Today’s Vegetarian Elite will be presented in Spanish with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Nepali, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, and Thai.

Welcome fun-loving viewers to our show today featuring one of Mexico’s most popular television personalities, Mr. Marco Antonio Regil. Mr. Regil has hosted such classic TV game shows on Mexican television as “The Price Is Right” and “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”

As a dedicated humanitarian, he’s been a National Celebrity Cabinet Member for the American Red Cross, a spokesperson for the charity Children’s International and the annual host for Mexico’s most important charitable fundraiser “The Telethon.” In 2004, he was invited by then US President George W. Bush to host the White House’s celebration of Cinco de Mayo, a day that honors Mexican heritage in the US and is a national holiday in Mexico. And from 2008 to 2010, Mr. Regil was voted “most trusted television celebrity in Mexico” in a Reader’s Digest poll.

In addition to his numerous television endeavors, Mr. Regil is also a motivational speaker, certified yoga instructor, animal rights advocate, plus much more! Currently based in Los Angeles, USA, we asked Mr. Regil to describe a typical day in his life.

There’re no typical days. There is sometimes. I’m just getting up in the morning and going to the airport and arriving in Mexico City and going to rehearsal, and then taping two or three shows a day and then coming back. And when I’m not working here, I’m doing a master’s degree in spiritual psychology, so a typical day could be, be all day in school in a workshop environment. I practice and teach yoga sometimes, too, and do meditation and I have two dogs at home, and so there’s no typical day.

Mr. Regil wasn’t always an international star. It took years and years of dedication and sacrifice for him to get to this point.

I did radio for 8-12 years in a row until I got my first big opportunity. Long story short, it’s been 12 years (doing) radio, local TV and cable and all that until I got “The Price Is Right” in Mexico, it was 1997. And from there with “The Price Is Right,” “Family Feud,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” and other shows and in the Mexican telethon we do every year where we raise about US$40 million a year for building handicapped children’s facilities. Not hospitals, but rehabilitation centers for them, so it’s been 26 years now.

Mr. Regil’s heart also extends to our planet’s animal co-inhabitants as he chooses the compassionate plant-based diet. How was Mr. Regil introduced to this lifestyle?

I became vegan almost three years ago, and I was exposed to the cruelty that is the food industry, exploiting animals. Not only the food industry, the medicine industry with all of this testing on animals, and the clothing industry with the way they treat the animals and that. So when I became aware of the enormous abuse that was applied to all of these beautiful species, I got really sad, honestly, because I said, “Wow, it's like I had a veil that didn't allow me to see what was really there.”

And I’ve been part of this by eating it, by wearing it, by consuming the products. I did huge campaigns for the fast food industry. So when I became exposed to that, I became an active supporter of PETA, (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the Humane Society and other charities related to animals, and that has become a huge passion in my life.

What led you to finding out about the animal industry?

That’s a great question. It was a combination of things. I started practicing yoga first. Seane Corn who's a really a well-known teacher in the yoga world, I went to a three-day workshop with her.

And she spoke about food. She spoke about sugar. She spoke about gluten. She spoke about genetically modified food and the way we're killing ourselves. And she gave us some information that really made me wake up. And she said, “The practice of yoga means union with God, with every single being, with all the animals, and with the whole planet.” She said, “If yoga gives you something, it should be a life free of any addictions.”

And I was like, I have addictions. I have a food addiction. I am addicted to sugar. I am addicted to caffeine. I'm addicted to many, many, many things. So I started doing research, and the first thing was I realized that there was a direct relationship between the way we’re eating and obesity and cancer and diabetes, and the lack of peace in the world and all the violence. And so I started being exposed to that, so I started modifying my diet. I realized Mexico and the US share the first place in the world for child obesity and adult obesity.

So I said, “Of course there’s something wrong.” I was gaining weight myself as a matter of fact.

The next big step on his vegan transition was hiring one of Hollywood’s most famous vocal coaches, Mr. Larry Moss. On top of helping him improve his English pronunciation, Mr. Moss, a vegan for 20 years, suggested Mr. Regil watch PETA’s documentary “Meet Your Meat.”

And it just shows you with undercover cameras, shows you how they treat and kill the cows, how the chickens live, and how they're killed. And they talk about clothing and all that, and these images, they’re so horrible, horrible things that I'd never imagined. And I remember I was really shocked when I saw that. And I said, "Count me out. I don’t want to be part of this." So I cried a lot because I love animals. I love animals and I just think that we are all the same.

And you’re not only eating all of the hormones and antibiotics and all the medicines, you’re eating all that suffering. And by buying the meat, you are sponsoring that industry. And the animals are paying that price of our lack of consciousness. So when I saw all of this, I cried and I prayed and I said, “I don’t know what I am going to do, I don’t know how I am going to do it,” because I was a huge carnivore being born in Mexico. I would eat meat four or five times a day.

For me having a big steak and milk every day, and eggs every day, it was part of who I was. I was not raised in a Mediterranean diet with lots of fruits and vegetables and olive oil and all of that. I was raised eating a lot of bacon, a lot of meat, a lot of eggs, a lot of ham. I was extremely heavy on meat.

So I remember for me it was more like a spiritual calling. And I said, "I don’t know how I am going to do this, God. But I am not going to create this (bad)karma. I am not going to create this suffering. I am not going to be a part of this." So I made a strong commitment. So for me the vegan thing became a very spiritual thing.

What about vegan restaurants that you like?

Well obviously Loving Hut is one of them. I love the Golden Mean that is in Santa Monica. I love Real Food Daily. I like Planet Raw. There’s another one in Venice Beach called Seed. There is a Native Foods (restaurant). I mean here in California, you have so many options. But having said that, I know a lot of friends that have been vegans and vegetarians in Mexico City and other countries in Latin America, without all of these restaurants.

So what I'm doing right in my life is understanding that, nobody has to tell me, I proved it to myself that money is not happiness. And so I'm just going back to the basics. Going back to spirituality, going back to the things that make me happy. So it's a new path. So what I'm saying is I became successful in the physical world. Now I'm developing myself in the spiritual world.

What lies ahead for the talented Mr. Regil? He now shares his vision.

Well, the big goal would be to create a media production company that creates formats with whether they're, animated shows or comedy or documentaries or game shows or reality shows that help people get a glimpse of higher level of consciousness, empower people which is not difficult, you guys are doing it. Oprah (Winfrey) has done it, Ellen DeGeneres is doing it.

Like I said, many, many other channels, Discovery Channel, and National Geographic are doing it. It has to be fun so people watch it; you cannot be preaching or anything, The episode finishes and you laugh and you had a good time and you were entertained and forgot your problems for a little bit which is the value of entertainment.

But also you have something, you have a good seed in your heart. Some people are like, “I could make my dream come true. I could live a better life. I could eat a more compassionate diet. I could lose the weight. I could learn something new.” You know and that's a beautiful feeling and that's when I think you rely on yourself with a higher consciousness.

Thank you Mr. Regil for reminding us that the “ultimate prize” in life is giving and receiving love and may your mission to bring more peace into our hearts and homes through uplifting television programming soon be realized.

My name is Marco Regil,
I'm a TV host in Mexico and the United States and I want to encourage you
to "Be Veg, Go Green
2 Save the Planet!"

For more information on Mr. Marco Regil please visit www.ViviendoConMarco.com

Lively viewers, thank you for your company today on Vegetarian Elite. Coming up next is Between Master and Disciples. May all your dreams of success and happiness come true, both physically and spiritually.