This week, Courtney dives headfirst into rethinking our relationship with food alongside diet dropout and advocate Jessie Johnson!
Check out Jessie's Website, or Instagram to learn more!
Want to engage with Courtney Nicole? Check out Courtney Nicole's LinkedIn, Sidecar Solutions, and Nonpareil Coaching for next steps.
This week, Courtney dives headfirst into rethinking our relationship with food alongside diet dropout and advocate Jessie Johnson!
Check out Jessie's Website, or Instagram to learn more!
Want to engage with Courtney Nicole? Check out Courtney Nicole's LinkedIn, Sidecar Solutions, and Nonpareil Coaching for next steps.
Hello and welcome to the podcast, What Our Parents Didn't Teach Us. This is a place where we will be creating space to discuss all the lessons that we've learned along the way that have led us to where we are today. We'll have conversations with entrepreneurs and freelancers and people from all over the world about what it means to be successful. And the things that we've learned that we hope to pass on to you. I'm your fearless host, courtney Nicole. I'm a coach that currently resides in Denver, Colorado with my wife, two dogs and plus or minus 27 plants. And I can't wait to talk to you. Welcome everyone to the podcast What Our Parents Didn't Teach Us. I'm here today with my good friend, Jesse. Jesse and I met at a coworking space and we are both on our own journeys, but both of them have a lot to do with health. So Jesse and I will be discussing a little bit about health, a lot about success, and maybe even a tiny bit about her rogue activism, as she says on her website. So Jesse, tell us a bit more about you and what you'd like everyone to know.
Jessie Johnson:Oh, well, hi. Hello. That was quite the introduction. I'm Jesse Johnson. Trying to get the name JJ, to stick, so feel free to call me that. I'm a nutritionist by trade and I have a long story behind that with personal health journeys, eating disorders, all that. That kind of brought me to where I am today. And then, like Courtney said, I am a self-proclaimed rogue nutritionist and food activist as well. And in that work, what I do with my company or brand that I'm trying to build, which is Good Farma, and that's Farma with an F, there's sort of two pillars. So I'm what I call a diet dropout. So when I work with clients on the nutrition side, it's very focused on common sense wellness, food freedom, and really just getting in tune with our body and the food and reconnecting with our food and food system. So that's one pillar sort of. Combating diet culture. And then the other one is combating food systems. So a big focus for me or where the advocacy work comes in is fighting for what I call fair food for all and sustainable food systems. So that's looking at how we're farming, how we're processing, purchasing, who can access what, and the two really over lap. And that's sort of what I'm building right now and what I do.
Courtney Nicole:That's amazing. Yes. Doing so many different things. Good stuff, doing food stuff, doing Farma like all of these are such important pillars of society. And I know that you're able to touch each and every one of them. And I just love the genuineness with which you approach the topic of food. You mentioned diet dropout, and I know a lot of the fad diets are where you get some great results with clients. What do you think that has done psychologically for our culture, with all of the different diet options?
