Plant Based Lifestyle for the win!

Welcome to The Power of Healing Your Energy Show. I'm Christine J Gold, I'm a spiritual medium, intuitive energy coach, old soul healer, and soul purpose mentor. This is a live show and podcast all about unconditional love, your light, your intuition, and your soul's purpose. Welcome to Veganuary. This is your fresh start to everything vegan, and all month long we'll have guests who live and encapsulate the vegan lifestyle. This week's guest is Claudia Kaldenbach. She's a plant-based weight loss coach, health hacker, and she is a busy entrepreneur. Now she lives, breathes, and helps guide others in the vegan lifestyle. Stay tuned. Depression and anxiety are a side effect of not living your life intuitively, not trusting your gut, the lost connections with yourself and others, and I truly believe healing is the end of conflict within yourself. And that healing begins where the ego ends. We are live every Wednesday at 3 PM Eastern, 4 Central, 5 Mountain, and 6 Pacific. If you have a guest or a topic you'd like that hasn't been on the show yet, feel free to send them my way at 24khealing@gmail.com. Hello everyone, welcome to the show. This is Veganuary. As I said, I've got my plants, all my plants. Bring your plants, doesn't matter what it is, bring it in. Maybe you have questions. You know, I, I, I even wondered myself. I, I'm day 44, uh, as a vegan and thought, oh my God, I'm going to starve. What do you eat? Oh, that's not going to taste good. Oh, I don't think I can do it. It's too much work. It costs too much. See all the barriers we put ahead of ourselves, or roadblocks, and we haven't even started? That's insanity. That's the definition of insanity, honestly. So are you ready to be— well, I'd say lose your mind and, and find yourself again. Uh, so yes, this is the first episode of Veganuary. And who knows, I mean, this might just be all year long because there's so much to learn. And I just wanted to show you this. This is a birthday gift. This is a sacred plant called the San Pedro in Peru. I'm coming to you live from Lima, Peru, and it is psychedelic. So you can chop this little cactus up and boil it and drink it. I'm choosing not to. So it is very sacred, it has medicinal properties, it's very spiritual. Anyways, enough about the plant. Come on in, say hello, let us know where you're from, let us know if you need help, if you have any questions. I have my beautiful guest coming in as well, and, um, and she is a plant-based weight loss coach and health hacker, and I'm just going to bring her in so she can talk, you you know, talk about herself instead of me talking about her. Hello, Claudia.

Hello, Christine.

So I always ask, where in the world are you, Claudia? Where in the world are you?

Uh, I'm in a, in a, in a village in the middle of the Netherlands, in Europe. So kind of nearby Amsterdam, more familiar to most of, uh, most of us, about 1-hour drive. And there used to be no land where I live. There used to be the sea. It's in the middle of the Netherlands, and it's supposed to be the largest man-made land, and the Dutch are really good at that.

Wow, amazing, amazing. And, uh, yeah, we were talking before, you know, talking about the tulips and the windmills. And you— and when were you saying was the best time to come and visit?

In April, there's beautiful colors. Um, Flævland, where I live, is also known for a lot of nature, a lot of, uh, the largest, um, forest in Europe. Wow, a specific type of forest. And there's also a lot of water, so tourists also like it here. And there's adventure and there's rest. So if you want to find your spiritual place, you will find a lot of connection here if you're, if you're outside here.

I love that. I love that. So did you want to talk a little bit about yourself? If anything, when I went over your bio, you are basically, you are a healer for the menopausal, uh, for the women that are menopausal. That, that's your niche. That's your expertise. But do you want to talk a little bit about how you got there?

