Episode 280: What If Food Could Heal Everything? | Whitney Aronoff | Chef & Starseed Kitchen Founder
Can what you eat change your mood, your body, and your entire energy field? Chef Whitney Aronoff thinks so, and she’s teaching people how to cook for healing and intuition. In this episode, Kara talks with Whitney about high-vibration food, spiritual nutrition, and the journey from culinary school to podcast host. They also explore blood type diets, intuitive eating, and how food connects to energy, ancestry, and self-trust.
“Food is a transfer of energy. So how do we want to feel? We need to become our own healers. ”
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Follow along using the Transcript
Chapters:
(00:00:01) - Using Food to Unlock Healing and Intuition
(00:03:15) - The Link Between High Vibration Food and Mental Clarity
(00:07:55) - Letting Go of Food Rules and Diet Dogma
(00:10:40) - Why Seasonal Eating and Whole Ingredients Matter
(00:13:25) - How Entrepreneurs Lose Their Freedom and Reclaim It
(00:16:45) - Culinary School, Career Change, and Listening to Your Body
(00:21:40) - Moving Back Home and Building Starseed Kitchen
(00:25:55) - Starting the High Vibration Living Podcast
(00:28:10) - The Emotional and Mental Impact of Personalized Meal Prep
(00:31:15) - Cooking as a Form of Connection and Energy Transfer
(00:34:00) - Why Receiving Nourishment Is Hard but Necessary
(00:38:50) - Rethinking Feminine Power and Leadership
(00:41:35) - Using Astrology and Blood Type to Personalize Your Diet
(00:45:25) - How to Listen to What Your Body Actually Needs
(00:47:55) - Whitney’s Vision for Her Cookbook and What’s Next
And that's when I realized, wow, it's more than just the food. It's helping me open up my intuition. It's helping me have better mental clarity. It's helping me better hear my higher self, but it's not all that it is. It's just helping me unlock these other layers that I need to let go of and that was the emotions that I still hold in my body.
That's chef Whitney Aronoff. I'm Kara Duffy. And this is the powerful ladies podcast. Welcome to the powerful ladies podcast.
Hi, thank you so much for having me.
I am excited that you're here today. I have been stalking you online for a very long time and I am someone who has struggled so much with what is the right food combination wellness combination for myself. And when I see how you're approaching food and the fact that you're talking about the like high energy and vibration and like just making it make sense. I'm so thankful that you exist.
Oh, thank you so much. Well, food is a transfer of energy, right? And so like, how do we want to feel that food is going to help us? lay that foundation. To you understand that there's more than this physical body. It's a physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental body. And you're getting to like, feel all these different layers by going through what you're going through right now.
And as soon as anyone has that experience where you suddenly feel there's more than this body, just this physical body, you realize you really have to approach food and your lifestyle a little differently in order to get it all in balance.
When did you have that ahha moment for yourself?
You know, it was probably right around culinary school.
It started when I was 16. I went to culinary school in my early 30s. And I had been struggling with physical pain in my stomach every night when I went to sleep. It never existed during the day. It was only right before I went to bed. And so, it had me looking at what am I having for dinner. To it took me many, many years to understand, you know, it wasn't just the food.
So when I went to culinary school, I chose a culinary school that was going to give me just as many classes with registered dietitians and holistic practitioners as it would in the kitchen, learning to prepare foods, traditionally holistically balanced. And once I was fully equipped with all the information about food and my diet was You know, beautiful and in season and from the farmer's market and prepared properly and all the things and still I was not feeling 100 in my body, not feeling 100 in my head, like the physical, emotional, spiritual, mental.
It was still not always perfect or what I wanted it to be. And that's when I realized, wow. It's more than just the food. The food helps. It lays the foundation. It's helping me open up my intuition. It's helping me have better mental clarity. It's helping me better hear my higher self. But it's not all that it is.
It's just helping me unlock these other layers that I need to let go of. And that was, the emotions that I still hold in my body. Maybe it's past life stuff. It's spiritual stuff. It's family stuff. It's all these other layers that I think we all know are always there. We're hoping we're not going to have to deal with them, but at some point we have to deal with them.
And I think the greatest thing that I've learned through the work that I do and through having my own podcast is you just need to deal with it when it comes up because the more you put it on other layers are going to build on top of it and it's going to be harder to find the root cause and to let it go.
Well, and before you go any further, I want to tell everyone your name and where you are in the world because you, and you're also doing so many things. So let's say, let's tell them all the things, name where you are and all the things you're up to right now.
Sure. So I am chef Whitney Aronoff and I am based out of my hometown of Laguna Beach, California.
