Imagine Yourself One Change Away From A Healthier Life w/ Nutrition Coach, Diane Randall

The media gives so many mixed messages when it comes to health and nutrition:

Sugar is the enemy. Counting calories is all that matters. Control the cravings. Avoid all fats.

Eat this but not that. Organic vs. natural. You must eat meat. You must never eat meat. Keto, Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian. Daily Diets. Drastic Diets. Seafood Diet. See Food Diet. Yo-yo Diets. YOLO Diets. STOP!!

We wanted to get some meaningful answers about how to live healthier and eat healthier, so we invited expert Diane Randall, Whole Living Consultant, to an episode dedicated to the truth about nutrition! Diane advocates "taking small steps toward a huge life". She's an author, college instructor, and whole living consultant and has been at this for 25 years! *

Listen in to discover how changing one small thing every day will lead you to the healthy lifestyle you crave and deserve.

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Sandy Kovach [00:00:01]:

Life can throw a lot at you, but imagine if your life were different, better, not because of what's coming at you, but because of what's coming from you. Let's get there together. Join us and imagine yourself.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:14]:

Anybody wanna get healthy in 2020? Imagine yourself is about to board that train. I'm Lanee

Sandy Kovach [00:00:21]:

And this is Sandy, and I cannot wait for this. This is so much a priority in my life.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:26]:

Yes. Same here. I'm hoping that everyone can just close your eyes and visualize and imagine A healthy new body and a healthy new decade and healthy new mind, creative new meals that will nourish us, New habits that will get us in shape and fit and happy and vibrant, full of energy. Welcome to the healthy life. Sandy, you and I are not necessarily experts on all of this. Right?

Sandy Kovach [00:00:55]:

No.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:57]:

And from you. Didn't want to put out our imperfect tips. So we wanted to ask Diane Randall, a woman who cares about Health care and wellness, and she can help us kick this conversation off right. Diane is a whole living consultant, Author, speaker, workshop presenter, and college instructor with numerous articles and publications such as the New York Times, Our health matters, the vegan street, and she was even in a guest appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Wow. You like that? So this we're talking expert today to really get us to stress less, to live well, and to get some balance in our lives. Diane, Thank you for joining us and hope that you are ready to tell us everything you know.

Diane Randall [00:01:48]:

Thank you for having me. I'm just so Excited to be here for the new year. Yes.

Sandy Kovach [00:01:54]:

And with the new year, big focus on health. Right?

Diane Randall [00:01:57]:

We've been conditioned To do everything in January, but I've been on a mission to get people to start challenging themselves at any time.

Sandy Kovach [00:02:07]:

Which is important. We can't just say, hey. Let's have a New Year's resolution to go to the gym or to eat better, and then by March to 15th, we're we're bittered out. Donuts again. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:02:18]:

So how do we do this? Yeah.

Diane Randall [00:02:21]:

Well, this year, like I said, I'm on a mission.. I teach what I talk about. Okay? Yes. That's why I'm a College instructor so that I can help enrich people's lives as I continue to enrich my own life. Saying that, what I'm challenging people to do is before you start the new healthy habits for 2020, I want you to look at breaking and unlearning unhealthy habits that no longer serve your life. Because without making for the new and getting rid of the old. There's no room for anything else because guess what? You continue to do what you've always done With the exception, like you just said, for the 1st 3 months of the new year.

Sandy Kovach [00:03:08]:

Right.

Diane Randall [00:03:08]:

So what I want listeners and people to do is make Authentic habit by unlearning and changing the way we're not only living our lives, but our ideas of what is healthy Mentally, physically, and even spiritually.

Sandy Kovach [00:03:25]:

Our ideas of what is healthy, it goes that deep?

