← All Of It with Alison Stewart
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- [00:09]
A
This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Our next guest, Robin Arsan made a pretty dramatic career shift. She left her job as a corporate lawyer to pursue her passion. She is now the vice president of fitness for Peloton, an amazing instructor, and now also a cookbook author. Eat to Hustle is a book of vegan recipes. It's all about plant based protein rich recipes, the kind of food she relies on to fuel workouts, long days and everything in between, including two children under six. Arzan is a vegan and she also lives with type 1 diabetes. Through these recipes, she's trying to push back on the idea that you need meat to hit your protein goals or that eating a plant based meal means giving up the flavors of food you grew up with eating. In her case, she's Cuban and Puerto Rican. Robin Arson joined me when the cookbook was published. We took calls then, but because this is an encore presentation, we won't be taking calls today. Here's my conversation with Robin Arzon. Robin, what was that moment that you said, I have had enough with the law and I would like to pursue something else?
- [01:22]
B
I think that there were thousands of small moments. I wouldn't say it was like jumping off a cliff. It was probably like tiny little inflection points. And I fell in love with movement and running. And I remember sitting in my office adjacent to Central Park. I could see, you know, a sliver of Central park from my window. I was a junior associate, you know, so no, no fancy office there. But it, it did. I found that pull to count down the hours of my day until I could move my body. And I thought, gosh, this is such an inverse relationship with how I should be leading my life. And then I just started to prioritize being able to pay my New York City rent with, with something that I felt in, you know, impassioned by, which was running and moving.
- [02:10]
A
When your diet, how did your diet change when you became a full time professional fitness professional?
- [02:14]
B
So, you know, I was working really long hours at the law firm and it was seamless web, as it was called at the time. Delivery service food was pretty much breakfast, lunch and dinner. And it was during that time, actually that I started transitioning slowly again over a two year period to a plant based diet. It started with a lunchtime salad at the local, local bodega. And I one day the chicken was undercooked and I was like, you know what, I'm gonna make a swap tomorrow. And I swapped chicken for black beans and it started Just with lunch. And then it migrated to my dinnertime order. Okay, maybe I'll try Indian food or Thai food or, you know, some foods that I think are gonna give me energy but aren't gonna be meat based. And it was, it wasn't like I went home one day and I threw out everything in my kitchen and pantry. It really was iterative.
- [03:01]
A
Did you notice that you felt differently?
- [03:03]
B
I recovered from my workouts faster. I slept better, I had more energy. I didn't have that 4pm energy slump. And I realized that my digestion was improved. And again, this took. This wasn't overnight. This was over a few months. But I did start to see those improvements after consistent plant based eating after a few weeks.
- [03:23]
A
Okay, so you decide to go in. You're gonna go for it. What was the biggest learning cur and figuring out how to properly fuel your workouts.
- [03:31]
B
It was more so trial and error. We all have our go to meals, our go to foods, or even nostalgic things that we just. That's how things have always been done in this house. Right. So I had to think ahead for Hungry Robin. I'm always thinking ahead for hungry Robin. So now I can just speak to how I do things now. I normally do a semblance of meal preparation on a Sunday when I have a little bit more time mainly preparing proteins like air fried tofu or I'll make my own seitan. And again, a lot of these recipes are I need to hustle. Actually, all of them are my, my cookbook. And then I will pair them with grains and with veggies at the time I'm going to eat them. And I make protein bagels. And that helps me. When I'm running around New York City like I am today, I throw a protein bagel in my bag and I always have a smoothie every single morning. And I usually drink half before my workout, half after. And I'm usually doing multiple workouts a day with my peloton. And so it's really bringing a number of small meals with me.
- [04:36]
A
You consulted a nutritionist for your book, Delina Soto, and she pops up here and there with her little bits of wisdom. Why did you pick Delina?
- [04:45]
B
First of all, she's a fellow Latina. I wanted somebody who had a point of view on, you know, rooted in science, but also understanding culture and understanding that food is commute food. Food relates to community and feelings of home. And, you know, she has been able to guide clients through her career on that journey. And I didn't. I don't Expect to take the emotionality out of food. In fact, I want to infuse joy with practicality and that is exactly how I approach eating. And I wanted a reg registered dietitian to, to get her eyes on the book just so folks would have some reassurance that this isn't just me making it up. Although I've pressure tested it, you know, over with over a decade of. But there's, it's also rooted in science.
- [05:30]
A
Let's talk to Nicole, who's calling from Kew Gardens. Hey Nicole, thanks for taking the time to call all of it.
- [05:38]
C
Hi Allison, Love your show. Thanks for taking my call. So our, our whole family, I have four children and a husband and our whole family is vegetarian. Although my second son last year at age 15 decided that he was going to be a meat eater, much to our chagrin. But hey, you do you bro. Okay, so he, he, he is a meat eater and you know, I cook his stuff on the separate pans and things like that. But he's his own person, so there's that. And I know a lot of ways to get, because I've been a vegetarian for, you know, almost 30 years now, how to get plant based protein. But as I've entered this darling and beautiful perimenopausal state that I'm in, I've heard so much about collagen and I'm wondering how a vegetarian slash vegan can get collagen from a vegetarian diet.
