Ep. 7: Chuck Carroll - Crushing Fast Food Addiction
PLANTSTRONG Podcast
Rip Esselstyn
4.8 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2019
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode is NOT sponsored by Taco Bell.
Fast food is highly addictive and in this week's episode, we meet a man who overcame the siren song of the drive-thru and is using plants to stay the course.
At just 5 feet 6 inches tall, Chuck Carroll weighed 420 pounds before radically changing his life. He was taking a long walk off a very short pier.
Like so many others, he tried and failed countless times to lose weight. Any success he achieved was short-lived as the weight came pouring back on and then some.
But then he did something remarkable and turned it all around. Rip had a chance encounter with Chuck at the Barnard Medical Center while being interviewed for "The Exam Room". Chuck's story of radical transformation is jaw-dropping and his candid conversation with Rip highlights all that is possible with plants and determination.
Intimately acquainted with the lonely and habitual trap of fast food, Chuck weighs in on Joe’s recent slip up with Burger King and cautions against further "experimentation".
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I was 420 pounds with a 66 inch waist, a size 6xL shirt. |
| 0:09.3 | I was at a point rip where I in another year so would have been too large to shop out |
| 0:15.7 | of a big and tall catalog. |
| 0:17.6 | And I knew that I was overweight. |
| 0:19.3 | I just, you know, still, I mean it was drive thruze and it was pizza and over time, |
| 0:27.9 | you know, became more and more and more of a food addict to the point where I got completely |
| 0:32.1 | out of control. |
| 0:33.1 | How much do you weigh right now? |
| 0:34.7 | 145. |
| 0:36.5 | I'm Rip Eselston, the founder of Engine 2. |
| 0:42.4 | In season one of the Plant Strong podcast, I'm going to be working with Joe A New York City |
| 0:48.1 | firefighter assigned to Engine 72 in the heart of the Bronx. |
| 0:53.3 | Joe reached out to me to regain his lost health that has been spiraling out of control over |
| 1:00.0 | the last 12 years as a firefighter. |
| 1:02.6 | I've marshaled together a network of doctors, Navy SEALs, TV producers, fellow firefighters |
| 1:09.8 | and nutritionists so we can all team up to coach Joe and maybe even you. |
| 1:17.2 | Along with motivating and educating Joe, I'm going to take Joe from a couch potato to |
| 1:23.6 | a veritable sweet potato triathlete in less than six months. |
| 1:29.8 | Join in as Joe gains traction and confidence and momentum with each episode until he truly |
| 1:37.2 | believes he can become the man he was destined to be. |
| 1:42.1 | Welcome to Plant Strong. |
| 1:48.2 | Last week we had our first check in with Joe and I want you all to know I am so proud |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Rip Esselstyn, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Rip Esselstyn and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.