SPEAKERS: Becky Beach and Holli Rovenger:
Duration: 44m:06s
Becky Beach: 00:00
Did you know you have the power to change your life? It all depends on your beliefs. If you have limiting beliefs, you are limit yourself, I’m Becky Beach. I’m here to help you overcome your limiting beliefs. So, you can design your dream life. This is the Becky Beach show.
00:18
Hi, everybody. Welcome to the Becky Beach show joining me it’s Holli Rovenger. She’s a dietician and wellness professional and coach. I’m just so happy you’re here today, Holli.
Holli Rovenger: 00:28
I am so happy to be here, and it is just really wonderful to meet you face to face. We all meet each other virtually but now I feel like I know you. It’s pretty cool.
Becky Beach: 00:42
Oh, yeah. Yes, I got you too. I was looking at your website, Self Care Whisperer has a lot of good content, specially how to keep fit for the holidays because food is always creeping up, it’s everywhere. Everywhere you go, there’s all this food and you just got to you know, go say, goodbye, go out here.
Holli Rovenger: 00:59
It’s everywhere and a lot of people commented to me, they were worried about holiday weight gain. Starting even as far back as Halloween because you have all that candy there. So, I put together a presentation how to prevent or minimize holiday weight gain and the cool thing about it is all the tips and the strategies in there can be applied all year round. They’re really very good. My sister was my test subject when I was putting it together. She sat into the whole thing, and she said, “Well, I got a lot of good tips out of that.” So, I know that I hit the mark because she struggles a lot with her weight. So, she was the subject.
Becky Beach: 01:43
Yes, I also struggled with my weight. I used to be 400 pounds. Then I had a gastric sleeve done, I lost 200 but now I’m going back to like 270.
Holli Rovenger: 01:52
And what did you start at after the gastric sleeve?
Becky Beach: 01:55
Well, I was at 200. Lost 200 pounds and I started at 400 because I was just really out of shape, I would go to a buffet and have three plates of food. Like I was just crazy. I just kept eating and eating. Like I just couldn’t stop myself from eating. It was terrible. So, this gastric sleeve made it so I couldn’t eat very much at a time, but now it’s stretched. So, I’m starting to put weight back on it was just like a tool, but it didn’t help my situation.
Holli Rovenger: 02:19
Right. I think you know what it is Becky? My belief. It’s not about the food. Most of it is up here. So, a lot of it what I work with, and a lot of the things when you go through the presentation, I put together a lot of mindset tips and strategies on how to deal with things. A lot of people have trouble for example, Okay, three plates of food. So, I would ask you, my first question is, do you know what it feels like to be full?
Becky Beach: 02:50
Oh, yeah. Yes, I think the reason was because I grew up super poor and then when our dad took us out to eat, that was all the food we’re going to get the whole day. So, I would just gorge on food because I wanted to feel full for the rest of the day. So that kind of behavior transcended until adult life.
Holli Rovenger: 03:04
Well, I think that’s great that you know that because that’s the first step in really accomplishing anything is awareness, you’re very aware of that most people wouldn’t know. You know what I’m saying that this is my background cause and I think once you find that then you can work on the steps to fix it.
Becky Beach: 03:26
Oh, yeah, I really need to because I went to a nutritionist and a personal trainer for like three months and like I tried to exercise but exercises just made me hungry. I came home hungry, and I kept wanting to eat more. I got home and it was terrible.
Holli Rovenger: 03:40
Yeah, I think it depends on what foods you pair with the exercise. The whole goal with weight control and weight loss. You want to keep your blood sugar stable. It’s when you have the highs and the lows that you really start eating out of control. And then bad things happen because exercise speeds up your metabolism and if you’re not eating enough, if you’re not feeding your body what it needs, your sugar is going to drop and then that’s when the craving set in.
Becky Beach: 04:11
Yeah, that’s exactly what happened because I would just go home and, on the way, there was a Panera Bread, [sigh] Panera Bread. It was like so good to have like those coffee shakes you know, they’re like not even coffee or shakes. They have so much sugar.
Holli Rovenger: 04:28
Yeah, and that’s one of the things I’m going to talk about in our talk later on today is sugar. You know? previously I think the American Dietetic Association and all the major food associations were recommending, “You have got to cut back on fat! You got to cut back on fat!” and fat was like this big focus, which it still is to some extent, but now they’ve really discovered its sugar. Sugar causes inflammation in the body. Sugar can raise your cholesterol, sugar can raise your Triglycerides when you eat a lot of sugar. Like when you have those shakes, what happens is sugar goes up, and then all of a sudden Insulin is secreted from your pancreas. It grabs that glucose, your blood sugar, brings it into the cells, and then your blood sugar drops, and you get hungrier again. So, it’s like the high and low when you take in sugar.