And I work as a health supportive personal chef. So I do custom meal prep for my clients. And I have a team of chefs that love to support families in Orange County, California with healthy foods that really serve them. And then I have my own line of organic spice blends. or've always cooked from scratch and I have family recipes of beautiful spice blends.
And so. I share those on my website, star seed kitchen, and at Erewhon in Los Angeles and at the butchery, which is based all over Southern California. And then I have a podcast called the high vibration living podcast. And that's where I really get to address what we're talking about today. It's. It's learning how to nourish a physical, emotional, spiritual body.
Again,, constantly revisiting, how do we get our food right for us? But then once we get that foundation set, how do we then approach all the other things that are going to start affecting us? Stir up in our other bodies and then build our toolkit because we all need to find the things that we can do for ourself at home and then also find the practitioners that we can outsource to when that time comes.
But I think we need to become our own healers and we need to find the tools that we can keep in our home or just keep in our like own little pocket. To help us wherever, wherever we are in life and wherever we are in the world.
I have never heard a chef in the same sentence talk about food and then talk about past lives.
So I'm already very excited about where this is going. You know, when you look at your kind of food philosophy, What are, when we think just about the food, what are the core foundations that you wish everyone was following?
Whole, fresh, seasonal. Like we can keep it really, really basic. And you can keep it whole, fresh, and seasonal, whether you're shopping at Trader Joe's.
Whole Foods, Ralph's, Kroger, whatever your local market is, and then if there is a farmer's market, sprinkle that in when that works with you. If there is a local farm, like we're lucky enough to have Tanaka Farms and the Ecology Center near us in Orange County, you sprinkle that in when you can. But I think at no time does it need to become stressful, overwhelming, all consuming You know at any time that it becomes kind of negative or too structured, I think that's where you need to take a step back. You need to meet yourself where you are and where your budget is. But I think everything is approachable. I like to remind people, you know, everything goes on sale at grocery stores.
Absolutely everything. That's like the name of the game when you get your product on the shelf. So if there are things you want to try, if there's olive oils, you want to try ghee, organic spices, rices, quinoas, things like that, the, the, The items that we need in our pantry that are staples that, you know, we always need to substitute the fresh ingredients with some of those get to know what's in your market and you can watch it and see when it becomes on sale for your budget.
And that's when you stock up, but we just, we need to get it basic and simple again, and then you can kind of build back up to make it more fun and playful and, you know, structured or complex if you so desire.
I think that's what I, and I feel like a lot of my girlfriends have struggled with too, is that it feels like food used to be really simple, and then it's gotten out of control, where we're like, We don't know what we are allowed or not allowed or should or shouldn't eat.
And there's just so much noise in the space where it's like, I just need to eat something before I pass out today. So what, what are my options? I, as a chef, are you just so frustrated with. All the nonsense that's going on in the food and nutrition space right now.
Absolutely. Because when I work with my clients and helping to nourish them, they come to the table with all their food myths and I have to meet them where they are.
And I find that if I just show up and do the best with the constrictions that they've put me under, they will ultimately evolve and open up. One of my spiritual teachers has always reminded me that your presence has power. So when you show up as you and you don't push your beliefs, you just live, live life the way you are.
People will ultimately start questions, start asking you questions, and they'll start being curious about your choices. And that's, then the time to share why you chose those ingredients, why you put the plate away, the way you did, why, when you went to dinner, you ordered what you ordered. People will naturally.
Become aware of that and choose that. So if someone's choosing to want to eat raw or want to eat vegan or want to eat vegetarian or want to eat paleo keto or whatever restrictions that they want to create for themselves, I'm happy to meet them there. They will ultimately evolve out of that because that's just not a balanced lifestyle for anyone.
I think there are. diets and cleanses that can serve all of us for short periods of time, you know, when we need to readjust, but like, we have to start thinking like, how are we going to do this long term, you know, I need to figure out how I'm going to eat because I have to eat for the rest of my life.
Like we, we all, you know, kind of develop a few recipes that really work for us. for us and that we're really proud of that we can make for ourselves, that we can share with friends and family when they come over when we go to a potluck and that's keeping it simple. So we can just start with a basic dinner plate and make sure we have a protein, a vegetable and a healthy starch.
So you can make sure you can play with protein. So you can do dark meat and like me, you can do chicken breast, chicken thighs, turkey, meatballs, bison, venison, like. And then so many different vegetables that you can simply blanch, steam or roast. And then like, let's not be scared of sweet potatoes or potatoes or, you know squashes and root vegetables. And then you just start to venture out with more techniques and more preparation process and more spices and flavor profiles and get yourself confident in the kitchen.
Did you always know that your future would be food?
Great question. I knew in my 20s that I wanted to work in the food space.
