In this episode, Tricia is joined by special guest Diane Achatz. Diane Achatz is a passionate advocate for healthy eating and finding balance in our diets. She specializes in providing practical tools and strategies for creating balanced diabetes-friendly meals and developing healthy habits. With her expertise, Diane aims to debunk the myths and challenges associated with meal planning for individuals with diabetes. She believes that everyone can enjoy delicious and satisfying meals while managing their health.

Episode Highlights:

- Many people struggle with meal planning, especially those dealing with diabetes because they feel restricted and overwhelmed.

- Diane Achatz advises that it is not necessary to eliminate favorite foods, but rather replace them. - The importance of learning how to read food labels and be mindful of hidden sugars.

- Cottage cheese is trending as a popular food choice for weight loss, high in protein and contains whey and curds.

- Diane enjoys mixing different cuisines and styles of cooking, such as stir-frying, which can be applied to various types of food.

- The importance of tracking fat, carbohydrates, and protein and finding a balance between the three macros.

- Diane Achatz has created a 90-day journal for individuals who prefer writing things down on paper to help them track their meals and develop healthy habits.

- The concept of "planned indulgence" as a way to save enough room for certain foods and avoid impulsive food choices.

- Diane Achatz offers help with meal planning for individuals with type 2 diabetes or those looking to eat better.

Links mentioned: -

Check out Diane Achatz's 90-day journal for meal planning and healthy habit development.

email: diane@dianeachatz.com with your name and email and the message "Yes please" to receive your "Yes, please --No, thank you" Food list.

Contact Diane Achatz for personalized meal planning assistance.

Email: diane@dianeachatz.com

Website: www.renewedvitalitycoaching.com

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thebalancedbloodsugarsolution

Tricia's Links:

Table Topics (this is an Amazon affiliate link) - A fun way to prompt interesting conversations at the dinner table: https://amzn.to/45i2vTO

🔗 Click here to join Trish's Cook Connect & Conquer Club! : https://triciasbitesoflife.com/connectcookconquer

Connect with Trish for Your Free Strategy Call: https://link.feacreate.com/widget/bookings/connectwithtrish

Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/tricia.clark.161

Website:triciasbitesoflife.com

Her YouTube channel is launching here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmGEincPtA74cyPzpggzMZw

Grab Your Free Guide to Bringing Fun Back to Mealtime Here (include a 3 night meal plan, meal planner, and 10 ideas to make everything more fun:

https://triciasbitesoflife.com/bring-back-fun

Podcast Giveaway Details: https://kingsumo.com/.../spread-the-mealtime-magic-giveaway

Tricia:

Welcome to another episode of Mealtime Magic and Mayhem podcast. I'm excited to come to you today with a little bit of a different spin. We're gonna dig into diabetic coaching, women over 50, and I have a great guest today with me. Her name is Diane Achatz. She is a certified transformational health coach. She specializes in aiding individuals over 50 with type 2 diabetes. Inspired by her own personal victory over the disease. She uses her diverse professional background and anti diet philosophy to guide clients towards healthier lifestyles.

Tricia:

Her unique approach really involves teaching about macro about tracking your macros, overcoming limiting beliefs, and she dreams of establishing a joint health coach fitness trainer practice with her husband. So welcome. Welcome. Welcome. I can't wait to talk to you more about your anti diet approach. You've mentioned you don't like deprivation, and I'm Really excited to get into that with you. So welcome,

Diane:

and thank you for being here. Thank you so much, Trisha, for this opportunity. I've been really looking forward to this And also learning more about what you do because what you do is so, so important for people that have type 2 diabetes. Meal planning is It should be top of mind, and oftentimes, it isn't because it's not what I consider a fun thing to do. But I know from talking to you and your Facebook group, it can be fun, and I think that's a wonderful way to introduce something like this Is learning that meal planning can be fun?

Tricia:

It really can. But I know quite so often when people hear the word meal planning, you're like, oh, you, like, can almost visibly see them pull back and shrink away, and it brings up all these weird feelings.

Diane:

It's the same reaction I get when I say macros. People go, what? They don't know what it is. So it's a learning curve. Small one, but you know? Yeah.

