In this episode of the HobbyScool podcast, I chat with Cindy Newland, who is the CEO of Intentionally Eat.

Twenty years ago, Cindy was morbidly obese, had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and a family history of cancer and heart disease. After experiencing an excruciating back injury that immobilized her for over a month, she reached a turning point. She realized her diet and lack of exercise had brought her to that low point. Slowly, she began to make better choices like exercising and eating more fruits and vegetables. Cindy lost 125lbs, became a personal trainer and health coach, and created Intentionally Eat in order to help others on their health journey.

In this episode, we had a conversation about how Cindy lost 125 pounds and kept it off for 20+ years. We talked about her plant-based diet and the tips she provides on how you can get started with a healthy plant based diet in an way that works for your lifestyle and personal tastes.

Links mentioned in our episode:

• Where you can find Cindy: Intentionally Eat and go here for her free Plant-Based Breakfast Mini-Cookbook

• Don't forget to join our wait list for the next HobbyScool online learning summit. Our summits are free to attend and you can be the first to know when the next summit launches by getting on the wait list here.

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Transcript: Starting a Plant Based Diet for Your Health with Cindy Newland

00:00:02 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
And today my special guest is Cindy Newland with intentionally eat I am super excited to chat with Cindy today because we're going to be talking about starting a plant based diet for your health, and I'm Cindy. I am so interested in this topic myself. I love eating like fruits and vegetables, but I've never really, you know, understood how I could make that really just.

00:00:32 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
My my diet itself, so I'm excited to jump in here. Chat with you a little bit more about this. But before we begin all the questions, can you tell the audience a little bit more about you, your journey and how you help people.

00:00:49 Cindy Newland (guest)
Yeah, absolutely and thanks destiny for for having me on. I'm really excited about this topic. So back in 2001 I had a back injury and it left me immobile for more than a month and that was my wake up call. I realized I had put myself in that position. I was extremely unhealthy. I was a couch potato.

00:01:20 Cindy Newland (guest)
And I had created my own issues, so once I was able to move and function I decided I needed to make some changes and over the course of about four years I lost £125.00 and I've kept it off. Ever since I became a personal trainer and health coach and now I enjoy plant based eating and I help teach others how they can change their lives.

00:01:52 Cindy Newland (guest)
By eating a plant based diet.

00:01:55 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
£125.00 that is a lot. That's almost a whole person. Yeah you yeah. So you know and you said it took. I guess it took you four years to do that.

00:02:09 Cindy Newland (guest)
It was slow and steady. Slow and steady wins the race. It definitely wasn't 15 pounds in a week like some television shows would lead you to believe, but that's how I believe that I have kept it off all of these years because it was a lifestyle change.

00:02:25 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
Well, tell us a little bit more about that. It took you four years, but you you kept at it and I you know. And there's probably some mindset stuff in there too. I would gather, but can you walk into go into a little bit more detail about how you.

00:02:40 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
Did that over the course of four.

00:02:42 Cindy Newland (guest)
Years sure, so I have my own way of leading people through that type of a change, and I call it small bites so it's one step at a time will begin to lead you to that lifestyle change. It's not an overnight.

00:03:03 Cindy Newland (guest)
Change and it's not a flip of a switch. You have to be slow and steady and methodical so the first thing that I focused on was moving more or exercising. And I was the kid that got the note to get out of PE. I hated exercise. It was a dirty word, but I realized that in order to feel good and in order to make these type of changes.

00:03:33 Cindy Newland (guest)
I needed to move more and that didn't mean I had to run a marathon, although I did. It just simply meant find something that I like to do on a regular basis, so that's what I started with, and once I didn't lose 15 pounds in a day from doing that, I realized all right, we're going to have to start looking at what I'm eating, and I started paying attention to that. I started to incorporate more fruits and vegetables, so rather than focusing on what I couldn't have.

