Brown Vegan Podcast
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Rasheeta is a plant based weight loss coach. She helps people get to their ideal weight and have healthy relationships with food and this conversation Rasheeta and I are going to talk about why she decided to transition. And basically how it was a way for her to change the legacy of her family, her experience with being a personal trainer, some of her favorite meals, some of the mindset shifts that have to happen in order for you to lose weight and eat plant-based.
We’re also going to chat about how Rasheeta has been using tiktok and Instagram reels to spread awareness about health and just a better lifestyle overall. And my favorite question to ask Rasheeta is what health means to her. I absolutely love her answer to this question. As always you can get all of the show notes@brownvegan.com under episode 118.
And don’t forget to follow Rasheeta on Instagram. Her Instagram is @RasheetaJoy. So yes, without further ado, let’s go ahead and jump right into the conversation. I decided to go plant-based because my mother was diagnosed with colon cancer when I was probably in my twenties and I learned a lot about food, how we, what we eat and how it affects our body, how to prevent.
Certain illnesses and cancers and things that. And she taught me a lot about, you know, Dr. Sandy, cause she was trying to heal herself, you know, with herbs and just changing the way we ate. So it took me a few years to finally transition, but you know, my mother, she was definitely the reason why I decided to go plant-based and I had a long family history of cancer, my grandfather and my grandmother all passed.
From various cancers. So just trying to change the course of my life. So I made that change to go and plant base. It was, it wasn’t easy, but I just felt it’s something I had to do. And I’m very, very glad that I did it and able to help other people learn how to make that transition too, because a lot of people are suffering.
These family illnesses and don’t know how they can overcome them, or, yeah. So you just decided to try to just change, , I guess the future for your family, for sure. So what did those early days look when she did? , what did you eat when you first went vegan? Because I always to ask this question.
I feel it’s different for all of us, but what were some of those first, those early meals that you started to make for yourself or about. Okay. So before I wouldn’t be getting people always are , you know, oh, you know, you might just be disciplined. You’re just limping. And I’m , no, growing up.
I was a ham hock, oxtail, ribeye eating fool.. I loved all those animal foods. But when I first transitioned, my diet looked this. Brown rice and black beans. I mean, that was the only thing I knew for sure was vegan and then I wouldn’t mess up one, you know, but that didn’t last too long because I started gaining a lot of weight, eating all those carbs and getting bored, you know, it’s just the first thing I knew, I knew beans were vegan, so I just loaded up on beans.
It just was not a good look.
Monique: So did you, so it sounds you probably weren’t much of a cook before you went vegan. It was kind of something that you just had to grow into. No. So you actually, I love to cook. I’ve always growing up. I wanted to be a chef. I, yeah, I’ve always loved cooking, enjoy cooking, but you know, when I used to watch my mom cook grandma cook, they always cook with me.
Rasheeta: So I had I found a way to open up my mind to be able to make vegan food without the butters and the meats and the dairy. It was just a foreign concept. But once I kind of started researching and looking at how you can make macaroni and cheese or something without the actual cheese and how to make plant-based cheese, it was, it came quite naturally.
But I just had to get used to a different, a different taste and different products and learning how other people do it. You know, it’s, it’s, every culture has their own family traditions. And, you know, coming up until Thanksgiving, a lot of people just feel everything has to be the exact same way as your parents cooked it.
And there’s no new way, but if you just start getting online, getting on YouTube, you’ll find all kinds of recipes to make things look the exact same way. That you’re used to them looking and really tastes good. So just opening up my mind helped me learn how to cook plant-based food and feel satisfied. That is social about the mindset shift, because it’s so different.
It’s so different. And I didn’t realize how easy cooking was before I went vegan, because it was literally we ate the same three or four meats, and then we would just put fries with it. And that was it. It was really simple. And then it’s just a whole new world when you come vegan. Cause it kind of forces you to really think of it in a different way.
This is what this really tastes . I never had greens without meat in it. And then when I finally cooked it, it was Thanksgiving. I was , so this is what greens really, really taste . And, oh, you want something to smoke? You can add liquid smoke. And that was making a smoky flavor. And not necessarily that you need, you know, ham hocks or, you know, smoked Turkey to make something taste really good.
Monique: Yup. That is so true. So these days I know that you are a personal trainer and you , I guess you specialize in weight loss because I know that we’ve talked about that a little bit before. So tell us about that. what made you make that shit? Well, actually let’s back up because I know that you were in the military and that’s something I did not know.
Monique: And so, and so what last week that you were in the military? So talk about , ’cause you weren’t vegan in the military, where are you? Okay. So let’s talk about your, your military, I guess, experience and what made you transition into being a personal trainer?