Tricia:

Alright. Well, before we get started, one of my favorite things to do is to ask, like, a fun icebreaker question, and I talk about these open ended questions in every interview, in every Facebook live. I'm just a huge fan of mixing up the traditional old boring conversation from the weather and work and school into interesting open ended questions. And part of that because I think you learned so much more about how people think their lives, their experiences, and how they see things when you get past all of that superficial stuff. And so I keep around these boxes of table topics cards that I buy on Amazon.

Diane:

Oh, neat. And they've got

Tricia:

a gazillion different themes, but I take them on vacation and take them out on girls night. I take them out on date night. We've been married 26 years. Like, sometimes you gotta mix up the conversation.

Diane:

Really fun to do that though because sometimes you think you know a person so well, and then one little question can make you open your eyes and go, Oh, I didn't do that about you. And I think that's really exciting, and it keeps all your relationships really fresh if you do that not just with your significant other, But with your, you know, kids, in laws, friends, you know, people that colleagues that you work with, I think that just, And it just makes everything more fun because I like having fun. So I don't wanna be stuck in a situation where I'm because I I get bored easily, and And I start to fall asleep. So I

Tricia:

think we have that in common. I think we have that in common. Okay. So if you had to compete in an eating contest, What food would you choose to consume? And then I also wanna know why that's the one you choose.

Diane:

Okay. Oh, I have A list, you know, probably 10 or 12 different things, but it would be red seedless grapes from California, a, because they're the tastiest, b, because they're really easy to eat, and you could pop more than 1 of them in your mouth at a time. I don't necessarily recommend it. It could get kinda messy, but I just love I love this labor. And that'd be worth Saving up a whole day's worth of carbs just to be able to eat as many as they want it. So but, like, yeah. Red grapes. Red seedless grapes.

Diane:

That will do it.

Tricia:

Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome.

Diane:

Nutritious and fibrous to boot. So sure. A lot of good reasons. Yeah. It does.

Tricia:

Yeah. Well, I'm gonna go off script a little bit from the questions I had prepared because I was looking over your application for the podcast. Mhmm. And this strikes me. I know that we have a lot of love of food in common, but you mentioned that your favorite cuisines include Italian, Mexican, Thai, Greek, and Indian, and that you'd love to collect recipes and cookbooks and creating dishes with leftovers. And I think what I wanna ask about that is when we think so often when we think about Italian and Mexican, a lot of them can be very carb laden dishes. And the first thing is someone who's not super familiar with diabetes as not having suffered with it, I automatically think, oh, carbs turned to sugar. Like, how do you incorporate those into your diabetic lifestyle personally, and then we'll get into kind of your coaching.

Diane:

Yeah. My big thing really is tracking protein, carbohydrates, and fat Because I know that is the most reliable way to get your blood sugar under control and to lower your a one c if you're diabetic, and those are things that are really important. So I like to look at a recipe, and we're so fortunate now because so many Mainstream, I guess you could call them, large chain supermarkets carry these things In store, they stock them on their shelves that you can use as a substitute, for instance, whole wheat, you know, wheat pasta. You can get whole wheat pasta. You can get chip pea pasta. You can get lentil pasta. All of those things enable you to have some of your favorite Italian dishes, for instance, without all of the parts. So for me, it's a matter of making substitutions.

Diane:

So I will look at a recipe, and I know what it tastes like as soon as I read the recipe. Then I decide to, okay, do I wanna follow this Sort of verbatim or do I wanna make some changes? And if it's for something that I consider comfort food, yeah, I wanna look for some changes to make it healthier for everybody to eat. And so often and I have done this for years, and I've made changes to my favorite, You know, way I used to make a certain recipe, I made changes, and nobody knows the difference. They can't tell the difference because you can substitute a lot of things in a recipe that make it healthy. And you don't need to tell anybody. It's not a big, dark secret. You know, I will certainly tell someone if they ask, But I don't go around harping and, oh, you must you can eat this now because it's really healthy. No.

