 Aloha and welcome to Lilian's Vegan World. I'm your host, Lilian Cumick with Think Tech Hawaii. Today's show is the Olympics Go Vegan, plant-based athletes take center stage. I'm very excited to welcome my gorgeous guest, Donna Narona, a research specialist at Pittsburgh High School from Martinez, California. Welcome Donna to the show, Aloha. Aloha, hi Lilian, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Oh, thank you so much. The pleasure is all mine. I am very, very excited to have you on the show because we met just a few weeks ago and you were telling me how you became vegan and have regained your health, lost a lot of weight along the way. So plenty to talk about today, Donna. May I ask that you introduce yourself to the viewers? Yes, hi everyone. My name is Donna Narona. I originally come from the Philippines. I came here 14 years ago and about three years ago I started a whole food plant-based diet which was life-changing for me and my family as well. Is your family plant-based as well? They're what we call plant strong and my husband actually, he's had migraines for a long time and when he became plant strong, it also like the migraines lessened so much like significantly for him. Really? I love that phrase plant strong. I think I'm gonna have to tell my husband about that because he is not vegan. Although we live in a vegan home. Our home is all plant-based. We don't have any leather furniture in our home. So we try to keep it very, very vegan but he eats non-vegan food when we go out. So I think I might be able to use this vegan strong. Yeah. Plant-based strong. Yeah. That's awesome. It's like meeting in the middle like marriage, right? It's always like power, yeah. So Donna, I have to ask how and why you became vegan? Yeah, I became vegan because when I was pregnant first with my first born in 2012, I suffered from what we call synthesis pubis or pelvic girdle pain, which basically means that my right, the right side of my pelvis moved and I couldn't walk. I couldn't walk. I couldn't do any of like the daily stuff without severe pain. I couldn't even like on my bed, I can't even do this. Yeah. So I had to be bed-dressed for a couple of months before and after my delivery. And then in 2016, it happened again, you know, with my first born, I gained like 65 pounds. With my second born, I tried to be very, very mindful about what I was eating, but it wasn't plant-based yet. But in the third trimester, it happened again and I ballooned again. And so yeah, when I was bed-dressed, my husband had to actually put, we were like, we just bought this townhouse from another city. We were living in another city by anyways. It's a two-story house. And so he had to put one of our beds upstairs because I couldn't go downstairs and our entrance is upstairs. And so yeah, I was bed-dressed, I was watching Netflix a lot. And I came, you know, across this documentary called Fat Second Nearly Dead. And the second one was Forks Over Nives. And this guy, this very well-known plant-based pioneer named T. Colin Campbell really took my attention. He really got my attention. So I started listening to his audio book, The China Study. And that's, yeah. And after that, there was no looking back. That is an excellent resource to actually the China study. And it's funny that you mentioned you started watching documentaries which ended up basically starting your plant-based journey. That happens a lot. A lot of people are turning vegan after watching some of these documentaries. I mean, they're very eye-opening, very informative. And sometimes people can't actually hand or watching them to the end because they are very, very, you know, when they start showing footage of slaughterhouses or, you know, how animals are mistreated and stuff like that, as well as, you know, the effect and the footprint it leaves on the planet. There definitely is a lot to be said about, you know, wanting to go vegan or starting a plant-based diet. So I do want to show a picture of you because Donna, I have only met you a few weeks ago and you look amazing. Oh, thank you. You do not look like you've had two children. So here are some photos. They're in particular the photo of when you were pregnant. I'm not sure if you were, this was with your first pregnancy or second pregnancy, but there is a shot of you and you do definitely look a little bit heavier than you are now. How much weight have you lost since your last pregnancy? I've lost a total of 65 pounds. My gosh. Yeah, it's quite a bit of, it was a significant weight, definitely. How tall are you if you don't mind me asking? Yeah, I'm 51. So that was a lot of weight on my body. Definitely, yes. Well, I'm sure a lot of the viewers want to know, besides going plant-based, how did you lose all that weight? Tell us about what you ate or did you exercise? I mean, after, you know, just after giving birth, I assume you're not doing any strict workouts, but how did you lose so much weight? Yeah, good question. So actually I started my plant-based diet like a few months already and I still wasn't losing weight. So I was getting frustrated about it. I mean, there was a little bit of weight, but not significant. And then I went back and watched the fat sick and nearly dead again, where this guy was talking, Joe Cross was talking about going fasting. So that's what I did. That's what triggered the weight loss was me going three days of juice fasting. And then I just