52. Plant Based Lifestyle / Kathy Davis
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How can you be more intentional with your diet without making it restrictive? How can feel empowered choosing the foods that make you feel your best? Kathy Davis is a plant-based lifestyle and mindset coach, CEO of VegInspired, and the author of three plant-based cookbooks. Today's episode we focus on "how does food make you feel" rather than on rules; question belief systems around foods; and connecting to your WHY to have a strong intention. It is all about having an abundance mindset around food with allowing it to be easy. I can't wait for you to listen to today's episode!
EPISODE TOPICS:
Benefits Plant-Based Lifestyle. Food Thriving On. (13:22 + :46)
Why is Plant Based Healthier? (17:46)
Getting trapped in "Hard" , Diets are Restrictive, Eating Disorders changing our eating can be scarry, obsessive control mentality. (23:46)
It's Time to Question the Marketing Tactics by Food Companies (24:32 +:46)
Coaching Session - Limiting Beliefs around Macros, Food Choices. How do we make it deal with these limiting beliefs around food? (28:42 +:46)
How do we make living a plant-based lifestyle EASY? (39:40 +46)
How are our food choices link to uplifting our purpose? (47:40 +46)
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Katie Graham
Okay, well, Kathy Davis is on the podcast today. Thank you, Kathy, for being here with us.
Kathy Davis
Thanks for having me, Katie, I'm excited to be here.
Katie Graham
Yeah, I'm just so excited that you're here. I personally have just like, always had a hard time with nutrition. And you know, the whole trends like the Keto and paleo and now I'm listening to Joe Rogan. And he's on the carnivore diet. And there's just like, so much information. And I think that we can personalize it per person, like there's no right or wrong. And I also think that including plants, and including this plant based lifestyle that you're talking about, into our perception is just gonna be so inspiring. And I just think anytime that we're able to hear from somebody that's built their life around somebody that they're so passionate about, it's just going to give us more inspiration and courage to take care of our bodies and figure out what kind of nutrition needs that each of us needs. So yeah, so can you tell us just a little bit about you? And why, like, what was this journey that got you started on this plant based lifestyle business that you have?
Kathy Davis
Absolutely, and thanks for this opportunity. So I always like to go all the way back to the beginning, I grew up eating the standard American diet, you know, struggled with weight, trying to figure out how I could feel good. I was I'm a former school teacher. So I had a pretty, you know, when I say rigid schedule, but a routine I was in, you know, different things like that. And the idea of plant based eating was introduced to me about eight years ago by my husband, and I was extremely resistant. So if you're out there listening, and you're like, plant based, I don't think so. Just hear us out. Just hang with me. Because I grew up on the standard American diet. I love burgers, I love blue cheese dressing. I love chicken wings, like I loved all those things. And I didn't want to give it up. But when he started to really talk about the benefits, I started to wonder, could this be something that would work for me? Could this be the what I'm looking for to clear up my skin to take control of my health. And so I was willing to give it a try, but I wasn't going to commit. That was eight years ago. About six months into the journey we for those first six months, we've really dabbled in eating more plants. That was our philosophy. Eat more plants, add extra vegetables, swap the chicken out for cauliflower, use a vegan blue cheese dressing like really just tapping into easy accessible familiar foods. So if you're just getting started, or you want to try something that's, that's new and exciting, look at the foods that you already like that are plant based and swap them in for something else. I really think cauliflower lends itself really well to that chicken or shrimp texture in soups and stews and stearic stir fries, or teriyaki keys, buffalo wings, all of that really just kind of start leveraging the different foods and the ingredients and don't look at it necessarily as what you're giving up. Look at it as a way to add more plants really look for the abundance in it. And six months in, I'd started to accept it is possibly a way of life. I looked at the stuff on animal egg. And I felt like you know what, I don't really feel like I'm missing things. I found a good veggie burger, took a while took a lot of trial and error. And so I gave myself permission to let go of the have that barrier that's fear, and really started to eat vegan I started to identify as a vegan, that was about seven and a half years ago. Well, the more along that journey I went, the closer I got to a junk food vegan, eating out all the time grabbing processed foods really kind of falling into the vegan snacks. I've been on several podcasts and it seems like every time I talk to somebody, they're like that same thing happened to me when I went gluten free. Like you just start substituting out the same type of food, but with a processed version or something that's even more processed. And it really started to take a toll on how I felt. So two and a half years ago, I made the decision to pivot back towards more clean whole plant foods. And that was where the real results happen. That's where I really started to see how that way of eating could fuel my body and give me energy. And I always like to really tap into? How do these foods make me feel? both emotionally and physically? Is there an association that I have with certain foods? Can I reframe that association? Can I alter the way that I think so that it's not, I don't feel restricted, when I watch somebody else eat cake, I feel empowered, that I'm choosing the foods that are that make me feel the best. And down that road, I went. And I found that over the last two and a half years, the real, the root of all of it, what really came down to the lifestyle change, for me, wasn't the checklists or the meal plans. It was how I thought about food, and how food made me feel and how I could really tap into that mindfulness and that energizing, nourishing aspect of food. And that change led me to, you know, further the veg inspired arm with a coaching option authoring the three cookbooks and really making eating more plants available to more people. Because I wanted to make it easy. I wanted to make it time, you know, fit into time, and I wanted to make it fit into people's budgets.
