesn't affect that either.

• 1:08:13Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 1:08:13Speaker 02

  So that's how I've learned to deal with it, and... And everything has a season. It passes. You know? Yeah, that's wise. It's true.

• 1:08:23Rich Roll?

  That's pretty wise.

• 1:08:24Speaker 02

  Absolutely.

• 1:08:25Rich Roll?

  More eyeballs, less emails.

• 1:08:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's Laird. He's so right there with it. It's like, whoa, buddy.

• 1:08:39Rich Roll?

  I can't, I have a hard time picturing Laird sitting in front of a computer, like, responding to emails.

• 1:08:43Speaker 02

  That's probably pretty good. That's why you go to Laird's site and Laird's Facebook. It's all me saying what Laird's doing.

• 1:08:51Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 1:08:51Speaker 02

  And then, once in a while, some knucklehead will say, like, "Well, it'd be really nice to hear from Laird directly." And I'm like, "Well, then you'd have to come to where Laird is."

• 1:08:57Rich Roll?

  Yeah, well, that's not, that's not who he is.

• 1:08:59Speaker 02

  That's the point.

• 1:09:00Rich Roll?

  That would not be, yeah, exactly. Like, he's, you gotta go where he, he's not gonna make an appointment to go, like, it's like, you know, he's going where the wind is blowing him to go.

• 1:09:08Speaker 02

  He's doing, he's going. That's why he's called the weatherman. What's it doing? It's amazing.

• 1:09:13Rich Roll?

  Very cool. Well,

• 1:09:14Speaker 02

  It's good.

• 1:09:15Rich Roll?

  I don't want to take up too much more of your time, but I do, I think we would be irresponsible and remiss to not at least get it, sort of, talk about one more thing, which is, you know, we're coming up on Christmas, the new year. Everybody's sort of, it's that time of year where everyone's taking inventory of what happened to them this past year and kind of laying grand plans for how to be better in the new year. And, you know, I sort of went on Twitter and I said, "Hey, you know, Gabby's coming on the show. You know, what would you like me to ask her?" And of course, they're all like, "Well, you know, how do, it's, it's, most of them are very general questions, like, how do I, you know, what can I do to get fit?" And, you know, I think,

• 1:09:55Rich Roll?

  you know, people want the solution, you know, they want to be spoon-fed, "This is, do exactly this and you will be better." But if there's anything, any kind of insight, or to get people kind of energetic and motivated for 2013 and kind of, you know, cleaning the slate and starting fresh.

• 1:10:13Speaker 02

  Well, first of all, what you just said right there, cleaning the slate and starting fresh, I think what keeps people is it becomes such a daunting... Such a daunting task. Like, "Oh, I have thirty pounds to lose," or "Fifty." That in itself prevents them, really, from the first day. So I think if people think, "Okay, I'm gonna do this," the number-one thing that they can do, quite frankly, is very few of us are strong to take it on alone. Maybe you know people who could. The reason I have these workout classes is because you have to have people around to do it. So I would say for them to enlist somebody who's either in the same situation or can help them.

• 1:10:56Speaker 02

  Because the only way, really, is to have some accountability. Really, no matter who you are. I think most of us need accountability. Maybe you're through it where you can do it on your own, but your accountability...

• 1:11:07Rich Roll?

  No, I think I definitely do. And I think that it's important for people to understand that that accountability comes in both a positive and a negative form. Like, you need to create community around that goal that is supportive and wants you to succeed. But you also need that pressure, like, "Oh, if I don't show up, I'm gonna get shit from my friend," or whatever it is. And that kind of keeps you honest.

• 1:11:29Speaker 02

  Yes, and so I think if they're serious, in the beginning at least, especially where it's a kind of a... I call it the "faith period," where people are working really hard and eating better and making better choices, but they're not really seeing big changes. Because once you start seeing big changes, then you can roll. But there's sort of that window of time where you're making these lifestyle changes, but you're not really seeing great benefits and great changes that during that time, that they have this extra positive support like you're speaking of. But that... I believe good health is like climbing a giant mountain. And it's one step at a time. And I think if they take the whole goal on, if they say all forty pounds all at once, they're just gonna sit down on the couch and grab a burger. Because they'll just go, "Oh, my God, I can't do it."

• 1:12:13Speaker 02

  I think it's, "Okay, today, I'm going to eat this, this, and this." And I think in the beginning, it's better to have a plan so you're not reacting when you're hungry, but that you've already decided what you're actually going to be putting in your mouth and your system. I think that's helpful. You guys are disciplined enough and you have enough experience that you can go, "It's lunch, I'm gonna eat lunch." I think in the beginning, I think people need to sort of really say, "At breakfast, I'm gonna eat this. At lunch, I'm gonna eat that. And at dinner, I'm gonna eat this." I think that's very helpful in the beginning. And also, if you blow it... That's okay.