I was working as a recruiter and HR manager. And I knew I wanted to work with food, health, and wellness, that I wanted to be in that world every day. I couldn't figure out how to get there, and I knew it wasn't going to work for a brand as a recruiter or HR manager. So, though I knew at 25 that was the direction I wanted to go, I wasn't able to make that move until I was about 34.
So give yourself time. If you like know that you are supposed to step into a new space just give yourself time to let that evolve.
I think it's so interesting and part of my coaching philosophy and how I help clients double their revenue is coming back into alignment. When you were in alignment with knowing that you should work as a chef and with food, what other parts of your life changed once you chose that for yourself?
You know, it's been a roller coaster because with any career change, it is, you know, it's, I think a lot of us, We'll get the ping, we'll get the aha of, okay, this is what I want to do. But then for some of us. It's hard to figure out the steps in between to get to the destination. And so that's where the rollercoaster lies.
And there were great highs because I knew the direction I wanted to take my career, but then there were great lows because I didn't know where to start. I didn't know, you know, when, when, when you exit culinary school, when you exit any towards of schooling no matter your age, there's always that feeling that we all felt when we first got out of college where it's like, Oh, shoot.
Training wheels are off. I don't know what to do next which someone would just tell me what to do. So it's been ups and downs. And I love that you constantly tell your clients about, you know, alignment, because I feel like we all need to rewind, be reminded that it's okay, constantly in our careers to reassess and be like, you know, at this part of my job is no longer in alignment with me, I've grown out of it.
I think that's something I've been really assessing this summer is, are, is every part of my career in alignment with me or are there. Roles that are time to be passed on to other people.
I am so glad that you said that we, every July, I do a mid year check in. We do a workshop I do with my one on one clients because the, I'm such a believer that the businesses and CEOs and brands that do regular check ins actually make extraordinary progress.
Otherwise we're just operating on the hamster wheel and we're so good as business owners to make our own prison. And give away the stuff we actually care about and give away our zone of genius. And I've been having a lot of conversations with some new clients lately about do they even want to sell and give away their whole business?
Because we think that we build the business, we have to keep it until, you know, a legacy brand. And it's like, why? Like, I don't want anyone keeping anything that is not theirs anymore.
I think that's such a good thing. And I think also people think when they build a brand, yeah, that they have to, that people either start when I've Talk to different people.
They either started to sell it or they started to hold on to it forever. But you can change your mind with either one. Like, and you can change your role within it at any time as well. And you can, you know, it's, we're allowed to ask ourselves these uncomfortable questions andpivot.And I think what stops us is like other people's, the idea of other people's judgment, but I don't think people really care what we're doing, you know, half the time they don't know what we're doing.
so I think, well, that's what I'm trying to do this summer. And I think summer really allows it because summer is such a time of play. And so it forces you to be like, okay, where am I not getting to play? Because I put myself into this prison at work. Like, where is there no flexibility in the schedule that I've created for myself?
That's where I'm at right now is if I'm getting to be an entrepreneur and create my life and build my dream career, but like, is it really working for me?
Yeah, it has to build your dream life. Otherwise it's easier to do anything else. Like it's easier to be employed. It's easier to have a regular job because we can often have different work life balance versus it.
And I hear you mentioned some values that are so important to me, which is the freedom component. Like I so value time, freedom and client freedom and location freedom. Like I want the flow that I need in a moment to work. And whenever I'm feeling that constriction, it's like, okay, nope. What is on my schedule that shouldn't be there?
What have I started saying yes to? It's, it's that intuitive listening, which I hear you keep bringing up too, which I think is really interesting.
Yeah. And that's definitely what I'm assessing right now. I'm trying to take some time, kind of schedule some quiet time so I can close my eyes and imagine what would a dream Saturday look like?
What would a dream Monday look like? Like actually dream about what the week would be structured like if I had it all. Because we all deserve to have it all. To then I want to write it down or voice note it. And then how do I make it a little bigger? Like, where are there The limitations. And I feel like that's when I lean into friends who are more big picture people.
I can tell them this is my dream week, my dream weekend. Where am I holding back? What are my, what are the limiting beliefs that you see there? And I think that's where you really need a coach or a wise friend to call that out for you. So you can level up.
One of the phrases that are part of my whole coaching philosophy, which is how to have it all. I have the have it all method because I exactly what you just said is one of my core, just as a human beliefs that we can have it all, but we have to choose ours, not our moms or sisters, our competitors, how So far in your life up to this point, when have you chosen your all and what has, what have the results been when you've chosen your all?
I think the biggest one for me since it was 10 years ago was leaving my corporate job, leaving my beautiful life in Washington DC, and moving to New York City to go back to school. So to give you guys the Some background so you can have the guts to make the shift. or asked for the application to my culinary school and I was and I decided that I was going to apply and I was going to figure out in a few months how I was going to do it.