Raheeta: Right. So all through high school, I was always athletic.I play basketball and I was a cheerleader. So I was the girl trying to play both group tomboy, girl, , you know, just doing the most, you know, I went to the military because I wanted to. See the world and travel and serve my country and get money for school. So that definitely helps me learn about discipline and how to motivate people. You know, I was never challenged until I went to the military, how to help people, you know, it was one of my first callings and I was really good at being able to motivate others and inspire them actually.So the military definitely helped with that. I became a trainer after I did a couple of things research. I had a project in college and they talked about how exercise can reduce your chances of getting cancer by 50%. And I couldn’t believe that, I had to go look it up when American heart association, you know, the reasons why people get cancer and it’s at 50%, if you exercise at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, three times a week, you can reduce your chance by 50%.
Mind blowing to me, especially coming from a, you know, a person that my mother had cancer grandfather had cancer. You know, my grandmother had cancer, many people in my life had it. So I felt if I exercised, I could reduce my chances. And then if I take it a step forward and get this certification that you pay for, you know, I will always stay committed to it.
You know, I always stay committed and I won’t stop doing it. Everybody knows what it’s when you start something. And you’re just , I know I’m not going to stick with this forever, so I didn’t want to do that. So I decided to become a personal trainer. And then when I started working out, I started seeing results.
People started noticing results and, you know, fitness sometimes just gets this rap of being a physique thing, but I was actually in it so that I can live longer and the physique came second. And then I was able to kind of help a lot of women learn this new practice of exercise to live longer. And that’s how pretty pumped fitness came along.
Monique: Nice. So what did you do? What year did you start fitness?
Rasheeta: So I started , you know, my whole business. I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. I got the personal training certification and I just opened up, you know, an LLC. This was back in 2014 and I was still working in corporate America, doing engineering and oil and gas.And I just kind of had the business. You know, just sitting there. And then I got laid off from my job in 2016. And, you know, I was , I’ve never been laid off or fired from anything. So I didn’t know what to do with myself, but I, I had took a course just recently before that tug about authoring my own life.
Monique: Yeah, I hear you. So what, as far as weight loss, what are some of the concerns? Because I think it’s come, you come from a different place in this, in the fitness space, because not only do you focus on weight loss, but you focus on the veganism part of it as well. So if someone wants to come to you and they wanted to be a client and they’re not a vegan and they’re not working out, what are some of those early, I guess, mindset shifts that you would have to work with them.
Rasheeta: Well, it did not begin. And usually when clients come to me, they’re , I want to be vegan, but I really don’t, you know? No, and I kind of want to be vegan to lose weight and, you know, I have to kind of stop them in their tracks and just have them write down the reason why. Right. So beyond no being vegan or plant-based, why do you want to lose weight?Why do you want to, you know, be healthier, you know, trying to figure out these whys and that’s going to be the driving force. To have them start any, any kind of transition or any kind of weight loss or vegan journey there, reason why. And then just kind of helping them, you know, with adding more things into their diet.So with my new clients that are , I want to lose weight, we just go through the process of adding more things and not necessarily taking things out of their diet. So adding more fruits, adding more vegetables, you know, if they’re still eating meat products, that’s fine. But we want to replace something with something else or add a side salad, add a smoothie, you know, try different things.And then next thing you know, they can eat a whole day of plant-based foods or a whole two meals that are plant-based because sometimes when people transition to being vegan, they feel they’re removing so much stuff, but in all honesty, I’ve put more foods into my diet being plant-based and I’ve ever put in, you know, eating meat.
I just opened my mind and this whole world of all kinds of different foods that we didn’t even know existed. So true. I love that mindset. Thank you. I love it. I’m gonna start using that on other people when they say that to me, because it does feel it comes from a place of scarcity when you say, okay, I can’t eat meat. can’t eat dairy. I can’t eat eggs. But if you say no, I’m adding this in. It just, it just changes everything. It changes the game. So I really love that. I love that. You mentioned that because. Well, it just comes from a place of abundance. I’m a greedy person, , Ooh, I love my clients every time I’m on a call with them.
Monique: So let’s see some of my favorite foods?
Rasheeta: Let’s see, I , I spice. I think ramen. I like chickpeas as a kind of comfort food, but I’ve learned so many, I’ve learned so many more foods that I never even knew existed. say dates.For example, I have a serious sweet tooth. I never even knew what a date was before I transitioned to being vegan. I’ve heard of it, but it just looked like raisins and I really wasn’t messing with it. But when I finally tasted what a date was, and I can make it into a caramel and then put it into dishes to make a crust pod crest, it was the most amazing thing ever.But I love having lots and lots of vegetables and mushrooms. This year has been groundbreaking for me. I never d mushrooms before, but now I love them or some mushrooms, mushrooms. So I just really been enjoying that. And one of my, and you know, eating the same thing over and over again, isn’t bad because that’s actually one thing I tell my clients to do if they’re trying to lose weight.
Monique: Right. Because we can’t just go eating all over the map. No exactly what you’re eating that really, really helps, but my go-to dishes are chickpeas. I love chickpeas, Curry, chickpeas, creamy chickpeas, coconut chickpeas, those in the pot, let that cook and come back home and it’s done. And it’s, it’s really good either over some veggies and or some.And that’s my go-to. Do you usually tell your clients to prep their meals, to keep things simple so that they can lose way? how do you feel about batch cooking or meal prepping? Is that something that you usually teach? No, that’s it that’s a tricky one because you know, COVID right now has changed a lot for people.
