Intentional eating and brownies for breakfast with Lynne Bowman
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Lynne Bowman
Facebook: Lynne Parmiter Bowman
Twitter: @LynnePBowman
Instagram: @lynneparmiterbowman
YouTube: Lynne Bowman
“All or nothing is just go for it…because it's again, it's not deprivation, we're talking about a sensual, wonderful experience. We don't want to deny anybody the fabulous experience of eating really wonderful food. Even if your time is limited, your money is limited… you want better health. ”
Lynne Bowman
Transcript
Ericka Thomas 0:01
Hi there, everyone. Welcome back to the work in this year is all about being more intentional when it comes to health. And that includes making conscious decisions around how and what we eat. If you're FitPro, or in the wellness industry at all, you've probably gotten a lot of questions about what to eat from clients. And it's difficult to answer those questions and stay within your scope, at least from the fitness side. For myself and many of my colleagues, it's even harder when you also struggle with disordered eating, which so many of us do. But I think that's a beautiful thing about the fitness industry when you can share your own experience, which is always within your scope, and bring your people the latest nutrition information. So they can make intentional, informed choices for themselves. My guest today is author and health advocate, Lynn Bowman. Lynn is living proof that you can cook, eat, sleep, laugh and walk your way out of type two diabetes, along with other chronic ailments and her latest book, brownies for breakfast a cookbook for diabetics and the people who love them is a cool, fun, beautiful guidebook for anybody who wants to reverse chronic disease and eat healthy whether you're vegan vegetarian, plant based pescetarian gluten free, sugar free, whatever. Plus, because she's a grandma expect all kinds of advice along with the recipes from her lifetime of experience. In today's episode, we talk about how the wellness industry has changed over the years. The impact of chronic disease and family history on our lifestyle, how to take back your own health outcomes, the connection between food and health, how to use real food as medicine and a little bit about the loss of societal support for good food and healthy eating. We touch on food family feminism, fasting autophagy, and so much more. So let's get started on today's work in when welcome to the podcast. Welcome to the work and I'm so excited to talk to you today.
Lynne Bowman 2:31
We have so much ground to cover. Let's do that.
Ericka Thomas 2:34
Absolutely. We have
Lynne Bowman 2:37
stories and everything. So let's go yes,
Ericka Thomas 2:39
absolutely. Okay, so you have quite the portfolio. And I'm hoping that we can just kick things off just tell us a little bit more about yourself. Give us some of your history and then we're gonna jump in from there.
Lynne Bowman 2:54
Well, it has to be short Erica because I'm as you know, I'm old, which I love talking about because people have this attitude of well, do you really want to talk about how old you are? Yes. I'm 76 I've never been happier. I'm healthy. I mean is a snake and I want that for everybody. And it's astonishing. Now, how few of us get to be this age without a chronic disease impeding our lives. So that's what I'm all about I most of the chronic disease that is all over everywhere. This epidemic is preventable and reversible. And why haven't we all reversed it? You know what? Come on. Let's fix this. It's fixable with food and movement. And it of course begins as you say, Well no, it begins with a decision that you make.
Ericka Thomas 3:56
Right and in an intentional decision, right. That's one of the things that I'm hoping to bring into 2023. I've talked to so many of my clients and students that come into class and some that the typical question at the beginning of the year is, hey, what's your New Year's resolution? So many people have just given up on that. And I feel like we need to reframe that whole resolution thing into intentional choices for health.