• 1:12:47Rich Roll?

  Right.

• 1:12:48Speaker 02

  You know?

• 1:12:48Rich Roll?

  I think it's that pressure of trying to be perfect is, yeah, and then failing. We're human beings. We're fallible by nature. And we're all failing, and some of us are failing downward, and some of us are failing upward. I mean, you talked about failing so many times in your life. And that's just part of the journey. But if you focus on that failure and sort of put too much emphasis on that, it takes you out of that game completely.

• 1:13:15Speaker 02

  And I think the other thing that I always ask people, like you said, what's more important than dedicating time to your family and your children and such? At the end of the day, when we take stock into every single thing that we own, the most prized possession that we own, we live in. And we treat it so badly, generally. And Laird and I talk about this. You know who Paul Chek is, right? Do you know Paul Chek? He talks about, you know, like, eat your car. He talks about people driving Mercedes through the drive-through at McDonald's. And he goes, how about get a cheaper car and eat better food? And I think sometimes we've shifted all around.

• 1:14:00Speaker 02

  And I think when someone's laying on a bed, they're ill, they're not saying, well, gosh, I wish at this moment I could get another car or a bigger house. They're just saying, I really wish I had my health and I felt good. And I always say to people, why do you have to lose something in order to appreciate it and value it? And so it's an asset. It's such a valuable asset. And if we're 30 pounds overweight, we're still so valuable. And our bodies are so important and should be treasured that every day when you look in the mirror, and even if it's not like exactly how you want it, that you love that and you love that body.

• 1:14:37Rich Roll?

  And that the body is unbelievably resilient. And so it's never too late. I mean, the way that I've been able to transform myself, I mean, literally, like, if you start treating it right, in a period of weeks, days sometimes, you will have dramatic, you know, a dramatic difference in how you feel about yourself, and if you can set, kind of, set the stage and understand that, that when you treat it right, it will respond in kind. I mean, it's a really powerful thing to experience.

• 1:15:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, I saw your old pictures. That's very impressive. I did. And, you know, I think for women, I always say, like, this is where I try to manipulate them a little, and I just say, "Listen, if you won't do it for yourself, you are the living example for your house, for your children." People say, "Oh, I inherited my, the family's genetics." I'm like, "No, you inherited their lifestyle. You absolutely are not sentenced..."

• 1:15:28Rich Roll?

  That's so the easy way out that you hear all the time. It's genetic, it's genetic, it's genetic.

• 1:15:32Speaker 02

  Yeah. No, you just inherited their lifestyle. You eat what they ate. And so I think for women, you sort of want to go, "Hey, listen, by the way, you are also sentencing your children if you're not careful." That's, that's when I play dirty pool.

• 1:15:45Rich Roll?

  Right. Yeah, that's getting nasty.

• 1:15:47Julie Piatt?

  It's kind of a scare tactic.

• 1:15:48Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. Gotta do it, though. Gotta do it.

• 1:15:50Julie Piatt?

  No, but this really speaks to, and again, it's like, you know, all of us just having the awareness of really loving ourselves, but I don't mean that in just, you know, like, a cliche way. I mean, really understanding that, you know, if, I always feel like, if you ever doubted the existence of something, some amazing force, or some god, or some for, you know, some kind of consciousness, all you have to do is study the human body. It's a complete miracle in and of itself. I mean, complete, complete. So, if you take food and you start shifting your awareness of food of, that I'm gonna feed this machine

• 1:16:30Julie Piatt?

  of perfection, you know, this amazing creation that I'm inhabiting right now. And so, food becomes not, "Well, I really feel like a double cheeseburger," or, "I really feel like, you know, braised ribs, or corned beef, or whatever, you know, fried whatever." But it becomes, "What will fuel my body so that it can operate and function at its optimum level?" And, you know, so for me, it's not about counting calories, ever. It was always about choices and vibration.

• 1:17:03Julie Piatt?

  And what am I taking into my body from that perspective?

• 1:17:07Speaker 02

  I always tell little kids, I go to schools and we do, you know, we jump around and we go, "Okay, what's another part of good health besides, you know, eating good?" And they say, "Okay, exercise." And I always remind them and the parents, "You gotta have some fun." Okay, you don't have to work out when you're 10. You just gotta go play. And even when as a grown up, you have to find the way to play and capture that childhood spirit. But with the kids, I go, "Okay, so when you, you know, you go to the grocery store, I mean, the gas station with your grandparents or your parents, they, um, they put Snickers in the, in the gas tank, right?" And they go, "No." And I go, "Okay, oh, no, no, that's right, that's right." They put potato chips. And they go, "No." And, and they say, well, I go, "What do, well, what do they put?" And they said, "The gas." And I go, "Oh, you'd never put the wrong gas in your car, right?" But we certainly will

• 1:17:50Speaker 02

  do it to our bodies, which is fascinating. You know, it's like, we won't, we, you wouldn't walk, you know, with crap on your shoes in your house, you know, or put Diet Coke in your gas tank. But, you know, you would put it. So I think sometimes it's just putting it in almost where you say to people, "Take that power. That is your power." Like, you make that choice.