You know, take a sabbatical, move to New York. I was going to figure out a way to go to culinary school no matter what. And as soon as I asked for the application within six weeks, I got laid off. From my job. So I had no reason not to go. And so I just, you know, chose to lean into that sign. And I cashed out my 401k.
I packed up my apartment and I moved to New York and went to culinary school. And I remember everyone around me was kind of mourning my life for me. They're like, but you have such a beautiful life. You have a beautiful apartment. You have an amazing job. You know, you have such an incredible network of friends.
You're so tuned into all these social clubs in DC, like your life looks perfect, but I couldn't deny my inner calling. So I went to culinary school and it was the most fulfilling experience of my life to wake up every day and to be. Fully engrossed in something. I loved learning and loved doing. or had a blast and so that was one of those times it was totally worth the risk.
I like when the universe like pushes us, you know, like we're, we're, we are so good at being brave at a level one when we should be brave at a level 10. And I think it's so interesting. There's so many stories that have been on this podcast of women who have taken a little step and the universe just goes, nope, now.
And like full push, full send. And yeah. It's, to me, it's a, a, a little breadcrumb that reminds me that we're doing the right thing. And then I don't know anyone who's been brave and hasn't had that kind of intuitive or spiritual listening. For your journey in that space, did you have that before or has that grown as you've stepped into this?
I think
that was able to happen because I created the spiritual practice before. So for the two years prior to that event, I stopped going out on Friday nights and I started going to restorative yoga. I stopped really drinking and just leaning into only activities that made me feel good and only hanging out with people that made me feel good.
I really focused on My diet on exercise on spending time outside, like just optimizing me. And I was really into my meditation practice. So I was making sure that every evening I turned off all technology by eight o'clock and that I was just kind of doing things in my home for me, cleaning up, getting organized, preparing for the next day, but then also meditating every night.
Like I really developed a meditation practice and a practice to calm my nervous system. And granted, like it was easy, you know, I was single, I wasn't dating anyone. It was really like my cocoon time for me, but. That allowed for me to be able to lean into that opportunity first. I think it gave me the download that, yeah, like I need to trust this calling to go to a health supportive culinary school and just do it and see where it leads me.
I think that was able to drop in. And then when the opportunity presented itself, when I got laid off, I was able to take the day and just cry. Because a layoff doesn't feel good. Rejection doesn't feel good. No matter the circumstance, even if they tell you, like they told me, like, it's not you, it's us. We just need to do something else with that position, with that, that money. You, you still feel rejected. So I still took the day to cry. And then after I took the day to cry the next day, I was like, all right, what a gift. Like what a gift. This was totally set up for me to be able to go and make that move. And I just full steamed, like moved into that and then constantly spent.
The days leading up to starting culinary school, how can I prepare for this? How can I prepare for my future life? How can I start to set up my businesses? To that's kind of what I did. And I just went from there.
When did you end up back in Laguna?
So I was going to be staying in New York city after I graduated culinary school, the restaurant group that I did my internship with offered me like a dream job, exactly what I was looking for a little bit corporate, a little bit in the kitchen.
And then my dad called me one day and he said, Hey, I know you're starting over. You're in your mid thirties. You know, might be a little overwhelming if you want to come home. And you want a place to live rent free while you figure out your next steps, the door is open. And I took the bait and I decided to not stay in New York City and I went home.
You know, and you know, maybe thank goodness I did because I probably wouldn't have started my spice blend company if I hadn't, you know, probably wouldn't have become a personal chef. Like how the business has evolved wouldn't have happened if I had stayed in New York, it would have been a different path.
So. Thanks. No.
Yeah. No. And I think that's also so often people who are thinking about making a big leap or change in their life, they immediately go to, I'm going to be homeless or I'm going to be sleeping on someone's couch. And I think that we underestimate how many steps there are that we actually have from a safety net perspective.
And what's wrong with moving back home for a minute? What's wrong with being in a place where you're supported and loved and have that breathing room. The, the idea that we have to figure it out on our own by ourselves in a, like basically a windowless room without any support or influence from other people.
I just think we're, we're missing an opportunity to take advantage of all the resources and gifts that we really so I love that that's the choice you made because there are plenty of days that I'm like, if I convince my parents to let me move home for even six months, what else could I build in the meantime?
Cause it is always thinking about like, what pressures are we taking on or off? And even what distractions? Cause. No matter I think how much work we do to stay in alignment or stay pure to what matters to us, there's always just like clutter collects in our house, it collects emotionally, mentally, spiritually.
Yeah, I think the one thing that I've learned throughout this experience siloed. Like you can't do it yourself and you have to open your mouth. And that's really hard for me because I don't like to be a burden on people. I don't like to ask for favors, but one thing that I did do once I got laid off from that job and I knew my start date for culinary school, I had about two and a half months in between.
