- 1 day ago
Marco Borges shows us how to cook healthy food at a good price with Walmart Rep Silvia Azrai Kawas, VP Private Brands Food, Walmart US.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00welcome to essence festivals wellness house this is our second annual first virtual wellness house
00:13and i am delighted to be here for those of you that were at wellness house with us last year
00:17welcome back for those of you who are here for the first time thank you so much for joining us
00:21when i was asked to come back to this i immediately thought wow another amazing
00:27opportunity to make long-lasting connections and to empower people with information that they could
00:31use to lean towards a healthier lifestyle and as i think about healthier lifestyle naturally i think
00:37of the kitchen because it's what we do the most or least or maybe most damage for our health because
00:44the truth is that our health is really up to us a lot of times we um we give the autonomy we give
00:52control over over to others but the reality is that we are in control of how we live our lives
00:57and every time we eat is an opportunity to get closer to health or further away from it when i
01:03think of health and i think of food i think of what are the empowering messages we've got you know 15
01:09minutes i am your host for the next 15 minutes and i want to leave you with information but not just
01:14information to fill your mind but information that you can act on and when i think of acting on this
01:19information i can't think of anyone better but then our friends at walmart you're doing such an
01:24amazing job at curating health for us because the reality is and this is not a plug for them the
01:30reality is that over the last 30 years i've been hearing so many excuses right i am unhealthy because
01:37i can't afford it well i'm gonna prove that wrong today i am not healthy because i can't move enough
01:44because i don't have the equipment because i don't have the access the reality is that walmart is
01:48curating wellness in a really beautiful way in a holistic way that touches upon many different
01:54areas so today i'd like to do something really different and i'd love to invite my friend sylvia
01:59from walmart to join us so we can have a conversation about health and well-being hi sylvia how are you
02:04hello how are you thank you for having me thank you for joining me i appreciate it i know it's kind
02:10of short notice so thank you so much for taking the time to join us today and i was just mentioning
02:15you know it's such an amazing time to be alive because we have access to more information than
02:21we've ever had right and to have a partner to have a community resource like walmart to me
02:27means the world because i was just sharing with our viewers that over the last 30 years in this
02:33profession of wellness i always hear that the number one roadblock the number one obstacle
02:39is i can't afford it i don't have the means to be able to put healthy food on the table for my
02:46family so today i'm hoping that you will indulge me in this conversation and perhaps we're going to
02:53prepare one of my favorite recipes okay so we're going to prepare a uh fajita one pot pasta bowl
02:59all right and it's super cool um you're gonna love this i bought all the ingredients at walmart and
03:06dig this so i did i actually went through an exercise today and i actually bought all the food
03:11and i totaled well i bought more than i needed for this but i when you add it up it actually equals eight
03:19dollars and eighteen cents to feed a family of four this recipe is for a family of four you break that
03:24down per person it's two dollars it's two dollars and five cents i mean come on we can afford this we
03:29can afford to live a healthy lifestyle so let's remove that roadblock let's take that that
03:35distraction away because that's all it really is if we want to be healthier we can be healthier
03:40so there's plenty of these amazing foods available i know that next to affordability is always time i'm
03:48a working mother i'm a working father i don't have time i don't really know how to cook and and the
03:55excuses go on and on and on and i'm sure sylvia you're a working mom i'm sure you probably have come
04:00across this more than once um so what i did is i created a recipe for you today that requires very
04:07little cooking so we're going to do this this is the challenge for today we're going to do this in
04:11under 10 minutes i mean if you like your pasta a little bit softer maybe it'll take a little bit
04:15longer but we're boiling some water here and using the magic of tea we're going to actually show you
04:20what it looks like afterwards we're going to boil some water we're going to make some pasta and we're
04:25going to add pinto beans corn and bell peppers i mean talk about a nutritious meal we've got all
04:31the protein we've got all the fiber did you know that most americans consume half the amount of fiber
04:36they should be consuming on a daily basis the only way to get fiber is to eat more plants eat more
04:42plants eat more grains more nuts more seeds more legumes more beans and not only that but we've got
04:50phytonutrients we've got vitamin c we've got minerals we've got so many wonderful health
04:57boosting benefits in this one dish and guess what these beans are canned i kid you not i literally
05:03bought them from your canned section um the corn is from your frozen food section and i actually love
05:10fresh peppers so i bought these bell peppers in your produce department they look fantastic
05:15fantastic what's your what's your biggest challenge as i start to prepare this you know i think you
05:24hit on it i don't think i'm any different than a lot of our customers and what they approach every day
05:29we are all busy we all are starved for time we all want inspirational but yet accessible i can
05:36actually do it it's not intimidating type of meals that my kids are going to eat because the last thing
05:41i want is to experiment and then the children don't eat it i have two girls and they're picky
05:46um i think that's one of the things is also every time you know i i start to think about what do i