Diane Randall [00:03:28]:

It goes really deep, And it's really about your mindset and how you're looking at things even if we're talking about the body. Because without an awareness of Your current habits and things that you're doing that are not working for you. For example, things you do, You know, we all are constantly on the diet treadmill, so I'll pick on that because we're all familiar with that. Mhmm. But eating healthy food, For example, we constantly sabotage ourselves because we're only focused for the 1st 3 months. So what I'm saying and advocating Today is that we look at our habits that we have currently so that we can think about what is it do I need to unlearn So that I can create space for something new to come in that's actually going to work.

Lanée Blaise [00:04:20]:

Is it even something like an idea that I have that healthy food is going to be Not fun and sad as opposed to looking at it that healthy foods and healthy cooking and meals can be a fun experience That does not have to be restrictive and sad and boring and nasty.

Diane Randall [00:04:40]:

You just said it. And not only that. If I'm looking at food in a different way, I'm probably going to save my life long term. I'm probably going to minimize my chances of having All the chronic diseases, the diabetes, the heart the heart disease, and all the other things that impact our lives on a daily basis. So If you can change your mindset, that's what I'm saying, and look at it in a different way, your body will follow along. It's your mind you have to change.

Lanée Blaise [00:05:12]:

Because what about this mindset? What about people who say and they're they have this stuck in their Health, I don't have time to be healthy. I have work and kids and responsibilities. I don't have a personal trainer or a nutritionist, so I don't have time, so I just can't do it. How do you change that mindset?

Diane Randall [00:05:31]:

You know what? I work with busy people all the time, and that is The number one thing they say is I don't have time. Yes. And keep in mind, I've been doing this a long time.

Lanée Blaise [00:05:43]:

So you

Sandy Kovach [00:05:44]:

have a good comeback?

Lanée Blaise [00:05:46]:

You're ready for this, Diane. You're ready for them on this.

Diane Randall [00:05:49]:

No. You know, now I say and I get what people are saying, But you set priorities for what you want. The bottom line is do you have time for diabetes? Do you have time to be in and out of the hospital? Do you have time to be sick where you're not able to show up for the people you love, whether they're People in the workplace, at home, your significant other, your friends, your family, do you have time to Not look at what's going on in your life because the bottom line is the busyness will turn into something Health, like illness, like stress, Like, all kinds of things that will take you down eventually. One thing I wanna say is I've been consulting for 25 years, And the reason I'm so passionate about the busyness is because I've been that busy person. I work in the consulting industry. I've witnessed over 25 years the busyness, how it's taken people down in terms of heart attack, In terms of diabetes, because that's what we're conditioned to say is we don't have time for anything. But I'm advocating here is that we make time for what's important. You get up in the morning and you brush your teeth, nobody's telling you to do that.

Diane Randall [00:07:11]:

You make time

Lanée Blaise [00:07:11]:

for that. You make time

Diane Randall [00:07:12]:

for for a shower. Yeah. You can make time for what's important, and that's the key here. We do what's important to us.

Sandy Kovach [00:07:21]:

And looking at not only the longevity of what you're saying, like, down the road, diabetes, down the road, Heart attack or even, you know, we could be currently suffering with some of those things now, but also just the day to day stress and lack of energy. I mean, I think my food habits, while they're not terrible. There's certainly enough processed food, another thing thrown in there that I know it makes me feel sluggish.

Diane Randall [00:07:44]:

It not only makes you feel sluggish and fatigued. I remember those days, and I work with people who after they eat lunch, they're like, I'm ready for my nap.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:54]:

Yes. I'm so tired, and

Diane Randall [00:07:55]:

and I don't have energy. So what do we do now today is we go and get a red bull, which is really not

Lanée Blaise [00:08:02]:

the answer. Terrible.

Diane Randall [00:08:03]:

The answer is let me look at my habits, And that's why I say, let's break some of those unhealthy habits and create new ones, create the space for new ones by Unlearning or being willing and open minded enough to say, okay. What can I replace this unhealthy habit with? So if I'm eating Processed food, that's the unhealthy habit. The healthy habit or thought that I wanna cultivate is What can I eat in place of the unhealthy food that's going to be healthy for me?