Lynne Bowman 4:27
Absolutely. And you and I are talking and I think it's prophetic that we're talking at the solstice. And this is the short day today and the long night and every day from now on is going to get better and more beautiful and up you're expecting a big storm but nevermind. In principle, the days are going to be longer and will have more sunshine. And that's, I think, a good way to look at the world and all of our futures. As hard as that is sometimes though we can do it. And I I myself am doing this because I was diagnosed at a kind of a young age in my 40s with type two diabetes and figured out how to deal with it with little or no help from the medical profession. And this is kind of an old story. Now I'm not the only one out here talking about this because the medical practice the allopathic, medical advice that we were given, it's changed a lot. There's a lot more awareness now in the last 1015 years, or the shall we say the voluntary aspects on the eating and movement and so on. It used to be that you were told, you know, cut the carbs, don't eat sugar, try and get some exercise, but it's a progressive disease, just like heart disease, progressive disease, and they would kind of look at you like Yeah, well, you know, too bad. Because I was a single mom, I had three little kids. I was still young. My mom had died young and I was determined that I was not going to let it take me down that I was going to there for my kids. So I read up I followed any leads I could about what to do. And as I I kind of outlined all of it in my book because it's funny to me looking back on all the crazy diets that we did, and what we thought was so important, you know, in the 60s 70s and 80s. And gradually, I kind of figured it out. I was doing pretty well you know my numbers were not in bad range. I was still diabetic, but I was managing and my weight wasn't you know, it was I had on an extra maybe 1015 pounds, but it was okay I wasn't in bad shape. And I always tried to exercise somehow or other but I was also I was a working mom. I was the only support for my kids. So as so many family people now know especially women. You're working all the time. I mean, it's right when you feel lucky to be able to put anything on the table so my superpower if I had one was putting a good meal on the table in 15 minutes. Every, every year. You know, just we had to get this done. And so I also I have a lot to say about how kids are being raised now because mine were raised to be part of the program. They helped they shop me they cooked with me Yeah, we grew food together. They were they weren't these little things that I waited on hand and foot and I wasn't their servant ever I was I hope their teacher. So that I think is a huge part of this kind of health that we're talking about. If you have a family, it has to be family affair. You know. You can't put one thing on the table for mom and another thing on the table for grandpa another thing on the table for a little Emmylou. You know, food isn't just food. It's community and family and sacrament. You know, it's it's so important, I think to see food as what it is which is not just fuel like substance that you're stuffing in your mouth. It's beautiful. It should be interesting. It shouldn't be engaging, maybe fun. It's all that stuff. And but it doesn't have to be complicated. And also you need to know Erica, I am extremely cheap let's just get that right out on the
Ericka Thomas 9:00
gentleman. Right. So what you're saying is it doesn't have to be expensive, right? Yes. In fact,
Lynne Bowman 9:08
I think in a way, the more careful you have to be about your money, the more careful you can be about your health with food Yeah, big celery has never been expensive. No. Arugula is not expensive. Cabbage is not expensive. Meat has gone up. But you don't have to meet eat meat three meals a day. I mean, there there is a school of thinking you know there are carnivore diets out there. And keto diets where there's a lot of need. And if that's your thing, okay. I would just suggest that if you are smart and if you buy really high quality, grass fed, local meats that you won't be in bad shape financially either, where people spend a ton of money. They're complaining about what food costs in grocery store, but then they're going in and spending four or five bucks for a frappuccino coffee that's full of sugar and milk that's not serving them well at all. And chemicals who knows what to make it tastes like a frappuccino as opposed to taste. And you have a couple of those every day or three or four as some people do. And you also now have dental problems, which you know this probably dentists all over the country are screaming, because absolute people who are getting very good dental care are losing their teeth because they're drinking these sweetened coffee and they're holding the sugar against their gums. Their desk or in the car or whatever.
Ericka Thomas 10:50