Diane:

You know? I don't I don't believe in. I don't wanna shame anybody into eating something that's healthy for them. I think that's a terrible terrible thing to do. But, yeah, that's basically, what I do is look for substitutions To make, if it's a recipe calling for ground beef, I will see if I can get some ground bison or ground turkey. I tried this one time. I didn't know if it would work. I was making something, a candy I think it may have been taco chili. Anyway, I had I was using ground beef.

Diane:

I I didn't have ground beef. I had ground turkey. And it called for some seasoning, and I thought, well, what'll happen if I just put some These bullion pistols or whatever you wanna call them. Not one of those little cubes. It's something you can measure out. And Like, well, this is really interesting. It really made the turkeys taste more like beef. And if that's the flavor you're going for Mhmm.

Diane:

Why not? I like ground turkey. We use it a lot. Ground chicken is also another good substitute.

Tricia:

Mhmm.

Diane:

So it's a matter of really Looking at the recipe ahead of time or if it's something that you bake that you don't have a recipe for. I like to try to get all the ingredients together so I know what I have And what, you know, what I'm gonna add. That's a help.

Tricia:

Yeah. It really is. So I have a question about the pasta substitutions, and I've played with some of them, but I also feel like they're not all created equal. Have you found I mean, some of them just disintegrate really quickly. Some of them are better than others, require longer cooking time. Do you have some that you have found have been the best substitutes for what you're doing in pasta dishes?

Diane:

I actually really like whole wheat pastas, and, obviously, you're still gonna count those carbs. Mhmm. But if you know what you're eating all day long, you can, for instance, eat a tossed salad for lunch with lots of good vegetables in it. If you know that you're gonna have some pasta later for dinner, save your carbs for that particular meal. You know? That's another thing too. When you Start tracking your fat, carbohydrates, and protein. There is a balance. You have to balance the 3 macros, And that's something that I go over with all my clients because for me, that's the most important first step is learning about macronutrients.

Diane:

And it's really simple. It really, really is. But people don't know how to play with them, and that's the best thing. You can play with them. For instance, if I know that something special is coming up and I know I want a dessert that's gonna have sugar, I'm gonna be really, really careful all day long on my Added sugars for one thing. I won't eat anything processed. I'm gonna be really careful, and I'm gonna watch my carbohydrates that I get from sweeter fruits, like grapes, Cherries, you know, those kinds of things.

Tricia:

Okay.

Diane:

I'm gonna save enough room so that I can have what is called it's planned indulgence. Yeah. And you can do that really with and that's a good way to do it. It means that you have to be aware of what you're eating all the time, and a lot of times, people are not. They find themselves in a situation where they're hungry and they're they're grabbing something from here and there or whatever. They're not really thinking about how all those Things go together. Maybe they're really hungry for and they want something crunchy. So they'll grab some potato chips or they grab and maybe they'll have some popcorn, And maybe they'll have something else, but those are not things that you should eat together.

Diane:

Do you know what I'm saying? You know?

Tricia:

Yeah. Yeah. Well, that brings me to my next question where and you hit on this a little bit already where many people struggle with meal planning, especially those dealing with diabetes. Like, the idea of We we typically have this this mindset of forbidden foods. Now I'm on a restricted diet. Right? And so that automatically puts up this the shield of overwhelm or this, oh, no. Now I have to change the way I eat, and I have to track my food, and I don't even know where to begin with meal planning. So how does your program provide practical tools and strategies to help them transfer them with habits and create those balanced diabetes friendly meals?

Diane:

Yeah. First of all, in my mind, I was going to write the little things that you were talking about. And What do you want me to start with 1st?

Tricia:

Some of the practical tools and strategies that they can use to transform those meal or mealtime habits so that when they do have to grab something on the go or time gets away from them, probably,

Diane:

like, Okay. What are

Tricia:

some of the tips and tools that that you advise?

Diane:

1st of all, I want all my clients to retrain their The way they look is I want them to I don't want them to say, oh, I can't have this. What I want them to say is, look what I can have, because you can list something that's very processed, has a lot of carbs, has a lot of sugar. You can write that 1 item on your left side of your list. On the right side, you can list a whole bunch of different things you can substitute. So it's not about what you can't have. It's all about what you can have. And one of the things that I like to do with people. I wanna find out what are they eating now.