Sandy Kovach [00:08:39]:

That's gonna take some planning.

Diane Randall [00:08:41]:

Well, it takes awareness of the unhealthy habit and that it's not serving you or it's actually Sabotaging your overall well-being, it's acknowledging that habit and making a choice to replace it. And I say replace it with a self honoring choice that's going to fuel you and not take things away from you. And it's the repetition That will keep you on the right track. It's Positive every day. One small thing every day.

Lanée Blaise [00:09:12]:

You have me thinking. The reason that many people, especially in this country, love to grab processed foods is because it's handy. It's not perishable. It can be right there on the spot. Kinda like Sandy said too, when you have not properly planned ahead. But if you say that what if we change that habit and we made a conscious effort to put fresh Fruits and veggies in little Ziploc bags in our fridge or in little Tupperware things in our fridge, and we grab, like, I even told Sandy this morning, I Was running late, and I did grab a protein shake in a box that at least the particular one and brand that I have, it works for me On those times where I don't have time to sit down and eat breakfast, but I don't want one that has a lot of sugars in it, but it is something I can grab and go. And if we start to fill our lives with grab and grow grab and go products that are healthier And better, we still have the same mindset where sometimes I need to grab and go, but we have a better habit of what we grab when we go.

Diane Randall [00:10:16]:

The keyword is preparation Because you can grab and go, but guess what? Because you planned ahead, you're going to replace that unhealthy snack with something healthy, And you have it in your home or in your refrigerator or wherever you do the grabbing, it's there because you're prepared. Keep in mind, we have a lot of messages in our society that tells us we're too busy to eat right because that keeps us eating the processed food. So if you're saying I'm gonna step back, I'm going to plan and prepare my snacks Because I want them to be healthy, and then I'm going to have them in my home, at work, where they are easy to grab. I'm gonna share with you. When I first became plant based, I literally carried a bag around with A bag with fruits and nuts, healthy snacks so that I had them readily available because I was in the infancy of practicing eating more healthy. And I knew that if I did not have that bag with me, I was going to run to the vending machine. The vending machine. Yes.

Sandy Kovach [00:11:30]:

Vending machines are a nightmare. Right?

Lanée Blaise [00:11:32]:

Yes. The bad vending machines.

Diane Randall [00:11:35]:

So the keyword here is practice and preparation.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:39]:

How about this, Diane and Sandy? I wanna challenge if there are any listeners out there right now Who want to make big money and big impact. Can you all please put together a franchise That has healthy fast food that you drive around to the drive through and they hand you out some fresh veggies and some fresh foods That will make your life better and that they don't have any greasy things.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:03]:

Is there I mean, okay. Panera. They're better than McDonald's.

Lanée Blaise [00:12:08]:

They're better. Yeah.

Sandy Kovach [00:12:09]:

What do you say,

Sandy Kovach [00:12:11]:

all that?

Diane Randall [00:12:12]:

I say, Panera offers some healthy options, so even if I order a salad or I I don't wanna use the word salad because people already think to be healthy, all you eat are salads anyway. You can find healthier options. Sometimes I'll walk into Panera because if I'm traveling and Sometimes the only thing that's available is McDonald's, Panera, Chipotle. So I may go to Chipotle. I'll pick Chipotle because guess what? I can get a veggie bowl, Not get the rice, not get the wrap, and just put all the fixings in there. And I wanna share that I Positive so much From a health perspective that I became whole plant based and vegan. Right. So there's a whole another world of food out there It tastes really good other than the processed food, but it's a process.

Diane Randall [00:13:11]:

It's something that you have to be open minded and willing to try because it's a different perspective of looking at food. And as I said earlier, it's about training your mind And breaking those unhoping habits that you just grew up with. Most of us grew up with ideas about food and what food represents for us. So it's slowly unlearning and learning what's really healthy for us in Preparing and practicing on a daily basis, what that looks like for you.