Katie Graham
Oh, I love your story with that. It's, it is inspiring, just knowing that you went kind of through a hard transition with it. Like I think we all make these commitments, and then we kind of can get hung up on it. But then you also just continued and you sounded like you kind of went back to your intention of why am I doing this? And how do I want to feel like all of those questions that can bring us back to that intuitive base, kind of like that baseline, where we can always go back to as our foundation, and any, you know, choice, but it's certainly when it comes to nutrition, because we're all faced with all different types of food every single day. And we need to feel in that empowered place, or else it does feel very confining. It feels very restrictive. And that was one question I had for you today, Kathy is how do we? How do we transition from this kind of limited, confined view of making your diet restrictive in some way certain, you know, foods, like you're talking about, specifically eating plants? And then how do we kind of open up the pure view into this more expansive, very empowered place where we're like, Oh, I'm not going to eat that because it is not in my intention, and it's not what I want. And I feel more confident and in a place of self care when I follow what I have set out to do.
Kathy Davis
I think, you know, honestly, Katie, I think it's really tapping into your why, why are we doing this? Are we doing it? Because somebody else said, so? Are we doing this? Because in I mean, my husband got the information about plant based eating because there were two contradictory articles in one of the magazines. Are we doing it because of outside influences? Or are we doing it because of what's inside of us? And that question is also, you know, relevant. When we talk about the associations we have with food. Do I want birthday cake and ice cream at every party, because that's what I grew up eating. Is that really what I want? What would really satisfy me, because when I think about the foods that I really, really love, most of them are plant based. You know, like splurging on really good strawberries or fresh tomatoes from the local market, or, you know, those organic frozen those organic grapes that you can freeze into little candies, really thinking about what really fills you up and what really, really brings you joy. And a lot of times we get tapped into maybe an old association or an old, an old way that we we looked at food. See, for a long time, I looked at food as comfort. But now I look at food as nourishment. Because when I eat something that used to make me feel comfortable, I don't feel comfortable anymore. And I've recognized that I actually feel kind of sick. And so it's it's giving yourself that grace to say, Gosh, I never really thought about it. But every time I eat dairy, I have a stomach ache. Or, gosh, I didn't eat dairy for that whole week when I was when I had the flu or something. And my skin cleared up. Could that be a reaction? And when you start to piece together, how you feel with foods you start to see maybe that isn't what serves me anymore. Maybe I do need to look at other ways and really looking at what does serve you and what does make you feel good,
Katie Graham
huh yeah, reminds me of when I was going through intuitive eating, and I went to go see a nutritionist and we first went on the macros, like counting the calories. And it just wasn't sustainable. I mean, I lost weight, and then I gained it back. And because I couldn't like I just didn't want to consume all of my time and energy into counting calories. And I really wanted to feel good as well in my body. And so I started down this intuitive eating path. And there's so much simplicity in it. That is so powerful. And I think what exactly what you're talking about Kathy, is, is the simplicity of just being aware of how you're feeling when you're eating certain types of food and pausing and asking those hard questions. Because that's not easy to be like, Oh, this used to make me comfortable. But how do I feel now. And it's a lot of those limiting beliefs that we hold on to in those stories. And just the simple tool of being aware of yourself your feelings, giving yourself that compassion and non judgment for whatever you're feeling and whatever reactions you're having around food. I just love how you're incorporating all of that. It's kind of like this bubble of self care as well. And so I want to ask like, so you're loving it, you're inspired, you're eating your plant based lifestyle, you've hit a few bombs. And then you went back and you kind of reevaluated found your happy medium. What was the point where you were like, I love this so much that I want to serve other people. And I want to start this business and help other people, what you've said a few times just make it easy and accessible and bring it into their lives?
Kathy Davis
That's a great question. And interestingly enough, it was actually seven just over seven years ago that I started veg inspired. And it really was founded on the principle of inspiring people to eat more plants. And then through this last two and a half year journey of which was really, for me, it was a weight loss journey, like weight loss was the pivot moment for me. But what I gained in the process is what was life changing. And that's what I want to give back to others that's really were the service and this, this level of impact that I can make, because I I've walked the walk, I was at the place where plant based eating had I had gone, I had yo yo to bid with it, right vegan vegan junk food now plant based plant, you know, really kind of learning all the circumstances and the events and having to overcome that, but also having to overcome the mindset associated with an actual lifestyle transition. And not a short term diet because I spent my whole life dieting. So when I first set out on this, cleaning it up, I envisioned it to be just like any other diet, and I'm putting air quotes around it. But with more intentional thought I realized it's not a diet. It's about that sustainable lifestyle which you touched upon, right. It's the the counting of the calories, the weighing foods, the points, none of that stuff is long term. It's about creating a lifestyle those day in and day out habits that serve you. And something you said, you know, triggered one of the things that i It seems to come up in a lot of conversations, maybe it's just been my tagline. But I honestly didn't know how good I could feel until I started to feed my body the food that it thrived on. And I actually started feeling good. I didn't know what it was like to get a good night's sleep, or to get up energized and actually go to work and work. Uh, you know, some days are my art. I'm in front of the computer coaching clients for 10 and 12. You know, just here serving showing up live videos trainings for 10 1214 hours. It doesn't hardly faze me anymore. I, I just it's just breathe the life into me. And I was telling my clients last night last night that one decision of me changing the way that I ate has influenced 1000s of people's lives. And I think about that because we don't know who's watching us. We don't know who who's seeing the results, right? They don't see you making the decision. They don't see that hard part inside you. When you're standing in front of you know the foods at the grocery store. You're going past the end caps with all the junk food or you're in these in the moment decisions and you're making these intentional decisions about what you're going to eat. They don't see that they only see the result. But you don't know who's watching you who's saying gosh, look at the amazing look at how much energy she has. Look at how how our skin's glowing. Look at how How How young Sheila, like, there's so many benefits to just making these intentional decisions that can really, really foster an influence. Even if you don't have a platform, it might be your children, it might be your parents, right? My parents no longer drink cow's milk. That's huge. That's just a small drip in the bucket. They're not part of my my coaching programs, they're just seeing the results. And so that one little decision you make, it may be harder for you to make, but you never know who's, who's watching who's looking at those results and saying, Oh, my gosh, if she can do it, I can do it.