Becky Beach: 05:25
Interesting!
Holli Rovenger: 05:27
Oh, yeah, sugar is just, it’s one of the major causes of inflammation in the body. And inflammation is the cause of most, if not all, chronic illnesses. So, it’s interesting, the whole thing with inflammation and then we hop in to heart disease.
Becky Beach: 05:46
Well, for those privileged enough to see this on video, Holli is absolutely radiant, like she has most beautiful skin. And she can tell, she really takes good care of herself that she’s eating right and is healthy.
Holli Rovenger: 05:58
Thank you. Well, I think that will lead into my story. Can I tell you, my story?
Becky Beach: 06:02
Oh, sure, I’m all ears.
Holli Rovenger: 06:05
Okay. So, what we’re going to talk about heart disease today. And I wasn’t going to start with this, but you kind of went into it that I take care of myself and everything. So, like, is that okay?
Becky Beach: 06:14
Oh, sure. Yeah.
Holli Rovenger: 06:16
We’ll hop into that. So, this is 2023. So, 2019, exactly. Okay, this time of year, I was up visiting my daughter and she lives in Pittsburgh and it’s very hilly. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Pittsburgh at all, but very hilly, and I do brisk walking for my exercise. So, I was out on one of my walks, and all of a sudden, I was, “Ow, my chest is hurting. Something isn’t right.” and I’ve watched those hills before. And yes, it was harder for me than walking in Florida where I was living because Florida is so flat. But it was a different kind of like, very different, uncomfortable, a lot of discomfort. So, I stopped I balanced myself and I kept walking again. And the same thing happened. It’s just like, super strange, super uncomfortable and it took me much longer to get back to myself. Well, the next day was Thanksgiving. So, we hung out, we relaxed, we eat our wonderful holiday meal, and everything was fine. And then I flew back to where I live, late Saturday. Sunday, I went out with a group of friends to play Pickleball. Did you ever heard of Pickleball?
Becky Beach: 07:43
No! Can you tell us what that is? I don’t know what that is.
Holli Rovenger: 07:46
Okay, so Pickleball is played with a short racket probably this big. It’s a combination of Tennis, Badminton, Racquetball, and Ping Pong. That’s the best way to describe it. So, it’s a shorter court than Tennis. And people play it Becky, into their 80s and to their 90s. They run around. It’s a lot of a lot of fun and it’s played with like a wiffle ball okay. it’s not a Tennis ball. So, you play usually, four people, to play two on a team. And I love it. And I run around like a little kid, we play.
08:25
So that Sunday, I went out this is the Sunday after Thanksgiving. And after about 10 minutes, I had a stop. Like I said, “Ah! Something wrong just didn’t feel great”, taking a deep breath. And okay, I said, Okay, stood there for a minute. And we started playing again. After another few minutes, the same thing happened. I said, “Okay, I’m going to give this another try.” Play it again and the third time I swear to you, I said self, “if you continue playing, you are going to pass out.” So, I politely called my friends together. And I said, “look, I can’t play something is wrong”. And I told them what was happening. And they wanted Of course, call 911 put me in an ambulance got me in the hospital and I said, “No, no, I think I’m okay. Now let’s just go for a walk.” So, they walk me around the parking lot, and they still were very concerned. But I said, “I think I’m okay.”
09:23
Now in the back of my mind. And I think as a business person, you’ll understand this. It’s Thanksgiving. We are approaching the holidays, the busiest time of year for a business person, right? I’m thinking all these little boutiques and events and sales that I have to put together and these events I have to be at. I think this is not good. I cannot have this thing happening to me right now. So, I said, “No, I’m okay”. So, I went home. The next day I woke up and then the rational thoughts started shifting in, “You can’t go on, you have to go to the doctor.” So, I called around for a cardiologist. I must have called four of them. Nobody could get me in for two months because I was a new patient. And when you don’t feel good, you don’t want to wait two months to see cardiologist.
Becky Beach: 10:23
How old were you at the time?
Holli Rovenger: 10:24
I was 63.
Becky Beach: 10:28
Too old yeah.