Diane:

What are they eating now? What small sustainable changes can they make that are healthier for them. For instance, maybe it's the type of vegetables that they will eat. Maybe people haven't even tried some of the healthier vegetables. I know there are vegetables that get a bad rap. Broccoli is one of them. Asparagus is another one. They're depending on how they're prepared, they're just really delicious. And sometimes people grow up in homes that they don't.

Diane:

Maybe they were never served these vegetables before.

Tricia:

Or they were served canned versions.

Diane:

Yes. Exactly. Exactly. I did not learn to eat. I did not learn to like asparagus till I think it was in my thirties because my grandma would cook it, and she would it would be mushy and, Oh, weird color. It was disgusting. I'm like, yeah. No.

Diane:

I don't want this. I didn't even like the smell. Now I really enjoy it. I it's so good. It's Grilled. It's, you know, sauteed in different combinations with other vegetables. I even like it raw, which is something I just Interesting. I was cutting this up for something.

Diane:

I went, oh, I wonder what this tastes like raw. And I'm like, oh, it's nice. It's nice and crunchy, and it has a milder flavor. And you can use it in the salad. I'm like, well, that's clever. You know?

Tricia:

One of our favorite things is to buy pickled like, I include pickled asparagus on all my charcuterie boards because I love that crunch, and then I get to incorporate veggies into that charcuterie board. Yeah. Have you ever taken an asparagus bundle and wrapped it in prosciutto before you roasted it?

Diane:

Oh, no. But that sounds

Tricia:

So A little drizzle of olive oil and salt and pepper.

Diane:

And that's really lovely because prosciutto is much healthier for you than if you're eating a more a heavier fat content type of ham or product. This prosciutto is pretty low in that regard, which is good.

Tricia:

Also works great for

Diane:

green beans. Oh, yeah. Yep. We that's that sounds wonderful. Yeah. And I think too we were to talk about Pan dinners or pan meals, sheet pan meals, and those are the best because, a, you're only dirtying 1 pan, and if you line it with Oil or parchment paper. Mhmm. Is really easy.

Diane:

You don't have to go too heavy on the oil. You can just kinda drizzle oil on the parts that things that need oil. The I think the most important thing is finding all your ingredients that it takes about the same amount of time to cook them or bake them in your oven. And I don't see why you couldn't actually even do them on a grill. I mean, my husband, he has a pellet grill. That's his pride and joy. And he's than all kind of really different things on this public world because it's like having an outdoor oven, basically.

Tricia:

Yeah.

Diane:

Because you control the temperature, and it's not like like getting charcoal or being out there watching your propane tank. So, yeah, that's about the most challenging thing is finding ingredients that you can get done cooking at the same time.

Tricia:

Yeah. Well, and a big trick to that is there's that piece of it, but also making sure that when you're prepping it, you're cutting them roughly the same size and shape so they cook evenly

Diane:

Mhmm.

Tricia:

When you have that balance of textures. Otherwise, some things get mushy and some things are underdone. Mhmm.

Diane:

Yeah. No. That's very important too. Absolutely. So I'd like to encourage people to keep it simple. You don't have to go out and buy exotic foods because the food set of diabetic eats that are that's good for diabetic. It's good for the whole family. It's not like you can have a whole cupboard that says Diabetic food only.

Diane:

Yeah. No. Your refrigerator can be full with all kinds of wonderful, delicious fruits and vegetables Very good for diabetics, but they're really good for the whole family.

Tricia:

No. But when people hear diabetic, it sounds like such a major shift in how I eat, and it really doesn't it you're right. It doesn't have to be. Because if you had your favorite vegetables, your favorite proteins, those pasta substitutions or you're counting your macros. The truth is you don't really one of the most common things I hear is I just Need another recipe. Does somebody have a recipe that will help me? And I'm like, I can give you 5,000 recipes, but more recipes Piece is really not the answer. The answer, like you said, is is changing the way you think about it, and look at all these foods I get to have now. How can I embrace how I can really mix them together? And I think we get so stuck in stir fries are Asian and fajitas are Mexican, and we've really put them in these compartments when the truth is you can stir fry, and Stir fry is a method of cooking.