Katie Graham
Beautifully said, yeah, the benefits can always outweigh the complications, or just getting to that even just like pushing yourself to change into that next step, just taking that next step. And I love I guess, I want to talk now, I want to get into the plant base, the actual nutrition in it. And what is that, you know, you're talking about all these benefits. So my, I guess, like backup a few steps, my background is the same as yours, just, you know, growing up eating whatever. And really relied on a lot of meat, and I still rely on a lot of meat as a way to get my protein in. And you know, it makes me feel good. I also rely on a lot of plants, I mean, vegetables, it's a you know, huge thing in my life. And I want to include more. And as the summer is coming, I want to include more locally sourced foods so I can get the amount of nutrients from that because locally source has the soil microbiome, and then that, you know, nutrients comes into our body. So a lot more nutrient dense than just the grocery store, right? So. So anyway, like all of these things incorporated in my lifestyle. And then I'm sure for the listeners as well, they have probably a majority of them have some sort of meat Incorporated, and then probably a lot of them also have plants incorporated into their meals. So can you tell us, Kathy, just give us a rundown of why you think the plant based is so important, and then also so healthy for us? Like why is that going to make us feel better? And why are we going to receive all of these beautiful benefits that you just talked about?
Kathy Davis
Absolutely, absolutely. So the research shows that humans humans, digestive tracts actually follow the same as the biggest meat. They're the biggest plant eaters on the planet, gorillas, all of that we have this curvy intestinal track, meat eaters, like lions, and tigers, and all of that they have one chamber stomachs. So when you start to look at that, you start to wonder, like, scientifically, which way am I supposed to eat. And when you really dig into the results of plant based eating, like what actually what you're actually getting, and you read books like whole, or how not to diet and you start to see the studies of, you know, high antioxidant foods carrying cancer, and cholesterol, not curing cancer and all animal products as the only source of cholesterol unless, except that your body doesn't make some that it needs. But like if animal products are the only source of cholesterol and we're continuing to eat that, that begs the question Is that what's best for our body? And the research shows it's not? A lot of the research shows that the recommended daily amounts of protein are highly inflated, because the industry is want us eating that. That it's not really about what your body actually needs. It's about who has the money to dictate the recommendations. And so when you start to look at that, and you start to question like, who am I listening to? Where am I getting my information? And you start to see that? A lot of the I mean, I read I did a huge presentation on soy because some of my clients were like, well, I'm, I'm not supposed to have soy. So I dug into the research. And two of the articles that they sent me, were funded by the dairy industry. Now, dairy has been found. I had that to have IGF growth hormone in it, which promotes the growth of cancer cells, specifically breast cancer cells. So it's one of those things where you have to start to question like, who's who's driving the research? And so, from my perspective, it really goes back to what we were talking about in the beginning. How does this food make you feel? And do you know how good you can feel? Have you given it enough of a shot to know that you Your body does maybe thrive more on whole plant foods, potatoes, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, seeds, healthy fats like avocados. Because most of us don't really eat clean anyway, we tend to eat a lot more processed a lot more convenient. If we cut that out and then eat closer to nature intended, it may not be that you're giving up all the meat that you eat, but you're adding so many high nutrient dense plant foods that you no longer are lacking in certain certain foods. Most of I think there's a study that said like 60% of the population is actually fiber deficient. Because we're not eating enough fiber, because we've been told our whole lives that carbs make us fat. And so we avoid that whole food group. Anything that's higher in carbs causes us to kind of panic, but we're not getting into fiber, which means that our digestive tract isn't being cleaned out every day, which means we're bloated, which means we feel sick. And so, the what I find is when you try it, and you see how your body feels and how your body responds, and you actually eat enough sustenance, right I get, I'll get new clients that come in, and they're like, I tried to be vegan once, but I can't just live on salads. I'm like, Oh my gosh, you don't have to live on salads, we're gonna eat potatoes, we're gonna eat vegetables, we're gonna eat maybe tofu, if you like it, we're gonna eat beans, and lentils, and grains, and all of these amazing foods. And we're gonna use herbs and spices and vinegars, and citrus and all these amazing flavorings. And you're gonna find that you fall in love with the abundance, rather than the limitations. And that's really what it is. It's looking at how you can fall in love with these flavors, these familiar foods that you that you can now see, you thrive on. You know, I always tell people, like, try a salad with a half a sweet potato and a cup of half a cup of black beans for lunch. And tell me how you feel? Do you have more energy? Or are you that hangry person at the end of the day, because I've lived both ways and life. Like I said, I had no idea how good I could feel until I started to really feel good.
Katie Graham
Oh, I love it's so exciting. I love what you're talking about Kathy, I just I get excited about you giving us permission to look through a whole new lens of like, what are the foods that you're eating? Why are you eating them? And what kind of beliefs are you attaching on to them. And it's so true, like you're talking about where we get our information from different industries, marketing, like a lot of what we're receiving is just for us to spend money, for marketing reasons, right for the money. And so you're always going back to how do you feel? How is this making you feel different in your body. And I love that, and I love that perspective that you're giving us it is this perspective of abundance, and availability and possibility. And that's just really exciting to hear, especially when it comes to to nutrition. I think a lot of us just get really confined by what we think we should be doing. And then certainly confined by what, by what we've already been doing. And if we're already ingrained and patterns and habits, it takes a lot to step back and actually question why like, why am I doing this? And why don't I feel good in my body. And that's kind of a process I feel like I'm going through right now. It's just like, some of the foods that I'm eating I know are not settling in my body correctly. And it's really, I can get really confined in this is really hard. Like this is really hard to try and figure this out what foods aren't working like what's making my energy low, what's upsetting my stomach. And I just get into this like kind of trapped mentality that doesn't even make the one a budge. And that also actually does the quite opposite makes me feel a little bit more paralyzed when it comes to food. And I think that's really common, especially for people that have had an eating disorder in the past. It's like changing our eating habits can be really scary. And it can it can bring up a lot of things. For me, it's been trapped in this obsessive control mentality. Luckily, now I can step back and have that awareness when that's happening, that I can step back and see it and move in a direction that works better for me. But at the same time, it's still something I think we all struggle with. And we all hold our own stories and beliefs, just what you were saying. So it is really exciting to Just hear about a new possibility and a new way of looking at our food. And Kathy, I just think you're doing a beautiful job of allowing it to be really abundant. And really empowering. Like, that's like probably the best word that I've heard us use is just like feeling that empowerment about the choices we make with our food.