Holli Rovenger: 10:29
Yeah. And no, not to one, relatively speaking. So, you don’t want to wait two months. And then when you’re scared, or all of a sudden, I was getting scared, you definitely don’t even want to wait a day to see a doctor. All I remember is them saying, “If you can’t breathe, and you’re having chest pains, go to the emergency room.” So, after talking to these offices, I’m realizing I couldn’t get in. I said, “Okay, I’ve got to go to the emergency room.” So, I called a friend and she picked me up, she drove me to the ER. And I said, what needed to be said, I walked in, and I said, I can’t breathe and I’m having chest pains. Well, of course, when you say that they get you right in, I was rushed right in.
Becky Beach: 11:18
That’s great.
Holli Rovenger: 11:19
In pre-ICU, I got in first, they hooked me up to all these machines. And when I explained to the ER doctor, what was going on, like, I could see the light bulb going off in his head. Because of my background. I know enough that, he’s thinking, she may have a blockage or something. you know, sure enough, they admitted me to the hospital. And I guess I was three days, they took my blood, they did the EKG, they did a CT scan, they did a stress test. And the stress test I did wasn’t the one where you just ride on the bike, they injected something in my veins, which really- it makes you feel like you’re running at super speed.
Becky Beach: 12:07
Oh, it sounds awful.
Holli Rovenger: 12:08
It’s awful. It’s the guy who did it, “Look, you’re going to feel really awful, but I promise you, it’s for a very short period of time” and it was. And apparently, they got enough results from all these tests that they wanted to do the catheterization , which means, you know, they go in, they thread something through to your arteries in your heart to check to see if you have blockages. And if you have blockages, that’s when they put in what they call a “stent” to open up the pathway so that the blood can continue through to your heart and your heart can just pump in its regular motion, because my heart was having to work super hard, which was why I had that incident. So long story short, I ended up having three blockages, Becky, three!
Becky Beach: 13:01
Oh, my goodness, like why do you think that happened?
Holli Rovenger: 13:03
98% to 99% blocked. Like I was this close to having a major heart attack. Like I was so lucky that my body gave me these messages. That I’m in tune with my body. And then I, I said something, “I know, something is really wrong.” So, I want to go back now, there’s a method to my madness with the story. So, two years before this, two years! I would feel on and off something wasn’t right. And every time I felt that I went to my internist. He did a full physical. He did the echocardiogram, the EKG, every blood test you can imagine. Everything was fine. This went on for two years.
Becky Beach: 13:56
So crazy. Why do you think that was happening? Were you just not eating healthy? Or like, what were you doing wrong?
Holli Rovenger: 14:02
Well, as a dietitian, I know how to eat healthy, and I was eating up. Now, of course, I’ve learned since I needed to take it to the next step and also, I do have a very big family history of heart disease. But genes do not mean that’s your destiny You can change it, we do have the power to prevent it. I had gone through a lot of stress also, years leading up to this. I went through a divorce, and I truly believe stress is again, a major indicator for inflammation in the body and inflammation can cause heart problems.
Becky Beach: 14:46
Yeah, exactly. Well, that sounds as just awful. So glad that you’re okay now. Are you?
Holli Rovenger: 14:51
Fine yeah. I’m fine. Knock on wood, yeah. Thank you. A major snowballing effect, the stress leading to everything, but the point I want to make to everybody listening is, this was quietly going on in my body and shame on me for not asking the doctor for a referral to a cardiologist, what we have to all realize and I’m not lecturing please I don’t want to come across that way, but we do really need to, It’s such a passion of mine that I want to get this across. We need to realize doctors are amazing, They specialize in their area. internist specialize in internal medicine, gynecologist specialize in gynecology, cardiologist specializes in heart problems. So, I should have said, can you refer me to a cardiologist, I don’t hold my doctor responsible. He did all the tests, that he could, and he knows how active and busy I am. So, he just attributed it to that. But we all need to be our own health advocates. We all need to be the CEO of our own bodies, of our own health.
Becky Beach: 15:42
I love that saying a CEO of our own bodies. I love that!
Holli Rovenger: 16:11
Yeah, that is my mission to help women take everything that I am trying to put across that. I teach on my website, take it, and implement in their lives. The reason I was so passionate about talking about this with you, is because heart disease, believe it or not, is the number one killer of women.
Becky Beach: 16:37
I would never thought that. I thought it would be cancer or something.
Holli Rovenger: 16:40
Exactly. And that’s what most people think I thought that. But what I’ve read, and what I’ve really seen through reputable sources, heart disease, kills more women than all cancers combined.
Becky Beach: 16:57
Oh man because my mother died of breast cancer. And her mother died of cancer by what kind, you know, so I got cancer, my family, so I try to eat healthy when I can, but this lately it’s holidays are just out there, you’re out the window, goodbye.
