WCDT Interview Transcript -- It's ALL about Love

Today I was privileged to be Carol Barstad's guest on WCDT radio in Tennessee. Carol is a nurse who is devoted to helping people get back on track with their health and weight with the USANA RESET Kit and Dr. Ray Strand's Healthy for Life Program. She is particularly focused on "diobesity," the term coined recently to address the problems many people are facing with diabetes and obesity, as well as related chronic diseases such as heart disease.

Carol (CB) and Christine’s (CM) Radio Conversation -- It's ALL about Love

CB: This morning I'd like to introduce Christine Macfarlane, a colleague of mine, and a wonderful friend. Christine has helped many people get started on the RESET program. She’s certified in the Healthy for Life program, as I am, and she is passionate about helping people love life and live it to the fullest.

I’ve invited her to join us today to talk about that -- loving life, loving ourselves, and loving our families -- and how love relates to our health. Welcome, Christine.

CM: Thank you so much for inviting me, Carol. And hi, Karen, it’s a pleasure to be here with you. I’ve really enjoyed hearing your other programs and I admire the work that you are doing, showing people that they CAN be well – there IS a way to reclaim our health -- and our waistlines.

I’m just so honored to be here with you two wonderful ladies today.

CB: So tell me, Christine -- what’s love got to do with it?

CM: You know, Carol, I believe that love has everything to do with everything, including our health and well being. When we take care of ourselves and our families with love in our hearts it’s easy for us to think clearly about what’s best. We make good choices. And we honor each other as the beautiful Children of God that we are.

CB: Well, what do you mean exactly, Christine? Do you have some examples for us?

CM: You bet. Here’s my message in a nutshell. You know that expression “God don’t make no junk?” Well, if that’s true … we best not be eatin’ no junk FOOD.

I like to say, “I am the hands and feet and heart of God in the world. I’m how God gets around.” We all are.

Not only that … think about it -- we are lovingly and wondrously made. Our creator endowed our bodies with intelligence in each cell to be exactly what it’s supposed to be – just imagine how amazing this is!

So truly our bodies are temples of the spirit of God’s love for us.

And if this is true, and I believe it is, when we abuse our bodies in any way we risk defiling our temple. And defiling includes eating foods that are not the best for us. It’s a daily thing, isn’t it, this eating thing. We can choose several times a day at mealtimes and snack times whether to love and honor our bodies and our ability to be God’s love in the world – or not.

When we are filled with the Spirit of Love we want what’s best for ourselves and our families. We have free will. We are free to choose whether we will be on the side of love or the side of defilement.

You know what I call making bad food choices? I call it “eating to endanger.”

CB: That’s a pretty powerful message, Christine.

CM: Yes, and it’s pretty simple, too, isn’t it? When we’re awake to knowing who we really are – and WHOSE we really are -- it changes our understanding forever, doesn’t it? We just have to remember every day and act accordingly.

Let me tell you a little bit about my experience in talking with people about the loving themselves enough to make the lifestyle changes that could get them back on track with health and well being. And how the USANA Reset program could be just what they need to get started.

We know so many people, don’t we, whose families are ravaged by serious disease -- heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, in particular. As you’ve pointed out in past programs, Carol, these problems are largely preventable. And in many cases we can actually reverse the conditions and restore better health. We are responsible … responsible for taking care of ourselves and our loved ones.

Carol, you’ve done such a wonderful job of talking about the big problem we have in our country with overweight and obesity and the health problems that come with them. And we read about it in the papers and hear about it on the radio and TV all the time.

As I’ve talked with people over the past few years I’ve noticed that some people who are off the track weight-wise are ready and willing to try something new, and some people would rather just complain about their situation. It’s like people keep two lists, their “gripe list” and their “change list,” and until something moves onto the change list people are just going to gripe. That’s another way of saying they’re not ready yet to wake up to the truth of who they are – and WHOSE they are – and the fullness of health that’s available to them.

I’m totally okay with that, too. I love them no matter where they are in their understanding, and I’m here to help them if and when they’re ready.

I’m not saying that the USANA Reset program is the only solution to the problem, either. I’m just saying that it’s a simple, easy-to-do program that gives your body a break from what’s known as the “Standard American Diet,” also known as “the SAD diet.” It’s a diet made up of too much white flour, white sugar, too much saturated fat, and just too much, too much in general. Huge portions. Pizza, burgers, cola, and that sort of thing. I love it that you can stay on Reset as long as you want to and enjoy big benefits. Then you can start introducing wholesome foods a little at a time. As you’ve emphasized, Carol it’s a lifestyle change that helps people get back on track with their health – and it has the great side effect of long term weight loss.