Kathy Davis
That's, and I love that you bring that up. And I also love that you touched upon the marketing and I want to, I want to take a step back and talk about that. Because as somebody who's been, you know, in this space for for over eight years, really studying the you know, really immersing myself in the plant based space, the vegan space, the eat more plant space, the whole food, like all the labels, all the names, all of that. I see how these companies are hijacking these words. And I always offer a bit of caution to people who are, you know, already going all in, I'm gonna go to the grocery store and buy all the plant based stuff. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, hold your horses, like, I don't want you to buy the plant based stuff. I really want when I when I talk about eating more plants, I'm really talking about spending a little more time looking through the produce, spending a little more time looking through the the grain and the whole food, like those Whole Foods aisles, not the freezer section that has the packaged item that says Made with plants, or you know, the these new fancy burgers that you can get it at Burger King, and all these. That's not what I'm talking about. There's a place for all of those foods, they are great for transitioning people, but as a day in and day out habit, really lean towards those whole foods really think about how you can can I add veggies and hummus or a fruit salad or if several pieces of fruit are dried through their trail mix to my afternoon snack, instead of a bag of goldfish or fruit snacks, or a granola bar with some glue in the middle, like really thinking about the difference between those trail mix where you can see all the ingredients and that high sugar granola bar like that's really what we're talking about here is is how can you lean into the more whole intact foods, not necessarily the foods that are hijacked. And when you think about, you know even what you said, like really coming to terms and being aware of these changes, and how demanding that can be on us and how we we do start to you know, there is this level of excitement. And then that excitement can turn into an obsession and the next thing you know, you're creating all these rules. But if you just stop and say wait a minute, My only rule is that it needs to be cleaned and Whole Foods like which of these the really processed granola bar with the glue and the jelly jam in the middle or this other granola bar where I can see the nuts and the seeds and the fruit right in it like it's just a one or one or the other choice. And when you start to think of it that way, I think it takes that I got to read all these ingredients, I got to I got to you know, come up with all these recipes. Like it might be just as simple as starting with snacks, then maybe breakfast. And then maybe lunch becomes something as simple as starch and salad or a homemade burrito bowl. And you're starting to really look at ways that you can add more plants rather than take things out. And that's it. Like if you picture your plate, you're just adding some extra vegetables or fruits or whole grains. And then slowly there's just not enough room for the non plant based products. And then you're like, Oh, this is what this is what that veggie inspired Kathy was talking about crowding out my plate by adding more of these Whole Foods to it.
Katie Graham
Yeah, when you're talking, I get triggered by okay, it's just like you can eat this granola, or sorry, you said trail trail mix. Or you can eat this bar, the sugar bar are totally messing this up. Let me restate that. You can either eat the trail mix, or you can eat a granola bar that has sugar in it or whatever. So in my mind, complicated by my whole past with my eating disorder and well, gosh, everything that's kind of processed from then till now, you know going through trying to lose weight and counting calories macros, trying to you know, figure out carbs, proteins, fats, like all of the complicated stuff. My brain goes and spins and says, Well, I can't eat that trail Max because it's got all the fat. It's got too much fat doesn't have enough protein. And of course I don't want to eat that granola bar because it's full of sugar and it's processed. And so you can see Kathy how I get I'm so wrapped up in my whole belief system. And then also, while you're talking, I stepped back and I took a big breath of fresh air and realize like, oh my gosh, I just notice all those thoughts going on, and all that negativity, all of that fear wrapped up in that one decision. And what you're talking about is like making it really simple and easy. And I liked that idea. I want to incorporate that more, I'm just, I have a hard time. Maybe setting my beliefs back and being able to just eat whole foods and feel really good about it. Do you maybe have like a suggestion? Maybe some of your clients feel the same way that I do? How do you give them advice on this?
Kathy Davis
Absolutely. That's a great question. So we'll do a little bit of hot seat coaching on this call. So when you think about those decisions, and being in that place, where it's either, you know, trail mix, granola, granola bar, or gosh, I should probably just eat fruit. But that is too much sugar, like, all these thoughts are racing through your head, do you find that if you had made the decision before the action, so if it was an advanced decision, so you knew you were going to the store, and you're going to buy oranges, and I don't know, apricots and longhole, walnuts, and you are going to kind of have oranges, or you know, a fourth of a cup of walnuts or, you know, like a serving of walnuts or a serving of some dried apricots, if you'd made the decision ahead of time before you went to the grocery store, in the grocery store, you bought the food, and then that's the food that you have at home to eat. Does that release some of that, that overwhelm or stress around food? Or do you find that at each point in the process, there's, there's some stress and frustration and mind spinning around the food.