Holli Rovenger: 17:10
Now, I will help you. I will help you with that. Heart disease, if you think about it, and what I’ve since discovered is for every woman that dies of breast cancer, six women die of heart disease. Is that amazing?
Becky Beach: 17:29
Oh, yeah. Wow. I never thought of it that way. I always thought cancer was the number one because you always hear about all these all this breast cancer stuff. like the pink ribbons. I saw so I assume that a lot of women die of that.
Holli Rovenger: 17:41
Well. And that’s why I was so passionate about speaking with you about that is because we don’t realize that we women don’t realize that. I mean, had I really been aware two years before my incident. I could have done something. I could have gone to the cardiologist, I would have done changes with my eating, I could have definitely done stress management techniques because 90% of these heart deaths are preventable through nutrition and lifestyle. That’s huge.
Becky Beach: 18:18
Well, I give you more exercise, so that be a good lifestyle change, I need to start exercising at least starting 3 minutes a day. That’s what my goal is.
Holli Rovenger: 18:26
Yes, exercise something as simple as going out and taking a brisk walk, it’s wonderful. People would think, a lot of people like hear the word exercise because they envision going to the gym and working with the trainer and doing all these weights and you don’t have to, yes, it’s great to do, muscle building and it’s great to do flexibility but aerobic exercise is the place to start. Go out, do a brisk walk, do a bike ride. You know what I do? Becky, sometimes I turn on YouTube and I find a fun dance channel and I just start dancing.
Becky Beach: 19:10
That’s a great idea. Yeah, I have YouTube I pay for the premium because I got tired all the ads. So, I’m definitely going to do. That’s a great idea.
Holli Rovenger: 19:17
It’s fun. It’s a lot of fun. So yeah, so some lifestyle changes you can make, there’s a ton of nutritional changes. You can make your, believe it or not sleeping better. sleeping better, I did a- I think it was five days, a five-day sleep challenge that I now have on the website to help women sleep better. There’s so many things that influence how you sleep. But that’s a huge lifestyle change and if you don’t sleep right, it can hurt your heart, and all those things that I talked about, I think you and I were looking at my Octopus earlier.
Becky Beach: 19:56
Yes. You should go to Holli site www.selfcarewhisperer.com, I have in the show notes. She has a super cute octopus. Could you explain it?
Holli Rovenger: 20:06
Yes, it has all the pillars of wellness or self-care, and an octopus has two arms and six legs. So, I’ve always maintained there are eight pillars to wellness and self-care. And the octopus turned out to be my spirit animal because it showed each arm and leg could be one of the pillars. But what they’re coming to find out with heart disease. Becky, it’s fascinating that they’re all these pillars I talk about influence heart disease, every single one of them, like emotionally, I was on a master class for heart, heart care. And the doctor was talking about one of their patients, one of their patient was in grief, severe grief. Cholesterol was fine. All the blood parameters were fine. Everything was perfect, but he was grieving. And he had a heart incident.
Becky Beach: 21:05
Oh! What happened ? did some family member died ?
Holli Rovenger: 21:09
Someone in his family, yes. It’s a horrible story. He saw his child get hit by a car. So, the poor man, I mean, he was in deep grief, and just that alone, cause him to have a heart problem. So that’s what they’re learning that the heart is a physical organ but there’s also that emotional component. But it’s just fascinating how all these aspects like loneliness, they are acquainting loneliness, the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Is that amazing?
Becky Beach: 21:43
Wow! I’ve never smoked, I tried it. Like, my sister was smoking, she gave it to me to try and I just felt like I was going to, like, pass out because it was in my lungs. I was like, this is gross.
Holli Rovenger: 21:55
I never liked smoking that back. It’s always one of the things when I dated a guy. I can’t be with somebody who smoke like [eww] the taste and the smell.
Becky Beach: 22:06
It’s a lifestyle change, like people just get addicted to it and it just takes over them, they can’t really help it.
Holli Rovenger: 22:11
Exactly, it’s an addiction. By that is one of the risk factors too and lifestyle changes for getting your heart healthier is stopping smoking the physical exercise, the sleeping, stress management, for sure. Whether you learn deep breathing, relaxation, yoga, meditation, there’s so many things you can do all of us that work online that do some kind of business, we’re in front of this plastic computer and it could be stressful. We’re sitting here in front of this all the time. So, it is important to get off and do some relaxation, do something. I call that kind of self-care your pampering time, like do something great for you.