So I decided to suck it up, suck up my pride, move out of my apartment early and sleep on people's couches. Find out what family and friends I had in the Washington DC and Maryland area That would let me stay in a guest guest room for a week or stay, you know on the couch for a week And that's what I did to just save some money so I can move to new york and I just wanted to be a student I wanted to fully dive in I didn't want to have to work part time To that was a great move so You And it all worked out. I was surprised by how many people had like guest rooms or second homes or, you know, people really helped me out because they knew what my dream was. To I, I deeply, deeply appreciate it.
Deciding to start a podcast always sounds easier than reality. And, you know, going from being a chef to being a podcaster to totally different spaces.
Yeah. What convinced you that you needed to start this podcast and have these conversations?
So I've been a podcast junkie since they've started. I, I love podcasts and I love learning. And so before I even had the idea to go to culinary school, I like dreamed of having a podcast someday. I was so into them probably around starting like 2009, 2010, when they first came out.
And I just, I couldn't figure out how to do it. That's what held me back is I don't know how to start. Like, how do I get a microphone? How do I record it? Where does it go? Where's it uploaded? So, and that's what I've noticed is been one of the major things that has held me back throughout my life and career is I don't know how to do it.
So I just don't start instead of start asking everybody I know, how do I do this? No, and, and, We can all Google and look up how to do it, but sometimes that isn't enough for me. So finally I just started to ask for help. And I started to ask people, who do you know, that's a podcast producer or who started a podcast?
Cause I needed someone to actually hold my hand and help me do it. And that's when I ultimately outsourced and hired someone to help me do it because I realized it's never going to get it off the ground if I continue to hope and dream and want. So that's what I've really learned about myself. And I wish it would have taken me less time to realize that.
But, you know, if you, if you can't figure out how to start or if you're using the mindset, you know, I don't know how to start, you know, maybe someday, I think that's when you open your mouth, you ask for recommendations and you outsource that role. Even if it's going to cost you a little more than you want to spend, sometimes the only way to get off the ground is if we literally pay someone to help us get off the ground.
Yeah. And there's always someone who's one degree away. If not right next to you, that has the answer.
It's so true. You just have to start asking.
So when you look at the impact that You providing all these food choices to your clients and you look at the results you've produced. What are some just standout or really surprising impacts you've made on your clients?
So that's such a great question because I have worked for most of my clients for eight, seven, six, five years. There's long periods of time. So I've really been able to See their evolution. So number one, I just see that they're happier and healthier. You know, I've taken something off their plate that doesn't bring them joy.
Cooking doesn't bring them joy. Like going to the grocery store doesn't bring them joy. So I've given them their time back and I've made life a lot more convenient for them. Another thing is really fun to see is, you know, when they know they have guests and family coming over and I stock their fridge with exactly what they're going to need for the week or the weekend.
Again, it's just interesting. They are so much happier because they are being able to focus their time on connecting with those friends and family instead of feeding them. The other thing that's been really interesting to see is their mental health. So I have found that a lot of the clients that I work with, just from a mental and spiritual perspective, seem to open up and lighten up.
They seem to not react as much to what they see on television. And with. Social media and politics and whatever the storylines that are being fed, they have much more discernment. are just are from a mental space are happier. They're open minded to more spiritual concepts, to more just overall personal evolution.
That's been really fun to see.
I am someone who really loves proving someone wrong in the best way possible. Like when someone's like, Oh, that's not possible. I'm like, I can't wait to show you. Have you had some clients that have doubted you and you've just been like, slowly, like, We're going to get there.
We're going to get there.
That's a great question because I don't promise people weight loss when they hire me because weight loss isn't just food. It's physical emotional mental. So I never promised that but you know, I always let them know that. The foods I make you will make you feel good. If you choose to eat the food that I make you, that you choose, I will make it with the best quality ingredients.
I will put the best intention behind it. To it should make you feel good. It should work with your body. It should work with your digestion. And if it doesn't, you let me know and we edit it until we fine tune it and get it right for you. , I've never needed to prove anybody wrong because I, I know that If they're choosing to work with me, I'm going to help make their life better.
Otherwise, why am I there?
No, agree. Yeah, it's. For it occurs to me that it's so fulfilling to just be a contribution to people and get paid to be a contribution. Did you imagine that you would earn a living by making people's lives better?
I mean, I think I always hoped, and I don't feel like I'm, to be honest, I don't feel like I'm there yet.
want to help more people. I really want people to learn to do what I do for themselves. You know, I really want people to be confident and Having a few meals in their back pocket so they can really nourish the people in their lives. Like, I think there's just something so special about cooking for someone you love.