Monique: Okay. Let me ask you this. How do you feel about it? Process vegan food. I kind of think I know your answer based on the last reel that you did. And I saw you well, you don’t really judge it. You just said, if you want to lose weight, you shouldn’t be eating processed foods, but, well, how do you feel about it?
Rasheeta: overall, in your life? Is it something that you kind of partake in sometimes? Or , what do you think, do you think people should have cheat meals? Do you, what do you think about the process? Cause there’s so many amazing vegan options out there that are packaged up, but I’m a trainer, a trainer perspective.
Monique: Yeah. I mean, just everybody else, I think it’s phenomenal that they’re making so many options for us, you know, because I remember when you would go out with. To Fridays or Chili’s and they had nothing for us, you know,you can get some broccoli, you get some fries and that was it. You know, now it’s all these impossible burgers and beyond meat burgers and, you know, they got all kinds of stuff. So I think it’s phenomenal. You know, when you go out and you’re with your friends, you’re able to get something to eat.
Rasheeta: Now, bringing all this stuff into the house, I’m not a big fan of it. You know, I treat those processed foods. So if you, if you’re actively trying to lose weight, you know, and you’ve seen some progress, then go ahead and treat yourself to something delicious, but they’re, they got a lot of chemicals in them.And it’s amazing when people decide to take those processed foods, their diet, the weight just falls off. You’re , no, treat those as treats, you know? And especially if you are. I guess the big controversy is , if you’re going vegan for another reason, besides hell, you know, people have at it and they go and they have all the fun vegan things, and then people that are trying to go vegan for health.
Monique: But now that you know, a lot of gyms are closed all over the country, it’s allowing people to kind of see, well, what exactly is online training and what is, what is virtual training? Does it actually work? So it’s been great for me. I’ve been able to reach a lot of women, help them with their fitness goals.
Online training definitely works. It works better than. In person training because I’m able to see my clients all the time. You know, I’m able to hop on calls with them. I’m able to monitor how many steps are taken through my app. I’m able to see how much food you’re eating and what you’re eating. So it’s, it’s been great.And I think a lot of people are kind of getting hit by online training. Yeah. Because I feel we’re about to be shut down again. So unfortunately I feel the same way. We’re just here in LA, we’re just waiting on. Them to say something, especially now, you know, our immune systems are getting compromised, cause we’re not going outside as much.
Monique: So let me ask you this though. What does being healthy mean to you? What does that mean? Healthy? You know, that’s a, that’s a big question.
Rasheeta: It encompasses so many different aspects of, of health, you know, cause you can have a six pack of abs that have low body fat and your mental health, you know, is, is, you know, affected, you know, so mental health being physically fit healthy, spiritually healthy. And that’s why I got all kind of comes down to being plant-based, you know, and not doing, you know, going back to that.When I transitioned to being plant-based my mind got clearer, you know, and I was able to deal with different emotions that I didn’t know that I was dealing with, you know, things that kind of held me back. And a lot of times when you’re not mentally healthy or yeah. Where are you in your mental health or your spiritual health?It all kind of shows in your body. Right? So then there comes the excess weight, you know, and then you’re tired, you know, so. Digging into yourself and dig into your spirituality and those traumas and things that happened to you when you were younger, all are a part of being healthy to me, you know? And then once you dig into some of those areas in your life, you’re able to then become physically healthy, you know, but overall, just keeping a really good mindset, keeping your body fat down.
You know, I’m not always going to include that. Keeping a healthy body fat. Because I believe that is important. You know, there are a lot of people that don’t have any chronic illnesses such as diabetes or high blood pressure or anything like that, but they are overweight. And that just makes them susceptible to a lot of other diseases that we don’t necessarily know of right now.
So I’m a big fan of keeping your body fat, low, and just meditating, praying, keeping your, your, your third eye third year. To be able to receive, you know, toxins receive messages, you know, to, to, to guide you. So healthy is, is something that’s a, it’s a wide range, you know, and I’m not saying that it, it means you have to be a size six or anything that, but working on your mental health will all make your physical health even better.
Monique: So it’s going to be a really great program and you can learn more about that www.prettypumpedfitness.com. Rasheeta. Thank you. So, so, so much for being on a podcast, this is such a pleasure and I’m so happy that Shauna connected us. Yeah. That we’ll continue to. I know that we’ll connect on social media.
I’ll just love watching you, us a story. I love watching your reels. I love looking at you on your feed, so thank you again. It’s such a pleasure having you on, it is so great to be here. I mean, I’ve been looking at your podcast and I’m just , oh my gosh, one day I’m going to be on there. And it’s just been a really great time.
Thank you so much for being so kind and. Give me the opportunity to do this. So I’m blessed.
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the podcast. All of the show notes will be@brownvegan.com. So check those out. Also, let me know what you thought of this episode. Come hang out with me on Instagram. My handle over there is at brown vegan. Have a great day and I will talk to you next week.