Katie Graham
I think it is the knowledge that I already have that eating fruits, and walnuts are not going to give me enough protein to sustain me for that snack. And so even though I know it's healthy food, and it'll fuel me, I have a tiny voice in my head saying it's not enough. It's not good enough. And so I think it's even if I went to the store, and it was very simple to get the ingredients, I think it's kind of that already belief system ingrained in me that's telling me that it is not okay to eat
Kathy Davis
that. Gotcha, gotcha. So when I'm working with new clients, the the number one question that we ask is, what's, what's the objective? Do you want to eat more plants? And what outcome are you looking to achieve? And so, you know, you've touched on really wanting to eat more plants and add more plants to what's that outcome you'd be looking to achieve? Like, What's your why? Why do you want to eat more plants?
Katie Graham
Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, so more energy and my stomach not to hurt.
Kathy Davis
Okay, so what's more energy and what's your stomach not hurting, how's that gonna serve you? How's that going to help you in your day to day activities, life impact that you make,
Katie Graham
it'll, I will be able to show up with more joy. Because my time and energy is not consumed in the issues of just trying to get motivated trying to have enough energy and then also, you know, the time and energy consumed and not feeling good.
Kathy Davis
Right. And that's, and that's very common. And you know, when we're when we're looking for that energy to show up, right, and to really take back control of the way we spend our time, right. If you're not feeling good, you're not showing up at your best. And so then now we know your why. So when you're faced with those decisions, you you want to tap into that why that also means take making the decision to look at the information that's available differently. And we might find that what you eat for breakfast, is, if that were tweaked, you might have more energy throughout the day. And that would sustain you for longer and then what you eat for lunch might be less and I'm going to use the word calorically dense, but that's just basically calories per amount of food. Not that we count calories. But like you mentioned that nuts and dried fruit might be higher in fat. And typically those are More calorically dense foods, right? If you think about apricots and dried apricots, if you had three regular fresh apricots in your hand and a handful of dried apricots, you could eat way more dried apricots, right? So it's like that quantity. And when we think about tweaking the foods that you eat it also, there also has to be a pairing of tweaking where you get that information. So my, you know, me hearing you say, I want more energy, my immediate response would be, are you eating enough carbohydrates? Are you eating enough fiber to make your stomach feel better? Are you eating enough fiber to allow the food to push through you cleanly? Are you eating enough fiber to really feed those mice that microbiome and provide that healing nature? Now, a lot of times people will come back to me and say, Well, I think I might be gluten intolerant. So then we're going to look at non gluten foods. Are you eating enough High fiber foods that are gluten free? Are you getting gluten free oats? Are you looking at, you know, is there dairy involved in the foods that you're eating that may be contributing to stomach issues? That we don't even know because we never felt? We never didn't feel that way after we ate? Right? I mean, the standard American diet is literally what dairy can I put on everything? Pizza has dairy potatoes have dairy pasta has I mean, we just throw that we just throw milk on everything, no products and everything? What if we took a break from that to see if maybe it's a maybe it's a dairy issue. And then all of a sudden now you know, and you're like, oh, my gosh, all I had to do was substitute almond milk, and I feel better. And I have more energy. And like, you start to see how those how those scenarios can play out. Now, granted, there has to be that next level of information seeking, what is going to what could be the cause? What am I willing to try without, you know, backpedaling into those old beliefs. And for me, I would say that that's why that first six months was really spent with familiar foods. Because it was really, what were those old beliefs, I believed I had to have meat and dairy to get protein and calcium. And now I'm beans and nuts and seeds. And really, you know, in control of the protein that I'm eating quinoa, broccoli, finding all of these plant foods that have half protein, reading books like whole and realizing that these little morsels of foods that are in their closest state to nature have all of the nutrients that we need. And when we eat this colorful, bountiful abundant, balanced, plant based, or plant centered diet, or follow a way of eating, because I really I know diet means more than just diet, but I don't like the word. So I always tap back into way of eating, when we follow that way of eating. That's really helping us leverage the power of these foods for both those personal goals of energy and feeling good, but also the professional goals, being able to show up being able to make an impact to your audience being able to be the version of you, that you aspire to be.
Katie Graham
Right. Thank you, Tracy. Thank you, Kathy, for giving me that coaching session that was really enlightening. That was wonderful. It makes so much sense. Centering myself in the why that feels really hopeful. It feels really good to know what I want to feel like. And then going into that information phase. I don't feel so fearful. I think that's kind of the block that we all can get into is yeah, of course, we all want to feel better. But then it's going to that next step of looking at the information and starting to try some new different things and being curious about it. It's, it can be hard to get to that next step if we're just driven by fear. And so giving that example is so much more loving. And I'm so glad that you offer that to us, Kathy, allowing us to drive forward in an empowered state, and a place where I want to feel more joy, I want to feel good in my body. I want to even feel comfortable in my skin or whatever it is, whatever the goal is, and the plant based lifestyle and just so fascinated with and I'm really excited to what you're talking about look into that black hole, as well. And just like open up my perspective, I think I've been really narrow in understanding protein proteins and understanding meat and needing to have them in my diet, every meal, you know, or all of the time every day. And so opening up To just a new perspective really helps me see the possibility and the in the like excitement of being able to feel a different way in my body. And like I know, like gluten and dairy and all those things I've been pushing away from, you know, maybe I should try my diet without that. And I've been pushing it away, because I've been full of fear, like I've, like been very fearful to do that. And I think it's time now like, I really need to step into my responsibility to myself to my body to feel much more empowered with my nutrition, which is really exciting. And you really are offering us that permission to be able to do that. And so I'm really excited to, you know, make those small changes, because we're worth it right. Like, we deserve to do that. And we deserve to feel better in our body. Absolutely, yeah. Go for it.
Kathy Davis
Absolutely. And honestly, the beauty and all of this is you don't have to do it alone. Right? A lot of times, we feel very alone in these lifestyle changes, we might be the only one in our family that's even considering it, we might be the only one in our circle of friends. That's even, you know, thinking plant based over some of the other ways of eating right now. And that can feel very lonely, very frustrating, but you don't have to go it alone. And that's the beauty of finding people who are you know, are leading by example, finding places, finding those resources and really starting to tap into that community aspect.