05:53want to feed my family can i do it in a in a healthy nutritious balanced way but at the same time be able
06:00to customize it i think this thing about customizing is starting to be fun and i do it with like sauces or spices
06:07um but you know it's all about what time do i have can i invest a little bit more time can i get
06:14exciting you know recipes or ingredients but then make it accessible at the same time so everybody eats
06:19it i don't know a lot right no i i love it but the truth is and we had this conversation earlier today
06:27with some friends people think that in order to achieve health you've got to give something up so so
06:32what do i gotta give up is it gonna cost more money is it gonna taste like cardboard um you don't have
06:38to give up taste you don't have to sacrifice you just have to put a little bit of thought into it
06:42and this information is only as powerful as the use you put behind it right so knowing this is one thing
06:48right but actually utilizing this information to lean into a healthier lifestyle actually going into a
06:54walmart actually filling your cupboard with food that nourishes your body from the inside out is the
06:59key it's not just hearing it it's what you do with the information once you receive it that actually
07:04allows you to move in the direction of better health the reality is that we now know today
07:09right we're all worried about covid we're all worried about all of these uh unfortunate events that are
07:15happening in the world today around this pandemic but the reality is it's not our biggest enemy today
07:20heart disease is still the number one killer of americans the number one killer of people around the world
07:26yet we know that what we put into our body the way we live our lives our epigenetics so to speak
07:33play such an important role in how we develop this heart disease how we basically grow it how we nurture it
07:40or how we reduce the risk arrest it if it's already started and reverse it if we already have early
07:47onset heart disease we know the only diet in the world that can actually reverse heart disease is a
07:54whole food plant-based diet so you're probably thinking oh my god okay i can't go whole food plant-based
08:00i'm not asking you to go 100% whole food plant-based i'm just saying start one meal at a time i'm saying
08:06think about it one step at a time it doesn't have to be all or none it doesn't have to be either i'm eating
08:13healthy or i'm not it doesn't have to be either i'm eating vegetables or i'm eating junk food from
08:18fast food restaurants there's a balance that happens in the middle and that's where the beauty
08:23of the world lies right it's not black or white it's that rainbow of colors that adds the beauty
08:28to the world so understand that it's how much you lean in the direction of a healthier lifestyle that
08:33will help empower you perhaps you've got early heart disease that you already know about or that
08:38runs in your family how you live your life can actually arrest it stop it in its tracks and reverse
08:45it do you have diabetes are you suffering from diabetes no better way to manage your diabetes
08:50than through a thoughtful diet and lifestyle a little bit of exercise a lot of foods that nourish
08:56you fiber foods that satiate you eliminating the junk food did you know that saturated fat is one of the
09:04you know the biggest predictors of how our heart is going to age well you can eliminate the
09:09cholesterol and the saturated fat by eating more plants so the food that i have here in front of you
09:14is absolutely nourishing where do i get my protein well your protein is actually coming from the beans
09:18so we actually threw the beans into this pot now i'm going to throw some of this salt-free chili
09:24powder and um i use salt-free chili powder because it doesn't really need it and the reality is i
09:30too suffered from some family history of heart disease and my mom at a very early age started taking
09:37meds for blood pressure as i'm sure many of you struggle with in your families so i helped her move
09:42towards a plant-based lifestyle today she's 100 plant-based and loves it i think we may be the
09:46only cuban family in the world that's 100 plant-based but that's a conversation for a whole
09:50another wellness house but um so we we're going to stir up this pot um once once the water boils
09:57you throw in the pasta okay we're going to throw in the pasta once we let that sit for about 10 minutes
10:03in boiling water i like my pasta al dente we're gonna we're gonna drain that water we're gonna strain
10:08the pasta and then we're gonna add in the beans the uh corn and the peppers and then we're going
10:13to drizzle it with a little bit of nutritional yeast which is loaded b12 so it's a great uh way
10:19to get energy throughout the day and b12 is great because it helps with uh nerve function and then we're
10:26going to uh dress it up and place it in a bowl like this that's ready for your family right so we've
10:32got an incredibly nourishing meal uh in under 10 minutes that actually didn't cost you a whole lot
10:38of money so it's really about just putting a little bit of thought into it remember that you are in
10:42control of your health how much are you moving right sitting is the new smoking they say and the
10:47truth is that while it sounds like a joke it's not because most people spend the majority of the day
10:51sitting down we've got to move more right our bodies are meant for movement so we've got to get up
10:57now at least at least 30 minutes of exercise three days a week ideally would be five days a week 30
11:03to 45 minutes of exercise and that exercise could be something as simple as walking but if you really
11:08want to get into it i mean this is why i started the conversation and i asked you to join us i mean
11:12you could go to walmart and buy an exercise mat buy a yoga mat buy some dumbbells and get a great
11:18workout in in your home without having to leave the convenience of your home so there's a lot of
11:21really cool things that you could do to empower yourself with the nutrition from the inside out to heal
