115: How To Lose Weight Fast, Easily, and Naturally Without Counting Calories Or Feeling Deprived

Jarrod: 0:58

I mean, there's so many people that have the attitude where, especially with the typical diet mentality is, oh, you know, whenever I get my cheat day, then I'm going to eat something really good that I love. No, no, I would like to feel like we're busting through these myths that this food that loves you back is fantastic.

Anita: 1:04

Hey there, Sunshine. Welcome to the Power On Plants Podcast, we're your host Jarrod and Anita Roussel and we're absolutely head over heels for whole plant foods, and helping you navigate this incredible plant based journey. That's because our lives have been completely changed by plant based goodness, we used to struggle everyday with excess pounds and low energy, vascular disease, joint pain and lack of sleep, just to name a few. And even though we're medical professionals, we still weren't getting practical answers that actually worked. So we dug into the research, we started living what we learned, and now we both have our lives back. And that's what we want for you to the truth is you can do this, and it's not hard. You just need a way that will bring real and lasting change. And that path, it has to be simple and enjoyable. And it's got to be delicious to you. So are you ready to live your life to the fullest? Then you're in the right place because living without limits. That's what power plants is all about. So pull up your chair, grab a matcha latte and let's get started.

Jarrod: 1:26

Welcome to the Power On Plans Podcast. I am your guest host Carlos I'm stepping in for Jarrod today.

Anita: 1:48

You sound like a bass no joke... you sound...

Jarrod: 2:17

Actually, no this is Jarrod. I have a little respiratory something and it's it's gotten into my almost like a laryngitis, but not quite so it's made my voice a little bit deeper. So I got my little Barry White going on. So all that to say is that even being plant based sometimes we you know, we might get a little cold or something. But what do you notice that's different though when we when we do catch a cold now it's much more rare, but when we do, what happens? We bounce back so much faster that it's actually gone in a couple days.

Anita: 3:06

Yeah,

Jarrod: 3:06

Instead of two weeks and being out of commission and confined to bed. I'm still functional. I'm still able to work and get done what I need to do. I may feel a little tired, but it's so much different, so much different.

Anita: 3:18

Absolutely. So we're very thankful for that. But today we're not talking about little sniffily, colds today. And going base, right. We're talking about how do you lose weight? Naturally, we get this question a lot. And the funny thing is, it's a part of our story. And neither one of us ever really felt like we were overweight. And yet somehow, when we started eating this way together, we lost over 50 pounds, not even trying to lose weight. Our clothes start getting loose, we had to buy new clothes, we're thinking What is going on? And clearly we were overweight, but we just it was kind of seen as normal. And we just didn't really think about it. I think at the time though

Jarrod: 3:57

we consider ourselves a normal wait. So whenever the clothes did get looser, it surprised us. So Oh, wait a minute, what happened? The shorts to what happened to their their loose, we need to buy a new clothes.

Anita: 4:10

That's so true. But and then you know, it's not just our story, though. I mean, this is time after Tom look up whole food plant based on weight loss, you'll see it, there are so many stories. I mean, you can't even count them. We have multiple clients, this has happened for where they've dropped weight. And it's common. It's common because we're used to eating a standard American diet, one that doesn't have a lot of the things that our body need, but it's filled with things that our bodies don't need. And so it puts us in this really difficult situation of being addicted to bad foods, and it's not your fault. It's just you're so hungry. I'm talking we would go in we thought about this once before, I think but we would go in and we'd eat you know, stop somewhere, like get a whopper meal Biggie size me and we're still starving, and then you kind of feel guilty. Thank you. No, I'm just what is wrong with me, I just ate a quote, big email with all this food and I'm starving, because my body's still telling me, you need to give me some nutrients. I can't function on this. And so you really are hungry. It's not like you're just a bad person or doing something wrong. And I even

Jarrod: 5:14

think that the foods are designed to hijack your craving. So even after you finished what should be a full meal, you crave more. And in the case of what you're talking about, sometimes we go and get another burger or another burger and fries. And it was almost until the point that our stomach was just stuffed that then we felt full or felt satisfied. As opposed to we were no longer hungry. So we stopped

Anita: 5:39

well and you said you think it's because the foods are designed that way. But we know for a fact it is I mean there are job positions for this. people hire these companies hire crave ability experts that's actually what they call them with

Jarrod: 5:54

air quotes crave ability.