Becky Beach: 23:05
Yeah! I have heard that you shouldn’t sit more than 20 minutes, but sometimes I’ll sit for hours, and my back will be hurt. So, I’m so much in pain. I got this little ball, this little roller behind me on my chair. So sometimes it helps my back.
Holli Rovenger: 23:19
Yeah! because otherwise, you’re going to have a back issue for sure. And I’m having believe it or not shoulder issue since COVID. Because I think my arm being on the computer so much in that one position. Like now I’m having to stretch my shoulder in different ways, because it’s painful.
Becky Beach: 23:40
Oh yes! I felt like I was getting carpal tunnels, like my wrist was like really numb. It was a little bit of pain in my wrist. So, I was think I was getting that, but it went away.
Holli Rovenger: 23:49
Yeah, because you’re typing, and your hands are doing that. But you had asked a very interesting question on one of your other podcasts and it was, “What happens if you don’t practice self-care?” If you don’t practice, In my opinion, self-care equals wellness, which is what I work with. If you don’t practice wellness, you can have heart problems. like, Diabetes. There are so many health problems that can develop when you don’t take care of yourself, and women tend to put themselves on the back burner because-
Becky Beach: 24:26
Yeah, they do because everybody else is more important but it’s just really hard to get over that mindset that everybody else is more important than you because you grew up as a woman. So, you’re expected to have dinner on the table. A lot of times you have to work because your husband can’t afford it, you know? have you stay home. So, it’s just really hard.
Holli Rovenger: 24:43
Yeah, and the thing is, you have to fill yourself up, “fill yourself up”, take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else and that is the truth and that’s the same thing, I like to say you have to unplug to rejuvenate, walk away, do something nice for yourself. You’ll feel better and you’ll be able to do more.
Becky Beach: 25:05
What I did for myself recently I bought a purse at Brighton collectibles because I decided, I didn’t got how I don’t know. I saw this business, the other purse is so old was like falling apart and it was holes in it. So, I thought I need to get a new purse.
Holli Rovenger: 25:15
What colour did you get?
Becky Beach: 25:21
I got this really cute one. It’s like a leopard print with like embroidered flowers on it.
Holli Rovenger: 25:26
Oh, I’d love to see that.
Becky Beach: 25:27
That’s really pretty.
Holli Rovenger: 25:29
That’s cute. Sounds great. Good for you. And every time you look at it, you’ll know, you did something nice for yourself.
Becky Beach: 25:38
Yes. Because I usually spend all my money on my child like I barely buy any nice clothes or anything. This is just an old T-shirt I’ve had since I was 18. As a fairy on it’s like really not faded.
Holli Rovenger: 25:51
So that could be your next reward. Go out and get yourself a nice new shirt. I think that’s a great reward. I mean, the best thing, I work with people on this, don’t reward yourself with food, it always has to be something else. Reward yourself like you did, with a nice purse, or a pretty shirt or something. That’s important. So, I also want to talk about a few other things, about what women can do besides-
Becky Beach: 26:23
Yeah, we need to find out how to avoid this heart problem. It sounds horrible that most women are dying from it, and we really got to find out a way to stop, what can we do?
Holli Rovenger: 26:34
Well, it is lifestyle changes. It’s eating right, it’s exercising, it’s stress management. And again, working on all the pillars of self-care and wellness. I am putting together a workbook and a tracker. So that women when they go to the doctor’s, they can bring it with them to not only track what their laboratory values are, but I’m going to come up with a list of questions that they can ask the doctor, because I think that’s where we fall short. You know, you get to the doctor, and it’s that white coat syndrome. we’re like, in awe, a lot of us so they going to awe with the doctor and you forget all those questions.
Becky Beach: 27:18
That’s so right because I got really cute doctor. So, I got trouble trying to remember anything sometimes.
Holli Rovenger: 27:24
Right! We forget. I’m putting together this wonderful educational book and planner tracker for women. And it will have all the numbers in there that we need to be aware of like our cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, your blood pressure, your blood sugar, your waist circumference, your body mass index, there’s a ton of them that we need to ask our doctors. And one of the things is there’s a test called C reactive protein. And doctors don’t do this on a regular basis.
Becky Beach: 28:03
C reactive term-
Holli Rovenger: 28:05
C reactive protein. Yeah, and I can send it to you also.
Becky Beach: 28:10
So, you’re going to give like a printable, basically, of all the stuff so you’re like helping your business with a printable so people can print it out, right? A printable planner or something?
Holli Rovenger: 28:18
I think I’m going to make a digital and printables. So, they can have it both ways and maybe if you can help me, I’ll put it on KDP.