Yeah, there is so there's so so much and what I want to touch on all of those things that you just touched on for sure. But I want to back up a minute because you said that when you were in your 40s that you were diagnosed with type two diabetes. Yes. And so what was the difference for you? What was it about that moment, that that led you to do all of that research on your own that led you to make all of those changes on your own? Did you just not? Did you not trust what the doctors were telling you or what? What was it for you that that changed things for you? Because it would have been very easy and many people just kind of especially back then everybody just listen to what the doctors say. And they're always right. And it's almost like they're these godlike figures that you know, even if they don't really know everything about what they're talking about that what they say is it so
Lynne Bowman 11:57
in the 70s and into the 80s. There were no women, doctors involved in my care. The guys who delivered my children who were men, they actually made me furious to think about it again. As I was delivering my second child I had insisted on an epidural. So I was absolutely awake and aware. They were talking about their golf gang as they delivered my child because they, I think just weren't used to having someone conscious on the table. And I said to them in very blunt California terms, please, this is not about your golf game. This is about my baby. This is you know, can we change the conversation? And they're probably still talking about that awful woman from California. But the health care was different. It's really changing a lot. And which good I think most of it is much to the good. But the their assumption was that you would not comply with whatever they said anyway, and there's science behind this. The studies have been done about what people take away from a doctor's visit, and how many people actually do comply and take their medications. One study that sticks with me is the one that they did on actual people in medical school students, and they gave them a regime of medication and then studied how well they stayed with that medication. And none of them did. And these were all students. So so this is what we were dealing with. And I already mentioned my mother had died young she was 18 she was in her 40s and she died of a chronic disease. So I knew in a very personal deep way, what chronic disease did to a family and had done to me. It's devastating, and I had seen it up close and once you do and once and because I was so young. There was a time in my life when I could say you know that's not for me. I don't want to have that if I don't have to have that. So I was just determined to find a way not to have it. I wasn't willing to accept a diagnosis that was just land, you know, that's just the way it is now. And so once you start doing the research on your own, and you find what has worked for people and you know what makes sense to you. And of course, in context in the 70s and 80s it was started the China study came out and there was more consciousness Adelle Davis was writing and this consciousness was starting to kind of come up among people about food and health. And we've got so much ground to cover because you probably know about big food and and the ability industry and all all that is done in the name of profit and shareholder value to poison people. Literally the food that we've been buying in boxes and bags for decades. is lethal. mean that in a throw away, it literally is lethal because it gives people chronic disease. So would you
Ericka Thomas 15:42
say would you say that this like what's going on right now the obesity epidemic. Children who are already type two diabetic all of these things that are that are showing up in our society. Would you say that that is rooted in cultural things or is it definitely is it but big food is culpable
Lynne Bowman 16:08
as well would Yes. Because big food has become cultural. Yes, people are attached to their pizza and their Doritos and their barbecue and, and I mean we can make a whole long list of things that when people think of of holidays and so on, they think of these specific foods, none of which, by the way, are most likely anything that you really want to be eating, but they're not any more real foods. They're they're kind of made. They're manufactured foods made to an I was in advertising for decades. So I know what I'm talking about. I sold stuff to people and that's what's happened. We have been sold a bill of goods. We've been sold food and eat up by appealing to our all of our senses and our sentiments and our history and our need for love and heaven knows what. And we're trying to fill all those spaces with cookies and chips and bad tomato sandwiches and and air need to talk about the fact that all the women who used to be in the kitchen doing all this stuff are now working their butts off in an office and then picking on JR and going to practice and then maybe they stop and do errands and go home since nine o'clock when they get home. There's been no supper, they've eaten out of a bag or a box whatever they the family didn't probably eat together. So there is no societal support for good food.