11:26your body and then actually to power you throughout the day to give you more energy by by moving more
11:32by you know motion perpetuates motion by getting you to get out get up and get out and do something so
11:38um thank you guys for everything you do it's it's it's incredibly inspiring i i love what i see i think
11:45it's um it's uh an incredible opportunity for those of us living in communities where we have a walmart
11:51close to us because it's uh you know i think it's it's it's absolutely a gift to be able to have a
11:57a community store that does what you guys do for wellness and curating the wellness for us
12:01um i am going to ask you a uh a quick question and then i'm going to show you one of my favorite
12:08breakfast options um what do you typically do for breakfast and do you have time to prepare breakfast
12:12i i do um i usually depend a lot on either coffee or some mint tea these are my favorite drinks which
12:21i don't think that's everybody that loves coffee but um i try to eat a banana or fruit to be basically
12:28how i start my day i love to start it sweet so usually i start with fruit it's a banana a little
12:33plate of strawberries grapes that's usually my go-to amazing well i've got a surprise because
12:39i also in this receipt that i just showed you i also bought breakfast items and i'm going to show
12:46you how easy it is to make a healthy breakfast because it's the best meal of the day to start
12:50right what happens when you start your day off right when you start your day off with a nutritious
12:54breakfast is that those good feelings perpetuate themselves right if you start your day with a
12:59workout and a healthy breakfast you'll say wow i feel good your digestion is better your your energy
13:07levels are at all-time high and you're not feeling sluggish right you want to have a good lunch because
13:15you're already in the mood for health and wellness when you start the day off with a donut or you start
13:21the day off with some soda it already kills your energy levels right it gives you the rest of the
13:27sugar and then when that sugar is metabolized you actually have that fall that comes right after that
13:33so i say that the best way to start a great day is with a great breakfast and what i've done here
13:38is i've created some overnight oats which is incredibly inexpensive and you can create 10 of
13:45these 15 of these 20 of these i don't care how many kids you have you can create as many of these as
13:51you want put them in the refrigerator and then what i love to do is i top them with fresh fruit so
13:56i'm going to top this one here with fresh fruit and this is overnight oats for those of you that don't
14:00know it's simple it's steel cut oats with a little bit of almond milk inside of it and we leave it in
14:05the refrigerator overnight so that the oats absorbs all of the milk and i layered that with just a
14:11little bit of granola and some fresh strawberries that could be blueberries it could be raspberries but
14:16it's an incredibly nutritious way to start your day and i absolutely love it i love it marco one thing i
14:23have for you is like if we don't have all these ingredients can we substitute things tell us how like
14:29the beans that you use what if i didn't have that can of beans can i use kidney beans can i use
14:34something else what's what's what's the scoop on that yeah i'm so happy to ask me that because
14:40it's one of the questions i get asked most frequently i'll send friends recipes and they'll
14:44say well i didn't have cashews is it okay if i use almonds of course there's no right or wrong way to do
14:49this that's what's so fun about it right you're going to be replacing the pinto beans let's say with
14:54black beans i love black beans so sometimes i'll replace the pinto beans with black beans what i
14:58love to do is i love to just set my cupboard up for success buy the foods that you know you want
15:03to be eating i say go to the supermarket go to your local store when you know you're ready to buy the
15:11right foods right if you go starving you're more than likely going to come home with 17 bags of
15:15potato chips and maybe two packs of cookies whereas when you go with health in mind you shop the
15:23prototype you start to experiment with foods that perhaps you may not have seen before and then you
15:27stock your pantry with great items like this that you can have to create meals on the go i mean this
15:32exact dish right here instead of pasta i could have topped this with avocado and some chili sauce and i
15:37could have put it in some taco shells that i could have gotten in your store um so there's a lot of
15:41really fun ways that we can mix up the foods these overnight oats could be poured into a bowl and could
15:48be served with a fresh cut banana and some almond butter so there's a lot of neat ways so i think the biggest
15:55takeaway is you got to move more we need to put more produce into our body meaning that we have to
16:01eat more greens more beans more grains more nuts more seeds okay healthy foods that nourish us from
16:06the inside out and there's no right or wrong way to do this it's not all or none right the more you lean
16:13the more you benefit that's the biggest takeaway the more you lean the more you benefit and we already
16:18know it's not about not being able to afford it we already know it's not about it taking too long
16:24i'll show you two delicious meals here in under 15 minutes so let's take this information let's
16:29apply it in ways that are meaningful that are thoughtful that help our families move in the
16:34direction of better health thank you so much for your time today thank you so much for joining us
16:38sylvia thank you walmart for making all of this possible thank you for being such great arbiters of
16:43health and um we'll see you again next year hopefully you'll join us again next year maybe next year
16:48you'll be next to me and we'll prepare a dish together how about that sounds great looking forward to it
16:52thank you for having us thank you take care bye everyone take care bye bye thanks so much
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