Yes. Well, uh, first of all, uh, you shared in the beginning, uh, about a difficulty when you turned vegan. Uh, for me, it was kind of a weird story. Uh, I turned vegan by accident. I always believed that people that ate vegetarian, uh, had boring meals. And, um, our daughter was about 18 years old when she kind of had, um, aversion against meat. So she asked if we could eat vegetarian a few times a week. Um, we told our neighbor, we had a conversation and she said, oh, I have a great cooking book for 50 days, breakfast, lunch, dinner. Everything is in it with a lot of vegetarian meals. So, uh, we said, okay, let's try it. So, um, our daughter started the cooking because I was busy with my other business, my holiday home, in the middle of the summer. And so we started with raspberry and chocolate. And I thought, hmm, that's great. And the days after were also, uh, pretty good. And then after a few days, we noticed that there was no meat in it and no cheese. And then we discovered that there were all kinds of documentaries about animal cruelty, about health, and a new world opened up for us. And the moment that we saw what was happening and the impact on the climate— I've always been environmental friendly, so to say, with recycling everything and try to do my best to make the world a better place. So there was no way of return. So that was 2016. I lost a few kilos. That was my motivation to lose some weight. But it took a lot of time in the kitchen. So after my daughter stopped with the cooking, she went back to school, I had to do the cooking again and had to veganize my meals. It was a struggle. And I still, yeah, I gained all the weight back actually. And then it was 2020. I raised my limits of what was acceptable for my weight, telling myself that it wasn't that bad, that I felt pretty good. But there came a time that I didn't feel positive anymore. I felt lousy, low in energy, out of breath, couldn't tie my shoes, and I really was obese. So I was 215 pounds, high blood pressure, and I had promised myself that I was 53, that it would become my best year ever. I lost my father at that age when he was 53. So I wanted to make that year really special and the best year ever. And then COVID came, my business went down, and then I thought, well, you know what, I think it's time that I put my health and myself first. So then I went on a quest to, uh, determined and sick and tired of feeling sick and tired, and that was my rescue. So I spent thousands of hours of speed reading, health summits, uh, diving all in and still I'm still learning. Um, I geek on scientific research, what's working. So I get myself and my clients the best results possible. So it's a long story, but, uh, yeah, it was a long journey and, uh, I'm so glad that I can help now because there are so many women and that really breaks my heart if I see in Facebook groups how miserable women can feel, how depressed they are, how, um, yeah, how they lost the connection with themselves. And, uh, yeah, I want to make a change where I can and, and make their life better, their life better, and the world better.

And I love that. And, uh, thank you, thank you. And it's not a long story, it's a story worth, uh, being shared. Because it's a journey. It's a very, you know, it's— and sometimes it feels very long. And thank you, Patty, for joining us. I know, uh, you were eagerly waiting and you've been such a wonderful supporter of the show, so sending you lots of love. Um, funny, I asked myself the same question: what are your questions about going vegan or veganism? I guess maybe that would be for you. What do you have, like, top questions? What, what are some of the questions that people ask you?

A lot of people struggle with what, what, what to eat. And regarding weight loss, there's a lot of unclarity on what to do. And, and some people think by simply stopping eating that they will lose weight. But don't do that. That's, that's not a healthy way. You should not deprive yourself from anything. So, um, and that's the great thing about plant-based eating, and that's what I love about plant-based eating, that you, you can eat a lot of vegetables, uh, without gaining weight because vegetables are high in volume, high in nutrition, but low in calories. But they really provide you with the good stuff that nature brings.

Absolutely. I, um, and when you say plant-based, because it— I mean, Google, apparently the search term for vegan in 2021, people Googling vegan was up 5,000%. So obviously it's becoming trendy or whatever because it's Veganuary. There's a big hype, kind of like resolutions in a way. It's hype. It does not sustain. So I think there's a lot of confusion. What does plant-based mean?