Ericka Thomas 18:01
You make a really interesting point there that that the way women work now is different. And would you say that that is? This is an interesting thought because it's something I've been thinking about a little bit lately about how feminism has kind of gotten twisted into this thing that sort of separates us from our family a little bit. And I'm all for equality and all of these things except what if that is forcing me away from where I need to be, you know
Lynne Bowman 18:53
of course, because what's happened is now 60% of the graduates and medical school and the number keeps going up women law schools, it's a higher number women. Okay, so who's at home doing all the things that exclusively women used to do? He's her husband staying home and no. So we've taken on everything that used to be men's exclusive or abuse, but we haven't given up any of the responsibility emotional responsibility or, or logistical responsibility that we had before. We're still doing the kid raising we have no help from any government about child care. Our our educational system is suffering our childcare is knowing. I mean, you've heard all that you know this. If you've spent any time in Europe, you know that they have terrific health care and childcare options. They have paid leave for pregnancies, and delivery. Dads get paid leave to in the United States. I don't know we're crazy, Calvinist twits what happened? And I was one of those women absolutely. In the 70s and 80s 60. I graduated from high school in 1964. And went to UCLA. And 1964 You know, think about that year that was beetles and it was riots. And we were can I say pest is that? Is that language that's acceptable. We were we were angry and with good reason. And we still are. And so the good news is we can now go to, for example, Harvard, which we weren't allowed to do, but the bad news is now we're going
Ericka Thomas 20:54
working and making the same amount of money as the man but what if you're going to also raise a family? There's some someone bears responsibility for raising the family. And part of raising a family is feeding them. You know, Bart, yeah, right. Keeping them fed and keeping them alive. You know, for a certain amount of time until they can keep themselves alive. That's really our job.
Lynne Bowman 21:22
So I'm ranting, but I feel like I'm coming to you from the past. And I want to talk about the future because I made it I was fine. People say me how in the world did you manage to raise three kids and they're all I have no felons among them, by the way. They're all adorable and in their 40 At this point, I have two grandchildren who are Yes, perfect. Absolutely perfect. So how did I do that? Well, it's easier in a way if you don't have a relationship, a marriage to be sustaining at the same time. And I've had such interesting conversations with my daughters one just had her first baby at the age of 43. She delivered a son last year, so he's 14 months old. But all the conversations about every woman everywhere has the same experience pretty much a finding out just how much she hates her husband. That first year was that first baby because I'm sorry girls, this is a reality. He doesn't get it. He is not nursing with those boobs you are. He is not pumping at work. You are he does not care if there are undies. On the floor. Do you do so there's this whole kind of paradigm shattering I don't know what kind what do we want to call it? When it comes right down to what matters in the world? You know, it's somebody has to stay up all night with that sick baby. Somebody has to change those diapers, somebody has to feed him. So it's, it's the basis of the households that we want to build of peace and love and security but it's not easy. And now that we women are liberated to do to go out and work too hard for some awful company. It was never easy, but it certainly isn't any easier now and there are things that we need to do to fix that. We need childcare. We need more investment in our schools. We need more support from our schools. Schools have sort of been kicked to the wayside in a way it used to be when I was growing up. People wanted to fund schools and wanting to participate in the schools. And teachers this is another point. The teachers are the best and brightest women because guess what, they couldn't work anywhere. Else. They could be nurses. They could. I came in just the beginning of the flight attendants. They could be flight attendants. They can be nurses, they could be secretaries, teachers. So we lost in a way I mean we still have fabulous dedicated teachers, but they're doing it at the sacrifice of income and their own mental health because it's Yeah, everything you know, they don't have support. They don't have nurses they don't have
Ericka Thomas 24:51
well yeah and and the parents of these kids, the mothers of these kids that they're teaching are also working full time. They're not waiting at home to catch their kid off the bus. No. That is
Lynne Bowman 25:04
volunteering. Still volunteering, so add to add them to the list of things. That they're doing, you know, on the way home from the office or whatever it's called. Everything and the volunteer thing. Oh, so yeah. Much everybody's a little nuts. Yeah. Which brings us back to brownies for breakfast. Yes,
Ericka Thomas 25:27
yes. So brownies for breakfast is the title of your book, which I love that title because as I was telling you in the pre chat, I've been looking for a breakfast cookie for most of my adult life. I feel like that would be the ideal breakfast. I want a cookie right and grab any
Lynne Bowman 25:49
cert. I'm here. Magic Wand. You are going to be a happy woman because this isn't a cookie honey. This is a thick, gooey, rich brownie with Austin and you can put extra nuts on it if you want walnuts or whatever. But the difference is that it's made with pumpkin right out of a camp, pumpkin puree nut butter right out of the jar. And then you use monkfruit sweetener or another in the book I tell you all the latest about the good sweeteners. And there's some really good ones out now. I don't mean stevia up if you want to. It's not my favorite. I have some better AI in the book. And so no calories, no reaction to blood sugar nothing. So punkin nut butter eggs or egg substitute eggs need to be from happy chickens you know educated well adjusted chickens down the road because beautiful globin orangey yellow yolks eggs are great food. Its eggs are one of the few things that all the crazy keto paleo carnivore, everybody agrees on IIDX except the goods in which case the egg substitutes made with flaxseed and stuff. They're fine too, but they're not x. Plus, trust me, my hand doesn't care if it's like okay, go okay. I'm gonna make more. So you're not really hurt. And and I know that because I've got hands down the street and we talk and I know their names. So we're good. So the brownie wouldn't forget. Baking soda cinnamon, and the most important thing cooked up good old Harvard. Fuck all this nothing but trouble no sugar, no nothing. Just hope I get trading Joe's you can find it elsewhere. So a few ingredients. Not expensive. I mean the nut butter you know it's not cheap. We're gonna make a tray of 24 brownies with one can of pumpkin, one jar of nut butter and those few other breeds. It all goes in one bowl, stirred up an eight year old six year old can do it no sweat and you put it in the pan and you bake it. This is in the book. I tell you to bake it at 350 No, it's better if you bake in the 300 and I know that because the one of our local rules stores is selling the brownies and does very well with them by the way. And they're discovered that the lower the heat and gooey are the brand when they're all done. So no like gooey I think. So if you want to take gear I tell you how. But so you begun at 300 so it couldn't be easier. It's very forgiving. And then the frosting is Trader Joe's simply light sugar free dark chocolate bars with a little bit of whatever you're using as your milk product. Soy or oat milk or whatever just to add nine you get yes I do. I use a microwave all the time, because I can and because it's one of the ways that you can put a meal on the table in 15 minutes. If you know how to juggle things around. So there's your brownie and it cost you maybe 40 or 50 cents apiece. to make them and they freeze beautifully. and they hold up in the fridge for a week. And they're brilliant food and you can use it for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, whatever. but I also advise that you stop eating late in the afternoon.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Ericka Thomas 30:02
So are we talking intermittent fasting, restricted eating, let's all ask
Lynne Bowman 30:08
whatever you want, but your body does not want you to eat at night your body actually if it's dark, your body's done. It's your circadian rhythm. And when you go to bed to sleep, you need to have left three or four hours at least since your last bite of food.
Ericka Thomas 30:29
Yeah, that that makes things difficult if you are working and not getting in back to your house until seven 738 Maybe not eating dinner till nine o'clock and then trying to go to bed right?