Anita: 5:56

Yeah, and it's because they Made they hired their specific job is to make you crave the foods to put things in there like the dairy proteins that make the baby cow keep coming back to its mom. Naturally. That's what that's for. Right? And so we keep craving that like main craving cheese and being addicted to it. That is why was that my fault? I was just addicted to

Jarrod: 6:20

it? Well, I say air quotes with the crave ability, because that is what they call them. But it really it's more like food addiction.

Anita: 6:26

It is it is. And it's sad. I don't know I couldn't do that job. I'd have a really hard time doing that job and feeling good about what I was doing. But I will I won't get off on a tangent here. I might not be where you want to go. But I'm for natural weight loss, I'm one of the first things you want to do is get the five foundational foods. Now I'm going to give you a little refresher, but we have a whole episode on this. Go back and look up our episode on five foundational foods. That's Episode Number nine, right? Correct. Number nine. So go back and listen to that episode. But just for a refresher, the five foundational foods are fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds, which we put those together, whole grains, whole grains, and legumes, right. And then we add on herbs and spices because I really honestly I think that should be a sixth category. But we wanted to keep it simple and and make it five. So we made it five. And then I just always say, and herbs and spices.

Jarrod: 7:24

It's a bonus. Because who doesn't like a bonus, right? Everybody loves a bonus, I got a bonus category. They're

Anita: 7:31

such a good point. And it really is a bonus because you think about, you know, people kind of order this way of eating, and have a problem with getting the flavors. And you know, when you make meat, you make a piece of meat and you slap all these sauces and spices and marinated and all this stuff. And it comes out and you think it tastes great. And then you come to whole food plant base, do nothing with the food and say it's bland, it doesn't taste good. We've got to still get those flavor profiles in

Jarrod: 7:57

there. We're like with sausages, a lot of them have the herbs and spices already added into them. And maybe you're not aware of it. But you just love the flavor of the spices and never really associated with the fact that it's the spices and not

Anita: 8:09

exactly and so that's what I do you know when I want the great tasting things like the soups I make that used to have sausage and I'm to get those flavors in there. You know those flavor profiles, get them in there and bam, you don't miss the sausage. That's that's one big key. So these five foundational fades, why do they work for weight loss? I mean, this happens time and again, like one of our clients I'm thinking of you know, she came and did this because she was having digestive issues very bad. It was disrupting our ability to even eat. She was having severe neck pain. But she was also a SAS 14. But she wasn't mainly doing this for her weight. And one day after she'd been doing this for a couple of months, she went out to eat with or went out shopping actually with a friend. And they started looking at clothes because her clothes were getting a little loose. And she's picking at 12 and 14, maybe 12 I think and my clothes were a little loose. And our friends going know her new new about a six or a four. She's thinking No way. But she tried it on us she actually had lost so much weight, she was wearing a size four, because she was loving what she was doing and enjoying it. It was simple for she wasn't even thinking about the weight. And it just was coming off. And she just happens feeling great. She was moving more because she was feeling good. And that's just naturally happens. But why does this happen with the five foundational foods? What do you think the main reason is? I've got some ideas?

Jarrod: 9:28

Well, I think a huge reason is the calorie density.

Anita: 9:30

Oh, that makes sense. And that was actually one of my other points. So we'll go ahead and talk about that. And then I want to talk that can it wraps into this? I mean, it really does. I sprung this on and we didn't really know exactly the points. We were gonna talk about that. But you're right, you know, calorie density is huge. Can you explain that really kind of in a nutshell,

Jarrod: 9:48

with the plants, you have so much of the fiber and things in them. And with the amount of volume that's there, they are very low in calories. So unlike maybe an oil a pressed out oil, it is 120 calories per tablespoon per tablespoon. It's very dense. So the fats have nine calories per gram, whereas things like with carbohydrates like a potato, it's four calories per gram less

