SPEAKER_00: 0:00

So, who do you think wants you to believe that? Just think about it for a minute. Who wins when you think that way? It's not you, it's not your client, it's not your family, and it's not the kingdom of God. Man-made ways are miserable. God's ways work, they last, and you'll get results when you walk in his ways.

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Welcome to the Power on Plants Podcast, home of the purpose-driven men and women who refuse to let their body become the bottleneck to their God-given calling.

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If you're building a business, raising up the next generation, and carrying vision, but behind the scenes, your energy is fading, inflammation is rising, your labs aren't great, and you're wondering how much longer can I keep pushing like this? It's time to fix the fuel.

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You've accomplished a lot in life, so you know you don't have a discipline problem and you're not just getting older.

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Your body needs the strategy that matches your assignment. Whole plant foods the exciting, sustainable way that fuel razor shark focus, optimize energy, reverse inflammation, and the most common chronic diseases of our time. All while you enjoy every single bite.

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So if you're done feeling older than you are and you're ready to show up strong, think clearly, multiply your impact, and actually love the meals that move you to optimal health. You're exactly where you need to be.

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So grab your earbuds and let's maximize your power on plants. You're a purpose-driven leader with a calling that is not slowing down. And if you've ever felt exhausted by your body becoming the bottleneck in your business, you are in the right place. Welcome to Power on Plants. This is a podcast where we make high performance health simple, enjoyable, and sustainable for the leaders who cannot afford to run out of strength. I'm Anita Roussel, a nurse and certified integrative nutrition health coach.

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And I'm Jared Roussel, a physician assistant certified in lifestyle medicine.

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And in every episode, Jared and I show you how to fuel your body in the way it was perfectly designed to thrive so that inflammation naturally fades away, your energy finally rises, labs improve, health struggles go away, and your physical capacity can finally match the size of your calling without any exhausting diets or restriction or need to willpower through. The fact is, your calling requires the strong body that completely is able to back you up. That means you need to know how to optimally fuel yourself in every situation, including the one we're talking about today. And that is, what do you do when you have one of those days when you just don't know what to eat? When you're standing staring in front of the fridge and everything just feels meh.

SPEAKER_01: 2:39

You open the refrigerator, you have ingredients in there, but nothing really stands out. Nothing really seems all that appealing. And then it seems like time stands still. Kind of like these old movies where it's the sci-fi movie and you see that spiral turning and you feel like you're being hypnotized and you're going into some kind of transgalactic warp or something.

SPEAKER_00: 3:00

You're just too much Star Trek.

SPEAKER_01: 3:03

Well, I haven't seen any of those movies in a long time, but that that was the mental imagery I got. You're just standing there almost like a deer in headlights, and you think, What am I going to eat? I want something. I'm hungry, but I've had a busy day, and now I'm exhausted. I don't know what to do. You're just kind of stuck in indecision mode and it's it's frustrating.

SPEAKER_00: 3:21

And I think that's the big key is this is the thing that keeps you stuck if you don't know how to deal with it ahead of time. But we're going to share the strategies with you today so you know exactly what to do. And the first strategy is to check in with your body. This is the first thing you want to do because sometimes the truth is you're not even hungry. You're just standing there because maybe it's time for a meal, it's time for breakfast, it's time for lunch, it's time for dinner. Which, by the way, who defined those times? You need to think about that. Because sometimes those are not the healthiest times, those hours, the specific times that you set for yourself. Who defines those? So we need to look at is our body really hungry? Or maybe I'm just standing here because it's quote, time for me to eat. So if you feel meh, maybe you're not hungry. You're actually bored or stressed, or maybe you're tired. Maybe you haven't had enough water. A lot of times we think we're hungry when we actually are dehydrated.

SPEAKER_01: 4:12

It sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes we can get those cues mixed up. Sometimes we're actually thirsty because, like you said, there are times when it's mealtime, but we're not really hungry, but we're eating because we're supposed to. We get these different cues mixed up and we may simply just be dehydrated and need a glass of water.