Sandy Kovach [00:13:45]:

So you say you've gone vegan, But I think whether you wanna go all the way to do that or not, just incorporating more plant based foods into your diet is gonna help anybody. Right?

Diane Randall [00:13:56]:

Gonna help anybody. What's your option? Whole foods or processed foods?

Lanée Blaise [00:14:01]:

Yeah. Yeah.

Diane Randall [00:14:02]:

We know that the processed foods, We just know by saying in our daily lives that it's so much that it's not serving anyone today.

Sandy Kovach [00:14:12]:

Diane, I think pretty much people acknowledge Most people, the processed foods you would hear most people say, yeah. I need to eat fewer processed foods. Right? Do people your clients Acknowledge that?

Diane Randall [00:14:22]:

Oh god. We all know this on an intellectual

Sandy Kovach [00:14:25]:

basis. Intellectual. Okay. There's the key. And we know it.

Lanée Blaise [00:14:28]:

Versus emotional level or

Diane Randall [00:14:30]:

Yes. Yes. We know it on a intellectual basis that processed food is not good for us.

Sandy Kovach [00:14:36]:

As we're placing our order at McDonald's. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:14:39]:

And grabbing the cheese.

Diane Randall [00:14:40]:

as we ate that quinoa multigrain vegetable, And then we ordered a piece of pie.

Lanée Blaise [00:14:51]:

Yeah. Yeah.

Diane Randall [00:14:53]:

Because it is your mind that you have to change. And not only that, you have to have a bigger reason to change other than, oh, this processed food is bad, and that's because The American traditional diet or food lifestyle is ingrained in all of us. And I'm not gonna Say, oh my god. You can change tomorrow. It takes an open mind. It takes your willingness to try something different, to unlearn what you thought was healthy or that you intellectually know is not healthy and taking a small Action to do something about it. I'm not saying tomorrow don't take your snack, but what if you started thinking about, okay, what is a healthy alternative Just this 1 snack as a start. What can I replace these potato chips with that I eat every day? What can I replace that with that's a healthier option? And it's just starting with something small because it's a process.

Lanée Blaise [00:15:59]:

I love this idea because let me tell you something, Diane. You mentioned the American society and the way that we think. My kids especially Grew up thinking that when you watch a movie, it is imperative that you have a bucket of popcorn to accompany that movie. Isn't it? The other part is I had, for a while, thought that popcorn was a relatively healthy snack, and maybe for some people it is. But for me, personally, I immediately get bloated up, and it just does something weird to me. So my husband and I were thinking from now on, when we go to the movies, And we still haven't figured this out yet, but we want to think about what type of snack we want to eat even if I have to sneak it in my purse. What we're gonna sit in that movie theater and eat that is not popcorn because it is just doing a number on my stomach and his too. But it was a tradition.

Lanée Blaise [00:16:51]:

That's a family, an American tradition to watch a movie, eat popcorn, and maybe we need to turn some of these things around in our lives.

Diane Randall [00:16:59]:

There's nothing that says you cannot eat popcorn. The question is, what is in the popcorn that you're eating?

Lanée Blaise [00:17:06]:

Oh, butter.

Sandy Kovach [00:17:07]:

I don't think that nasty yellow stuff is real butter though even.

Lanée Blaise [00:17:11]:

Yeah. But or or at least I mean and that's the other part too. Like and to be fair, I don't wanna say that popcorn is a bad thing, but I am realizing that for me personally, it is just not good. Mhmm. And and I don't wanna replace it with chips because that still crunches too. You need something that crunches during the movie. But maybe a carrot or something. I don't know.

Lanée Blaise [00:17:29]:

Carrot is you're probably not

Sandy Kovach [00:17:30]:

gonna succeed with that. To you. What would you say? Yeah.

Diane Randall [00:17:34]:

Quinoa chips. Something is. It's looking at the food that you want to replace it with. So you're saying I need that crunch. Yes. That's what I want. Because your brain wants the crunch. That's the truth of the matter.