And so I really want to help people learn to make a few different recipes that they're super confident about, that they can share with somebody that they love, because I just think there's such a unique. way to connect with another soul over food. You know, if you look at our bodies, you know, we have our heart right here in our center and the energy from our heart moves into our arms and into our hands.
So we can be intentional with the food that we make and we can send a message to the people we're making our food for through that. To then we get to sit down and eat a meal with them and connect with them over the meal, you know, In front of each other. It's just there's something really special about that.
And I really hope to bring people back to that and help, you know, couples and families and friends connect more over food. I think You know, especially as entrepreneurs. We just spend so much time by ourselves. So we think in order to live our dream life or to accomplish our goals. We need to spend time on ourselves and get that work done.
But I think towards the end of our lives will realize. No, it was. It was really all about the connections we had. And so let's connect over food. Let's cook together. Let's sit down together. Let's use that as a tool to build and solidify relationships.
You'll appreciate that my word of the year is nourish.
Oh, I totally do. Isn't it such a delicious word? Don't you just want to like roll yourself in nourishment? It's like a weighted blanket. I just love that word.
Well, and I, and kind of what you spoke to, I realized that I needed to be nourished and I couldn't, like I needed others too. So it was what, what does nourishment look like?
And how can I leave room for. All the different ways it could show up and not only to leave space for, but to invite people to nourish me. Like I, I love learning. I love meeting new people. I love that curiosity component is such a big value of mine. But so often there was me creating and not enough coming in.
So whether it's been like Reiki or acupuncture or just letting Have me over for dinner and cook for me. Like whatever the thing is that's what I keep trying to come back to. Cause I felt the need at the end of last year to like be restored. And I'm like, it's, it's not like being supported. It's not being taken care of it.
What it was that nourishment, like it's deeper, it's richer. It's, it has way more roots and arms to it than those other words.
I'm working on something very similar and it's just. Receiving love. I used to always use the mantra that I want to better give and receive love But I give so much away physically and emotionally and spiritually with my businesses and my work I realized i'm not getting nourished like i'm never in the space where I get to receive.
So that's what I've been really focusing on and I have to watch myself cause I'm such a giver. It's like, where in my day am I getting to receive allowing someone to do something for me you know, allowing someone to bag the groceries for me or open a door for me or share their energy or time with me, I always want to give and I have to learn, retrain myself.
retrain that muscle.
I've even been noticing like weird things with because like your right arm is your masculine energy and your left is your feminine. I've even noticing weird things of like getting tightness in my left arm. Like there's all this almost like feminine blockages that have been happening.
Yeah. And. It's been interesting to look at exactly what you said, like, what are the small things? Because I would, there's so many women who are in our generation who are taught to not be that burden. That's a word I hate too, to be independent. If you can do it yourself, do it yourself, to not be the diva.
And it's like, Yeah, but I look at these divas and their life is totally working for them. So like, why is that a bad thing?
I know. And it's, you're spot on with the giving and receiving of energy. So I have gone to an energy healer, a shaman for years monthly. Because my right arm will throb because one, I'm overusing my right arm as a chef, but I'm over giving with my energy and my left arm is always fine because I'm never, but I'm never receiving.
So I'm overworking the giving side of my body and I'm never allowing the receiver and. It's been really out of balance and I feel like I need to put up signs around my home, just reminding me to receive so I'm in those moments where I get to, I just keep myself seated. I don't offer to help.
It's such a hard practice to start implementing, because there's that automatic like leader component we were like, I'll just do it, I can do it and.
I am having powerful ladies and having a business coaching business. Like there's a lot of women I work with and there's so much of that unlearning that everyone is going through at different degrees. It's really interesting to see how I think as modern women, we really are having to evaluate and look at the yin and yang component of what all of that means and all the masking from feminine energy and how it impacts us in ways that.
Maybe other generations haven't had to look at cause yeah, for so long, like the example of a female leader, it was just being a guy and you're like, that's not what feminine leadership is.
You know, it's really interesting as a female chef, there's an organization called regarding her in Los Angeles.
And the goal of the organization is to remind female chefs. That you get to have it all that you don't have to make sacrifices that you can pursue success in this career path and you can still have a family. You can still have children. You don't have to make sacrifices and it's providing the tools so you can consistently create balance within all those roles.
And I thought what a all. Organization. ort was started by Mary Sue Milken. She's famous for being one of the two hot tamales, which was one of the first cooking shows on Food Network. And they have tons of restaurants in Los Angeles and Vegas. To it's really just to remind women, no matter the career path that they take, That you're in you're gonna constantly have to shift to create balance, but you don't have to give up having a personal life and a family life because you really want to have these other experiences.