Yeah, there's a growing awareness of the ability of eating different. The impact on our health based upon eating more plant-based has been discovered for decades ago already, but the health organizations haven't been promoting it because they depend— the economy depends on the old-fashioned way of eating. So there's a lot of things already known, like we used to know 4 decades ago that smoking was bad for us, but it took decades before it was being introduced by doctors that you should not be mis-spoken. So it's a similar thing with plant-based eating. There are several words that are being used, and the word vegan has become really mainstream because in supermarkets you now have vegan alternatives and you also have vegan labels. But there's a difference between eating vegan or eating whole food plant-based. So whole food plant-based is the philosophy that you eat unprocessed food, food that nature brings. So mainly, most of the time focused on health or on the environment. And vegan is sometimes used by people who want to avoid the animal cruelty and who still have the cookies or chips, or as long as there's no animal thing in it. So there are also people that choose to go vegan for health issue— for health reasons. But most of the time, a vegan lifestyle is related to not using anything animal-like. So even not eat honey or not have leather shoes or that kind of things. So it's really difficult to put a label on it, but I think that the label vegan is really recognizable now for people. And it took me some years to discover the words whole food plant-based. So that was 2 years ago that it's not used in Europe, it's used in America. And not so here in Europe. But now it's getting more known, so to say. And as I see it is that first you start with the vegan journey. You can replace— so most of the people start with replacing meat, for instance, with meat replacements. And later on, you will notice and you will learn that that is kind of a snack way to eat, an easy way, and still a processed way. And you could still up your nutrition from there. But it's a process. And some go 100% in, so like I did. And most of the time, people have a more gradual change.

And I like that you, you talk about all, all the sides, all the labels. I honestly, I feel there's no right and no wrong. It's just what feels good for you. And if you feel it's a positive change for, for yourself or for the animals or for the world, whatever it happens to be. I like that you talk about all of that because that's what I'm seeing too. And, you know, you can either— and I could say, oh yeah, I went completely vegan 100% because I had the support around me. We're all vegans in this house.

Those.

So that's really helpful. Uh, but I think I started a year ago— I, I talk about this too— where I'd have a one vegan meal a week, and then two, and then three. You know, I, I started building it up because for me, I guess it was more comfortable and, and preparing myself for this experience now. Although back then I didn't know that, right? Spirit has a way of just, you know, tweaking things and kind of getting— it's almost like you were not duped.

I don't know if that's the right term, but you just find your path, what fits your way of living, isn't it?

So absolutely.

But I don't believe in labels. So if you ask me, so I have the Alive Formula that's based on combining several scientific insights. And I also say to my clients, you know, um, if possible, you can avoid oil because that's also a processed food. While it's still natural, but it's high in calories and you, you don't need it. You can find your fats in, um, in, in, um, the natural foods that you're eating. So you don't need to use the oil, but, uh, I, I don't forbid it. And I don't even forbid a guilty pleasure now and then because I believe that in life it's about happiness and it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle you should be able to maintain. So if you like to have a red wine now and then, you should have it as long as you can control yourself with it. So in December I thought I have had too much wine with the celebration So this month, uh, I, I said to my husband, you know what, I will do 30 days. I will, um, I will drink no alcohol at all. I'm just, uh, I just want to, to do an experiment with my body and see how I feel. And it's, it's, it can easily be done. So, uh, you can challenge yourself with, uh, with, with a period of, of in your life, but you don't have to deprive yourself your entire life and really get rigid. Regarding eating healthy, because then it can become a disturbance, something that wouldn't work for you.

Yeah, it's almost like you're punishing yourself, and I feel we need to reward ourselves more, but in a joyous, more authentic way. Patty is just saying, no, honey, Oh boy, what do you sweeten your tea with then?

You can fully detox from sugar addiction. So if you're— so sugar is really addictive for us. Today I did a Facebook Live in my own group on about 15 or 18 diseases that are connected to the use of sugar. And once you know that, you will be motivated not to do it. For one thing, it's making you older. It's making your skin older. For me, that's a good motivation. And I also tell my husband, you know, if you want to have good skin and you want to stay young, you should eat fruit, yes, and not eat sugar. And now he eats an apple when he goes to work. So it's about motivation, motivation, that we need and education, I think. So you can get used to it, to do without.

Yeah. And people, some people use monk fruit or stevia. Those could be alternatives as well.

Yeah.

Yes. If you're really like, you're having a really hard time. And I thought, you know, this, and I rarely use it now and I totally agree with the fruit. I love, I'm a fruititarian.