SPEAKER_00: 4:30

And there's another thing that's really interesting in our modern day society is that we were not created to live inside four walls. And then think about where you spend the majority of your time. This can be mind-blowing for some of you. Maybe you've never even thought about this before. Think about how you were created to live outdoors, but yet the majority of your time is spent inside. So sometimes you just need to get outside the four walls. This is not only going to help you be healthier because you're going to get sunshine and fresh air, it's going to inspire creative ideas for your business and your life. And sometimes you just need to get moving. It's not that you need to eat, you need to be moving. You need to get out for a drive or a walk with a friend to reset your energy and reset your thoughts.

SPEAKER_01: 5:16

That's an excellent point. Sometimes we may feel a lull in our energy and think, oh, I must need to eat because I feel that. And really, if you can get out, do a brisk five, 10-minute walk. Longer would be great. But if all you have is five or 10 minutes, get outside. If you have a dog, take him for a quick walk around a circle in the neighborhood. And that will boost that energy and help revive you physically and mentally.

SPEAKER_00: 5:39

And the next strategy is one I wrote from the heart for getting beyond the meh feeling. Like I just don't know what to eat. What do you think that might be, Jared? It's quiz time. I wish I had Jeopardy music. I really do.

SPEAKER_01: 5:51

Well, you know, we could probably arrange to have a little background music. But I would say the first thing that pops into my mind is have your go-to favorites list.

SPEAKER_00: 6:02

Oh, you know it. You he knows me so well. And if you've been with us for long, maybe you know this is my soapbox, but there's a reason for it because your go-to favorites list is your answer for so many of the problems that you're having right now. When you have this list, just start with one thing on it. One thing that you know is a healthy replacement for an old favorite. It might be your favorite chili that you've now replaced with something that's filled with beans or walnuts or lentils, something that's really satisfying. But the key here is it has to be something you like just as much or better than your old favorites. Take a minute and think about how this is going to change your life. If you just take the seconds, literally seconds it's gonna take you to write this down as you find your new favorites. It doesn't matter where you keep it. You know, sometimes that can be a holdup. You think, well, I don't know where to put that. I'm just gonna do it later. And so you never even start it. And this is such a simple thing that when you're busy, and trust me, you're gonna have busy days as a leader. That is your norm. So what you need is this list that you can go back to and pull from time and again. As you go, the list should be growing weekly, monthly, yearly. And then you're going to have this ultimate resource that you can pull from again and again so that you never get bored or feel like, yeah, I just don't know what to eat. You don't have to waste brain power on it when you have the list. You just have the list.

SPEAKER_01: 7:23

Well, and when you have a favorite recipe, and I think that is an essential element here, favorite things that you just love that light you up. So that way when you see that recipe or the title of that recipe, you think, oh, I love that one. There's no meh. So you want to be sure that as you discover them, write them down. You don't have to go back and remember it, have a central place. You can write it down. It's very quick. And then you have that list to go back to in a pinch like this.

SPEAKER_00: 7:52

And then strategy number three, make your go-to anchor meal. Now, maybe you don't have an anchor meal yet, but after this episode, perhaps you will. Remember our interview with Chris Wark. If you haven't heard that, you need to go back and listen to it. We actually have the full video on our YouTube channel at Power on Plants. So go and listen to it because it's a great episode. It's going to give you a lot of incredible ideas. But I want you to think back to his cancer finding salad that he shared with us. This is one meal he made repeatedly because it worked, sometimes even up to twice a day. It took him out of decision fatigue and was just something he could eat on repeat. So, what would your version of that be? Your go-to anchor meal. It could be a big nutrient-dense salad, like he did, loaded with raw veggies and fruits and herbs and nuts and flavor boosters. It could be a nourish bowl, maybe with some greens or grains or beans and your favorite sauce, or a hearty plant-based soup that you made in bulk, maybe even a loaded sweet potato with black beans and cilantro and salsa. Those are some of my favorites. The goal here is just have something quick and portable and easy that you can eat on repeat without even thinking about it. Because sometimes we get that blah feeling about eating when we just don't know what to eat. And strategy number four is check your to try list. Now, maybe you don't have a two try list. Well, after this episode, you should start it because your to try list are things that you've seen that you want to try that haven't had time to try yet. And of course, they're not going to be on your favorites list because you haven't tried them yet, but you come across these things as you're online. They pop up in your feed and you think, ooh, that looks like a healthy recipe. Or if you've been working with us, you know how to take most any recipe and turn it into a healthy recipe because you know the ingredient swaps, you know the way to upgrade your recipes that works for most any recipe. So you want to start pulling together your to try list, those things that you want to make when you're ready to try something new.