Lynne Bowman 30:43
I was with kids. So I put that out to you as something that you can think about. How could we rearrange so we eat more for breakfast? More for lunch, maybe? And we're not all on the same schedule. I'm a lark, so I'm hungry when I wake up. I like to eat in the morning and then my last meal is about two in the afternoon. I'm done. I told you I missed it. So it's a little later and I'm hungry now. And you're not going to be able to do this every day. But as a habit. I eat during the day when the sun is high. And in the morning more some people wake up in the morning. They're fine not eating breakfast. Fine, and maybe they'll even you know lunch, okay. A lot of people can wait till dinner every day and eat at five or six o'clock. Okay, fine. You probably don't go to bed till 10 That's all right. Do not sit in front of the TV and eat or ice cream. Until 10 or 11 at night that's just murder on your microbiome and your digestive system and do you know all about autophagy Erica, my my new vocabulary word
Ericka Thomas 31:59
Yeah. Okay, so I have been hearing a lot about autophagy. I would love for you to explain it to the audience because I think it's a really important thing for the general population to understand. I don't know that anybody really gets that. But go for it. It's really
Lynne Bowman 32:16
simple. And I'm gonna give you a picture. What it is, it's just like, out there on the freeway. The guys that need to fix the freeway need to have no traffic on the freeway. So at midnight 2am 4am when everybody's gone home, they come out with their shovels and their rakes and they're fixed up things and they patch the holes and they do the stuff to fix it so that when the traffic begins again, now you're good. Your brain your body is wired the same way. Your cells have this process of cleansing that they do. And when I learned about this, I just thought well that's so crazy, but they are actually autophagy means literally self eating. And what they're doing is they're recycling bits and pieces from other cells that are no longer useful. And they're repairing themselves and so they're actually eating other cells. They can't do it. If you're still eating pizza. The cells are all going When is she going to finish? I mean, for Pete's sake, we only have so much time because they can only do it after you have eats after you have fasted for 16 to 18 hours. Okay, wait a minute. Why. So, if your last meal is at six o'clock at night, do the math. When will you have given yourself enough time? When is your next meal?
Ericka Thomas 33:57
Some time the next morning, right?
Lynne Bowman 34:00
So you do this? Right? But if you're still eating at 10 o'clock at night, and your cells are all going we need to fix we need to do they can't do it. Yeah, unless unless you leave that time between meals right? The latest that I've heard the latest research in that there's not a ton of research yet that is out there widely. But the studies are going on and it's fascinating. And now they're saying 16 to 18 hours.
Ericka Thomas 34:35
Wow. Yeah, I didn't know that that it was that that long. I knew that there that this happened during certain phases of sleep. And so we want to make sure that we can get into those phases of sleep. And that was most efficient on a very empty stomach. So nothing can even begin until you're actually on an empty stomach which like you said four to six hours after your last meal. And I just don't I mean it's it's really interesting because, you know, when I when I talk to people who are looking to make lifestyle changes, they want to know what to eat. But it's not really about really what to eat. They know what to eat, they know what people know what's healthy, what's unhealthy. They just don't want to do it. And maybe there's other things that they can change other small habits to change first on their way to changing what they're eating. Like how they're eating and when they're eating in their day. Yeah.
Lynne Bowman 35:46
And I actually I don't know that I agree with you that everybody really does know what to eat maybe. But if you walk around, watching what people are eating, you kind of think really they know what to eat.
Ericka Thomas 36:02
That's what they're well I mean, think about I mean I there's often there I will just use myself and as a as an example my my own like I know what is healthy and what is unhealthy. That doesn't mean that I don't make poor choices sometimes. I mean, not all the time, but I know and I will weigh that it will be like okay, I know what the consequences are of this choice. Am I willing to accept the consequences for for that double chocolate? Chocolate Chocolate? I probably chocolate is health food. Yeah. Oh yeah, I agree totally.
Lynne Bowman 36:47
That chocolate is not the problem. I will say though, when people ask me what is the number one thing that you tell everyone to do? And by the way, I'm not an MD and I'm not a nutritionist, but I'm a 76 year old woman who can still pump iron and do planks and terrorize people out on the freeway and to me, that's the proof of the pudding is doing. How are you?
Right? So I feel somewhat qualified to say to people that the number one thing that they should do, everyone should do this themselves. Their kids is no more sugar than and I mean, refined cane sugar, the white sparkly sugar, and I mean, all the sugars that are on the label and have another name and so you won't think that there's sugar, but you're not that dumb. You just need to read the label and understand how much sugar is in almost every packaged food that you buy. Right? So by saying no more sugar. What I'm actually saying is you're not going to be able to eat stuff out of a bag or box pretty much so and if it is out of a bag or a box. It just It better not have any sugar in it. If you do that, you will change your appetite. You will change function you'll change your microbiome you will change your energy level. Everything will get better. And it takes two or three weeks, but you will no longer crave sugar.