Anita: 10:15

than half. Yes. So you can get a heat you can eat a huge plate of things with whole plant foods on them. Or you can eat a couple of tablespoons of ole fatty greasy foods, or meats or things like that, that have the higher calories. Right now said plant foods are higher in calories than others. So the reason that some people have problems when they come into this is I feel hungry because they're not eating some of the higher calorie plant foods, which most of those don't even touch or come near to the calorie load or calorie density of things like cheeses, dairy and things like that. So all of that to say with calorie density, you can eat a lot more volume of whole plant foods and To be at a way lower calorie without having to count calories, it just naturally happened said, therefore, food, math loses its hold on you, you don't have to keep up like calorie counting and macros and points and all this craziness that we've been primed and groomed to believe that we need to follow. We don't have to do that. And that's why diets don't work. That's one of the big reasons because they're not livable, they're not enjoyable, you don't like the food, and you're not full, you're hungry. So you need this fiber to fill you up the fiber from the whole plant foods, and you need the volume to the food volume that you just don't get when you chew up a burger and white bread, you just the volumes

Jarrod: 12:13

not that you're gonna get a lot of calories, but you're not gonna get a lot of volume, and you're gonna be hungry. And then just like we said before, you're gonna go for that second Biggie, whatever, exactly. And then there's 1000s of calories with that, right? It's just insane.

Anita: 12:28

It is and you don't even realize it and you're still hungry. And it's real, we get it, it is real. And then number two, I had no oil, right? If foods for weight loss, stop getting the extra oil. Okay, so that's one of the big things that we teach in healthy plant rice, you're getting the whole phase, not the pressed out things, we get into trouble when we start pulling things out of the food, one ingredient to you. So you start pressing oil out of stuff, it's not the fat in that plant food is bad Is that all you have left is the fat and it's not in its whole package that was designed for your body to process it in. And then research shows, that's where we start getting into trouble.

Jarrod: 13:07

And you're likely to get a higher amount of the oil, when it's not in his normal food form. You're not gonna have the fiber and all the other nutrients that are present when it is in its whole form. But I hear this all the time from people, especially with olive oil. What is it olive oil health food? Like? No, there's no pressed out oil that is a health food well just

Anita: 13:30

isn't No. And it's highly inflammatory, too. I mean, I was having the severe joint pains. And when I cut out oil, that's when this pain started going away. I couldn't even I got to where my my shoulder was frozen, I hadn't had an injury to it or anything. I just couldn't move it anymore. And I looked at him one day with tears in my eyes. And I remember saying, am I ever going to be able to lift my arm up again, is this shoulder ever going to heal. And you know what, I have full range of motion now and didn't have to go through physical therapy, I didn't have surgery, it just healed when the inflammation went down. And a lot of that happened for me. When we first discovered as one of the first things we started doing was cutting out the oils, it was a huge game changer for us. And then another thing is to lose weight naturally, the foods you want to get are foods that are filling fade. So of the five foundational foods, you just don't want fruits and vegetables. So people think about coming into this eating plain salads, like they're used to the little side salad and thinking, that's what I need to be eating, I've got to get my fruits and vegetables. And they leave off the other foundational foods, the things that stick to your ribs, the things that make you feel satisfied, you've got to have beans on a regular basis, you've got to have potatoes on a regular basis. No, they are not the devil they've been you've been told they are. But they're not potatoes of all kinds are great for you. And that's what makes you feel full. And that's what makes you feel satisfied. There's a reason your body craves carbs, you're made to run on carbs. And if you can't have them, and you're wanting some desserts, and you're wanting some potatoes and you're needing something like the beans, and you're starving and you're hangry it's never gonna work. So you've got to get those filling foods, the ones that are filling the foundational foods

Jarrod: 15:18

as well. For a lot of people, when you try to cut down so low on carbs, it makes you feel tired, because that's what your muscles run on. Your muscles actually will pull the carbs in there and then stored in a form called glycogen in your muscles will keep up to a day's worth of energy stored in there. And if you're trying to do something like 10% carbs of your total calorie intake, your muscles just they don't have the energy. Now your body's got a way of adjusting to try to convert fats into the carbohydrates that they need. It's just not as efficient though, as just eating the carbs, the way your body was designed. I mean, really, your intake of calories should be roughly about 70% carbohydrates, which is so different than what we hear

Anita: 16:01

exactly. Oh, don't eat carbs, don't eat carbs, and then yeah, and then you look at those diets and that way of living people may get results in the beginning. We're not going to argue that because it's a change from the standard American diet. And a lot of times they do start getting a little more fruits and vegetables. But if you eat a lot of meats and a lot of cheeses, dairies, eggs, there is no doubt that long term it's going to cause vascular damage in different things to your body over time. So anytime you're looking at something for your weight You really should be looking at it for your health and look at the long term studies of where do those people end up that eat this way on a regular basis long term? What's going on them the inside of their body? Because that's what you want to look at.