Jessie Johnson:It's just, I just feel, cause I fell into it. I've done every single diet, every type of food lifestyle you could think of. And. And I was trained heavily in it, and I did see it work for some people, but it was very short-term. There was no sustainability in it. And then with the psychological part, it just comes with fear, fear of food, fear of doing something wrong, fear of you know, your body, not looking a certain way. And then there's the guilt and the shame when you can't keep up with it, or it becomes too hard. And then that's just when people spiral and yo-yo diet and binge eat. And to me, food, it's so emotional. And it's rooted in culture and again, access and just celebration and all the things tradition. And when you try to put someone on a diet that restricts everything and doesn't cater to those different pillars of where and why we eat. It's just, it's so disconnected. And then I just see people it's just. It's a burden. It really. Eating becomes a burden. And then that just pulls you down. So why I just say no to diets is A) never see them work in the longterm and I see lots of them, on specifically many new trendy ones, causing more harm than good in the long run with health. Especially with women too. Because we're, our bodies are just so much more complicated. Uh, I mean, We have to procreate other beings, so there's a lot going on. And when you basically starve your body, you're starving your mind, you're starving your soul. And that, kind of feeds down to everything else in your life. So to me, it's just, eating what makes you feel good. Both emotionally, what feels your soul what's makes you feel happy, but also makes your body feel good and learning what that means. And it's a long journey to figure out. Cause I don't like to label food good and bad or clean or dirty, but there's really no other words to describe it. I like to call it like nourishing food. There's the food that's highly processed, and for some people that's all they have. And that's another discussion. So I don't like to make people feel guilty about eating that stuff. But it's empty calories really. And then there's much more on the environmental side when it comes to industrialized food for me. But it's getting to where food's more whole. And people like to say, you know what our ancestors ate, but we're not cave men anymore. So I don't necessarily like to say that. It's more about just something that's more in its whole form, came from the earth, keep it as whole as possible. That's local and seasonal, if you can, as possible. And a cookie, it's still something great to you. You can still enjoy a cookie. It's just the quality of the ingredients that you put in it, I guess when it comes down to it. And when people figure that out, the psychological piece of it just starts to make more sense. Like it just becomes easy and common sense and there's no fear, no stress, no guilt. And they're eating foods that make them happy, but also makes their body feel good at the same time. So that is the ultimate goal.
Courtney Nicole:I love one of the things that you always qualify with, which is if you can. And I think that that's a huge portion of the food epidemic, if you will, around the world, is that people haven't even stopped to consider whether or not they could. So there are certain situations where you consciously are aware that you can't make a different food choice. But I believe that there are a lot of other times when you can. And we're not talking about just choosing the salad at the steak restaurant or something like that, it's, it's a deeper choice. But I think a recognition of what's going on inside you and just the initial stage of saying, Hey, I have a choice. Especially when I'm eating at home, what, where do I shop? If it's the same distance to both grocery stores. And at the end of the day, the price isn't that different. You have a choice. And really taking that choice on board could provide a lot of freedom for people. Have you seen that the choice hits at a certain stage in your process?
Jessie Johnson:Yeah. It's usually halfway through, depending on how long I'm working with a client. Or just any conversations that I'm having. We just haven't been taught anything real nutrition and educational system. And unless you're getting it at home from your parents I think people don't really learn nutrition or what wellness really is until they've come to a severe life or death situation in their health, or something really bad happens, or they want to change their body. And then that's when they start thinking about it. But usually it's, we're bombarded, with first of all, all the packaged food, you walk into a store. Most of it, 80% of it is the processed food. It's coming in a box, can something. And not that that's bad, some of them are great quality. But a lot of the stores, especially where I grew up, like the produce section was so small and didn't have very much for variety. So, I didn't know any other green outside of iceberg lettuce until I went to moved away to college. Like I never knew what spinach was. I only knew red delicious and granny Smith green apples until I moved away too. And part of the problem is the education and just knowing. And then, like, I never had asparagus until I was probably 24. And you know, when when I tell people like to try new vegetables, they just. There's a fear. There's a fear that it's not going to be good. They don't know what to do with it. There's lack of education or experience in the kitchen is one thing. And then yeah. Access is the other. But once I start talking about it or I show like some simple recipes and they try it, they're like, wow, I didn't realize that that was going to be so good. Or that was that easy or that I could find that. Or they're like, Oh, I can't find that. And then they start to understand the issue of access themselves and they start to like advocate for it. Like they go to I'm like go to your grocery store and ask the grocer that, tell them this is what you want, or this is the brand you want. And they start to feel empowered with that. And then they start to explore more. And then like their husband or partner, or whoever starts, they're eating along. They start feeling great too and learning and start, it just starts to spiral. I have a client right now where they're just like, I can't believe the variety we have, we were eating the same four things and you only gave us three new recipes, but they're changing the ingredients in it. And they're getting so excited about it. And they're like, we're eating more than we were before, but we're actually losing weight. I don't focus on weight, but it just sort of is this little side symptom that you get and,
Courtney Nicole:is happy. Yeah. Then all the other things start to kind of fall in line. I think that's awesome. I want to talk a little bit more about your personal success and what you have gone through and times that you've failed, in your journey to being who you are today. And now I feel like what you're expressing is you're seeing a lot of success with clients and with this new track that you're on. But for anyone out there that maybe isn't quite sure what they want to do, or maybe they want to be involved in health, but they aren't sure in what industry, I know you went through a lot of schooling and a lot of that you do absolutely use. But what do you think were the pillars or the key moments in your life that really led to the success you're seeing today?