Katie Graham
Right? Yeah. And I was just circling something on my paper you're talking about not perfectionism, either, like not falling into that perfect, perfect mentality of it needs to look a certain way. If I'm following this plant based diet, it needs to be a right or wrong situation. And having a maintaining that mindset of intention is such a great way to do that. So I'm really glad that you brought that up. Can we go back into the ease of this? Like, how do we bring it because I know you, Kathy, you help high achieving professionals and entrepreneurs, so people that are really busy, and they don't have a ton of time to prep? I think that is one thing that's always kind of held me back from doing a plant based lifestyle is just the amount of work like I always think it's so hard, and it's gonna be so time consuming. So why don't you just dig into that limiting belief of mine, and let us know how it can be easier.
Kathy Davis
Let's attack it, right, we're gonna attack that we're not going to call it heart anymore, because there are. So listen, we live in the world of convenience. And so there are so many places in our grocery store that have foot whole foods that may have been touched by somebody else to get prepped, but you don't have to do it. So it makes it fit into our schedules much easier. Things like quick cooking grains or rice, you can listen, you can microwave a potato if you want, like they don't have to be big, like, you know, we don't have to go back to the Stone Age to eat more plants. And that's really what I think happens is that we think we get into these plant based diets, we follow these, these people who've been eating plant based for a really long time. And they have very outdated, perhaps older cooking methods. And I'm all about like some quick cooking rice or some rice in the Instant Pot, a can of black beans, some storebought, Pico, Pico to Gaya or fresh salsa, some storebought guacamole and some fresh greens like it doesn't have to be complicated. It can be really, really easy. You can get broccoli that's already cut into florets, all you got to do is steam it or roast it you can get garlic that's already been peeled or garlic that's already mince like you, we don't have to go through all those steps of you know peeling the broccoli or shredding it into broccoli slaw like it's already made. And because
Katie Graham
there's always Sorry to cut you off, but there's always going to be somebody that's telling you that is not the right way to do it. Like you can't microwave that potato or you can't buy canned beans because they have too much sodium or like you have to do the quote unquote perfect right way. So I'm just gonna I'm like adding that in because Amen sister like there's always going to be somebody that's there's a more perfect way of doing it. And I definitely get caught up in that.
Kathy Davis
Definitely. And one of the big things that I really try to hammer into my clients in the academy is what works for me may not be your perfect solution, but we're gonna find the perfect solution that works for you. So I'm a huge meal planner. And if there was another way, I'm going to find it for my clients like if there's another way to me make this easier, but my my belief on meal planning is that you make advanced decision making. Meaning, you know, on Tuesday night, you're going to eat this food, because you're not going to order takeout. Or you're not going to get that convenient mac and cheese out of the box, or you're not going to swing by the grocery store and just buy whatever sounds good. You've already planned it in. And, you know, I'm, I'm not a huge proponent of buying somebody else's meal plan. Because you're not excited about what I plan. You might not even like black beans, and that could be three black bean recipes on it. I'm really about taking that personal responsibility in that ownership. And your meal plan doesn't have to be 1821 recipes out of cookbooks, it can be like, tomorrow, I'm having Whole Foods cereal with some almond milk. And the next day, I'm having avocado toast like it doesn't have to be complicated. It just has to be intentional. And you know, when you think about how to fit it in how to you know, you're a busy entrepreneur, you're busy. Maybe you work in a boardroom, you know, your boardroom meetings all day, your schedule changes all the time. How do you fit this in? You're like barely grabbing takeout? Can you take a step back and say, Where do I have time? Where do I have time, if I have time to call takeout? I have time to eat some hummus and excuse me veggies. If I have time to you know, swing by the grocery store every single day after work, I probably have time to cook up huge batch of rice and just heat it up that day. Like how can you fit it in? And when you start to think about how can I fit it in not, I can't fit it in you find a way, right, we can't manage time, but we can manage how we use time. And when we start to manage how we use time, we become more empowered. And maybe for you it is a premade smoothie, maybe for you it is you know some clean yogurt and some berries and some granola. Maybe you're not at home baking granola, or baking a sweet potato. You know, I was talking at a I hosted a workshop the other week, and I was like I've got some sweet potatoes in the oven baking and I'll eat them after I'm done with this call. And the oven went off and somebody commented sweet potatoes are ready. And I was thinking to myself, like I did all of that while I was working. Not everybody has that luxury. Not everybody works from home. So how can you fit it in when you are home? Can you throw those sweet potatoes for tomorrow's lunch into the oven while you're cooking? Tonight's dinner? You know, how can you make it work. And when we look for ways we can make it work, we start to eliminate that belief that it can't work. Right? That's really how you know you have to start somewhere there has to be an element of decision to do it.
Katie Graham
Right and making it very simple. Like it could be just one meal. Like I know, sweet potatoes do really well on my body. Like I just know, like I've had him enough like I feel good. And so I could just start there. Like I could just be like, Okay, I know sweet potatoes feel really good in my body. I could have those for lunch instead of my English muffin or whatever, like substitute it. Right? And so it makes sense. Like just making it simple. Starting with what is like being aware, like being aware of like, how do I feel when I eat this certain kind of food? And how do I feel if I cut out this, you know, cut out this English muffin for five days during my lunch. And so I love it. It's like, it's like bringing in the simplicity of it, making it easy, making it doable, and not having to just like rush into like this big life change. You know, making it just like one meal at a time.