SPEAKER_01: 9:54

I think this would be an excellent list to have if you're in a position where you think, I'm not really sure what to eat, nothing's really calling me, but I'm not so exhausted that I need a quick five-minute meal. And many of these recipes on your to try list may be quick, but if you've not done it before, you're not going to be on autopilot with them. It may take a few minutes. So I think it's a great idea to have this when you're just wanting something new and different, but not really sure what you want to do.

SPEAKER_00: 10:19

These are the things to inspire you. And some great places to keep these are maybe creating a Pinterest board or even a folder inside Instagram or whichever platform you enjoy using the most. And always remember once you try something off this list, if you love it, it goes immediately where? To your new favorites list.

SPEAKER_01: 10:40

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 10:41

Strategy number five: simple meal planning, not the overwhelming kind. You know, these are more long-term solutions that we're going to share next. These are the things that you can do to prevent from feeling blah about your meals before that feeling actually occurs. So with a little simple meal planning, planning ahead, maybe just jotting down four to five meals you want to make this week before the week is here. You could pull those from your favorites list or your to try list and then check what ingredients you already have for making them and make just one grocery run or order online to fill in the gaps of the ingredients that you have on hand. Now the ingredients are in your environment, setting you up again for big wins.

SPEAKER_01: 11:25

And I think that's an excellent idea. And then many times people think of meal planning as this arduous all day long task when really once you have your favorites list, your to try list. I don't think it should take more than five, 10 minutes to just jot them down, do a quick check of your fridge or your pantry to make sure you have the ingredients. So that way when that time comes, you are ready.

SPEAKER_00: 11:47

Step number six goes right along with this. And this is meal prep by theme. There comes a time you have to escape when you're getting the pre-printed meal plans with things you don't like that take way too long to make and that don't make you feel good because they're not healthy in the first place. Those days are over. It's just not necessary when you have these go-to lists. Thankfully, you can escape that. But meal prepping by theme is such a simple way to pull together a meal plan the week ahead. So think about having theme days. So you could have theme months or you could have theme days.

SPEAKER_01: 12:23

Now, by meal plan, are you talking about a seven-day meal plan that somebody else has created for you?

SPEAKER_00: 12:28

Oh, yeah. That's what I'm talking about. The exhausting kind that don't work for you because they're not the things you love.

SPEAKER_01: 12:33

That's what I was thinking. Two out of maybe 21 meals you actually love. Well, that's actually going to take more time because now you're having to file through it, find the ones that you love, find the ones that you don't. Do you have the ingredients? It's really, I we've never had much success with that. So my thought would be don't waste your time, create your own.

SPEAKER_00: 12:54

So strategy number six is you can meal prep by theme. If meal planning feels a little overwhelming to you, these themes make it super simple because you can do a themed month or a themed week or a themed day. Some themes could be Mexican, Mediterranean, Asian, maybe comfort food. Or if you're doing it by the days, you could have Freedom Fridays, things like that, where you have leftovers or you go dine out whole food plant-based. If you don't know how to do that, we have plenty of episodes for that. And if you think, I have no idea what number of episodes those are, jump into Peak Performance Network at poweronplants.com forward slash PPN. That is our group where you can search every single podcast episode and find exactly the words you're looking for. It will pull up exactly inside any episode where we've mentioned certain terms. So you could just search dining or dining out or restaurant. It's going to pull up all the episodes and the specific places where we've said those words. That is going to make things so much easier for you. It's a serious no brainer. So strategy seven is build your flavor arsenal. And this is important because sometimes you just need more flavor in your life. And that's why you're not loving the meals that you're eating. So you want to find those sauces and things that make your dish come to life. Things like fresh herbs, citrus, lemon, and lime. You could add sauces and things like tahini, hummus, cashew cream, hot sauce, salsa or chili flakes if you want heat, maybe even some nutritional yeast if you want a cheesy flavor or date paste for a little sweetness. And don't forget the vinegars because those are super important with giving you a little bit of tanginess to your dishes. If you think, Anita, I have no clue where to start, you need to go right now and grab the Power on Plants cookbook bundles at poweronplants.com forward slash cookbook with all the current bonuses because they are going to give you the exact place to start with the meals that we absolutely love, the meals that we eat on repeat. These are our go-to favorites. If you think, how do I start building my go-to favorites? This is the perfect place. I'm all about saving you time, cutting the steps, giving you the simplest ingredients. The cookbook bundles are the perfect place to start. You can get those at poweronplants.com forward slash cookbook.