Jessie Johnson:Yeah. Yeah, I always struggled. So I. I'm a rebel by trade, or at least that's what everyone calls me. And it's funny because growing up I was extremely shy and I would always compromise. And that's one of my lessons is I would just follow what everybody was saying I should be doing. And that actually led to my eating disorder. When I was 13 because people were telling me I should, based on my looks and my body, I should be a model or should be doing this. Or like, I should be able to find a job based on my looks. And I was like, Oh, I don't like any of that, but it, of course I started to starve myself and all that to fit these ideals. And it also was just that one sense of control I felt I had, because I felt everyone else was controlling my life. So I'm the oldest sibling which comes with a little bit more pressures as well. I came from a working class family where my parents were working two to three jobs sometimes at night. So I became like, a mother at like eight years old. And so that pressure alone sent me into some things, but it also confused me. Like the pressure in high school to try to figure out who, what you want to do, what college you want to go to. I put my college applications in two hours before they were due. Like I finished them. I took the act the very last moment I could, like, I just wasn't planning for anything. Cause I didn't know what I wanted to do. I just knew I wanted to travel and I knew I wanted to do something that impact the world, not just my bank account. Like that was just something I always knew. No idea what it was going to be. And the funny thing for me is, you know, you grow up and your parents and elders tell you be whoever you want to be, follow your dreams, do all this stuff. But when you do it, when you just yourself and you're expressing yourself authentically, they just kind of look like, well, that's not who I thought you would be, or you're not doing it the way I thought you should do it. And then they kind of backpedal. So then I'm like, well, you're telling me to be myself, but I'm not. My self is actually the sort of rebel, you know, spontaneous person who's not going to follow this path that society thought I should take. And I struggled with that for a long time. So went to college, spent a lot of money, changed my major six times came out with like history and African studies. Just because I loved African dance and African history. And I studied abroad in Kenya and I came back and I had a term left and I was like, what can I do to get out on time? They're like, you're two credits away from a history degree. I'm like, great. Don't know what I'm going to do with that. I just know I'm going to travel. And I knew I was probably going to get more education at some point once I figured it out. So then I was living abroad, traveling. Loved that, struggled a lot with my health though at that time really came to terms with A) like, Where I grew up, like looking at your home from the outside in is such an amazing and like, bitch slap experience really? Like I lived in South Korea and just their, their stereotyped opinions of what Americans were when I arrived, just blew my mind. And I was 22. I was so young. But that was eye opening. And then also meeting other people and having them call out my bullshit. Like, Hey, you're, you're being a brat, you're doing this. And I'm like, no one ever did tell me that. Because I was the oldest, I was this perfect. Like I was doing everything right. No one actually told me that, like I was being selfish or something like that. And. That was a great experience. And then figuring out my health journey. Like I was always interested in nutrition ever since my eating disorder, but it just kinda like took different paths. So when I came back, I decided I wanted to work in healthcare. I didn't know what it was like. My first fail was that I applied to this holistic health practitioner program, which was like two years long. It's basically online. It was, I didn't do my research. It wasn't like super credit. It wasn't super stable. It was just like something that I could afford. And it actually shut down bankruptcy and there's still like a class action suit going on with it
Courtney Nicole:Ooh. All right.