Jarrod: 16:43

And by long term, we're looking at 10 2030 years down the road.

Anita: 16:47

Yeah, it's super important. You've got to think about where you're headed and what condition you want to be in at that point. But we'll keep it moving to lose weight naturally, right? foods to lose weight naturally, one thing you've got to do is keep it exciting, okay? Do not let it get boring. You know, most people eat the same few meals every single week. And the key is to make those meals be built around the five foundational foods, but then you start trying new things. There are tons of things out there, you haven't tried even if you happen to cook beans or eat beans every day. Okay? Do you know how many different kinds of beans there are? Do you know how many different kinds of rice there are? grains there are you look at one little category and you can get tons of different kinds. This way of living is not boring. And then maybe you look at color getting more color. So you eat mostly white potatoes. Why? Why not get purples? Why not get orange? What most people speaking purples don't get enough purple. I'm a big purple fan. I mean, we purple cabbage or something purple purple onions every single day

Jarrod: 17:54

pretty regularly.

Anita: 17:55

Because there are great phytonutrients in there. That's plant nutrients that you don't get in any other color. The colors are there to shut to draw you in. Why do you think people try to copy the colors in their crappy little cereals, and they're all these little process things.

Jarrod: 18:10

They're adding in the processed foods, right? Because they're mimicking nature. They're mimicking that draw that was put into us, they'd be pulled

Anita: 18:18

toward that beautiful thing we

Jarrod: 18:19

were created to want those things.

Anita: 18:22

And another way you can naturally lose weight is shop the perimeter by the foods that have no label. That way, you don't even have to worry about what the label says. If there's no label, there's no worry, just eat the food, the real food. But the problem is people say okay, eat it now. No, I need to get these five foundational foods, how do I do it. And that's what we're passionate about showing people because you got to know how to put them together in a way that's going to work that you're going to love. It'll make you feel great. But get the food without the label. Now, if you're buying food with the label, and sometimes we do like we all do, you want to buy the ones that have the least amount of ingredients and start reading the ingredients label. Do not trust the front of that box. I don't care if it says healthy. I don't care if it says natural, simple organic. Listen, sister. There are copywriters that are hard to pull you in by making it sound simply natural, wonderful, organic, organic food can sometimes still have crappy ingredients, you need to read the label.

Jarrod: 19:22

What's the purpose of the label? It's my attitude toward this is it's a billboard. It's an advertisement to entice you to buy it. So you almost have to assume and I hate to be negative with this, but almost have to assume that there's going to be a little bit of deception. I read a great example would be olive oil Mayo back when we ate that. When you looked at the label. Yeah, there was olive oil. But that was not the only oil in it. I mean, it was predominantly soybean oil. There might have even been another one. And then olive oil. So it was only just a small portion of it. Right? That were they lying? No,

Anita: 19:58

it wasn't there. It was

Jarrod: 19:59

there. But it was not strictly olive oil mayor. Yeah, that's why I said you have to think of it as a billboard or an advertisement. But then when you look at the ingredient list that's more like the legal fine print. I mean, that's what they have to put what's in there. Listen,

Anita: 20:14

this is what gets me going. Because this is where I start talking about if you hear somebody on the other aisle from you in the store that's standing there going, why? why it's me, okay, I admit it. Sorry if I've disrupted your shopping trip, but I'm telling you, it gets me going. Because why does salsa need oil in it? Why does pasta sauce have sugar in it? I don't get it. I mean, there's no other reason that for it to be addictive to you. There's there's really no reason for it to be there. You can easily whip up a pasta sauce at home or you can find ones that don't have it. support the people who want to help you get healthy who want to provide really clean ingredients. Look at the labels, compare the brands and find the ones that have just the thing she can pronounce. Without the additives.