like, you know, the toxins were just, you know, I was just getting rid of the toxins and it just, you know, it was like a domino effect after that. And what I also did, so I did the fasting and after the fasting, I went on, so how I started my plant-based journey was I got rid of different food groups or meat groups one at a time. So it wasn't too much, but it was only also when I got rid of the dairy. So the dairy, getting rid of the dairy, which was the last thing that I got rid of, which was funny because I thought it was gonna be seafood coming from the Philippines. You know, I'm, you know, yes, I am a big seafood fan, but it was actually the dairy that I was very hooked on and that was really surprising for me. So yeah, so the dairy. I was gonna say, yes, I'm not surprised at all, Donna. It definitely, the majority of people that find it hard becoming completely plant-based do have trouble getting rid of the dairy, but I'm gonna come back to that in a moment because I think we all know by now that there is a substitute for any kind of dairy that you're hooked on, whether it's cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream. Really, there is a plant-based milks. There's so much out there now, so many, you know, plant-based products that really there is no excuse because you don't have to give up dairy-tasting products when you go vegan, so. Oh, that's right. Yeah. Yeah, so like my family, my kids, that's how I introduce plant-based with them is using a lot of alternatives that they also would enjoy. When you say you did the three days of juice fasting, first of all, you did three days fasting then, say in a week, then were you eating regular food for the other four days in a week, then did you start fasting again or? No, it was just the one time thing. So that was October 2017. I did a three-day fasting the last week of October, then after that, I just started eating whole-food plant-based. So a lot of green. And I tried to get rid of the white stuff, the vegan junk food. And yeah, so I was basically eating regular plant-based food I was eating. And then I tried to like do at least a day a month fasting just to kind of reset my digestive system. So yeah, so that practice really helped. And also when you were asking about the exercise, I used to enjoy a lot of running prior to like what happened to me and so I started to go back to that. Yeah, but now it's more of my family and I will do a lot of hiking. So that's our main mode of exercise is hiking. We do like recreational biking together. We enjoy a lot of outdoor stuff together. I love how you brought your family into this new journey of yours. That's fantastic. You do have pictures of your beautiful family spending time out in the outdoors. Where's this photo taken? This one was in Flagstaff. It's called Walnut Canyon, which was like a cliff dwelling for ancient Americans, like Native Americans. So we were in the Sedona area in the spring of this year. Awesome, that's so great. All right, I have a question for you, Donna. And I think this is one of the biggest misconceptions that people have about vegans. Do you lack energy on a planet-based diet? Oh my gosh, no, my dad, he is so proud of me. And he would like tell people like her energy is like way up. And I used to now like do a lot of things around the house. My husband is very domesticated. God bless him. Like, you know, I really have him. I'm blessed with, I'm pampered basically with like stuff around the house. But when I started going plant-based, I started contributing more to like just things that we do around the house. I mean cooking more, just yeah, doing stuff. And yeah, my dad really notices that because he lives with me. My mom and dad lives with us. Awesome. That's great to hear because I do wanna talk today about some vegan athletes that are actually competing or have already competed in this year's Tokyo Olympics. So it is a fact that there are vegan athletes out there. They are very, very strong, very successful sports people as well. So here are some of the awesome plant-based athletes that have competed this year. There's Team USA soccer player, Alex Morgan, who has won three Olympic gold medals and a bronze medal at this year's Tokyo Olympics in soccer. Canadian skateboarder, Mickey Puffer, also competed this year. Polish-American skater, Amelia Brodka, has been vegan for 10 years. There's a couple of Aussies in this year's Olympics that are vegan. Australian sprinter, Morgan Mitchell, ran in her second Olympic Games. And when asked how she became vegan, she said that her now ex-boyfriend showed her some documentaries that turned her instantly vegan. No surprise there, as Donna, you have mentioned that sort of was the segue into you starting your journey. By the way, if there's anyone watching this show and does wanna watch some documentaries about the vegan lifestyle and plant-based diet, I really do recommend Cal Spiracy. Dominion is another one. Dominion is gonna be a shocking one. This is likely to, if not turn you vegan, at least think about what it is you're putting on your plate and where it came from. Very shocking footage that is very also informative. And it just shows a lot of what happens behind the scenes in the animal world. Another documentary I highly recommend, which has really been a game changer, literally. And that's the name of the documentary. It's called The Game Changes. This is one that a lot of people