Jessie Johnson:the person like just took the money and ran away. And that, so that was like okay, well, I didn't do that very smartly and I just lost like$6,000 and don't have a degree. And then I decided on a whim, I had moved to the West coast and I was like, I want to be a doctor, but I don't want to do traditional medical school. I found out that there was such a thing as a naturopathic doctor. Which is not something. I don't think they can legally practice in Wisconsin, where I'm from. So I never heard of this before. And I applied on a whim and got in. I was like, all right, I'm guessing I'm going to medical school. And I had to take two years of science courses because of course I had a bachelor of arts and history. So
Courtney Nicole:it kept catch up a little
Jessie Johnson:yeah, catch up a little while. So it's a lot of chemistry. And two years of more school later, I finally start medical school and I did a year of that and I did enjoy it, and I really did want to heal people, but that's where I started seeing the issue of access to food and the gaps in education. So what I thought was basic knowledge. Like I was way, way up here and everyone was down here. And I was just like, okay, I need to fill that gap because I can't tell these people to go do this, go home and do this. And they're coming back feeling like failures of being angry at me. Cause they're not getting better because they just don't have the support or the understanding or the access. So I dropped out of medical school after year one. And so that was a really expensive experiment. Like. But, like everything I learned, I still use today and a lot of the classes I took prepared me for the master's program I then went into. So I did a two years master's program for clinical nutrition and functional medicine. And that it's actually very highly medically based. So you actually had to pre have pre-medical studies to apply to this program. So at least I had that done
Courtney Nicole:out that it was an
Jessie Johnson:and it was okay. Then I actually got to skip a couple because I already did like a whole year of biochem, so I could skip that. So even though it felt like a mistake, it ended up being really great. And then that's where Good Farma sort of came from. Because I, after that, and in my intro, I had to do a year long clinical internship. I worked with intense cases, but it was all very based on everyone was put on a restrictive diet. Everyone was put on 12 supplements. And I was like, this just doesn't feel right to me. I'm not sure. I'm okay. And I was constantly arguing with my mentors. I mean, There were supportive and open, but they're just kinda like, no, you're wrong. Like, this is what we were trained and I'm like, yeah. Okay. So then I went out and had my own private practice for a year and I was seeing clients one-on-one and I was kind of doing meal plans. I wasn't doing supplements, but it was meal plans and a lot of people were coming in wanting to be on diet, like already in the diet framework. So I was like, okay, well, I'll meet you there. We'll start there. And if it's not working, I'm going to tell you no. But that was still just frustrating me as well. I was like, this is still not it. I don't like any of this and then COVID hit. So then I gave up my office. I stopped taking clients. I just came up, retreated to my mountain home and just reflected on like, what I wanted to do. And I realized I was still compromising. This was just a, sort of a theme of my life, compromising for what other people wanted or what was expected of me. And I think that's my biggest lesson. It's just like, I finally sat back and was like, I'm not compromising anymore. I'm just going to end like the new buzz word is authentic. Like people were calling me rogue before, but now I think rogue is just authentic. I think it's the new word.
Courtney Nicole:you. Yeah, many, many words to describe just being yourself. Heck with it.
Jessie Johnson:Yeah, I'm just like, okay. I guess I was ahead of the curve on the authentic boom of 2020, but
Courtney Nicole:Somebody got me a magnet says, fuck the haters. And I'm just like, that's my permanent vibe right there.