SPEAKER_01: 15:12

And everything you've just mentioned makes your food so much more exciting. If you're just now escaping the standard American diet, the typical food you buy in a box at the grocery store, what flavors do they rely upon? Grease, salt, and sugar. That's pretty much it. Fat, salts, and sugar. That's pretty much it. And it's kind of bland, but they keep putting it in the food because they know it has an addictiveness to it. So if you're trying to break free from that, put those fresh herbs and spices. When we cook Mexican, we'll put cilantro and lime in there. It gives it such a freshness, a punch of flavor that you break free from that typical oily, the fats, the salt, the sugar, and it makes it so much more exciting.

SPEAKER_00: 15:56

What are your favorite sauces from the Power and Plants Cakebook?

SPEAKER_01: 15:58

I love them all, but the one right now, as you ask me that question, the one that hits me is our Asian peanut sauce.

SPEAKER_00: 16:04

That's so funny because I was about to give an example using the Asian peanut sauce. This is what happens when you're married for 30. How many years I'm going to test you? Well, in June, it'll be 33. I'm actually doing that because he always keeps up with the dates. And I'm not the one.

SPEAKER_01: 16:16

He's not testing me. She just forgot. I'm like 30 plus years. But I'm going to phrase it as a question so that I don't look like I forgot, but I'm testing you, Jared. And this is the reality of living in the Roussel household. I wasn't, I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. I know that would go.

SPEAKER_00: 16:40

So the point here is we were thinking alike. And the Asian peanut sauce. That is so funny because yesterday I made this. It's like a slaw, like an Asian slaw, but it really is a salad. I just wanted cabbage in it. So I just made this salad by slicing up my cabbage and my carrots and onions and I'm trying to think what all I put in it, bell peppers and just very colorful. All these different colors, all these different textures and flavors. And I had this huge bowl filled with this amazing, life-giving food. And then I thought, what am I going to put on it? And the Asian peanut sauce, we use it for so many things, but it was amazing. I just drizzled a little bit. I didn't put a lot. It didn't take a lot because the flavor's amazing. So I put that on there with some lime and stirred it up and it was out of this world. Incredible. If you don't have the cookbooks, getting the cookbooks for this one recipe alone is worth it. But we use it on things like tofu. If you press out tofu and you think you don't like it, press it out, get the liquid out of it. Put some of the sauce on there. And then if you have a dehydrator or an oven, it doesn't matter either way. I prefer it in the dehydrator, but you can do it both ways. Dehydrator is easier for me because I can walk away from it and not worry about it as much. But you just put it either way and bake or dehydrate your tofu with the sauce on there. It is amazing. We also use it for things like dipping our spring rolls, dipping in the dumplings that we make sometimes, or our sushi is so good with sushi.

SPEAKER_01: 18:07

It's extremely versatile. It works on so many different types of food, but it doesn't take a lot, like you said. Because it has some peanut butter in it, it does stick to things well. So I think we've probably even dipped broccoli in it, just raw broccoli. And you can use it on so many different things.