As I like to joke, it tastes so great when, when you, when you no longer have the refined sugar in your diet, you will be amazed. Your, your taste buds will be renewed within 2 weeks and you will enjoy it so much more. So yeah.

Yep. And Patty's saying that she does about 90%. She's trying so hard and we already kind of touched on this, but she says, I can't get the home to change? Like, what if there's— you've got your family, how do you get your— how do you get everybody involved or supporting you in a way?

Yeah, that's a difficult thing, of course. The best thing is to take care of— if it's the sugar, sugar products that are in the house, you could ask the rest of the family to support you. So why it's important for you not to have it. So have a separate drawer or something out of reach that it's difficult for yourself to get to it. And yeah, just make arrangements with your family on a specific time that they don't do it all the time, maybe once a week, or if you're not there, or preferably that it's less challenging for yourself. So don't buy it if possible. And if it's there, see that you can organize it in the home, because that's one of the main issues, is that if you don't plan it, you will be in a hard place.

Yeah, if it's not there, then it's— and if you stop buying it, then it forces them to go and buy it. Yeah, like if you're the shopper, you're like, oops, I forgot. Oops.

Good idea.

Yeah, yeah, um, yeah, my birthday cake was amazing. That was my first vegan cake that we took on. It was— I shared pictures and all that, all about that. And Patty's also talking about not having any alcohol, and I think she's been 6 months sober, which is amazing. But she feels she has more clarity and she just feels better overall.

Yeah, it's so much better for your sleep. So it's, it's, uh, yeah, it's a good thing if you can do that. I know, I know more vegan people that, that are really sober for decades. So, yeah.

And then we got Dry February coming up as well. That's a thing. I don't know if it's a thing in Europe, but where people go completely—

yeah, it's in January here, so, uh, I happen to, uh, to do it, so I It's—

there you go.

Yeah, yeah, I didn't know.

So, uh, yeah, uh, Patty, who's been asking all the questions, guys, uh, she— but she was saying that there's sugar in an apple. Now you want to talk about the difference between refined and natural?

Yeah, that's, that's no problem at all, that sugar is in the apple. So the, the problem for your body comes when it's, uh, when it's concentrated, when it's extracted. From its original form. And the good thing about fructose in fruits, in natural fruits, is that it comes with a lot of fibers and that it fills you up. And that's what's making the difference. So if you eat an apple, if you eat any fruit, then it's, it's good for your health, and it's also good for your skin, by the way. So that's not, that's not a problem for your, for your body. The, the problem for your body is that, um, the refined sugar is concentrated and it, it spikes your, um, your blood sugar and your insulin, and, uh, you stay hungry because you will not get filled, so you eat even more cookies. And that's where you have the surplus of the calorie intake and, and no nutrition. So your body is craving for something more, and your body is getting addicted to this, to the sugar spike. So you, you have the dopamine in your body, you, you feel great for a short moment of time, but then you need more to feel, to feel that same happiness. And that's, that's the danger of, uh, of, of our hormones responding to, to the triggers in foods. And sugar is really, really dangerous there.

And will they talk about it? Yeah, yeah, they talk about it being the same as cocaine.

Uh, yeah, research, uh, mouse, mouse have left the cocaine behind and they went for the sugar. So it's more addictive.

Wow. Okay. That's, that's quite the image. Hey, I can just see him spinning over there. Woo. No. Yeah. I'm just looking at your website and I like the title here. Attention, women in menopause. What if you could feel and look 10 years younger and drop up to 4 dress sizes? And, and that's a bold statement. And I left your website in the comments as well, and then in the actual bio. So, and you have, you have pictures of yourself to back it up. So she's not just, you know, throwing this out there and saying, yeah, it's, it's an actual thing. It's not a fairy tale, right?