Jessie Johnson:Yeah. I'm just like, okay, well I was authentic before all you were, but that's fine. I've just been owning that and that's actually, I feel like when Good Farma started to make sense to me and I figured out how I wanted to serve my clients and it's been going so well! Who knew just having like that organic conversations with people about food, with nothing else, with no other agenda would be all that they needed. So it's really more just counseling at this point for me. And then I can really focus on the advocacy piece. And they start to get involved and they start telling their friends and they really start my clients build my community for me. And so, yeah, I think my biggest lesson is not compromising, knowing when to say no, and just being okay to be yourself. I'm 34 now and I'm just now, like in this last year, the biggest gift I'm getting good from Good Farma is figuring out who I am and owning it, like, like this sort of shirt that I'm wearing, this bright pink velvet shirt, like I've always would have loved it, but I never had the confidence to wear it. Cause I thought it was, too bold. I was like, if I could wear a, like a fauxhawk every day, I would, I just don't do anything for my hair though. But I'm like, I wear doc Martins now, which I never did. Like, I know I don't want to wear anything else. I like, I'm going to ride my motorcycle to meetings. I don't care. And
Courtney Nicole:That's awesome.
Jessie Johnson:know, like that's just sort of an image of myself that I am learning to own as I find ownership in my business, which has been really interesting and fun for me.
Courtney Nicole:My glasses are bright blue for anybody listening to this. And when I was debating getting these versus some black ones or some Brown ones, and I was like, I don't know, man, they're bright blue. Like, can I pull this off? And at the time I had like neon pink hair. And I just remember one of my friends when I was like, I don't know, man, blues kind of a bold color. Will it go with everything? And she looked back at me and she was like, Courtney, ya pink hair. And sometimes when you've just taken one step, it becomes like a snowball effect of just wanting whatever is uniquely you. So I think it's, I think it's fun just to be uniquely you and be like, well, I have pink hair, I wear hot pink shirts, or I do this, or I ride my motorcycle, and just be yourself. So I feel like one of the things that we've kind of danced around in a topic that I've seen in our conversation today, as well as just in times I've heard you speaking was this relationship between inside and outside. And I keep listening for clues and trying to see if it's, Oh, you should be listening inside to your body about the food that you're consuming outside. But, I think because food is so cultural, we consume it based on exterior circumstances. Like you said, celebrations, or cultural traditions and all of that is external to us. But I think you have to relate both the inside with the outside and the inside might, in you, be screaming, do something different, be something different, and then it reflects in the outside and that's how you get satisfaction for the inside. And it just seems like, I think there's a real dichotomy in society between what's inside us and what's outside us. And whether that's with food or with other situations or the way we relate to people or cultural things. What did you do say is the easiest way or the most effective way to try and reconnect what's outside with what's inside? Is it with meditation? Is it with journaling, whether it's in your life or what you've seen with clients? I think people need to know how to connect those two. Because there will be people, especially for me in the LGBT community, they're like I always knew inside, I was just different. You know, I always knew that I wasn't going to line up and match up with the box that everyone was trying to put on me. But it wasn't until I was older that I had the confidence to unite what I knew was in me all along with what was around me. So whether it's with food or just with who you are, because I think food becomes who we are and it fuels all the greatness that we're meant to achieve, so how would you say, You know, good practices, just some ideas for people that might be listening to connect what's inside. What, you want, what, you know you are meant to be with the reality that you live out.
