How A Love For The Environment Fuels The World's Fittest Vegan

Just dubbed “the world’s fittest vegan” by Men’s Health, 51-year-old ultra-endurance athlete Rich Roll is a vibrant embodiment of the power of plants. When Roll stopped by mindbodygreen’s headquarters earlier this month, we were eager to hear all about his diet, personal mantras, and connection community.

As detailed in his 2013 memoir, Finding Ultra, which was recently rereleased as a shiny, updated version, Roll first started eating plant-based during a moment of desperation: A recovering alcoholic, his unhealthy diet left him overweight, constantly winded, and worried about his future. Nudged toward the green juices and morning tonics by his wife and vegan chef Julie Piatt, Roll never turned back.

Roll's diet is a testament to this reverence for our shared planet. "The choices that we all make every day, three times a day, have an impact on our environment at large. Many of our food systems are extremely environmentally damaging, so to the extent that you can eat lower on the food chain, buy local, shop at your farmers market, and avoid animal products, absolutely do it. At the end of the day, you can have a more delicate impact on the planet."

Roll and Piatt have a specific, strategic approach for talking to their children about healthy eating habits. "Essentially, we are looking to take away a lot of the charged emotions around what it means to eat well. That means dropping judgment and approaching the topic from a place of adventure and exploration," he explains. In practice, that looks like bringing their kids along on trips to the grocery store and farmers market and explaining why certain items are making their way into the family basket. "We try to do it from a neutral place. We explain to them why we're making certain choices, without labeling anything bad or good."

And it doesn't end there: The couple has also welcomed their kids into the kitchen starting from a young age. "It's empowering for a kid to start learning a new skill. For example, we'll show them how to make chia seed pudding with avocado in it—which essentially tastes just like chocolate pudding—and then they have a certain pride in their ability to prepare that dish, and that's what they're going to want to make."

Although Roll and Piatt operate an entirely plant-powered household, they don't drive themselves (or their kids) crazy with rules either. "We remain neutral, and there's no judgment. I really don't care about what my 10-year-old daughter eats at a birthday party. What I do care about is what her food habits are going to look like 10, 15, 20 years from now."