might remember that you can watch on, you can see on Netflix. And the other one I was gonna say is what the health. What the health is an awesome, awesome documentary as well. So many documentaries out there. We will continue on without talk about the vegan athletics. Donna, I am gonna ask that we take a quick break for some messages and to the viewers, please stay tuned for more of Billions Vegan World. Hi, I'm Rusty Komori, host of Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. I was the head coach for the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years. And we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. My show is based on my book also titled Beyond the Lines. And it's about leadership, creating a superior culture of excellence and finding greatness. I feature a wide range of amazing guests who share valuable insights about how going Beyond the Lines leads to success in everything you do in life. I'm looking forward to you joining me every Monday at 11 a.m. Aloha. Welcome back to Lillian's Vegan World. I'm your host, Lillian Nkumik with Think Tech Hawaii. I'm also a vegan chef, recipe developer and author of Hawaii, A Vegan Paradise. My awesome vegan cookbook is available on Amazon, stores all around Hawaii. There are over 120 plant-based recipes and lots of Hawaiian favorites that I've veganized. I had the honor actually last week of cooking for another one of Hawaii's legendary chefs, Chef Alan Wong. It was an amazing experience. He sat at my table for one of my seven course vegan dinners with his wife. It was his first vegan course, full course, and he loved it. There's a little video I talk of us kind of goofing around but do check it out. Here's the video with Alan Wong. So continue on as I normally do. It has been an absolute honor meeting you and to have you sitting at my table, honestly, it's for me a big deal. So thank you so much. I hope you enjoy this and tell all your 10,000 million followers about it. So I hope that's what you're doing. Thank you very much. Everything was wonderful. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Alan, can we take a photo of you? Thank you. Are you sure? No, are you sure? You sure you're... Wait, yeah. I'll look. I'll look. I'll look. I'll look. I'll look. I'll look. Yeah. Yeah. So that was my little dining experience with the awesome Chef Alan Wong and it was definitely, definitely an honor to have him sitting at my table. So back to my beautiful guest, Donna Narona from California. Donna, welcome back again to the show. Thank you. What have you been cooking up? Tell us about what you and your family, your plant strong husband and children eat on a regular basis. So on a regular basis for protein, we use a lot of mushrooms. We use a lot of tofu and lentils and beans. We had like, you know, in the pandemic, we bought like big sacks of all the beans, different kinds of beans. And yeah, my kids, they like tofu. And so that's what I switched to, you know, instead of using chicken and the other proteins, that's what we use. And then I use like, you know, we make falafels. We like to go to try out different cuisines. So Japanese, Mexican, even Mediterranean. And so we just make it plant-based. Awesome. The Mediterranean cuisine has actually a lot of awesome vegan dishes. Do you consume oil? No, so I don't, when I cook, I don't consume oil just because of the research and, you know, the articles that I've read about it, it's not good for the body for so many reasons. So I use water or I dry, you know, I dry, what do you call, saute. My husband, though, he prefers with oil. He feels like the taste is different. And so that's kind of where I respect his opinion as long as he's plant strong. So yeah. And then eventually, actually, I was very surprised because he told me that he sees himself going full plant-based in three to five years, that's what he said. That's wonderful. That's great. My husband still claims he could never go vegan, but, you know, I never say never when it comes to the plant-based diet. Right? Especially with you as a chef. I mean, how lucky you are. Yeah. My husband eats probably some of the best food on the island, vegan food. Exactly, yeah. So he's kind of spoiled, but that's awesome. What about, so you mentioned you don't, you don't eat processed food, junk food, which is great. I've been known to indulge every now and again. Yeah, absolutely. I won't lie. No, I won't. I mean, to be honest with you, I was more disciplined at the very beginning. I was whole-food plant-based all the way like the first year or two. And then when we go on vacations and my husband loves chips and my kids do love chips. So, you know, like I've kind of given, you know, like I do eat it. I need to do better though, because I saw myself doing better before, so I need to be more on track with that. Well, you look, like I said before, you look amazing. So I think whatever you're doing, you're definitely doing it right. And one of my mantras is moderation over deprivation. I think that when you really are so hard on yourself and set yourself up for disappointment, I think that can really kind of steer you off the path. So don't be too hard on yourself if you're just starting a plant-based diet. But again, there's all these things. I mean, I do consume oil, extra virgin olive oil. I cook with it a lot and do dress my salads and stuff with a lot. So there's people that do, don't do oil, people that