Jessie Johnson:Yeah, it's a full question. Everyone's slightly different. I think most of my clients really enjoy journaling, actually. I don't want you to do a food journal where you're tracking everything and you're tracking calories and micros. I don't believe in numbers and formulas with food, but if you eat something and you feel a certain way, write it down. Like emotionally and like with symptoms in your body, like, did you get a headache an hour later. Was your digestive system upset, or did you get a ton of energy? Did you sleep better? Or were you happy and elated or did you just feel so good after that chocolate? Like you just felt so satisfied. And then also reflect on why you're eating, what you're eating. Like, why did you grab that cookie at that moment? Like, were you stressed out? Were you happy or were you at a celebration? Reflecting on all parts of the food. For me, I think even the first step before that is to brain dump everything out and just reflect on it later. It's just getting over the fact that food doesn't have a moral value. Like society puts moral value. It's what I call there's a topic of healthism it's called it's like putting a moral value on wellness and health and food. And like, if you're not pursuing health or you're not eating, what's classified as clean, healthy food, like you're essentially either lazy or you're immoral, right? Like you're not going to healthy heaven if you don't drink celery juice. So I'm like getting over, like, there's that. you know? Right. We have Gwenyth Paltrow on the goobers, making you feel like you're not worthy. If you're not drinking collagen lattes, and that's not true. Like the woman that's not drinking a collagen latte, but like cooking from scratch from her garden for her family every night, I would argue that's probably even more moral for her and the planet in the future. So getting over that, that, and that's rooted in food fear, of course, in diet culture and just being like, I'm going to eat what I want to eat, and then I'm going to see how I feel after. And culture does play a lot, I think, for the inside as well. Cause I that's where you come from. That's what you grew up eating. And I think you don't have to like say no to like grandmas to cultural, whatever that you grew up on. That's fine. Like, my grandma makes these cheesy potatoes. I'm from Wisconsin. So cheese and potatoes are like religion. Yeah. And but I mean, they're using like Velveeta, I'm just like, well, we can still make these without Velveeta.
Courtney Nicole:Ooh, but will they be as good. I don't
Jessie Johnson:probably won't.
Courtney Nicole:...queso and it is just mostly Velveeta. It's got some, like real, authentic roasted green chili and bacon bits and other things that make it so tasty, but, Oh, I just don't know if we made it out of something else, if it would be quite as good. And I think you got to just like, let those moments happen. But maybe what I'm hearing you say is just like a pause and just think about it. You know, when you feel like something is inside you, pause and be like, Hey, is this appropriate or good for me to live out outside? You know? And that's what we learned from being a child all the way to adulthood is that instantaneous pause when you're just like, Hmm. We think before we speak or we think before we eat or anytime, you're taking an action, that's going to bring something from inside you to the outside world or something from the outside world to inside you. Whether that's a belief that's being touted from a stage, whether that's an opinion, whether it's food, anything that's going to go inside your mind or your body, I think it's appropriate to pause. And I've noticed a lot more. Happy people who will sit there and leave maybe the last bite or two of their food, because they're full and they're satisfied. But you have to pause. If your entire mentality is to consume what is in front of you, you'll never pause. So I think it's just like, just pause anytime that that transaction is happening, make it intentional. And make it something that you've decided to do, not something that happened to you because I think that's when people get really overwhelmed and out of balance with their in and outside worlds is when they just don't stop for just a hot second. And I think journaling is a great way, because it's technically your inside outside of you. And it makes an intimate connection between the two worlds. But there are plenty of other ways, having a conversation with friends, texting somebody about it, getting involved in a program that helps you to pause. I know there are apps and things like that as well. So it's just, give it a second. Just
Jessie Johnson:Yeah, well that, that should just let that carries over into everything in life. Like, well, first of all, I would say like, it's knowing that you made the choice to pause, or you made the choice on that food decision. That's very empowering. So that's one thing, but the pause thing is just not when you're eating, like I would say like, if you can, like take your food and sit down by yourself or with one other person and pay attention to it. That's also a step, like not what the food is just like take the time with it. That's when you can really start to learn, like I am full, or this is how I am feeling. Like get all the sensations. But like in life, we just move way, way too fast. And we're expected to. Like, you can't slow down, like don't, you dare slow down. You're not going to be successful. Or like, you're not going to make it to retirement. Yeah. Holy crap.
Courtney Nicole:wheel will spit you out with limbs!
Jessie Johnson:And I'm just like, I'm having this conversation with, even my husband lately. Like we have a whole lot going on or life is super chaotic, but and we're both entrepreneurs, but I had to take last Friday off. I'm just like, I'm just done. I'm done at 10. Like, I'm just not here. Like I have to have the day and it's fine. Like, there's a sense of guilt. Like, Oh, I should be doing all this stuff. I have this long list because it's just me right now. But I'm like, sometimes rest is progress and that can be reflected into any part of your life, I think that's another lesson. I'm okay. Learned. I'm really good at setting boundaries now, not just with what I like when I'm eating just in life in general, even with family, I'm just like, I'll be back in six hours. I just need a moment. I'm like why waste five days working at 10, 20% when you can just take one day and rest and then be working at 90 to a hundred percent the rest of the week?