Diane Randall [00:17:47]:

You know? The movie. Fashion That yeah. With the movie. All that's conditioning. I grew up the same way. But what we have to understand is also the food has changed. The food has not necessarily changed, I. E.

Diane Randall [00:18:04]:

The popcorn for the good.

Lanée Blaise [00:18:07]:

Yeah.

Diane Randall [00:18:07]:

So what I wanna say is it's exploring because I don't know what you like. It's exploring what can be a healthier alternative. It's researching. It's exploring different foods.

Lanée Blaise [00:18:22]:

And reading labels. Reading those labels and, Yeah.

Diane Randall [00:18:25]:

Reading the label. If you can't pronounce it, do not buy it. If if it has more than 5 ingredients, leave it there.

Sandy Kovach [00:18:34]:

You called up being a food detective on your blog. Right?

Diane Randall [00:18:37]:

You have to be a food detective today, especially. The other day, I was in the store, And I love peanut butter, so I was in Whole Foods. I will look at all the labels on the The peanut butter, even though it's saying organic this, organic that, because guess what? I only want the peanut butter. I don't want my peanut butter with palm oil, sunflower. You know, I want it a certain way. Yes. And I want it as whole as possible. So only by reading the labels, if you don't get anything else from this conversation, it's reading the labels to see what the true ingredients are of what you're eating.

Sandy Kovach [00:19:17]:

Now when they say organic, when they say natural, there are so many things that manufacturers use to sort of trick our mind. We can't necessarily trust that part. We have to dig deep.

Diane Randall [00:19:27]:

Well, we have to dig deep. And just to let you know Today, I don't need anything that says natural because that's code word in many cases for we've mixed some things up To tell you that naturally, give you the impression that it's really Health.

Sandy Kovach [00:19:43]:

But organic, we can we trust that?

Diane Randall [00:19:46]:

You know what? I'm Trusting organic because I have nothing else to go on. Yeah. Okay? And when I'm talking about whole I'm talking about vegetables because sometimes I have to eat nonorganic food. But if I'm choosing and I can control it, I'm doing organic because a lot of times, And I'm gonna use vegetables as an example. Vegetables have been sprayed with pesticides.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:09]:

Yeah.

Diane Randall [00:20:10]:

And when you have organic vegetables, You cannot use chemicals to grow those vegetables. They have to be treated a certain way with non Poisonous. No chemicals. They have to be grown in a certain way. So I on the side of organic. I know people say they can't afford Organic. But guess what? I go to Aldi's and get vegetables because they have become more organic than a lot of other stores.

Lanée Blaise [00:20:38]:

You have me thinking too. There's still a lot of steps involved here because let's say you do go organic. But then let's say you get something out of a jar or a can. And you have to look at that label again, make sure it's not packed full of sugar or sodium. And then after you get through that barrier and you see it doesn't have Too many milligrams of sodium or salt and sugar, then you gotta watch your portion size and make sure you don't just have a big old humongous plate full of. I feel like we need to take a few more steps than what we've been doing.

Diane Randall [00:21:08]:

Well, it's called paying attention

Lanée Blaise [00:21:10]:

to No. What you're putting in your mouth. I

Diane Randall [00:21:14]:

like that terminology. Of a conscious eater.

Lanée Blaise [00:21:19]:

Yes. Yes.

Diane Randall [00:21:20]:

So there's no way you don't know if you're opening the can that if you read the label that you don't know how much sodium is in that can or package. You can clearly read that, But you gotta be smart because our labels are tricky.

Lanée Blaise [00:21:35]:

Yeah. Serve your size for 4. And

Diane Randall [00:21:38]:

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Lanée Blaise [00:21:41]:

So you gotta multiply.

Diane Randall [00:21:42]:

I call it becoming a more conscious eater because that's what's going to really serve you, To read those labels.

Sandy Kovach [00:21:51]:

Diane, how do we keep this all from overwhelming us? This, okay. It's gotta be organic. That can't be natural or can or should be or doesn't or it is or I can't have this.