Jarrod: 21:00

It may not seem like that big of a deal that one product has a little extra sugar, but I'll tell you multiple products eat multiple times. Over time, it adds up.

Anita: 21:10

It adds up really fast. And I even saw that today on one of the feed boards some I was talking about how I eat that but it does have zero grams of sugar. And I just see little dashes here and there. But then they mentioned another product and it also had a little sugar listed on the label. And the problem is is they break the sugar up into 20 different names on the label

Jarrod: 21:30

Well, I was actually thinking about that just a moment ago, when I was talking about the ingredient list. It's like the legal fine print. But they do have to put what's in there legally. But that can still be manipulated. Because what they'll do is they'll take, and I think there's over 50 different types of sugar. So instead of having sugar, as just be one ingredient, and it may be, it's number one, because on the list, they do it by concentration. So whatever is the most in there gets listed first. So maybe they don't want sugar to look first. So they'll put dextrose and then maybe cane syrup and a little bit of high fructose corn syrup. Now all of a sudden, those fall way down on the list. Exactly. So you look at any read the first two or three ingredients. Oh, I don't see sugar on there. Okay, well, it must be okay.

Anita: 22:18

Or you see it for the very bottom, I didn't have very much in it

Jarrod: 22:21

exactly. Because maybe you don't think of dextrose or any of the 4045. Other names for sugar that are look like chemicals, right? And you don't realize that's a sugar within like, sugar, she's way down. So you do have to be aware of some of these tactics. Right, right.

Anita: 22:38

That's true. And the other thing is, you want to just start adding in new recipes, things that don't have any oil, things that are a whole food plant based start experimenting. Now, I hear you when you say you probably tried a bunch of them that tastes flat, there are a lot of recipes out there. And the truth is living this lifestyle is about so much more than the recipes, but I get the you've got to have good recipes. That's why we made the cookbook for you, you've got to know where to start. These are the things is so funny, because honest to goodness, I still grab my own cookbook. And that's what we eat all the time. I don't have every single amount memorized. And a lot of times, I just look at it for ingredients and throw a little more of this and a little more of that. But I made them just the basic amount of ingredients to make it taste really amazing. Because what I want people to understand is, this food can taste incredible. It doesn't have to be like a lot of the bland recipes that are out there. You can have really great tasting food, you can enjoy it and you should, you should. So we give people a place to start in the cook. But for that reason, that's why we're passionate about because that's how you start dropping pounds. You enjoy it. You don't hate it. So you can keep doing it forever. You know, had, I met somebody that other day I was talking, I think I may have mentioned this on a podcast, but I can't remember for sure. But came by super, super nice guy, we ought to be talking and being friends. And he was telling me about how he had started this program where he had fresh chef prepared meals, but it was really small portions. Right, really small portions. And I'm sure first of all that we start thinking, right, we've got to have small portions because problem is I just ate too much. I just eat too much. And honestly, that's really not the problem. But he also said to me, it really they hurt our stomach, like we would eat him. And it's all these fresh ingredients. But listen, what I want you to understand is if you're eating something, and you don't feel good afterwards, your body is telling you something, it's telling you something like donate that not there's something in there, right? You most of the ingredients may be natural, but maybe they dash some MSG in there. Maybe they've put quite a bit of oil in it. All the ingredients are natural and healthy. But the oil then is poured on top of it or there's something funky in a sauce. And your body's telling you and both he and his wife are having problems with it said that's the key of this isn't working for me. I can't live on this size meal for the restaurant life. And I certainly can't live with this kind of digestive issues. No, you can't do that. And that's not livable, and you shouldn't have to.

Jarrod: 25:16

And if something like that happens, listen to your body. mean your body does give you clues when you can start to hear it. And listen for that feedback. You recognize those signs because I think so many times we have the I knew a long time ago where we would just eat as much as we wanted and we'd get real tired and sluggish. Without that's just the way that it is. But it's not. No food should be energizing. Mmm ago, you're talking about the cookbook, and I just had the thought of, I think or cookbook, bus through the myth. good tasting food has to be bad for you. I mean, there's so many people that have the attitude where especially with the typical diet mentality is oh, you know, whenever I get my cheat day, I'm not going to eat something really good that I love. No, no, I would like to feel like we're busting through these myths that this food that loves you back is fantastic. It's delicious. It's amazing. It's freeing. it's enjoyable, satisfying.