SPEAKER_00: 18:23

But the thing here is flavor. We are all about flavor around here. I am over and done with eating the foods that are, quote, healthy that taste nasty. You know why? Because you're never going to stick with it. Never. When are you ever going to continue eating things that you hate? You might press through for a while, you might even press through for a year. But then what's going to happen is all the weight, all the problems, all the joint pain, all those things will come back because you'll go back to your old way of eating because it's not sustainable when you don't love it. And when you don't love the flavor, it's over. But when you have things like these sauces that you can eat on repeat in so many different ways, and they literally take five minutes or less to make, I kid you not. You can whip some up, have those sauces at the beginning of the week to use on many different items throughout the week. You're not going to feel bland about the foods you're eating. And you can eat on the go. You can pull out the sauces, pull out raw veggies, dip them in. It's going to change your life. You will not believe how simple and delicious this gets when you have the right recipes and food formulas and you get them then onto your favorites list. You don't have to waste any brain power. You can be out there doing all the things God's called you to do without worrying about insano ideas like keeping up with numbers, points, calories, grams, weight, pounds. It's crazy. Why do we do that to ourselves? Our enemy loves it. And that's the very reason we shouldn't be doing those ridiculous methods. They don't work. They don't last because they're miserable and they're not natural. Adam and Eve were not out in the garden pulling up their macros app, they weren't keeping up with macros. Calories, grams, weight, none of this stuff. It's absolutely ridiculous. So, who do you think wants you to believe that? Just think about it for a minute. Who wins when you think that way? It's not you, it's not your client, it's not your family, and it's not the kingdom of God. So it's not the way we were created to eat. It's not natural. Don't do that to yourself. Man-made ways are miserable. God's ways work, they last, and you'll get results when you walk in his ways.

SPEAKER_01: 20:24

As you were asking that question, who wants you to be doing this stuff? I had the church lady go in my head with Satan.

SPEAKER_00: 20:33

That's so bad. You're dating yourself.

SPEAKER_01: 20:36

I'm dating myself, but it's actually kind of funny. But that's how I think. I think in mental imagery, and sometimes I have these little short mental movies. I find them entertaining. So anyway, forgive me, was just sharing that. It's Hassatan, but in church lady lingo, say in with a little bit of reverb.

SPEAKER_00: 20:57

Or a lot of reverb. Here's the reality of eating the power on plant sway. You're about to tape a podcast so you can help your clients. You walk out of your room to the smell of brownies wafting through your house. You're like, oh, somebody's made brownies. You go over, you sneak a bite off the brownies, hoping nobody will notice. You try to get it in a place where you know it's not obvious. And you're sitting there thinking, I can't believe there are people in the world right now that are eating things they hate in the name of health. And I'm eating this. These are the best brownies I've ever put in my mouth. You can get the recipe in our cookbooks. They're so amazing. You cook them a little bit less than the recipe says, and you'll have something really fudgy and soft, like our favorite old hot fudge pie that Jared and I used to get at the back end cafe when we went to Rhodes College in Memphis. Like the things, those memories that you have with foods, you're going to be able to still have those, but yet still have your life.

SPEAKER_01: 21:56

And that's the key. We say finding your new favorites, but really what we mean is your renewed favorites. Yes. So you take those favorite foods that you love and just have them in a better way. So you don't feel deprived. You still are enjoying the same flavors, but in a better way. And there are many times whenever you have memories associated with some of these flavors as well. You never have to suffer the I can never have that again syndrome.

SPEAKER_00: 22:21

No, because when the memories come up and they're associated with the foods, you want the foods if you don't have an upgrade. So you need the upgrades. It's super important. This one thing, if you just walk away with this one thing, it is key. Build your flavor arsenal and get the food upgrades onto your favorite list that you love one at a time, and you're building a system that's going to bring you optimal health, but that you actually love. So it's sustainable. This is key. In closing, here are your action steps for this week. Pick just one of the strategies we've given you today and implement it. Strategy one, if you're feeling a bit blah about your food choices, check in with your body first. Maybe you're just bored, stressed, tired, or thirsty. Drink some water, or maybe you just need a change of scenery. Get out and go for a drive or even a walk with a friend for a reset. Two, start your whole food plant-based favorites list today, even if it's just three meals to start. Three, find your go-to anchor meal that you can enjoy eating on repeat. Four, create a two-try folder in Pinterest or Instagram for those recipes that you haven't tried yet, but once you do, we'll probably end up going on to your favorites list. Five, do some simple meal planning for the upcoming week, just jotting down four to five meals you want to try that are whole food plant-based and healthy for your body. Four to five meals you want to make this week. Six, make meal prep easier by choosing a monthly or a weekly theme. And seven, build your flavor arsenal by stocking up on three exciting flavor boosters that are going to make all the difference for you. There you have it, the exact steps for the next time your food options feel meh and you don't know what to eat. We have loved having you here with us today. And as always, know that you are loved, you are prayed for, and we look forward to spending more time with you soon.