No, no, but it was, um, it was a fairy tale come true because I didn't believe I can do it. I failed for 30 years on every diet out there. I've done it all. So, and looking back, I wasn't even overweight when I started with dieting, but it was just the expectations of the world around me, especially the family of my husband. It was really important to be lean. And I had a pretty good weight. Actually at that time. But as a kid, I was always a bit of a fatty. And, uh, yeah, so I started losing weight and gaining weight, and that, and that yo-yoing, what's what women struggle with. So, uh, yeah, now looking back, that, that photo, it was one of my worst photos. And I thought I put it online because now I'm looking back and I, I didn't remember it was that bad. Because as I say, I was rationalizing it, that it was okay. I didn't feel that bad, and I tried to cover it up with my clothes. And then standing before my wardrobe, not knowing what to wear, going to buy something new and fitting everything, and then bringing it all back because it wasn't flattering me. But it couldn't. I couldn't hide my body anymore. So it was just too much and hopeless. I found I really gave up hope almost that I couldn't do it. So I wasn't so sure that it would work. So I was amazingly surprised that I got results pretty quickly and clients of mine as well. So I now have a bold claim that I will help people who work with me, if, if I think that they are a great fit for my program, to, uh, to lose 10 pounds within 30 days.

Nice. I love that. I love that.

And that's, and that's what I stand behind. And, uh, I won't let people fail.

Even, even better. And, you know, you walk the walk and talk the talk. And those are the types of guests that I have on my show and kind of the community we build, you know. Maybe you're a little bit scared But the hope, I think the hope part is like a mustard seed. With faith, it grows and multiplies. I think we have to hold on to that.

Without hope, I believe there's no life. So there you also, you always should see the positive sides if possible. So I always believe in a positive side, or unless I'm proven wrong. So no matter how bad the situation is, so Absolutely.

Patty is also saying she has diabetes, so that's why I don't eat sugary fruits and veggies. Do you have any support or ideas for her?

Yeah, diabetes, it is a good thing to, to eat more plant-based, but you should consult your doctor if you're chronically ill and, and go from there. So What I teach clients I work with is to eat as natural as possible. So that's always a good thing. And yeah, you should consult in your situation what could be done.

Yeah, that's really important. I, here at Wisdom House, we follow Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen, Daily 12. And you can, you can look that up, Patty. That might help you maybe just kind of tweak things. But as Claudia had mentioned it, and anybody listening or watching, to consult your doctor or nutritionist, you know, to, to find the best fit for you because we're all different, we're all unique.

Yeah, yeah. And I could also work together with, with, uh, with you and your medical person, so to say. So, so we could, uh, we could combine things with each other, and that, that would be good. But your health comes first. But I say that your doctor won't mind if, if I teach you how to eat natural and then leave the crap out of it, because that's basically what it's about. And, and all the emotional issues that can come with eating, of course. Mm-hmm.

Well, yeah, emotional eating is huge. I mean, I did it.

Me too. I didn't know it.

Yeah, exactly. It carried itself in our weight as well. But then there is also a hiding and a worthiness issue. I mean, that was my journey and many of my clients as well. So, um, or you hear from men that they became the funny guy because they were overweight, right? And that's how they tried to fit in and tried to feel accepted and try not to feel guilt and shame. I mean, that's the other part of it too.

Yeah. And that's, that's the difficult thing with, with emotional eating. So, uh, I did— I didn't know. I, yeah, I wasn't aware, I must say. I knew I was, I was taking nuts in the evening because I was tired and I was still busy and I was just getting some energy, but I didn't relate that as a form of emotional eating. And I had a conversation with our daughter, and I said, Nadia, I said, did you know that I was an emotional eater? But she says, I'm too. So she says, but I know for myself. And I said, but I didn't know. I didn't know for myself. And, and once you become aware then, then you can change. Because you have to be aware of what you're doing and why you're doing it. And there's so much emotion in, in food. If you go to friends, if you go to family, it's a social— ah, don't, don't be that difficult, take a bit of this, take a bit of that. Hey, you, you, you are not allowed to say no. So there's a lot of challenges in, in that, and especially when it comes to your own emotions. So I want to take the the guilt and self-blame and the negative self-talk out of it and just love yourself again.