Kathy Davis
Exactly. And you know, touching, I want to go back a little bit to the when you said people are like, Oh, don't eat the canned beans, they have too much sodium. I just have to ask, are they the same people that are eating like the frozen, you know, stir fried meal with the cheesy sauce, because I have to believe if it's a frozen cheesy sauce meal, there's probably some sodium and preservatives in there. So really knowing again, it goes back to who do you get your information from? Like, if if you're talking about substituting black beans for a super processed burger or an animal burger that you're going to put salt in a worse dish or sauce and all these other high sodium items on are we even having I mean is that is? Is there a relevant conversation there? Are we just repeat like do we just repeat what we hear because beans do have sodium? But are they are they a better option than what you might have eaten if you didn't eat the beans so it kind of goes back to like really looking again at what's going to feel to feed your body the best and the fact that you know you like sweet potatoes like lean into that maybe you get those sweet potato toasts from the from the frozen section and you toast your sweet potato so it really is like an Englishman If and only it's the sweet potato.
Katie Graham
No, totally like questioning. That's such a great example. Like, I never thought about that. But for sure, it's like I'm salting up all of my meats so much. And that's one thing I heard about, well, you got to make your own black beans and soak them overnight, because you can't buy the canned. Like, it's just those little things that I just like, I don't question and I just like think it and I'm like, oh, yeah, that's right. But they're right and wrong, like, Oh, good. Again, we just like get so trapped in that black and white. Okay, so this is like, I love this part. In your bio, you're talking about empowering you to achieve your biggest dreams. So you create this link between plant based lifestyle and then it aligning and linking to your purpose and to achieving your biggest dreams and showing up in the world with your fullest self with your biggest light. So I'm like whacking my hands all over. Because I love this topic. I think it's like, it's so empowering. So can you tell us copy? Like, how does that link happen? How do you see that in your clients? And does that just like is that one of the reasons that really excites you in the work that you do?
Kathy Davis
It really is, it's it's the number one reason that excites me in the work that I do when people recognize their purpose and recognize that feeling better, and feeling healthier, more joy, more energy, makes them show up better in the world, they show up better for their family, they show up better for their clients, they show up better for their colleagues, they show up better for their job for, for their mission in life. And when you think about it, it really is tied to our mood. Food affects our mood. And some of the biggest examples I have are, you know, clients who start to they start to meal plan, they start to get some energy around meal planning, they have this higher vibration, this, this overall joy in eating more plants and really starting to see the benefits. And they're happier at dinnertime. They're not stressed. Even in some of my clients, they're cooking two meals, and they do find that harmony, right? I don't I don't love the word balance. Because I think there's always something more pressing, I don't know that you can have that equal balance, but you have harmony, things align better, there's an alignment between it. And somebody once said to me, you know, I just, I'm working so that I can have an amazing life. I don't have time to eat healthy. And I was like, Do you have time to be sick? Do you want that amazing life that you're working for to be livable? Do you want the longevity? Because we we spend so much time making reasons why we can't eat healthy. But what if we paused for just a second? And thought about what that would do for us and what that would look like for us? You know, you get up in the morning and a lot of times I mean, I live this life, right? I was a school teacher I worked. I worked in a small company as their VP of administration, like I've been in the busy life situations. And you get up and it's hustle, hustle, hustle 45 minute commute to work, you know, meeting meeting, grab a quick lunch from takeout because they order in every day and and you get sucked into this like system, this, this hustle culture, and you never really stop and say, Wait a minute. am I feeding myself? What's What makes me feel the best? Did that salad dressing? Is that salad dressing actually, what makes me feel like, like sick is that cheese on that sandwich? Is that is that hamburger that I've had for the third day in a row? Because they wanted five guys again? Is that really making me feel good? Am I really showing up in the afternoon, and that the one place that most people can see the biggest difference is that time from three to six. You've eaten lunch, you're and that's when life starts to really take over. You're you're moving, you know, you're shuttling kids around. You have those last days end of the work meetings, maybe there's deadlines, maybe there's crunch points. At the same time your partner's calling what's for dinner? And like, all these things are happening and you start to really feel that pressure. What if you knew the answer? What if he didn't that he or she didn't even have to call you? What if they could just look on the shared meal plan and say, Oh, it's Taco Tuesday. Oh, by golly I can start tacos before before my partner gets home. I can have this ready and you start to share in these responsibilities because there's a plan and we haven't even touched on the fact that I traveled the United States full time in an RV and I always tell people like do you think that I just wake up one morning and say to my husband like hey we're gonna hit the road today we have no plan of course not. I am like do are we going is the next campground going to have good internet so i can record podcasts is the next step campground going to have you know full hookups so that we can shower and do The things we want to do, like, are we going to park outside of National Park? How far is the part like, we plan? We plan our vacations. So why would something that we do day in and day out? Why wouldn't we move forward with advanced decision making? Why wouldn't we move forward with a plan with an intention? Now it doesn't have to be sketched out blueprint of exactly how things are going to go. But when you have an idea, it takes the guesswork out. And that crunch point between three and six, when your lunch if you ate a light lunch or skip lunch, it's worn off, like you're hungry, and all the things are coming to head and now you have to make dinner and nine times out of 10 people are like, well just get takeout. I'll just fling this, this microwave dinner in a box into the microwave. And I'll eat you know, last night's leftovers and the kids can eat this this junk food and I don't know my partner elite, but they'll just have to make do. And no, you don't sit down at the same table anymore. Like we're in this this societal culture where it's just go, go go. But what if it wasn't? What if we could gain back some of our time by becoming more productive by leveraging the power of these foods for energy and mood and mind clarity, and really having intention when we move forward with the foods we
Katie Graham