Tricia:

You can use any flavors, the same vegetables, the same proteins, and you could put taco seasoning on it for that matter. It's still a stir fry. Right? And so we get so locked into this is the idea of the recipe and following it to a tee, I think.

Diane:

Exactly. And I always give, I like to give my clients lists of substitutions they can make, like Healthy substitute natural substitutions for sugar, for instance. That's a big one. Once you have those that list of ingredients, You can save yourself so many carbohydrate carbohydrates, you know, calories and what have you, just by substituting in a healthier Sugar component. And that's something natural, like monk fruit or, what is it? Allulose? Allulose. Yeah. Mhmm. And those are really good things.

Diane:

And Sometimes too, you could even use things like honey or maple syrup because you are getting nutrition from those 2 things. However, you still have to count it as a sugar. So one thing I found is so so interesting to me until it happened to me, I didn't believe it could happen. Once you Really cutting out on sugar or even try to eliminate it for a couple of weeks. Food tastes so much better And more sweet in their net without any sugar. Like, your fruits will taste sweeter if you've been off sugar for a while. It's really interesting. And then you find that you don't like things that were super, super sweet.

Diane:

Things that you used to eat before now are so sweet you can't stand it. And, like I said, until it happened to me, I didn't believe it. And then I proved it. I proved it again with my husband because I told him after one of our a doctor visit some years ago when his a one c was high, and I said, that's it. We're not eating any more white foods. No white bread. No white flour. You know? No sugar.

Diane:

Not when you like a drill sergeant. And he looked at me like I was crazy, and He complained the whole week, and I said, look. I promise you it's gonna get easier. It'll be better. Just trust me. Okay. You know? So he went along with it. And then about a week after we started this procedure, he came home from work and looked really angry.

Diane:

I'm like, oh, I hope I didn't do anything. I said, what's the matter? Why why are you so upset? He says, I'm mad at you. Like, what did I do? You know? What why? He says, somebody brought in chocolate cake today, and you know how I love chocolate cake, and it was looked really good. So I thought I'm gonna have a piece of chocolate cake. So I had a piece, and I had a bite, and then I had to throw it away because it was too sweet. I couldn't eat it. That was by proof positive. Yes.

Diane:

This too because he's diabetic as well. But, yeah, when you have us being a diabetic doesn't mean you have to Have your sweet tooth extracted. There are ways around it. I promise.

Tricia:

So one of the things that I think can be challenging when you're changing your lifestyle, and I especially think about diabetes just with not when you go out to dine and out not knowing what's in the food that's being prepared. Can you tell us a little bit how you guide your trying to navigate those restaurant menus and make healthier choices all while still enjoying the food and not compromising on taste or the experience. Right?

Diane:

Exactly. Exactly. Because for me I mean, our whole society is built around food, basically. Every Every gathering that you have, either at your home or someone else's home, it's always involves food. And people love to go out to dinner. It's fun. It's a change of pace. It's relaxing.

Diane:

It's just a really it's a treat. Okay? So the first thing I do is If I know where I'm going, I will go online and pull up the menu from that particular restaurant, and I will read through all the offerings And choose the one that I know is going to be healthier for me. If you don't have that opportunity, Somebody you're out somewhere and somebody says, let's go out for lunch. We're gonna go here. So your best bet, especially if it's a a regular restaurant as opposed to a What I think of the fast food restaurant. If you've been looking for protein, you're gonna want us to have something broiled, Not fried or roasted, usually. A lot of places will let you substitute vegetables, Sauteed vegetables, and you can ask them to do it without butter. They will you can substitute fresh garden vegetables, you know, as as a side.

Diane:

I think it's a good idea for people to start with a salad, a really nice healthy salad, but instead of pouring, you ask for the dressing on the side. And a really cool trick is to dip your fork in the dressing and then load that forkful up with salt. You don't need a lot of dressing that way. Because a lot of times, unless it's a low fat dressing or a low calorie dressing, it tastes really good, but there's a lot of hidden things in there to make it taste good that aren't necessarily healthy. Yeah. Well and

Tricia:

I also find that if you have them dress it, they just drown it too.

