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Personal Transformation

PYP 093: Sharon Livingston on Conquering Emotional Eating

When Sharon Livingston was a kid, her parents were kosher caterers and she had to watch them nourish the world while, often, ignoring her. She doubled her weight between ages 9 and 12, and had to deal with being “the fat girl” all through high school.

These and other experiences and her long road of healing from them, along with her decades of study and practice of psychology, have made her a expert on emotional eating, or as she puts it, “when food becomes a four-letter word.”

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PYP 092: Tracy Russell on Green Smoothies as the Easiest First Step on the Road to Health

On December 31, 2007, Tracy Russell went to bed in mediocre health, lacking energy to exercise, and 40 pounds overweight.

The next morning, she made her first green smoothie, and hasn’t looked back since.

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PYP 091: Heather Crosby on the Courage to Become Healthy

When Heather Crosby found herself in poor health and, according to her doctors, destined to be on meds for the rest of her life, she decided to take her health into her own hands.

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PYP 090: Heather Jo Flores on Turning Lawns into Gardens as a Radical Act

Heather Jo Flores came of age in an “addicted, abusive, and estranged family” in the slums of Los Angeles in the 1980s.

An unlikely leader of the modern environmental movement (a label that is far too small for Heather, as you’ll see), she moved from radical activism to community building to connection making to her current project, replacing most of the world’s suburban lawns with thriving gardens and food forests.

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PYP 087: Lani Muelrath on Exercise and Other Fuels for the Plant-Based Journey

Lani Muelrath is one of the world’s most accomplished wellness and fitness coaches. She combines cutting edge scientific research on fitness, diet, and mindset with an encyclopedic knowledge of behavorial science with a lifetime of experience helping people achieve health and happiness.

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PYP 085: Ann Bradney on Feeling the Bad Stuff and Becoming Radically Alive

Ann Bradney’s life spun out of control from the age of 13, when she first discovered drugs and drinking. For the next 18 years, she lived in constant misery, self-medicating and functioning barely above life support.

At 31, she had a fleeting yet powerful realization: she wanted to live.

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PYP 082: Susan Levin on the Truth about Diet and “a Bad Game of Telephone”

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine Director of Nutrition Education Susan Levin grew up on a high-fat, highly-processed Alabama diet.

After discovering for herself the benefits of a plant-based diet, she found herself stymied when trying to tell others about it. “What do you know about nutrition?” they’d sneer.

Not to be silenced, Susan completed a career about-face and enrolled in the Nutritional Science and Clinical Counseling programs at Bastyr University (and transplanted herself from New York to Seattle).

Now an expert in nutritional research as well as an engaging educator, Susan helps spread the good news about eating plants

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PYP 081: Robert Cheeke on a Vegan Teen Rebellion and Refusing to be Average

Robert Cheeke was a scrawny, scrappy teenager who embraced veganism – and raised hell in the process.

Born to a family deeply steeped in animal agriculture, he took a different path. And all his life, Robert has kept that rebellious spirit alive in the service of health, fitness, and compassion.

His new book, Shred It!, is an encyclopedic reference for people who want to become fit and ripped – low body fat, fully developed muscles.

Yeah, it’s got workout routines, photos of exercises, eating plans, and recipes – but the book starts with an impassioned plea to the reader: Don’t Be Average.

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PYP 080: Mike Crockett on Overcoming Addiction, Reconnecting with His True Nature, and Becoming an Unlikely Love Warrior

Mike Crockett, aka Big Bald Mike, has an amazing and inspiring story.

A young, gentle giant whose soul hungered for music and peace.

A childhood in Marlin, Texas, being fattened up like a calf for slaughter so he could dominate high school football games.

A carnivorous hunger that had him eating 2600 pounds of meat in a single year – and had him topping out at 571 pounds.

A long spiral into addiction, crime, violence, and self-loathing. A world in which numbing out the pain – physical and emotional – became a full-time job.

A dark night of the soul that culminated in a attempted-suicide overdose that would have killed five ordinary men.

And a path to redemption that includes professional wrestling, a caring lady, kale, and bunnies.

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PYP 079: Plant-Based Katie on Healing Her Relationship with Food and Experiencing True Pleasure

Katie Mae grew up eating chicken, beef, mashed potatoes – and overcooked frozen vegetables (when her parents forced her). In high school she exhibited disordered eating patterns, and thought of herself as an “ice cream addict.”

Fast forward to today, and Katie is an unabashed foodie and flavor ambassador for a cuisine that most people don’t associate with hedonistic pleasure: whole food, plant-based, minus the sugar, oil, and salt.

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