Ericka Thomas 38:30
Yeah, it might be a rough two or three weeks. Oh no, no then I will speak from experience on that because I I have done multiple different what's a food cleanses. But once it changes it changes right so you it's a reset of your palate almost to where you are actually changes. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. So when you're tasting food again, you know tasting like something that you use to eat all the time. All of a sudden it doesn't have the same I mean it's there's it's just it's not even that you don't crave it. It's not the same to you anymore. And and can quickly overwhelm your senses and then you're like, Oh, now I know why this was so bad because oh my god. You know
Lynne Bowman 39:26
this, but let's repeat it for everybody at home. Sugar is more addictive. And there's tons of science behind this more addictive than heroin. He doesn't do. So subject. Yeah, it's absolutely an addictive substance. And so what you're dealing with when you quit, is you're you are definitely coming off of an addiction. So it'd be a little rough for some people if you're badly addicted and need a lot of sugar. And so many people are whatever I hear people talking, you're kind of waxing sentimental about Oreos being at the thought of eating an Oreo for me is like oh my god. And I do like sweets made my way real foods sweets. I like I like fruit and, and I I do limit the amount of fruit that I eat. I eat whole foods. Of course you should never have fruit juice if you're concerned about your health. Diabetes is my exception is a splash of cranberry juice. One of the recipes in my book and by the way, number of recipes have like two ingredients or three ingredients. Right and you don't measure you just sort of dump stuff in and one of my favorites is sparkling water. Splash a cranberry squeezed lime. Kids love it. Everybody loves it. It's kind of a mocktail. You can put sliced limes or lemons in it when you have a party. It's refreshing. It's delicious. It has no sugar in it. Just enough cranberry to color the sparkling water. Cranberry Juice is good for you by the way. reasonable amounts. Absolutely delicious. So I'm never talking about deprivation at all. Just eating better. more beautiful, more colorful, having better texture, food, not food, not beige, boring food when you have to. And there are a couple of pages in the book that you know are the 12 things that you need to do. It's really not hard it's easy. It's simple. One of the things is eat greens, dark greens, as much as you can go really I can do that. I tell you how to do it. And you have parsley on your sink and a beautiful little thing. It's cheap. Two bucks you can buy a beautiful bouquet of parsley at the store. You snip off the ends you put it in a vase with clean water, like a beautiful bouquet. It's gorgeous. Smells good. And you have scissors in your drawer. I hope you do,
Ericka Thomas 42:10
don't you? Yes, absolutely. Two pairs.
Lynne Bowman 42:15
And you just rip off the parsley and it goes in your eggs. It goes on you know on your main dish. It goes on your avocado toast goes on all kinds of things. It's beautiful. It smells great. And that parsley that we've been throwing away all these years remember when they used to put it in the steak and they would put the cellophane over. That's maybe the most nutritious thing in your kitchen. Fabulous nutrition. Buy organic. But there are all kinds of little tricks like that that you can do where you you just don't forget to add some greens, throw some greens in this movie, throw some greens in your omelet, throw some greens in the soup, and I actually tell you how to do it. And instead of being a burden, obviously you go wow, that was that was right. That tasted super because of the because they're really good at for example, carrot tops. I give you a pesto recipe that's made not out of basil that you have to Trump down and look all you make it with other green stuff that you would be throwing away but I'm going to suggest that you buy the book to seal the rest. Yeah, absolutely. Don't get them all the way.
Lynne Bowman 43:36
If you if you keep that pesto, and nothing smells more wonderful than the making homemade pesto, that stuff goes on everything. And you can eat it three times. A day. If you want. Some of us I won't mention any names just eat it with the charge. So Licious when you make it yourself and it's super easy.
Ericka Thomas 43:59
So what would you what would you say to people who just I mean I have a couple of friends who just tell me I don't cook or I can't cook? Where I hate cooking? What when are we there? I
Lynne Bowman 44:16
would much rather have someone just serve me and then clean it up. You're not going to write it it's gonna happen. So the only literally the only way you're going to be really healthy is to uh, you don't have to call cooking if you chop some stuff. You have to prepare some food. But trust me nobody is lazier or sloppier in the kitchen than I am. Because I would rather be dancing, reading a book with playing the dogs. I mean, there are a million things I'd rather be doing than that. But I want that good food. And there's only one way you can get it. And then you know what while you're doing it, you think well is it so bad? This kind of fun? Because it smells good. And it kind of looks groovy and and because people go wow, you just made this. Yeah, did
Ericka Thomas 45:12
you know we and we talk about on this podcast. We talk a lot about how we can influence our nervous system and stress levels in a lot of different ways. Some of those ways are through movement. We definitely can influence through sleep, but food is one of those external regulation factors for our nervous system. We're actually communicating with the body at a pretty deep level by feeding it with whatever we're eating. So whether we're eating crap, or we're eating really beautiful, healthy, nutritious things that is a commit some level of communication with the body. And yeah, it's huge.
Lynne Bowman 45:59
And it's also when you're preparing your food. You are preparing your body to receive the food.
cooking. Cool. That's great. What is it some festival Okay, good. I get we literally your cells are preparing themselves to receive that. Yep, if you stop and grab and bolt food, that's you've everyone has experienced that belly ache that comes from just tossing food down because that's not the way we're meant to eat. Also, we're really not meant to eat alone. It not that we all do, you know to some degree, and we're always going to to some degree, but food is communion and community and is a thing that we do together because it's safer to do it together. Think about it. You want to go paleo and everything. Think about it. You know, people we're not alone. Out of the jungle. Eating raw meat, right? We ate in community and when we gather we're teaching our children we're caring for our elders. It's not just food
Ericka Thomas 47:21
Yeah, it's very, your Vedic concept actually like when you are preparing the meal and even to the point of like, what, what is your mood while you are fixing this meal and I are VEDA they talk about you know your you can infuse that meal with a lot of things. Hopefully they're good things right hopefully it's love and gratitude and respect and all of these things and then you take that in and it's just another layer of nourishment, not just the vitamins and the calories or whatever is in the meal.