eat? Oh, it's so good. Like I you're talking, I just got like a lightbulb moment. Three to six is probably my least favorite day. Because I'm hungry. I'm ready. I'm snacking and already by three. And then yeah, I'm trying to figure out like, what are we going to have for dinner like one another least favorite decision during the day. And you're linking that to showing up for our time showing up for our life, I'm losing those hours, just like not feeling good, not wanting to be snacking, and not wanting to think about what I'm doing for dinner. So this is really inspiring, I just love how you're talking about that, as in opens up our life, like what you're talking about. It's like, that is the excitement to for me and the podcast is linking how we feel in our bodies, to how we can really show up in the world and our purpose. And if we're not feeling good, like exactly what you're saying, we don't have time to be sick. Like if we're sick, our health, that's number one priority always. And so if we're on this kind of surface level, just not feeling great feeling maybe a little bit in pain, and we're just making ourselves comfortable just to be there. We can step up even more by making the decision to feel good in our bodies, and really feel good, like feel joy. And then that opens us up to spread light out into the world to ourselves and then to the people that we're serving and talking to and just the people that we love in our lives. And so I just think that like that is well makes me really inspired. Because it is that gap between our bodies, and then our spirit, like what is that like gap? And how do we bring them closer and together? And how can we show up in a more profound and empowered way. And it's all really inspirational, right? But it starts it It starts at the foundation and everything that you're talking about Kathy like the the why like going back to the why going back to the your intentions, your mindset. And then also the not being not getting sucked into that perfectionism mentality, questioning our belief systems, questioning those stories, questioning where our information is coming from. And then also understanding like, this can be something that we can integrate into our lives and make it easy, make it doable, it doesn't have to be hard. And we don't have to live in a fear based place. Like I think that's one thing I really learned and thank you for coaching me like doing a little mini coaching session. Because I want to move out of that fear. Like I want to move forward with love. Like I'm not wanting to choose fear over love. And it's it's a process, right? It's a journey like each little baby step, we start to see our fears, but then that gives us an opportunity to move through them. So all of the information you gave today just so inspiring. Is there any like last messages that may be coming to mind? Like anything that you want to share? And then if not, that's totally fine. Also, let us know what is your own wellness routine. I love to ask the guests at the end of the episode like give us a little inspiration and you're on the road which is awesome. I just love it. So maybe your your wellness is a little bit different than some of ours but yeah, that would be great.
Kathy Davis
Awesome. So I love how you really pulled everything together. And what I've what I really want to leave, you know, the audience with is, you know, you, you can make this change, and I know that you can make this change. Because I was there. I was the fearful one, right, I started this whole story with, I was resistant to this. And it was fear based Fear Of Missing Out fear of failing, feel a fear of letting my husband down, like all of the fears were there. And so when I speak know that I'm not speaking, just from theory, like I'm speaking from experience, like I lived this, and if I can do it, you can do it. So I love the question about the wellness routine, because this really taps into more of a holistic approach that I have to life in general. And I wake up every morning between five and seven, I mean, usually around six, let's say six, and I drink a nice cup of green tea, I don't turn on the TV, I try to stay off social media, and I really connect with my purpose and my mission and my goals, and really lean into what I want on a life, right? I mean, I'm living one of the new American dreams, right i Baby not a white picket fence and in you know, whatever, 2.5 kids, but I'm literally traveling the United States in an RV by choice, like we sold our house intentionally we made this decision. And I show up in gratitude for for the for the work I get to do and the people that I get to serve in the life that I get to live. So every day starts out that way. And then I do a little yoga meditation really kind of centering myself on what I want and what I'm looking for in the day. As always, I have a lunch break scheduled every day, I'm very intentional about it. The first year in, in my business, when I launched the coaching arm, I did not take a lunch break, and that I would work through lunch. And I really made the intention for 2022 that I would have a lunch break, I usually go for a walk, trying to, like recenter myself, get back into my mission, you know, because life, life happens throughout the day, you know, you've got deadlines, you've got emails coming in, you've got things that may not go the way you planned. And so by recentering, at lunchtime, I can really, you know, set myself up for the rest of the day. And then I also take a dinner break. So there are some nights that I coach later into the evening to service clients in different time zones. And so I you know, I always make sure that I have a lunch break and a dinner break. And then breakfast is usually oatmeal while I'm working while I'm doing some other type of computer work. But for the most part, I take lunch and dinner breaks very intentionally. And then I scheduled time to spend with my husband and do things that we love to do. We love to hike, we love to bike, we'd love to get outside, we love to cook in the kitchen. And so we really make those those times special. So that, you know, the work that we do is leading to the life that we want to live. And so that's that's my wellness routine, and I eat more plants. So if I can offer any last tip, it's to eat more plants.
Katie Graham
I love it, great wellness practices. And I do have to say I've been on your Instagram and I love that you have all these beautiful pictures of amazing plant based foods. And that definitely was giving me inspiration as far as oh, what can I make and you know, including different types of vegetables, ones that I forget about even exists. So it was I invite the listeners to definitely check out your Instagram and I will put all of your information in the show notes. Kathy, is there one place that you would say for the listeners to go to first that to check out your work? And if somebody's interested in kind of taking the next step? What would that look like?
Kathy Davis
Yes, so I actually put together a gift for the listeners. It's a meal plan. So it'll take the guesswork out. Now it's my meal plan. So you might not love all the recipes, but go with it go forward with Grace has recipes, the whole family will love a grocery list and how you kind of can fit them in. You can download that at veg inspired.com/podcast and let me know where you found me. Like Katie said, I love Instagram I'm on they're very active. I do run my own Instagram account. So when you're talking to me in chatting with me, it's really me I'm really there typing away from my little RV parked wherever we are in the United States. So I invite you to connect with me
Katie Graham
there as well. Awesome. So great. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for pushing through some of my limiting beliefs. That was really great. And listeners, thank you for showing up for yourselves. And we just love having you here. So sending so much love to you and your body. I will see you all next week.
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