Today on the exam room. It was actually my boyfriend at the time who introduced me to that line of work and my alternative what I thought might be my alternative was waiting tables and there were no vegan restaurants back then.

And for me that wasn't an option to go and serve people meet. So I mean that's a big kind of excuse and so call it what you may, but it was just the thing I could do that was

gonna bring in money, he's gonna to pay the bills, and yeah, get me out of college without debt.

I can't imagine, and this is the last question I have about this industry,

I can't imagine that there are many who are in that industry that are eating a healthy plant-based diet either.

Oh, completely. And this was back in 2002, right? And most people didn't even know what the word vegan meant back then,

much less thinking about plant-based eating.

That was not a thing.

But it was who I was.

And I was very clear on that. That. Welcome to the exam room podcast brought to you by the Physicians Committee.

Hi, I am the Weight Loss Champion Chuck Carroll, and we are raising health IQs

coast to coast and around the world in great cities like Tempe, Arizona, Newark, New Jersey, and Rajkot, India.

Wherever you are, we appreciate you helping to make the world a healthier place.

This is episode 22 of season 7, 521 overall. And today we are joined by a first time guest who has

had a topsy-turvy around the world journey to become recognized as one of the globe's top personal

trainers by not just bodybuilding.com, but Shape magazine as well. That is big time. Ella Matures is her name, but you may know her better as sexy fit vegan.

Ella is also a published author and a podcast host but what she is

more than anything else is an inspiration because you see that topsy-turvy around the world inspiration. eating and an abusive relationship and even had a dalliance into the exotic dancing industry, which is so counter to who she is as a human being.

Ella is a bright star who, while lacking confidence and belief in herself at times,

still never wavered in her love and compassion and belief in others, including animals, whom she's been advocating

for since she was a young teenager.

I mean, Ella was eating a plant-based diet when people didn't even know what that meant.

...