Diane:

Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

Tricia:

I can see. Get my dressing on the side.

Diane:

Mhmm. So much fun. Yeah. And it's just so much it's better because nothing gets Drowned in there. So yes. So I did it. And then and then 2, when you're ordering suppose you're hungry if you're a meat eater And you go to a place that serves steaks, and their specialty is steaks. Don't go for the largest serving because usually you can find restaurants that will serve you 6 ounces of filet mignon, which is really even a little bit more than what people need.

Diane:

It could be like the the 6 ounce when you're talking about a 6 ounce filet that I don't know for sure, but that could mean that it's before cooking, and you're gonna lose a little bit of that, you know, in the the method. But Opt for a smaller sized steak, for instance. It's still gonna taste really good. Most of them are gonna be more lean. Let's face it. A a you know, a rib eye steak or some of these other steaks are really loaded with fat. And Yeah. You know, I wouldn't suggest and then they come, like, you know, 12/16.

Diane:

I've seen steaks 18 ounces poofing. Like, that blows my mind that they even offer that. That's, like, Enough for a family of 4 with leftovers these times. We just learned we changed our eating habits so much that we learned that we were satisfied with less beef for one thing. So we don't eat it very often, but there's a lot of other choices. You can have Poultry, you can have fish. There's a wide variety of of that and even pork as long as it's lean pork.

Tricia:

Mhmm.

Diane:

You know? That's fine. You don't have to just throw out all your favorite foods. You may have to replace them. And as if you're replacing things too, I would be very careful about buying something that says low fat because oftentimes what they do, they take out the fat and add sugar Mhmm. Because they want that same flavor. So it's learning how to read labels, which is another thing I talk about with my clients. They find out, you know, what kind of food they really like, and then, too, how does the bacon feel? I could eat bagels all day long, but I don't. I can't even bring them into the house because as soon as I eat a bagel, which I absolutely love, I am fine.

Diane:

I will fall asleep within 30 minutes, and when I wake up, I want another bagel. It's ridiculous. So I just don't bring them into the or I'll buy, you know, a mini one, or I'll just go, you know what? I'll choose something else. I like toasted sourdough bread, which is Really good because it's metabolized differently than white bread, or I will go with a whole grain English muffin. I mean, there's So many wonderful, healthy choices out there that I really encourage people to sample them and try them out. You know, buy a loaf of whole grain bread. See if you like it. If you don't like it, you don't have to buy it again.

Diane:

You could put it in their freezer and give it away. Do you know what I mean?

Tricia:

It's true. It's true. Well and it also allows so then that bagel that you love, that can become the treat. Right? Like, that can be the I really want the well, we have a place around here called Ozark Mountain Bagel, but maybe you really love a New York bagel. Right? Whatever the case may be. But now that's something you're like, I'm gonna have that bagel at the bagel shop. Right? And you don't have it in the house, but, again, nobody said you

Diane:

couldn't have it. That's right. You can have Anything you want. You are most adults. I I can't necessarily say this about children because Children generally are told to eat with their parents put in front of them. You know, that's how how we're all trained to do that. But once you're an adult And you can make these choices, and you could even prepare the food yourself. You are the one that decides.

Diane:

What are you going to eat? How are you going to eat it? And why are you going to eat it? And question, is this something that I should be eating? There's a lot of little questions, and sometimes when you really consider something, look at it, and I'll think, oh, this looks really good. For instance, a cupcake, which is you know, cupcakes are they're, like, individual sizes, so you're portion control right there. But But if you get a cupcake from a bakery, they've got, like, an inch and a half of 2 inches of frosting on top. Now I have to scrape the frosting off because, like, that's way too much sugar for me. I I just don't I don't feel well when I eat something like that. So I'm gonna maybe eat that cupcake, but I'm first gonna scrape all the icing off. So right there, I'm seeing bit of a lot of the sugar. And if that's a planned indulgence for me, great.