Diane Randall [00:22:00]:

I hear you. I hear you clearly because what drives me crazy is if I have a lot of steps. So if I have are you vegan? Are you lacto or whatever? I'm like, you know what? I try to eat as many Plant foods is possible with no mother, no father, and grown in the ground. That's how I keep it straight. And I started with just 1 little meal, one thing. So instead of eating let's say I love mac and cheese. Guess what? I still eat mac and cheese. It's vegan mac and cheese.

Diane Randall [00:22:36]:

But I'm reading the ingredients also just to see how it's Prepared because now that vegan is so mainstream, you gotta even watch that.

Lanée Blaise [00:22:43]:

Yeah. Yeah.

Diane Randall [00:22:45]:

But if you don't remember anything else, It's knowing what's in your food and it just knowing the basics of what you're eating.

Lanée Blaise [00:22:53]:

So I have a question because you are a whole Living consultant. And I looked at this quote. It's a philosopher from decades ago, Albert Schweitzer. And he said, to me, Good health is more than just exercise and diet. It's really a point of view and a mental attitude you have about yourself. Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being. And so that makes me think, Is there any extra component in this wellness equation that we have to look at besides just diet and exercise? Is loving and accepting yourself a necessary part?

Diane Randall [00:23:33]:

Yes. It's also setting boundaries, and this is a big one. Oh. You go to dinner At someone's house, and we're just using food as an example. Yeah. And let's say you're trying to change, and this is where the toughness comes in. You're trying to change what you eat, and it's a family dinner. Your aunt invited you over, and all the family's over, and it's all A lot of the foods that you said you weren't gonna eat anymore.

Lanée Blaise [00:24:00]:

Oh, boy.

Diane Randall [00:24:01]:

It's having the courage to either say I'm trying to change, so I'm not going to partake whether you tell them in advance that you're gonna bring something or You're not gonna partake in the festivities that encourages setting boundaries. I know my family would just make fun of me all the time. Oh, okay. To Women wasn't but guess what? It's being true to yourself and what you want in your life. What's going to make you Show up and be your best person. And and sometimes if we start looking at who we are authentically, we're also different. But a lot of us stay with what works because you don't wanna be judged. You don't wanna be talked about.

Diane Randall [00:24:46]:

You don't want the ridicule that comes with trying to Just be yourself. And a lot of times if we're true to ourselves and if we're being honest, what I want really looks different from what you want. And I can share with you Women I changed, my family wasn't having it. It's like, what's wrong with you? But now guess what?

Lanée Blaise [00:25:06]:

What? I expected it.

Diane Randall [00:25:08]:

I'm out of my behavior.

Lanée Blaise [00:25:10]:

Because I'm I'm I know people are listening. They wanna see, like, how does this turn out? Because they know that they've got the same family dynamics. Health. Yeah?

Diane Randall [00:25:19]:

But it's having the courage. It's being willing to do what serves you. And if we're talking about food, it's being able to say, you know what? Instead of the mac and cheese, I'm just gonna eat this broccoli. Mhmm. And it's just accepting yourself for the change that you wanna make. And I tell you, I've modeled The behavior of being plant based. And guess what? My family and friends, I'll just say my family. They're the harder group.

Diane Randall [00:25:46]:

Okay. Yes. They will eat a plant based meal. They will go to a vegan restaurant. They're not vegan, but they've Accepted that, and they know the difference. And to me, that is so wonderful because I'm not trying to change them, But they've gotten the fact that, okay, there is a different way whether I wanna do it or not.

Lanée Blaise [00:26:08]:

You mentioned bringing something, but you could even bring even if it's not particularly a potluck dinner, you could bring a casserole dish Of the meal that you prepared in advance and set it on the table and you eat that and whoever wants to Dig into that can, or they could just go back with the regular stuff that's on the table. And you're dished to

Sandy Kovach [00:26:29]:

bills. Yeah. Yeah.

Diane Randall [00:26:31]:

That's how I do it. I never put the pressure on anybody. Oh, we need something for her. You know?