Anita: 26:18

Yeah, you need to if you did not hear it. I actually broke away and did a little solo Episode The last episode and I talked about that. Get in there and listen to that episode. It is really Really important episode is probably one of the one of my favorite episodes so far. Honestly, it's not that you weren't with me at all. It's just I got to kind of hang out with the girls, which was really fun. It's okay

Jarrod: 26:41

to break away every now and then just hang with the ladies.

Anita: 26:45

But it's what I just was on my heart because this woman was having such a struggle with, she couldn't have her desserts anymore. And like you said that what made me think about it is you saying, this food should be satisfying if you're gonna build a way where you can live a full life. And that's what we want for you. The goal here is not Yanni this way, and he can eat that way donate, they say that the goal here is to find a way to eat foods that really do make you feel amazing that cause your body to prevent and reverse disease, something like 80% of the diseases that people have are reversible. These are lifestyle. We're talking about things like vascular disease, which is linked to so many different things such as disk issues in your back. And then yes, dementia and problems that men sometimes have when they hit their 40s. And things like your neck, like I had the the sounds of my carotid artery. I mean, and it's gone, it's gone,

Jarrod: 27:46

or peripheral vascular disease in the legs.

Anita: 27:49

But to get rid of these things. Plant base can do that, yes, your genes can be turned on and off. They absolutely can do not let somebody tell you just because you wrote down a piece of paper that Grandma, Martha and grandpa Parker, because they had these things that they are that you have a genetic kind, the kind that's just run by the genes, we don't want that for you. I mean, there are some people that do have genetic difficulties, and that maybe you have to do a little bit more to turn things around. But many, many times these things can be turned around by what you're eating and your lifestyle. And we also teach about that inside the membership. It's not just the food. But why are we so passionate about the food because it's one of the major players one of the major reasons why, or one of the major ways that you can reverse and prevent diseases from occurring. Alright, so we've talked about foods for natural weight loss, getting the five foundational foods trying to find new ways to get oil out of your life and honestly, that so much easier than you would think it was. You're talking to a southern girl who grew up on the fried food, everything's frog got to have oil in it. Even my mom made a lot of things homemade. And we would still add oil to it. All our marinades and sauces that we put on things. And just thinking that it was healthier oil. And that's just

Jarrod: 29:20

what you did. Yeah.

Anita: 29:21

So what we did, we grew up in the south down home cooking. And then you know, you can eat, you need to eat filling foods, right, that's great. A great way to get natural weight loss, eat the five foundational foods but don't miss the filling ones. And then keep it exciting. get different feeds build in variety of recipes, variety of food formulas. That's what you cook when you don't even have a recipe and more color.

Jarrod: 29:46

And we're not saying that it's a bad thing to have favorite, you can have favorites, but just throw in some new ones that you discover a new favorite.

Anita: 29:56

And you don't want to miss that because there are a lot of new favorites to be discovered out there. Trust me, we're still discovering things. Oh, my goodness, still discovering things. Okay, now, stop. Be sure to shop the store perimeter for feeds that don't even have a label. That way, you don't even have to wonder what's in there. But when you are shopping feeds with the label, make sure you don't trust the front of the box, get to know your ingredient, start reading that label. Look for things that shouldn't be there like natural flavors. Natural is another way that they like to put things in there, right? artificial things, things you don't recognize, and you can't pronounce things like oil, sugar that just shouldn't be there. And then add new recipes often that are whole food plant based no oil and just start experimenting. Find your favorites. Mix it up. build your list of go to foods and sauces and herbs and spices and make it fun, make it fun. And just keep in mind calorie density. You know, you come with this way of living. You don't need to do major portion control. You just need to learn hunger and fullness cues and different things like that and getting those mindset shifts right. And again, go back and listen to the last episode because I talked about a lot of the things that you need to be successful in getting healthy and getting well. And we have loved having you join us again today. Be sure to leave a review before you go. We love hearing from you. And we will look forward to seeing you again on the next episode. Hope you're having a great day and we'll talk to you soon.