Diane:

You don't have to give up Ice cream, for instance. You just wanna have a smaller portion. It's a thing that I learned that you can fully fully your eye. You can eat if you have a small dish that holds 4 ounces, you can have a nice, Half cup or less of ice cream, and it looks like you're having a whole bowlful. You are because it's in a little bowl. And it's a trick it's a trick it's a trick that you can use smaller sized plates. So the dinner plates today are, like, what, 9 inches, And a lot of them have, like, a rim around the center. Mhmm.

Diane:

For instance, you're out of buffet. So you're really good with your choices. You're making some roasted meat. You're getting fresh, some kind of vegetable. But when you're looking at your plate, Stop before you get to the edges. Don't fill up those edges. I mean, I've seen people come back from buffets where you could we can't even tell there's a Yeah.

Tricia:

Well and that doesn't mean pile it up either.

Diane:

No. No. No. It it's kind of like the the the best way to do it is you have, like, Half your plate should be protein. 1 quarter should be vegetables, and what is it? 1 quarter should be a carbohydrate like a Potato. And and potatoes are they're good and sweet potatoes, especially. You know? I encourage people to start just baking sweet potatoes and eating them. They're really good.

Diane:

And they have a lot of nourishment in them. Same with white potatoes. If you just have a baked white potato, that's a really healthy thing to have. You're not gonna have a an Idaho that weighs 2 pounds. You know, you don't wanna do that, but as much as good as they are. But, again, when you're gonna we you want topping on them. Instead of putting sour cream on there, put some plain Yogurt instead of your sour cream on your baked potato. It's these little substitutions.

Diane:

You can add, you know, chives on there. You know, you can Pretty much you do do that, but it it serves the purpose. I'm finding out that cottage cheese has become a really big thing. It's really trending now for people who wanna lose weight to eat cottage cheese. And cottage cheese is very, Really good thing is it's got a lot of protein, but it has and I can't pronounce the word. I can never know how to pronounce it, but It's got whey in it. It's kinda you know, like the little miss Muffet nurse was talking while she was eating cottage cheese. But cottage cheese has these 2 components, the the whey and then the curds.

Diane:

And that part, the curds part, if you will, name I can't think of. It takes longer for your body to to digest that, so you're staying satisfied for a longer period of time. Okay. So if you're looking for a really fast Breakfast, for instance, had and I like the 2% cottage cheese made with 2% milk. And a a brand that I really like is called Good Culture because it is culture, so you have your The probiotic waters in it. Yeah. A half a cup or even a Whatever the serving size is with some blueberries in there. Fresh blueberries or fresh strawberries, raspberries.

Diane:

Cut up a peach or a dream.

Tricia:

I'm one of the few people that loves cottage cheese.

Diane:

Oh, yeah. It's it's my favorite. And I find out if I have that for breakfast, that bugs me for hours. Seriously. And I'm like, wow. The first time that happened, I was really surprised Because I thought yeah. I didn't get hungry for, like, 5 or 6 hours, which probably isn't so good. I should've eaten something a little bit before that time, but I didn't want to.

Diane:

That's the trick.

Tricia:

I have 1 more question for you, and then I'm gonna turn it over to you and and let you tell everybody what you have going on. But my other question really comes around snacking and maybe somebody hasn't been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. There's a lot of talk about balancing your blood sugar, and I've seen a lot of information about, like, if you wanna have something sweet or high in sugar that one of the ways to balance that out is to have a protein with it. So, like, if you're planning a snack, what's behind that? Is that true? Is that one way to keep your blood sugar from going all over the place?

Diane:

No. That's a very good thing to keep in mind. If you're gonna have a snack, have a protein and a carb and A little bit of fat in there or some fiber. That's what makes having a palm full of almonds such a good choice. You've got your protein. You've got your fat. You'd like your fiber right there in almonds. So nuts are a really good thing to have.

Diane:

Just don't overdo it. Yeah. And it's easy to overdo eating nuts because they're Terrific. They're delicious. And they're tiny. And they're tiny. Yes. But and this is something else I learned, and I've tried it out so I know it works.