Lynne Bowman 48:01
Ericka in the book, I talk about just simple little ways to dress up a plate. You're saying something when you do that when you invite one body over and you got a candle and there's a little assertion on the plate. All of a sudden it's a party I mean, you know, all of a sudden, you're offering up attention and caring and love at a totally different level than you were and this can be for your older neighbor down the hall. It can be for your buddy that you run in the morning when it can be for anyone. I'm not talking about a date, although that's fine too. And in the book, I talk about how you know one of the oldest tricks in the world is to have something wonderful cooking and you just leave your door open and that scent goes out the door and you just never know who's gonna be following that sentence coming in the door. You know, that's, that's how we roll as human beings. There's nothing wrong with that. And another trick you make me think of another one that for that for the people who don't like to cook is making my genius soup, which is very simple. It's three ingredients. You saute them, and then you clean out your fridge you take all those beet greens or collard greens or whatever cabbage that's kind of wilted in the back. That's going to go back in a day or two. You chop it up and you throw it in the soup and you put tomatoes in it or tomato sauce and I'll tell you specifically in the book, but you make his big fat of soup and then you eat off of it all week. You know one night you put a little Fetta and some pasta in one night you put some beans and some tortillas and it's the basis for a great nourishing meal. And it's got a ton of vegetables in it. green vegetables. So it's good nourishing food but I mean you pull it out and freeze it. Pull the jar that stuff out, dump it into pot, bring it to a boil. Here's all my favorites and I put the new one of the new pastas it's made from chickpea and it's this protein boost this is a great one for vegans. And you throw the chickpea pasta and bring it back to a boil, turn it off, put the lid on it. It sits there for 10 minutes while you're running around set and do another thing. Yeah, bring it here. All the things that moms do. And in 10 minutes you haven't been stirring it you haven't been watching it. It's magically ready and it has soaked up all of this amazing broth that you've made with the dark greens and the tomatoes and onions and garlic, your Allium plants and it's absolutely delicious. You sprinkle a little either vegan cheese or real cheese depending on where you are. And now here is a meal worthy of a granny.
Ericka Thomas 51:09
Absolutely, that sounds amazing. My mouth is watering right now. Actually.
Lynne Bowman 51:14
I mean talk about inexpensive. Sure, right. And you haven't fussed with it. You dumped it in there. And you ran you change your clothes. You put the dog out and you did stuff and now it's ready. But the secret is that this pasta has soaked up all this fabulous broth and soup, nourishment and flavor. And it's that wonderful like your granny made but maybe you don't make
Ericka Thomas 51:44
that's awesome. That's awesome. And, you know, as you're talking Lynn, it really just kind of comes back to me this this idea of really just being intentional, intentional about what you put on your plate about what you bring into your house to eat. And you know, just just taking little steps towards that little bit healthier stuff over over time. Yeah, big fake said well, you can take as biggest steps as you want to take thing all or nothing.
Lynne Bowman 52:23
All or nothing it's just go for it you know because it's again, it's not deprivation, or what we're talking about a sensual, wonderful experience. We don't want to deny anybody. The fabulous experience of eating really wonderful food even if your time is limited. Your money is limited and you want better health. Good, good, good. You just have to chop something. You have to go in the kitchen for a few minutes and chop the thing and you're going to be fine. Right? Right.
Ericka Thomas 52:59
Well, and so many diets actually lean towards that deprivation side. Anyway, when what I what I hear you saying is really just adding in a lot absolutely whole beautifulreal food and if you put enough of that in just get more of that and then eventually the rest of this stuff falls off the plate. You don't even want it.
Lynne Bowman 53:26
So who said Whole Foods, real food, mostly plants. And even if you are of a carnivorous persuasion and you want to eat just make it high quality? Yeah, don't wrap. Yeah, if that would be it. Just don't feed crap. and force yourself to really look at everything that's in your cover that's coming into the house, that you're feeding your friends and your kids is it high quality, or is it crap?
Ericka Thomas 54:05
Yeah, yeah. That's excellent. Excellent advice before we wrap Lynn, is there anything else that you specifically want? To share with the audience today? Anything special, anything that we haven't touched on that you want to make sure that you let them know?
Lynne Bowman 54:24
We haven't talked about weight loss, then either so much on so many people's minds, and so I would like to reassure everyone that if you do work, Granny says granny buzzkill here, but if you do what I say you will lose any excess weight that you have. It will go away. You don't need to go hungry you don't need well at night. Sometimes you will probably be younger, but you'll say to yourself, great. I'm a little hungry. So the autophagy is going to work and I can wake up tomorrow and eat something I can eat brownies for breakfast because I made them and I'm eating them every day. So yeah, the weight just does isn't a problem. If you're eating this way. It will in fact, resolve itself.