00:04:04 Cindy Newland (guest)
I focused on what I could have and I started nourishing myself, so I encourage people to aim for a day. Eight fruits and vegetables. It could be a slice of a cucumber, a cherry tomato, 1/2 a Peach. Those could count as one item. It doesn't have to be what some people consider a complete serving. Just start small. Those small bites will get you to where you want to be.

00:04:33 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
So I love what you said there I focus. I didn't focus on what I couldn't have. I focused on what I could have and I think that that is, you know, that is so very powerful. So what do you have to ask you? What do you tip eat in a typical day? To keep this, you know you had this, you know huge weight loss and you kept it off. Oh, you know, I guess it's been you mentioned 2001 so it's been close to 20 years.

00:05:00 Cindy Newland (guest)
Where you have.

00:05:01 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
It off, so tell us a little bit.

00:05:03 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
About what do you eat typically?

00:05:06 Cindy Newland (guest)
Sure, and and I still have to focus on keeping it off. This is a lifestyle change that will happen for life because we want to be healthy for life. So I focus on still eating a today. I try to get in as many fruits and vegetables as I can so I I like toast in the morning. I'm just kind of a same thing every day for breakfast. Kind of a gal. I like toast.

00:05:34 Cindy Newland (guest)
With almond butter and chia seed jam so I get a serving of fruit there. I'll have maybe some fruit for a snack. I definitely have quite a few salads, but that's not my main course on a given day. I love palmini noodles and spaghetti sauce and mushrooms. I love stir fries I.

00:06:05 Cindy Newland (guest)
Check out my site and you'll find all the recipes that I love because I never make anything I don't enjoy eating. I'm definitely not going hungry.

00:06:15 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
But you don't. You don't need any meat, right? It's a it's a completely plant based diet. Can you tell us a little bit more about the benefits of a plant based diet and and I'm making assumption I'm making assumption that you don't have any meat, so you're getting protein from somewhere. Can you tell us some of the benefits of a plant based diet? And you know, if we wanted to get started, where would we go?

00:06:43 Cindy Newland (guest)
You're you are correct. I don't eat meat. I have no dairy, no meat and I have been eating a plant based diet since.

00:06:52 Cindy Newland (guest)
2010 so I get protein from every other.

00:07:02 Cindy Newland (guest)
A source of food. So the only things that really don't have a lot of protein is fruit, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds. Those all have protein, and that's where I get all of my protein from. So since I've been doing this since 2010, I obviously have not wasted away. I'm not protein deficient. You can absolutely get protein from plants, and it is the best source of protein. There's no cholesterol.

00:07:32 Cindy Newland (guest)
It's low fat. My family has a history of diabetes, of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer heart disease, and a plant based diet takes care of all of those issues.

00:07:50 Cindy Newland (guest)
So I.

00:07:52 Cindy Newland (guest)
Focus on eating for my health, knowing that all of those items run in my family as they do in most peoples families. My mother died from colon cancer that is as they know now at least 80%.

00:08:12 Cindy Newland (guest)
You can avoid that through diet and exercise, and her diet was horrific so she would eat one meal a day and it was mainly meat. So I have chosen to eat according to my health goals.

00:08:29 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
So let's just say that somebody wants to get started and they you know like, like for me you can use me as your Guinea pig here. If you would I I wouldn't know where to get started with this. I I'm not even sure you know. Does this include eggs? I think it does, but I may not. I may be wrong. And what's the difference between excluding dairy versus meat? Can you kind of go into some of those details?

00:08:55 Cindy Newland (guest)
Sure.

00:08:56 Cindy Newland (guest)
So.

00:08:58 Cindy Newland (guest)
My version of plant based which.

00:09:02 Cindy Newland (guest)
Typically 100% plant based. There are no eggs. There's no dairy. There's no cheese, no animal products whatsoever. Now there are some people who incorporate eggs, and sometimes on occasion meat into their plant based lifestyle. That's a that's a personal choice, and again, it's eating for your health goals so.

00:09:26 Cindy Newland (guest)
But that being said, I don't. I don't have eggs or dairy in my diet, and dairy is actually one of the number one causes of.