Diane:

This is something I came across years ago when I was studying to be certified. I found out that if I close my eyes, if I put Some kind of food in my mouth, and I close my eyes while I'm chewing. I chew for a longer period of time, and the food actually tastes different with my eyes closed. I, at a loss, has explained why there is. There's probably some sort of scientific reason behind it, but it's really important to most people. We get so used to eating on a Specific time schedule. If you're working outside yeah. If you're working out in the community somewhere, sometimes you get, like, 30 minutes for lunch.

Diane:

You're really lucky if you get an hour, but that hour is taken up by going to the place you're gonna eat and coming back and so forth. So we're used to eating really rapidly. So most people don't chew their food thoroughly, and that's really important because that's where digestion begins in your mouth with your saliva, and people don't realize that when you point it out. It's you just don't ever think about it.

Tricia:

Yeah. That's true. We'll tell everybody where they can get in touch with you, and I know you have something free to offer, that we can put in the show notes and let them know what you have going on and where to get in contact with you.

Diane:

Right. One of the very easiest ways to get in contact with me is through Facebook, really. I have a Facebook group called the Blood Sugar Solution. I'm just going to Facebook. We'll put that title of the group name in your Facebook browser, and it'll take you right to the site. It's a community that that I've been building so that people have a place to come to. We could talk about these things. And it's not like you're sitting in a doctor's office and nobody is talking about They're all their drugs that they're taking, you know, for the diabetes.

Diane:

It's something if somebody wants to talk about it, certainly, But I don't have a medical background, so I'm not equipped to give you advice about your medications. That needs to come from your doctor. But, yeah, that's easy to find me on Facebook. I do have a really, really nice free thing that that people can can get. It's called the yes, please, no, thank you food list, and it's a it's a little PDF. You can download it on your computer or whatever. And it's Every classification, every type of food, and which are the the best things to choose. For instance, We're talking about produce.

Diane:

You always wanna try to buy fresh produce when possible. You wanna buy local produce if you have a farm stand. If you don't have those options, then it's a good idea to always go with a frozen fruit or vegetable because they're frozen at the peak of their freshness. So that's oftentimes much more affordable for people. Okay? So this is a whole little booklet of choices, food choices, and why you should pick a certain oils over other oils, for instance.

Tricia:

Okay. We'll be sure to put the link to that, your ebook in the show notes.

Diane:

Yes. We will. Yes.

Tricia:

Okay. And then you have something else exciting coming out shortly. Right?

Diane:

I do. I have created A 90 day journal because I find that I like doing things, listing things Digitally, I really like using MyFitnessPal because it's easy for me to go in there and track everything that I'm eating. But I finally realized how important it is to be able to write something down on paper. It makes a difference. It really makes you more observant about what you're doing, and it's easier to remember things. So I thought, well, this would be something good that they people free item, which is the yes, Please, no thank you food list. And then they have a chance to buy a very, very attractively priced little journal that they can download as needed. It gives them a space for journaling, not only for tracking their foods, but it gives chance to journal how they feel, like, you know, affirmations, habit tracker, all those little things.

Diane:

Doesn't take long to use. It's not like a whole 1 whole page for each thing. It's like everything's on 1 little 1 page for each day. And that was gonna be really helpful, I think, to get people started with this whole thing of kinda being re responsible for what they're doing themselves, for what they're eating. Nobody has to ever see your journal Throw in light in it what you want, but be honest with it. And it's good then to be able to look back and say, oh, I have x, wise eating habits. You know? Drink more water. Get 7 to 8 hours of sleep.

Diane:

And for the 1st couple of weeks, I wasn't doing that every night. Now I am, and I feel So much better so you can go back and and see how far you've come, basically.

Tricia:

Oh, I love that. I love that. Well, it's been a pleasure talking to you today. For anybody who's listening, if the idea maybe you've been diagnosed with type diabetes or you just know that you want to eat better, but you're overwhelmed by meal planning. That's where I come in, and so I can help you create those meal plans and help you develop those meal planning habits that will help you follow the program that Diane would lay out for you if you're working with her. So check out our Facebook group. Check out the links in the show notes. And if you have questions about working with either one of us, you can find all of our contact information there, and I will talk to you in the next episode.

Tricia:

Diane, thank you so much for being here.

Diane:

You so much, Trisha. This was so much fun, and we really do make a good team.