Ericka Thomas 55:18
Right And when we're talking about these whole real food, high quality real food diets, there is no need really to count calories or anything like that or, or even even portion control because because that real food actually will shut off that house like it will naturally turn off that hunger. It'll tell you what I've done
Lynne Bowman 55:41
yet, and you got enough. You it may take a little while to get completely acclimatized to this because so much of it is in your brain. And it's just maybe a different way of of eating and you've been doing but conscious eating as opposed to just unconsciously dumped by stuff.
Ericka Thomas 56:04
conscious eating intentional choices, and really kind of moving away from fighting yourself. I think. I mean, I think a lot of this is is sort of we have an adversarial relationship with our body in general. And I think that gets that trips people up sometimes like they feel like it has to be hard. And it doesn't it doesn't have to be hard.
Lynne Bowman 56:32
No, I love to eat
Ericka Thomas 56:36
I do too. I do too. It is my thing. So then I always ask I always finish my podcast interviews I asked my guests what their work in is their favorite work in instead of a work out. What is something that you do for yourself? That kind of goes beyond you know, what the eyes can see for your own well being?
Lynne Bowman 57:03
Oh my goodness. I'm fortunate that I can do a lot of things now because I kind of get to do what I want to do. It's just great. And if you're talking about with regards specifically to health and well being you know the thing and this is not news to anybody, just walk, go out and walk. If you can walk barefoot walk barefoot, walk on some dirt or some grass or some sand beach. There's no better exercise. There's no nothing better for your brain than walking. And I'm fortunate to be out in the country as we talked, I live next to the redwoods. And so my walks are going to be epic sometimes. We do have mountain lions and I you know we have to be careful about that. But walking in a city walking in a neighborhood and the more you walk the more you become connected to not not the Earth only but to your neighborhood to your neighbors. Which is where peace and love actually is going to come from is if you no longer are separated by your car or by your wall from your neighbors. So walk meet your neighbors.
Ericka Thomas 58:38
That's fine. When if people wanted to get to know you a little better. Where can they find you and how can they get brownies? For breakfast?
Lynne Bowman 58:48
I'm so glad you asked. I am I am on Lynn bowman.com And I love for people to go on there and sign up. I have a little mailing list and I don't annoy anybody maybe a couple times a month, three times a month on a good month. I will send out a new recipe or an idea for everybody. And I love hearing from people I love answering questions. I love it when people write to me and say why is my hemoglobin a one C you know doing this and I will do my best to help you or refer you to another source where you can get help. So just go to Lynn bowman.com Sign up on my list. And I'm on Instagram and YouTube and all that stuff too but just in its LYNNE BOWMAN Don't forget and my author name is longer. It's Lynn Parmitter Bowman, but you'll find me under Lynn Bowman. It's easy. And I really look forward to hearing from people and brownies for breakfast is available on Amazon or from your bookseller if you have an independent bookseller
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Lynne Bowman 1:00:02
I would encourage you to go in and ask for it. And if they don't have it, just go. Oh my gosh, it's blowing up. It's amazing. Can you get me they can order it for you from their wholesaler, no problem. So it's brownies for breakfast, a cookbook for diabetics and the people who love them. Which Funny thing is everybody?
Ericka Thomas 1:00:24
Yeah, absolutely. I love that. And we will have all those links in the show notes lid. So when people find this podcast, they can go to the show notes and you will find all those links to all those awesome things. And I am going to get on an order brownies for breakfast right away.
Lynne Bowman 1:00:45
Let me know what you think. I can't wait. I love hearing so responses from people what worked for them what they liked, see different whatever. I'll be doing an audible version. process which set a cookbook on Audible. Yeah, because there's stories and stuff and yeah,
Ericka Thomas 1:01:04
that's great. I can't wait for that. Lynn, thank you so much for joining me on the work in.
Lynne Bowman 1:01:09
It's been fun.
Ericka Thomas 1:01:13
Thanks for listening, everyone. If you liked what you heard, and you want to learn a little bit more, check out the show notes or connect with today's guests. Be sure to head over to savage Grace coaching.com forward slash the work and while you're there, if you would like to become a little bit more intentional, both personally and professionally, and maybe burnout prints that business a little bit. Check out my free guide to holding space specifically for fitness professionals who are looking to create trauma informed classes and raise the standard of the fitness industry. thanks again everybody and I will see you next time on the work in
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Hey there!
I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a resilience coach and fit-preneur offering an authentic, actionable realistic approach to personal and professional balance for coaches in any format.
Savage Grace Coaching is all about bringing resilience and burnout recovery. Especially for overwhelmed entrepreneurs, creators and coaches in the fitness industry.
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