do, don't do sugar. What about alcohol, Donna? So alcohol, I typically don't drink, but this summer I've been to like, I have friends who like to drink. And so I've been drinking. I've been enjoying some rosé and some beers. So yeah, I mean, it's not typically what I do, but like what you said, like moderation, right? Instead of deprivation. So that's what I've been doing. Like I've been enjoying social time with some friends and yeah, eating, you know, alternative food, like alternative snacks. Yeah, no, I totally agree. I mean, I love to, I live in Hawaii. I mean, cocktail hour is not gonna be the same without a drink in your head. Exactly, yeah. I don't blame Hawaii for my drinking habits, but I definitely am a wine drinker. I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner every night. So yeah, definitely moderation over deprivation. And as long as you, you know, counteract that with eating, you know, really good food, whole foods, plant-based, get your nutrients in, get your daily exercise in. One thing, talking about fasting, I am actually an intermittent faster and I fast for 20 hours every day. Oh wow, really? Yes, I've been doing that for about 10 years now. So I eat about four hours a day. It's actually less. I'm not grazing for four hours, but I do start my first meal at five PM and then nothing after nine PM. So I have found that for me fasting, I have had guests on my show talking about intermittent fasting. It is a game changer. Fasting is something that I really recommend people look into because it can, it gives your body time to heal itself. When you're constantly trying to digest food, your body's working over time to, you know, do all that and it doesn't have time to rest, which is what your body needs to heal. So intermittent fasting is another thing that people can look at if they're really, you know, interested in getting their, you know, their food and diet on the right track. Yeah, I agree. Actually, my husband and I do that. We do eight, 16. Yeah, and it's, you know, I did five, 19, but it wasn't because I have little kids and if they don't see me eating, they ask why am I not eating? So I had to adjust it. But yeah, definitely I agree with you. Intermittent fasting, my sister actually who's trying to lose weight also has been seeing some results with IF. So yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's something still quite a lot of people still haven't heard about intermittent fasting. So definitely look into it. If you're interested in cleaning up your diet, losing a bit of weight along the way, although it's not a diet, definitely not a diet. It's just about eating within a feasting window, a certain amount of hours every day and then letting your body rest for the other hours. And when you think about it, if you're sleeping for on average eight hours a night, just skip breakfast and you're already, you know, you're already fasting without even thinking about it for 12 to 16 hours. So it's not very hard to do. And I'm one of those people that think honestly, breakfast is not necessary. That's just me, just my opinion, I'm not a dietitian or nutritionist and I don't know what your lifestyle is like. Depending on your lifestyle, I think people tend to eat breakfast out of habit rather than, you know, to eat because they're hungry. So anyway, there's lots of so many athletes and congratulations to all the athletes that performed. US basketball player, Diana Taurasi, Jamaican born, heavyweight boxer, Siobhan Clark, Tamara Vibolt, Montreal-based vegan boxer, fell just one win shy of the medal. So congratulations to all the plant-based athletes who show the world that you still have all that energy and strength, even if you're on a plant-based diet. Donna, we are going to start wrapping up the show. Would you like to leave a message with our viewers? Yes, you know, take care of your health. It's always a choice what you put in in your mouth. You know, there's so many marketing, so many commercials, but at the end of the day it becomes a choice. And I hope for you and your family you will make a healthful choice. There's so many literature, so many resources like Lillian's YouTube show, they're available for people to really maximize and be educated. So my hope is that you and your family will start considering a healthful, a plant-based diet, a plant-strong diet, because it's such a blessing not only for your family right now, but for many generations to come. Absolutely, perfectly said. And I couldn't agree more. And if you're thinking about pre-workout snacking, getting back to the athletes, stick to light carbs, bananas, dates and apples, veg news and awesome site where you can get a lot of information from vegnews.com also recommends tart cherries are a good source of energy and antioxidants for inflammation reduction while bananas fight muscle fatigue and prevent saunas. If you're sipping on water and then tend to drink a lot of sugary energy drinks, cut them out, go for coconut water, which keeps you hydrated with electrolytes while fighting fatigue. Post-workout snacking, eat within an hour, it's beneficial due to food's power to rebuild, restore and rejuvenate overworked muscles in the body. Again, thank you everyone for watching. I hope that you gain something from Donna's journey. I thank my guest Donna and look forward to seeing all of you viewers again on another episode of Lillian's Vegan World. Stay safe and aloha.