Becky Beach: 28:26
Yes, of course, I got lots of training, I’ll can guide you to how to put publish books.
Holli Rovenger: 28:32
I’m now getting on to Amazon also, because I think it’s important to have like everything I’m saying, plus, I can put in there. This is the way you should be eating. These are the foods that you should include more these are the foods to cut out. Exercise things, stress things, things that can really help because it’s become such a passion of mine to really help women become aware of the danger of heart disease and then also how to prevent it.
Becky Beach: 29:01
We all have this sugar. Like, how rank your chances higher because I eat a lot of sugar. it’s probably bad though, but I just can’t help it.
Holli Rovenger: 29:10
Okay, so let me tell you about sugar. I was a sugar-holic too, chocolate. Oh my god. Okay, Love desserts. When I had my heart issue two years ago, I went cold turkey.
Becky Beach: 29:26
Oh! how do you do that? I can’t even regain to comprehend no sugar no life.
Holli Rovenger: 29:33
See, that’s what I never say never. Like yes and I will confess even yesterday, my daughter came back from a trip to New York. And she had my favorite dessert of all time, which is a chocolate Babka, and I had a little piece.
Becky Beach: 29:48
Sounds delicious. Don’t know what it is, but it sounds delicious.
Holli Rovenger: 29:51
It’s a Russian coffee cake. It’s so delicious.
Becky Beach: 29:53
Oh, that does sound really good.
Holli Rovenger: 29:55
Oh, so good but 99% of the time 99.9% I don’t have any sugar, I really don’t. Because I learned that sugar raises the inflammation in your body and that is a major problem for heart disease.
Becky Beach: 30:11
What about by having a piece of fruit, there is sugar in it is that okay?
Holli Rovenger: 30:14
That is different right because fruit provides antioxidants and phytochemicals, and phytochemicals is simply means chemicals/compounds from plants. I know it says big term, but it’s just the chemicals from plants that’s healthy, it provides antioxidants, which are good for us, because it neutralizes the cancer-causing cells in our bodies. And it neutralizes these inflammatory issues going on in our body. So, we want, we do want to eat more fruits and more vegetables. As with anything, I always say, it’s how much and how often.
Becky Beach: 30:54
Every time I buy fruit ends up going bad, like I just can’t eat it fast enough and I just buy too much fruit.
Holli Rovenger: 31:00
Maybe you are, maybe just buy a few of each. A lot of times you can buy frozen as long as there’s no sugar added. That’s good for you. I like to talk about when I talk about fruits and vegetables, because that could be a whole another podcast is to eat the rainbow.
Becky Beach: 31:18
I think I’m going to have you on again, and we can talk about that.
Holli Rovenger: 31:22
I love to eating the rainbow eating all the different colours, because each one, each little sphere of colours provides you with different nutrients, different vitamins, different minerals, different phytochemicals, and they’re all good for you. Americans, we were all trained to eat the wrong way. It’s not really our fault. When you think about it. We grew up this big serving of protein on our plate, little vegetable, big serving of potato or pasta, whatever, and maybe some fruit, when in actuality, protein servings should be smaller, we should be filling most of our plate with different vegetables because it is proven that most plant-based diets do help lower the risk for heart disease and in some cases, it can reverse heart problems.
Becky Beach: 32:16
Yeah, I think all those people like that are there in the Mediterranean and like China because they just eat so healthy over there.
Holli Rovenger: 32:23
Mediterranean, I like the Mediterranean diet out of all the diets out there. That’s my favorite because it does focus on, you’re allowed to have fish but mostly it cuts back on red meats. You can still have pasta, but it encourages more vegetables, more fruit and what it encourages everything fresh. You know, the difference is, if you’ve ever gone overseas, everything they make like our pasta is all homemade. There’s none of that processing.
Becky Beach: 32:55
It just sounds so delicious. Yeah, I’ve never been outside the US. You know, I’ve been to Mexico a little bit like they are on the border, but that’s about it never really been anywhere else.
Holli Rovenger: 33:04
Well, especially the Mediterranean like Italy, and I think Greece like that whole area, they tend to eat much healthier. And that out of any- I really don’t even consider that a fad diet. I think that’s a pretty healthy diet. After my incident, I switched over to a more plant based whole food regimen.
Becky Beach: 33:28
There is like a diet called plant based whole foods.