• 1:18:15Julie Piatt?

  Right.

• 1:18:15Speaker 02

  You know, not like, "Oh, you should diet or you should eat this." But wow, don't you want to be in charge of that?

• 1:18:20Rich Roll?

  Mm-hmm. So it always, it goes back to self-respect and healthy boundaries and really kind of, you know, having greater reverence for yourself.

• 1:18:30Speaker 02

  That's right. That's right.

• 1:18:32Julie Piatt?

  That's the ultimate.

• 1:18:34Rich Roll?

  There we go.

• 1:18:35Julie Piatt?

  That is.

• 1:18:35Rich Roll?

  I think we did it.

• 1:18:36Julie Piatt?

  That's it, man.

• 1:18:37Rich Roll?

  Yeah. That rocked.

• 1:18:39Speaker 02

  Thanks.

• 1:18:40Rich Roll?

  You were cool.

• 1:18:40Julie Piatt?

  Thank you so much.

• 1:18:41Speaker 02

  Thank you, guys. Thank you.

• 1:18:42Julie Piatt?

  It's such a, such a pleasure to share this time together.

• 1:18:45Rich Roll?

  Yeah, absolutely. So Gabby's book is called, "My Foot Is Too Big For The Glass Slipper." It's not out until April, but can people preorder it now?

• 1:18:53Speaker 02

  Um, I think they can start at the top of April. They can preorder, uh, because it comes out April, right before Mother's Day, like the 15th or something.

• 1:19:00Rich Roll?

  All right, cool. But I saw it up on Amazon, so if you, you can go there and

• 1:19:03Speaker 02

  Oh, is it?

• 1:19:03Rich Roll?

  Read a little bit about it. Yeah. And if people want to learn more about what you're doing and connect with you, what are the best places to do that?

• 1:19:11Speaker 02

  We have a few.

• 1:19:12Rich Roll?

  I know, you guys got a whole bunch of websites.

• 1:19:14Speaker 02

  It's ridiculous. We have gabbyandlaird.com, which is mostly our kind of movement, you know, exercise and stuff site. And then I have gabriellereese.com, which is my kind of just life one. There's no sort of lots of content. It's more of a life blogging. And then Laird's is lairdhamilton.com.

• 1:19:37Rich Roll?

  Right. And then Gabby's on Twitter at Gabby Reece, R-E-E-C-E. And Laird is Laird Life, right?

• 1:19:44Speaker 02

  Yeah. Wow, you see, he's techie.

• 1:19:46Rich Roll?

  I'm on it.

• 1:19:47Speaker 02

  We know where you guys are.

• 1:19:49Rich Roll?

  I know, cool. So, thank you so much.

• 1:19:51Speaker 02

  Thank you, and I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your stay.

• 1:19:53Rich Roll?

  Yeah, for sure. A pleasure and an honor to have you on the show. And we'll be seeing you around Common Ground.

• 1:19:59Speaker 02

  You will.

• 1:20:00Rich Roll?

  Yeah.

• 1:20:01Speaker 02

  Or hearing me.

• 1:20:02Rich Roll?

  Very cool. All right, cool. So, that's it for today's episode, you guys. Thanks for stopping by. Thanks for listening. We appreciate all the support. We've been having such a good time doing this podcast and we'll continue to try to bring you great content. I've got some great guests lined up for the next couple of weeks, so we'll be coming at you with some good regularity. If you want to find out more about what Julie and I are up to, you can go to our website, jaielifestyle.com. We have some cool products up there, some nutritional supplement products. We have a vitamin B12 supplement that's coming out. I think we're building out the webpage today for that, actually. So, it should be up in the next couple of days. I'll make an announcement online.

• 1:20:47Rich Roll?

  You want to check out Julie and her music, go to srimatimusic.com. S-R-I-M-A-T-I music.com. You can listen to her album, download it. She's on iTunes, too. Julie needs more Twitter followers. She's always dropping the crazy mad wisdom. So, you got to follow her on Twitter. She's jaiseed on Twitter, J-A-I-S-E-E-D. So, check her out. I'm at Rich Roll on Twitter. And I think that's it. Oh, my blog, this podcast and my blog, you can go to richroll.com. And, uh, I don't know. That's it. That's it. Thanks so much for listening. No, we're out of here. All right, everybody. Thank you. See you next time. Peace. Plants.

• 1:23:24Rich Roll?

  The.