- [06:43]
B
Yeah, that's, that's. Hi, thank you so much for calling. That's a great point. There are supplement companies that sell plant based forms of collagen juries out. You know, I would, I would do your research on the efficacy and whether the absorption is the same, but generally they're products from the sea that, that help with our collagen production as we age.
- [07:08]
A
You and Delina both weigh in on the biggest vegan myths. First of all, when you talk to her and when you put this together, where do these myths come from?
- [07:18]
B
A lot of times they're, they're related to, I mean something that just went wild on Tick Tock or went wild on the news. And oftentimes it's related to a study or two. And really unpacking, you know, what was the control group, what was the cause, you know, causation or correlation there. Right. Like let's unpack that. And also we do, we shouldn't discount individually how we feel. Right. Like you, we could, we could report on study after study, but if that way of eating doesn't Sit well with you in digestion, doesn't aid, sleep, doesn't. If you don't feel like it's aiding your energy, then, then you. That's all the sample size you need to have.
- [07:58]
A
What are some of the myths that you like to bust? Give me three.
- [08:00]
B
Well, number one, that plant based foods don't have protein. I mean, plants themselves have protein and we. And eating a variety of plant based foods gets you to the full amino acid profile that will put on muscle. Since becoming a plant based athlete, I've probably put on 12 pounds of musc in about a decade. That's with a lot of hard work and intentional eating. But it's absolutely possible to maintain muscle mass as we age with plant based foods. Number two, that soy is inherently bad. You know, there are entire communities around the world that eat soy on a regular basis and they do not have increased risk of cancer. And I would just say, generally speaking, you want to know where your foods are coming from. Or organic foods, to the extent that we can source them properly are usually a better option. At least that's what it is in my household. And I would say, number three, that it needs to be overly complicated or that you have to relinquish foods that you love. A lot of the recipes and eat to hustle are actually comfort foods. Foods that I was nostalgic for in the 90s. Things that my Cuban refugee mama was like, no, we're not getting that. You're not getting that. You know, like literally there are, there's a whole purse snack chapter and there are many energy muffins, for example, that used to be these prepackaged muffins from the 90s that my mom was like, we're not getting that. You can have rice and beans for dinner. So I created a recipe, you know, that has, you know, 12 grams of protein per serving. And it, it is a nod to kind of more fun foods that we might have had back in the day.
- [09:34]
A
I was going to ask you because about your Cuban and your Puerto Rican roots. There's peril. There's a vegetarian peril in here.
- [09:42]
B
Tofu chicharones, which is directly from like my Christmas holiday table.
- [09:47]
A
So vegetarian pernil plate.
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C
Yep.
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A
Explain to us what you think is the magic ingredient in here.
- [09:53]
B
You know, I mean, I would say it's, it's the adobo and the sason and the seasonings. Right. And so we were able to create recreate pernil, which is normally a pork, roasted pork, and infuse it with protein and make sure. That you have the maduros, you have arroz con gandules, the rice and beans. And that there are many points in the book. You know, we have a flan recipe that has no dairy and is pumped up with protein. And side note, my mom said that my abuela Carmita would have been very proud. So that was the only, that was the only vote of confidence I needed to get that book out into the world knowing that my abuelas, my grandmothers, would be proud. But there are a lot of ways to kind of. I call myself a remix artist in the kitchen and in the same way that I hope to empower folks to move their bodies with peloton, I hope to empower folks in the kitchen to make choices and just experiment. And we don't have to relinquish the recipes that we grew up with.
- [10:48]
A
We're talking to Robin Arsan. Her new cookbook is called Eat to Hustle. Let's talk to James in Gowanus. Hey James, thanks for making the time to call all of it.
- [10:58]
D
Hi there. So thanks for letting me on. I wanted to ask because I heard in the introduction that she is a type 1 diabetic. And as a type 1 diabetic myself, I know that that condition has a lot of impact on people's fitness and on, you know, how often they choose to control their diet. So, you know, if it's not too personal, I'd love to ask her how being type 1 diabetic impacted her writing this book.
- [11:29]
B
Yeah. Thank you. So the carb counts certainly aid my fellow type 1 diabatties. I like to say the, the carb counts obviously are relevant to how much insulin we are going to give ourselves in whatever system or shots that we are using. I'm personally on a closed loop system. I was already an athlete when I was diabe diagnosed as an adult. So I was very body aware of how different foods affect my energy, how different types of movement affect my energy. And then of course, after being diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic, that became even more granular and nuanced. I would say fueling as a, as a plant based athlete has really helped me with my T1D management because my carbs are almost always paired with protein and fiber which in fact impacts glucose spikes. And I pair meals that are more carb heavy around my movement and really, really pop. Prioritize protein ahead of everything. So, you know, I would encourage folks who are T1D to experiment with some of the recipes in this book. And you are going to be armed with the tools of macronutrients. Macronutrient breakdowns for every single recipe.