Holli Rovenger: 33:31
Plant based whole foods. And I’ll tell you what, I feel better. I sleep better. It’s a different way of life, I have to say, definitely different. But I focus more, and it will help you with weight loss also, because the whole thing with plant based eating you eat more, because you’re eating more low-calorie foods.
Becky Beach: 33:58
Yes, my goal really is to be healthy. Like I don’t really care if I get skinny, like I just want to be healthy because both my parents died. Like they lived really bad lifestyles, like my mother was like very obese, like she was like, five 500 pounds, at one point, so my dad smoked all the time. And he had a really bad problem with smoking. So that was really bad lifestyle, so I want to be really healthy. So, I could be around with my child.
Holli Rovenger: 34:23
Absolutely. And I know you and your audience has a lot of moms and I think this is the best gift they can give their children and their family is learn early on. Not wait till your mind age. Learn early on. These are the right lifestyle habits. These are the right nutrition habits to share with your family.
Becky Beach: 34:46
I noticed when I eat bad my child eats bad. Like if I bring home like Chick-fil-A that’s our go to is Chick-fil-A. If I bring that and he eats it too, what is that going to do for his health?
Holli Rovenger: 34:57
Exactly! So, they mirror what we do. So, when we eat healthy, and we exercise and we do things that are good for us, our children will do the same thing. So let me get your opinion and your audience can weigh in on this as well, too. I don’t know how to share all this information up here with the world. So, I was thinking of doing mini courses, or mini workbooks on each of the pillars of the octopus.
Becky Beach: 35:30
Yeah, go for it. Yeah, I will put if you have like a course or something, I’ll put it in the show notes. So, people can check it out and sign up.
Holli Rovenger: 35:38
So do you think that would be good like this, take it slow, because I think when you look at all the facets of wellness, it can be a little overwhelming. But if you focus on one thing at a time, it’s like, eat the elephant one bite at a time. We’ll just, one little bite of the octopus at one time and I think that’s the way to be successful.
Becky Beach: 36:02
You people eat octopus? I am just curious.
Holli Rovenger: 36:03
But actually, they do. I’m not a lover, believe me. But yeah, they do. I don’t know about octopus, but squid, for sure. But anything is possible.
Becky Beach: 36:13
Yeah anything.
Holli Rovenger: 36:22
That’s crazy. So, there’s just so much that we can work on, and I try to focus a little bit every day, I’m just doing something a little bit better. And if you can just take little baby steps every single day, I think you can accomplish, better health, better lifestyle, and just prevent all the chronic diseases. Especially like I have family history, you have family history. A lot of people have family history of illness.
Becky Beach: 36:54
Yeah, this is Brian. He’s the reason why I want to get healthy he my little sweet, like my world, basically.
Holli Rovenger: 37:01
Absolutely. Your whole life.
Becky Beach: 37:04
Yes!
Holli Rovenger: 37:04
It stays that way. Even they don’t realize it, but my babies are in their 30s. And I still feel like that they say jump like, “Okay, I’m coming over. What do you mean?” Feel like that. But Becky, cherish every single moment with them because it goes so fast.
Becky Beach: 37:25
Yes, he’s growing. He’s already six years.
Holli Rovenger: 37:29
What? Are you in school?
Becky Beach: 37:31
Now he goes to kindergarten.
Holli Rovenger: 37:33
You’re in kindergarten already? Oh, my goodness. How do you like it?
Brian: 37:38
I like it.
Holli Rovenger: 37:41
What are you learning?
Brian: 37:43
I’m learning more than one thing at my school.
Becky Beach: 37:48
Yeah, he learns a lot!
Holli Rovenger: 37:50
You learned your ABCs?
Becky Beach: 37:51
he is doing math too.
Brian: 37:54
I knew my ABC since I was in Prague school.
Becky Beach: 38:02
He liked his ABCs, he is a smart kid.
Holli Rovenger: 38:04
Look at his smile. We’ve got a beautiful smile. So yeah, our children are the reasons that we do, what we do a lot, and we try to make changes and be at our best so that we can share with them.
Becky Beach: 38:15
Yes, exactly. As I’m a big woman, I’m six feet tall, and I’m really big boned and when I go out. when I did get down to 200 the smallest dress, I could wear was a 12 and there was a lot 12 that did not fit me.
Holli Rovenger: 38:32
But you did. I mean to lose what you lost is amazing. That’s fantastic. I hope you celebrated that.
Becky Beach: 38:40
Yes. Like I was always just goes a shopaholic. I was always buying new clothes and I love little dresses to wear, and I just looked really good. I was single at the time, too. I was hoping to like date some people and so I had that confidence finally I just started dating until I was 30.