When you look at the words powerful and ladies, what do those words mean to you? And when they're next to each other, do their definitions change? So it's
so interesting. I have two feelings about them when they're separate and a completely different feeling when they're together powerful. I think leader.
I love the word lady. I always have, like, I just love, like, I try to be a lady. It just is a balanced, elegant, kind, confident. When they're together, it makes me a little uncomfortable.
It makes me a little uncomfortable. Is it possible to be a powerful lady? I don't know. But I think maybe subconsciously that's what I try to be.
I love that. Okay. And then as you have. Just stepped into who you are and you keep saying yes to yourself. How has your relationship with power changed for you personally?
So it's really interesting. I'll lean into a little bit of astrology here. so I love doing what I do. I feel like I'm a natural leader. I love supporting people. I love creating teams. I love leading teams, but there's definitely a level where I stop myself. from stepping out further. I hold myself back a bit.
And if I look at my astrology chart, right, so I look at my chart whenever I'm feeling a little lost, I use it as like my roadmap, you know, it's the map that I laid out for myself before I came into this lifetime. So When I'm, when I feel like I'm, I'm holding back or something's off or I'm not, you know, fulfilling myself at a soul level, I relook at my charter.
I have someone review it with me. They remind me about my North node. So your North node is where you need to go, who you need to step into being to fully fulfill your soul. And that North node is in Leo and Leo's are leaders and they love to be seen. They just like, they, no one's reflection. Do they love more than their own?
To so it's, it's Leo season and this end of summer. And so I just, whenever I feel myself holding my, whenever I feel I'm holding myself back, I start to look at people who are unequivocally confident. I start to look at Leo's. I started to look at Leo memes. I start to just look out and see other people that are super confident to try to feel that energy.
So then I, I stepped into that.
What is, what are your signs?
I'm a Gemini and then I'm a Taurus moon and Libra rising. So it's all balanced for me. Everything is balanced, which is very interesting because, you know, I want to create balance in people's life, physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, and balanced on the plate.
So I'm also, if you look at your blood type, I feel like your blood type gives you a lot of insight as well. As a health supportive chef. I always ask my client what their blood type is so we can get a little deeper and knowing the foods that are actually going to be right for them. And my blood type is B positive.
And anyone in the B category. They need balance, balance on their plate, balance with their lifestyle, balance with the way they exercise. So when you, I, I use all these as tools and I lean into them as a chef for my clients as well. Like what are your blood type? What are your astrology signs? What's going on in your chart?
Where did you grow up? What's your family history? What's your family heritage? We use all that to figure out like who you are and what you need.
Again, I'm just continually blown away. I already was watching what I could find digitally with you, right? But to hear you pulling in all these modalities that I pull in to my own life and with my clients in such a different way I've never heard someone talk about this with food in this level of depth.
And I think it's, you know, almost like the missing key for like all these other conversations that we're having because so many people are, are looking for this nourishment and looking for this simplicity and they're not having someone like you to just sit with them. And I'm sure in the, in the first hour, putting all this map together, you're like, of course it's obvious.
And I love that you brought up the blood type. Cause I was going to ask about that. Cause I, I know that it's so controversial about food to blood types. I'm in a positive and everything that says on it makes 100 percent sense for like how food actually reacts to me. Like I've always been classified as lactose intolerant, but it's not with mozzarella and goat cheese and like these weird five things that break the rules from a purely chemical perspective, but they make sense on, they match the blood type chart as an example.
And there's so many people who are like, Oh, that's. You know, so many things that you bring into your practice, people would call a bunch of malarkey or woo woo. And I just think that they're missing to your, what you said, that these tools and this power that like, why aren't we using all the resources that we can to make the custom plan for you?
Yeah. And I interviewed Emily Diadomo, Dr. Diadomo's daughter. It's a third generation practice who runs the blood type diet. And I've also interviewed the chef that created all the cookbooks. or've had them all on the High Vibration Living podcast. And the interesting thing about the chef that created all the cookbooks is she's been hired by so many celebrities to get them into shape.
Or create their food for certain movies that they've been in. And they strictly followed the eating right for your blood type diet. That's the food that she cooked for them to maintain their, their body in a certain way. To I, I love the 80, 20 rule kind of for everything in life. Right. So like I know the blood type diet for me, you know, it's my 80, 20 role doesn't mean I avoid chicken and avocados a hundred percent.
Cause I'm a B. blood type, I still eat them, but not all the time, you know, so that's kind of how I use it. And then you always lean into how you feel.
When, and to your point, I think there's so much practice that we can't always hear how we feel. And I, I, you know, people, I don't know how to go through life without connecting to the listening.
And I do think it's so important to separate. what you feel versus what you know. Like I, our feelings, I don't know if I trust them as much as I trust my knowing. Right. Cause like we can feel a certain way based on a habit or our ego or all the small voices show up in our feelings. But when you know, something is for you, there's like, you don't doubt it anymore.