00:09:41 Cindy Newland (guest)
Health related issues. So I really encourage people to eliminate dairy as much as possible from their diets. To get started with that is again going back to that small bites mentality, let's just take this a meal at a time, maybe let's make breakfast plant based or lunch or dinner or whatever is the easiest meal for you to make plant based and focus on that or focus on incorporating those.

00:10:11 Cindy Newland (guest)
Eight different fruits and vegetables a day and squeezing out as I like to call it, squeezing out the meat right, eliminating the meat through, incorporating more plants and making it easier for you. So on my site intentionally, I have meal plans where I will walk you through breakfast, lunch, dinner, all the snacks, all the desserts. I'll give you the recipes I will hold your hand.

00:10:42 Cindy Newland (guest)
And take you through each week.

00:10:45 Cindy Newland (guest)
And give you all kinds of ideas about what you could eat. Or you can go it on your own and check out some of the recipes that I have there and start incorporating a few for yourself. And maybe you start with that meatless Monday idea. Or maybe you end up doing more than just one day a week.

00:11:09 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
And I love what the tip that you gave there just start with breakfast or start with like a meatless Monday. That to me that makes it so much easier. And I think as I, you know, as people get used to it, it's easier to say, oh, I'll add lunch or oh, I'll add dinner or oh, I'll do mostly pant plant based, except maybe when I go out to dinner on Saturday night or whatever. So that that's a great tip.

00:11:33 Cindy Newland (guest)
Exactly, and the more you do it, the easier it becomes and you start to recognize this is delicious.

00:11:41 Cindy Newland (guest)
This is an incredibly.

00:11:44 Cindy Newland (guest)
Satisfying way to eat and it's not deprivation. It's actually in my opinion. I've given up maybe three different animal sources, and I'm eating probably at least 300 more fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans. I'm eating way more food, and I'm trying a different variety than I ever would have from eating meat.

00:12:13 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
So Cindy, let me ask you this, are there any pitfalls that people should be aware of when they move into or or starting a plant based diet?

00:12:24 Cindy Newland (guest)
Yeah, I think there's a couple. I think people will.

00:12:31 Cindy Newland (guest)
They don't understand and so they can sometimes become a little bit negative about it, but you just have to recognize what your goal is. Are you doing this for your health, and if so, why does someone else's opinion matter to you? And then the other thing we can let ourselves sometimes become overwhelmed or thinking that we have to be perfect with this. If we have a slip up quote UN quote. Oh, I've blown it.

00:13:01 Cindy Newland (guest)
Then I might as well just, you know, eat crazy and start over in two weeks. There's it's not.

00:13:10 Cindy Newland (guest)
There's no starter stop, it's just there's always another meal, right? You can make a better choice at the next meal, and it doesn't have to be perfect and you don't have to eat salad every single meal you can explore. You can have fun. You can go to the store, buy something you've never bought before, research how to cook it, how to eat it, and have fun with this.

00:13:35 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
So I like what you said about you does you don't have to be perfect. There's no starter stop. It's just you know you can just make the next make the change in the next meal exactly, and that's perfect. So Cindy, let's people who are listening here. I know they're going to want to know more about how to start a plant based diet. Can you tell them where they can find you? And I believe you have a free gift for the audience too.

00:14:02 Cindy Newland (guest)
Yeah, I absolutely do so they can go to intentionally.

00:14:06 Cindy Newland (guest)
Eat.com and they can get started there and I have a free list recipe cookbook for them. It's got over 18 different breakfasts that they can choose from. Some are super simple, some are more of your weekend brunch. Delicious protein packed waffles and bacon. Enjoy that and get that for free on my site. Intentionally eat.com.

00:14:33 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
And we'll make sure that those that link is in the show notes so people can just.

00:14:36 Dr. Destini Copp (host)
Click on it and go right to your website. Cindy, thank you so much for joining me and all of your tips on how to start a plant based diet.

00:14:45 Cindy Newland (guest)
Thanks, destiny.