- [12:35]
A
Let's talk to Vanessa in Brooklyn. Hey, Vanessa, thanks for calling, all of it.
- [12:40]
D
Hey, I'm just calling because I'm a huge fan of Robin's. Robin, I've been riding with you since 23rd street when I was preparing for my wedding and trying to get extra fit. And now I'm still riding with you. I don't know, 12, 13 years later, 11 years, whatever. However many years it's been. And I also have a nine year old daughter who's also named Athena. But I just wanted to say what resonates with me the most about you among so many things. That you're a badass and all those things, but that you preach about getting stronger as we get older and as I'm almost 50 now, that empowers me every day.
- [13:16]
B
Wonderful. Thank you for so much for that acknowledgement and thank you for rocking with me, you know, over a decade later.
- [13:21]
A
I wrote with Robin this morning, what can I say? Okay. In your book Eat to Hustle, you have a section called Shop Smarter, not Harder, like our audience public radio and say, know what tofu is? Yeah. But when you're thinking about the spices that you should have in your kitchen, what are some spices that you should have on hand?
- [13:38]
B
Ooh, don't underestimate miso for umami, nutritional yeast for additional B12. And that cheesy boost without the dairy. Coconut aminos or coconut aminos sprinkled on Tofu broiled for 15 minutes is incredible. It develops this like nice sweet glaze with a little bit of salt. Of course, the, the spice that I kind of go to most readily is usually sasson and adobo and that kind of gives me like more of a Latin vibe. But the. But moj is also something that I make often. I get a really high quality oil, some citrus and some garlic, and that will refresh. The beauty of the plant based proteins is that they will absorb almost any flavor palette. They are blank canvases. So that is. That gives us a lot of room to play in the, in the seasoning aisle.
- [14:31]
A
One of our listeners says, hi, Robin, big fan. Are there protein powders? Robin recommends?
- [14:38]
B
I get this question a lot. I think do your research, make sure that it's third party tested. I really like Jason Walsh's company, Rise 311. It's on the pricier side, but I know that he really vets and studies or gets his product tested and that vanilla is just kind of a go to for me.
- [15:02]
A
You're from philly, from the 215. So, you know there's a cheesesteak in here.
- [15:07]
B
You know, I had to. I had to do a cheesesteak. Come on now.
- [15:12]
C
Yeah.
- [15:13]
B
One of the. One of the things I had to mourn when I became plant based was there were. There were not going to be any more Pat and Gino's runs for me. So, yes, I did a. I did a cheesesteak recipe and I hope I made Philly proud.
- [15:24]
A
We actually have somebody calling from Philly. Let's talk to Connie. Hi, Connie. Thanks for calling, all of it.
- [15:30]
C
Hi, Robin.
- [15:31]
D
Hi, Allison. Robin, I love you. I love you. Representing Philly, I have a quick question about. I'm wondering if you recommend any ingredients or particular meals to help with doms. I'm. I'm like 36 hours out from one of your glutes and leg strength classes, and I'm struggling. I hear you.
- [15:50]
B
Okay, well, protein's gonna help. Water and hydration is gonna help, I would say. I always add dehydrated tart cherry into my water. And I also increase my creatine. I'm. I'm on like 20 grams of creatine a day, split up across, like four very large Stanley cups. I think that, I mean. I mean, protein is obviously going to help the amino acid profile is going to help with any, you know, muscle tears and things like that. But I'd say it's. It's more about consistent fueling sleep and a little bit of edge you're going to get from things like the tart cherry juice.
- [16:26]
A
You're not a professional chef at all, but it's clear that you love cooking when you talk about it, when you write about it. What made you decide to write a cookbook?
- [16:35]
B
The number one question I get asked from folks is how do you get your protein? Or how do I maintain my energy levels? And I just wanted to put it in a book that is. Has beautiful photography, a lot of energy. It has like this kitchen is for dancing playlist. I mean, I wanted every little touch point to feel like you were coming over my home for. Into my home for a meal.
- [16:58]
A
You spent time in the corporate world working crazy hours. You work crazy hours. Now I know. What advice do you have for people to try to maintain sort of an intentional diet when you have a demanding job?
- [17:12]
B
I would say plan today for the version of yourself who's gonna be grateful for how you acted tomorrow. And in that, I mean, it's small little wins. So whether it's planning for when you're going to be hungry later, putting a little purse snack in your purse, making double of a recipe, freezing half of it so you don't have to think about it in two weeks. I do that often, especially with the protein breads and the protein bagels. Give yourself grace. And I would say consistency over intensity is the real flex. I love an intense workout. I love, I love high energy things. But sometimes you just need to like throttle and give yourself grace for making the simple next decision.
- [17:55]
A
My guest has been Robin Arson. The name of her cookbook is Eat to Hustle. It's been a pleasure having you.
- [18:01]
B
Thank you. I'm thrilled.
- [18:07]
A
Up next, we have more recipes, this time from the former culinary director of the Jamaican bar and restaurant Ms. Lily's in the East Village. This is all in it.
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E
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