Holli Rovenger: 38:55
Whoa! How old were you when you got married?
Becky Beach: 38:58
I was like 32. So, it didn’t take long at all.
Holli Rovenger: 39:04
Wow! So how did you meet?
Becky Beach: 39:06
We met at my church because I got to go to a church of Christ in Dallas. So, we met there and then we actually got married in the same place we met, in the chapel.
Holli Rovenger: 39:14
That’s nice. That’s special. Good for you. I’m very impressed, you’ve accomplished a lot. And so, you know, you can do anything, right?
Becky Beach: 39:27
Yes. I just got to like put in terms of my health because like I’ve done a lot and good in business. But now I got to focus on my health. You know, I got the business, take care, but now it’s time for my health. So that’s why I was hoping to meet with you and have you helped me with this.
Holli Rovenger: 39:40
I will help you. I’ll be happy to help you for sure. Yeah. This this whole thing with women and not putting ourselves first. We’ve got to reverse the thinking that we take care of us. We’ll be more armed to take care of everybody else.
39:59
In terms of heart disease, there are major changes with eating. And like I said, physical activity, sleeping, stress, blood pressure, there are just so many things that can really help your heart to be healthier. So, we did talk about a lot today we talked about, you know? I really wanted people to get an awareness of the importance of knowing that there is a problem with heart disease for women, and that it can be silent in your bodies, and you don’t even aware of it, and you’re even aware of it.
40:32
One thing that we didn’t mention, and I’ll close with this, Becky, is the symptoms in women are very different than the symptoms that men have, you know how they say, this heart disease was traditionally known as a man’s disease, you get that intense pressure, and it shoots down you heat. No, I’m going to read off the list of symptoms that a woman can have, because our bodies are so different than a man and anything above the waist, can be reason to call your physician or go to the emergency room. Sweating, lightheadedness, or dizziness, unusual fatigue, indigestion, neck, jaw, shoulder, upper back, or abdominal discomfort, shortness of breath, pain in one or both arms, nausea, or vomiting. And really, in other words, anything that’s unusual for you, above your waist can be what I like to say, pictured as a flashing red light, or a stop sign. it just say stop, I need to call my doctor, I need to go to an emergency room. So, we’ve covered the importance of knowing and becoming aware of heart disease and how it is the number one killer of women. What you need to do as far as lifestyle nutrition changes, eat healthier, focus on all the different pillars of self-care, know what your numbers are. Ask questions at the doctor’s office and become the CEO of your own health.
Becky Beach: 42:09
Well said, yes.
Holli Rovenger: 42:11
So, there’s a lot of information in there but hopefully, the important thing is that we’ll start caring for ourselves and we will start paying attention to our numbers, we’ll ask questions, we’ll ask for tests. And it’s really interesting. This book I was reading written by a cardiologist who focuses on woman’s hearts only. She said, Look, if a doctor won’t sit down with you and answer your questions, get another doctor who will.
Becky Beach: 42:40
Yes! That’s so true.
Holli Rovenger: 42:44
So, well then, we could go on and on, talking about which foods to include which to not.
Becky Beach: 42:50
I see, to have you on again, you just have so much knowledge to share. Well, everybody please go to www.selfcarewhisperer.com, and I’ll have in the show notes. So, you can read more about Holli and what she can do to help you like she was like, amazing. I can’t believe that there’s this woman out here like this that has so much information for you. Oh, my goodness!
Holli Rovenger: 43:10
Thank you, Becky. Thank you so much for having me on.
Becky Beach: 43:14
Sure. Yeah, visit www.mombeach.com/podcast to learn more about Holli and visit her website and also her training I actually signed up myself to this training because I wanted to try to get myself healthier because I just spend my time on my business not my health.
Holli Rovenger: 43:28
You got to focus on you, or you won’t be around to focus on your business.
Becky Beach: 43:32
Yes, so true. Okay, thanks so much again, alright everybody. Goodbye!
43:37
Thank you so much for listening to the Becky Beach show. Please go to www.mombeach.com/podcast to learn more about my podcast and for show notes. If you want a 2023 free printable gold planner, please go to www.mombeach.com/subscribe. I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. Have a great day. Goodbye.
WE ALL NEED TO BE THE CEO OF OUR OWN BODIES, OF OUR OWN HEALTH.
ANYTHING THAT’S UNSUAL FOR YOU, ABOVE YOUR WASIT CAN BE A FLASHING RED LIGHT OR A STOP SIGN!
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!
Transcribed by Neeraj_Chand