CB: Christine, do you have a theory about why people eat to endanger?

CM: Well, as I mentioned, I think that many people just are not awake to their own good. They don’t realize what they’re doing. Even though there’s so much information out there, there’s kind of a disconnect for them. People like what the world says is easy and what’s available. More than that, though, I think people see other people are eating carelessly -- and advertising is plenty hype-y -- and so it seems like being a part of the fast-food nation is where it’s at. It’s what’s “normal” – by worldly standards.

CB: The thing is, it’s no mystery that there’s a direct link between the SAD diet and the major health problems we’re experiencing.

CM: Right. Let me ask you, Carol -- have you ever been crabbing?

CB: No, I can't say that I have.

CM: Well, you know that when you put a bunch of crabs in a bucket they all climb around on each other to try to get out of the bucket. But as soon as one starts getting up high the others pull him right back down again. It feels kind of like that for us when we’re trying to make a change and we’re doing something different from what other people we know are doing. We may believe wholeheartedly that we want to make the change – in this case we’re talking about changing the way we eat and exercise and take care of ourselves and our families – but other people who don’t have the same goals and the same understanding tend to pull us back. In many ways it’s easier to just be another crab in the bucket of crabs. But if we want something better we have to get out of the bucket.

If you are awake to your own good – and on the path of love – you definitely want to get out of that bucket!

One of the excuses I hear often from people who don’t want to change what they eat is “but this is how our family has always done it.” Okay, you know what? That’s great. I appreciate cultural traditions. But here’s a thought: if you care about your family and you know your traditional foods are dangerous to them, is it loving to keep serving them what’s traditional? How ‘bout if you just serve your traditional favorites once a week – say on Sunday -- and make different, more healthful choices for the other days of the week? You’ll preserve and enjoy your cultural traditions AND you’ll give yourselves the gift of better choices 6 out of 7 days of the week. You body will love you for it.

This really jumped out at me last Christmas when I realized that groups of my women friends were gearing up for holiday baking. Talk about a tradition! Gifts of fancy sweets, cookie swaps, sugar plum fairies… most of us were raised with the idea that these are loving gifts. I’m thinking to myself, “Are all these sugary treats really gifts to our families?” Hmmm… maybe they’re not. Maybe we’re contributing to our friends’ and families’ health problems. Sure the cookies, candies, pastries and breads are traditional, but is that a good enough reason to keep making them – and I’m not saying it’s not. Each one of us has to decide this for ourselves.

Just as an aside, though, in the old days, say 50-100 years ago and more, these holiday treats really were treats. People typically didn’t eat sweets all the time, year ‘round the way many people do today.

CB: I see what you’re saying, Christine.

Does that mean then that we should never eat pizza and hamburgers and drink cola drinks, and things like that? Do you eat them?

CM: Sure I do, Carol – I just don’t do it very often. I don’t mean to make all this sort of food sound evil. I don’t think it is. I just think that when we are unconscious about what we’re choosing that we tend to go overboard with these things instead of “eating the rainbow,” if you will. By that I mean eating a wide variety of colors, with a special emphasis on fresh fruits and vegetables.

And I confess that I don’t always exercise as much as I could, but I walk a lot. I have two dogs that get me out first thing in the morning every day, rain or shine.

But here’s the thing. It always boils down to this: Are we awake or asleep to our own good? Do we go along with what “the world” says is normal, accepting overweight and obesity, diabetes and heart disease as inevitable? Do we let ourselves get pulled back down into the bucket of crabs? Or are we willing to walk our talk? Are we willing to love one another as we love ourselves – or do we just say that? If we mean it and live by it we have to ask ourselves, “Am I loving myself by eating this? Am I loving my family by serving this?” It’s a simple test. Ask yourself, “Do my meals and snacks pass that test?”

I’ve talked mostly about food today, but I also want to emphasize two other important questions that are part of the whole picture. First: Am I lovingly exercising my body and encouraging my family to engage in fun physical activity? And second: Am I taking my nutritional supplements daily? These round out the plan for wonderful health, such an important part of living life to its fullest.

So, back to the question you asked me in the beginning, Carol. What’s love got to do with it?

When we understand who we are and WHOSE we are, love is all there is.

CB: Thank you for your loving message, Christine. And I know I’m going to remember what you said -- “God don’t make no junk.” And “we best not be eatin’ no junk FOOD.