Lanée Blaise [00:26:37]:

Right. And then there she comes. Yeah. Because that's yeah.

Diane Randall [00:26:40]:

That's Even though look. My family taught me well. You know, I would go to Thanksgiving Inspiration. Let's say Thanksgiving, and they go, oh, we made you a salad. A salad.

Sandy Kovach [00:26:50]:

Like, that's the only thing that

Lanée Blaise [00:26:52]:

you can eat. Yep.

Diane Randall [00:26:53]:

But if you're true to what change you're trying to make, I didn't take that personally. And like you said, I started bringing a dish, and I really bought that dish because that was something I could eat. You know? Yeah. And if they wanted to try it, that's fine too. And that's how we do it. I had my 1st plant based Thanksgiving this year.

Lanée Blaise [00:27:13]:

Wow. Everything was successful. Complete everything.

Sandy Kovach [00:27:16]:

Tofer key or

Diane Randall [00:27:18]:

Well, we had pumpkin pie, mac and cheese. Oh. We had collard. Yes. We had brussels sprouts. We had lentil loaf.

Lanée Blaise [00:27:30]:

Lentil loaf.

Diane Randall [00:27:31]:

Gravy. Yeah. It's like meatloaf made with the Okay. It was awesome.

Sandy Kovach [00:27:37]:

Okay. So it tastes awesome, But to people who aren't used to hearing, like, lentil loaf, that might not sound so great. So is there some kind of a transition that you go through?

Diane Randall [00:27:50]:

I will answer your question. Yes. It's a transition, but it wasn't a transition for taste. It was a transition for, I see my health going down, and I need to do something about it. That's initially what got me doing it. And you're right. I just tested out and tasted. I got educated on what was really whole foods and what's not.

Diane Randall [00:28:12]:

I had to kinda figure that out because you can go crazy Trying to figure out what is healthy. I mean, we all get the same messages. Yeah. Mhmm. So it was really Learning what is healthy. So if I'm not eating the regular processed mac and cheese, what's going to make this vegan cheese different? So it's learning things like that. And I always tell people, change 1 mill at a time, one thing at a time. Don't put any pressure on yourself Because if it's not real and authentic, guess what? It's just like any New Year's resolution, you're going to go back to your old habits and old way.

Diane Randall [00:28:47]:

From you.

Sandy Kovach [00:28:47]:

So, like, I'm not gonna say, Lanee, I'm gonna live just like Diane starting tomorrow. It's probably not gonna happen. Unreasonable.

Diane Randall [00:28:54]:

So Well, what you can do tomorrow, You can change one thing that's processed on your plate. Okay. And what I would say to that is I would pick a vegetable that I like or that I wanna try. And I'll put a big helping of the vegetable on my plate. And even though I have the other things that I typically eat. I'll eat the vegetables first. The idea here is to crowd out some of that food because if you ate the big helping of vegetables, The idea is that you won't eat all the other food or not so much. That's how you start.

Diane Randall [00:29:28]:

And I teach a plant based class, and I teach you how to tweak 1 meal One meal or 1 dish Yeah. From making it healthier. You don't have to throw everything you love out the window. The question is, How can I make this Health? A healthier version of what I love.

Lanée Blaise [00:29:47]:

That's easier. Health portion sizes too. It seems like you're getting at the crux of it by saying that You can put the healthy food on in a larger portion, which will force you to eat smaller portions of the stuff that you like that you know is not as great for you, And it kinda helps maybe your food combinations and everything wins, I guess,

Diane Randall [00:30:07]:

with your menu. Can win, but start small. One small thing, not tomorrow. I'm just all plan you know, that's that's not realistic in my opinion. It's a process, and you can't be hard on yourself.