I love that. And creating boundaries. I think that's the other part. You know, if someone was coming over and they wanted a vegan option, people would be ostracized. Oh, they're so difficult because they have a special menu. And we talked about that this morning at the table for breakfast. We're like, you know what, it should be mandatory that it is just vegan. And if you want meat, that's an exception, meaning that's a special meal. We got to reverse engineer this.

It will be in the future, I'm sure. It's the only way that we can deal with the climate change. We have to change something on the planet. And in fact, I hope that COVID would have some positive effect in that. Yes. That we would learn. That we're not treating the planet well, that we're not treating the animals well, that we need to do something on the climate change and then the sea pollution. You can get really depressed when you see what we humans are doing on the planet. And I think a plant-based, eating more plant-based, if only people would do it half of the time, it would make a huge difference for, for all kinds of, of, um, international problems.

Absolutely. And I'm, I'm part of Climate Healers, and nobody talks about the cow in the room, as they say, animal agriculture. So that's a whole nother show. But, um, I, I really thank you for your time. And is there— you had a free giveaway, did you not? Is that on your website?

Yes, I'm, uh, I have built a free app, so that's on my website. That is, uh, eatforchangechallenge.com/app, and then you will get access to that. Every week I have a free recipe so you can experiment with the richness of plant-based food because you will, you will learn new flavors and new spices. You can, you can spice your food up, really. It's lovely. And travel through the kitchens of the world, as I say. And there's also weekly, uh, a training that I did, I do. And, um, that you can also join our Facebook group, Plant-Based Weight Loss During Menopause. It's a long name. It's Bitly www.christinejgold.com/pbmenopause.

I've got all the links there in, in the, uh, the comments so everybody can grab that as well. And I always ask two questions of my guests, and I know that you had filled this out on the form, but here we go. How can we as a collective energy help make your dreams come true? You know, we were just talking about fairy tales.

Well, I think, uh, if you would just, uh use, use, uh, use your imagination for how you could change, how you can make a tiny change in your life yourself by just, um, experimenting with, with plant-based foods. And, and, and do it yourself and be open for it to, to share it. And of course you can talk with people about it and then send people to my group. I will be happy to educate them further and to educate you further. You can join my group even if you're not plant-based yet but you want to learn. And lately the group has grown, it's grown day by day and more and more people are coming that are not plant-based yet and I feel that it's really lighting up my soul, so to say. So I even get more excited to, uh, to create all kinds of products and solutions for them.

Amazing, amazing. I love that. I, I joined the group, so if you haven't, I, I, you know, just go. Who cares? Just be curious and be like a child and have fun with it. Uh, you never know what'll happen. Uh, and the last question: what does magic mean to you?

Magic means to me that you believe in miracles. You, um, you, you think, yeah, make the impossible possible. I believe in that. And that's that you have greater power than you might be aware of. So I really resonated with, with the introduction video of yours as well. We, we all need to heal, uh, we all need to learn in life, but especially, um, we need to matter.

Yeah.

So, and, and help others. That's, that's what I'm standing for.

Lovely, lovely.

And I think that's, that's a miracle, you know, that's people taking care of each other and not only, uh, not only focused on their self.

Perfect. Yeah, perfectly said. And thank you so much, uh, for being here and sharing your wisdom. And again, if you want to get a hold of Claudia, I have all the links there as well. Um, you know me, I— we're just going to talk about a few events that I have going on. I guess the closest one coming up here is the Dream Vision Map Workshop. That is coming up mid-January, and this isn't your typical vision board type of deal. This is really dreaming and visioning, the internal map, the key. You already have it. We meet up 4 times a year as well, and it's completely free. So if you've always wondered about visioning process, intention setting, manifestations, and doing it effortlessly, this is the place to be. The links are there as well. I also have a free group on meetup.com, Unleash Your Soul's Purpose. The links are there as well. And my book is out, uh, Intuition Saved My Life. Feel free to grab that on Amazon. Thank you so much for supporting me. Thank you so much for supporting the GANuary. Thank you so much for supporting Claudia. And thank you so much for everyone being here. I'm sending you so much love. Take care, and please remember Healing begins where the ego ends.