There's no more questions. So I do think it's really interesting. Anytime that I am. Like I'm staring at food and I'm like, I don't know what I should eat. I'm like, we have to go and meditate. We have not been listening.
Yeah, I did the same thing. So, I mean, I'm a huge proponent of the balance test of picking up a product, a food, anything and holding it against.
Asking yes or no questions. And when you lean forward, it's a yes. When you lean back, it's a no, when you don't move, it's a maybe. To I do the same thing as if I can't figure out what I want to eat. orf I hit a block of what I want for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I can't figure out what to buy. or, I mean, I turn off social media.
I stopped looking at what everyone else is doing. or kinda, I have to check in like. Just meditate and figure out what do I need right now? Why am I at, why am I at a blank? Because what's in the fridge isn't working. I, you know, we all have those moments, especially chefs that are constantly around food, because I'll think I've eaten something because I've cooked with it all week, but I never actually ate it.
So we, we got to check in. And I always suggest to people, like, if you don't know what we eat When you go to the grocery store, like, look around at what you haven't had in a while. Like, you just stand in front of the vegetables for a second and be like, when was the last time I had that, that, and that?
Look at the fruit for a while and just find something that just came into season so you just get something new and you get out of your rut.
Like, right now I can't eat enough peaches. Like, completely obsessed. So, yeah, they're, it's, but I do, it's, it's, you go through, if you listen, you do go through those phases of, of what you need.
So we asked everyone on the podcast where you put yourself on the powerful lady scale. If zero is average everyday human, and 10 is the most powerful lady you can imagine, where would you put yourself today? And on an average day,
I feel like I'm at a seven right now. I feel like I'm running steady at a seven.
I feel like. However, I feel like I'm making pivots in my business and my life so that by the fall, I can be an eight and in the new year, I'll be a nine and I'll take off from there. So I feel like I'm allowing. I'm creating space to expand.
I love that. This is also a powerful and giving heartled community.
What is something that you want or need is on your to do list or your to manifest list? How can we help.
So much? I mean, number one, like I. I want to be in a relationship. Like I want to be in love and in a relationship and have someone to nourish and cook for. So that's just the first thing that's on my heart.
And then number two is I want to create my cookbook. or really am ready to get that out there. And it's obviously more than a cookbook. I have a lot to say about food and energy. So that's my next step, but I really want to be aligned with the publisher because I want to do it in a beautiful way that can really come out and make an impact.
And, you know, when it comes to cookbooks, you need photographers and food stylists. And it takes, it takes a team. It's not something that's easy to self publish. So if anybody works in that space or can just chat with me more about how to move into that space, that's what I would love. That's what, That's what's calling to me next.
Well, I already had a list of reasons why we were supposed to talk today. And now I have more because the woman who I go to for Reiki is an amazing food photographer in Southern California. Yeah. Yeah, I'll, I'll do it. I'll, I'll connect you guys after this has just been so great. I'm so glad that you're local.
I'm so glad that we could actually meet in real life, but, or. Everyone who's listening who is in that place of how do I get more of you? How do I support you? How do I hire you myself? Where are all the places and locations they can go?
Well, I would love for you guys to find me on instagram at Whitney Aaron off, or you can find my business on their star seed kitchen.
And then if you want to see what I'm actually cooking for my clients you can always follow my stories. I always post the recipes there. To their menus. So you guys can get some inspiration for what to cook for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. And then you can find a lot of those recipes on my website, starseedkitchen.
com. And that's where you can also get my organic spice blends. If you aren't in Los Angeles or orange County, and you can't stop into Arowan or the butchery. And then I love talking about the energy of food and nourishing our physical, emotional, social. Spiritual and mental body. I do that on my podcast called the High Vibration Living Podcast.
And that's where, you know, it all kind of comes together.
Well, thank you so much for being a guest to me and this community. And yeah, just thank you so much for what you're doing for the world.
Oh, I'm so happy to know you and I can't wait for us to connect in real life.
All the links to connect with Whitney Starseed Kitchen and High Vibration Living Podcast Transcribed by https: otter. ai are in our show notes at the powerful ladies. com. Subscribe to this podcast. Wherever you're listening, come join us on Instagram at powerful ladies, and you can connect directly with me at Kara Duffy. com or Kara underscore Duffy on Instagram. I'll be back next week with a brand new episode until then. I hope you're taking on being powerful in your life. Go be awesome. And up to something you love.
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Created and hosted by Kara Duffy
Audio Engineering & Editing by Jordan Duffy
Production by Amanda Kass
Graphic design by Anna Olinova
Music by Joakim Karud