Sandy Kovach [00:30:20]:

So your website, I have to tell everyone, is just it's a wealth of information. She's got blogs and podcasts and Ebooks you can download, diane randallconsults.com. And, I was just showing Lanee, Diane, before we started recording some of the cool features that I really liked. So if you're looking for specific ideas, like Diane said, she's been doing this for 25 years. Everything from what do you do when you're traveling? What do you do? I think we talked about fast food a little. You know? Just the little things that you're going to run into in life, And you gear it. I know you say towards busy professionals, but let's face it. Everybody from stay at home moms to

Lanée Blaise [00:30:59]:

is busy.

Sandy Kovach [00:31:00]:

Yeah. To retired people that you know?

Lanée Blaise [00:31:02]:

And we don't want that to be our excuse anymore that we're too busy to be healthy because you told us right out the gate, You sure don't wanna be laid up in a hospital. That takes away some of your time as well. You want to be healthy, and you wanna identify why you want this healthier lifestyle. Diane, we have a section in our show every time called takeaway time where we want to Pull some things together and make sure that we bring it all home. And I know that you mentioned if there's nothing else that we take away, it's Reading labels and just watching what you eat. And, of course, we have our own takeaway too, but is there anything else that you wanna make sure people get before we leave them out there on this island of healthiness. It's it's

Diane Randall [00:31:52]:

it's being aware of what you're thinking about, your thoughts about food because it's a thought before it becomes a reality. Oh, I want something sweet. Okay. Let me go check. You know? My body's moving toward the refrigerator. Mhmm.

Lanée Blaise [00:32:05]:

And and

Diane Randall [00:32:05]:

thinking about jogging. Right? But it's really, Like I said earlier, looking at the habit, is this something I could change? The mindset, looking at your mindset, what you think about, Not just food, but your life as well. Is this serving your life? I call it making more self honoring choices.

Lanée Blaise [00:32:28]:

Beautiful.

Sandy Kovach [00:32:29]:

Yeah. Like, what's the implication of this chocolate other than it's gonna taste really delicious in the Women. Right?

Lanée Blaise [00:32:35]:

But switch it. Get some dark chocolate, Women, like, I don't know, some kind of pure a dark chocolate that has less sugar, and that still gives you that little lift.

Diane Randall [00:32:45]:

And that exists.

Lanée Blaise [00:32:46]:

Let me see.

Diane Randall [00:32:47]:

So Good thing. It exists.

Lanée Blaise [00:32:49]:

Another aspect of the takeaway, Sandy and I did a Podcast episode on what's your why. And it's kinda like, I just wanna ask anyone out there. I want you to think about this in light of everything that Diane has taught us. What really is your goal? Do you just wanna be skinny or something or just to be skinny, or do you really want to be healthy? Because there's a huge difference. Are you willing to incorporate good, healthy practices to make your life more abundant and to keep you out of the hospital and to Give you more energy as opposed to just feeling like this is just a restriction and a burden on you. Diane, you taught us a lot about the mindset. Living well and eating well and exercising, it can be fun. It doesn't mean that you have to excessively work out at a particular gym until you pass out.

Lanée Blaise [00:33:39]:

It doesn't mean that you have to be restrictive and starve yourself and only eat a rice cake and a piece of celery a day. It's not about that. We're challenging everyone to think about the tips in this episode To open your eyes and mind to the possibility of a new and fun, healthy lifestyle That we just never knew existed. We can change some of these past traditions and make new ones, and we truly thank you, Diane. This is miss Diane Wellness Randall. That's really middle name is Wellness for enlightening us. Thank you for joining us today, Diane.

Diane Randall [00:34:20]:

And thank you for having me. I've enjoyed myself.

Lanée Blaise [00:34:23]:

That's the purpose. That's what I do. So overall, everyone imagine yourself happy and healthy.

Sandy Kovach [00:34:30]:

Thanks for listening. Now we'd like to hear from you. Got an idea for the show? Wanna share your story or just say hello? Make sure you connect with us. You can do that at imagine yourself at cast.com. And we'll talk to you again next time when we have something new to imagine.

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* As with any health issues or eating changes, always check with your doctor first.

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