Courtney Nicole:Oh, yeah. I love boundaries. I just, I could geek out on this topic all day and I know we're about out of time, but I wonder if you imagine the boundaries, which the easiest explanation is a fence. And what if the boundary that is you encompassed half you and half outside of you? Like it was the world around you and the people you interact with, but it was also inside of you and the thoughts you think and whether or not you go down that rabbit hole, or you believe those lies, you were told when you were younger or you're fat or any of those kinds of things. But if there were just boundaries both in and outside of yourself, I think that would make it much easier to, just, be happy and know what's crossing those boundaries and what's challenging them and re-establish them and build them up when you need to so that you can live a more full life inside the boundaries you've set for yourself.
Jessie Johnson:Yeah, that's good. And if I could brag about myself for a moment, I'm part of a woman's group. My old business coach has a membership that I'm part of and she put a, a prompt in the other week, just being like, what's the best advice someone's given you or that, you've given to someone else. And I just made this one up for myself one day and I was just like, it's actually really good. This is like, selfishness is not a sin. It's a skill. Like it's okay to be selfish. Like it has to do with the boundaries. Like it's not a sin. Like I grew up like in the Catholic church and like I'm no longer practicing, but like, everything was so black and white. And like, and one of the things was like, if you're being selfish, you're not giving yourself fully. That's kind of like a sin. And I, I disagree. Like you don't have to give it yourself all the time and you can't heal or be of service to anyone else, if you're not being of service to yourself. And you need to be selfish in those moments. And I don't know, I just felt like I had to share that because I thought that was a really good saying. And I've been sharing it with my clients and one of my clients, like this is great. I'm writing it on my mirror, because she's like, I'm always giving, giving. I'm like, you have to stop. You have to stop and pause. You have to set boundaries.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah.
Jessie Johnson:I can tell you to eat kale all day, but if you're stressed out and unhappy, like the food doesn't really matter. In fact, you're going to react to the food, and you're going to enjoy it less. So,
Courtney Nicole:I love that. I love all of the bad things, all the seven deadly sins and all that kind of stuff. The only way we've explained them away, especially from a biblical standpoint, was to make sure that we just viewed Jesus's doing something completely different. And I'm like, but what if that's a whole part of it. I think there's an argument to be made for why we relate so much better and deeper to the villains in movies is because they get to express the full spectrum of emotions. And I think selfishness is a good emotion. And I think envy and jealousy and all these ones that have been labeled just bad. I'm like, Hey, a lie is a distortion of the truth. But sometimes a lie serves the greater good more than the truth. Like for instance, you're planning a surprise party, lie about it. You want to get your kids to start liking kale, maybe lie about it first. When you're trying to make this transition, don't just come at them with like, this is gonna make you healthy! You're going to have like Popeye and the spinach can sitch. but it's, they're not bad. And I think that's another, like just full circle with this whole food thing is like, chocolate is not bad. If you make a whole lifestyle of just eating chocolate, or just lying, or just being selfish. Of course not, that's not helpful to anyone, but like everything else in this world, it needs to be a balance. It needs to be a both, and it needs to be finding true harmony between the inside and the outside, and really just seeing what we can do to make that different. Don't wait until it's completely out of whack and you are dealing with a life-threatening illness to start eating a little bit healthier. Then you're going to have to change and do a complete total 180 in your diet and that's shocking to any system. So I think the, my challenge for people today would just be like, what's one tiny change you can make that will bring you more into balance. More into balance with the food you eat more into balance with your inner self versus the outside world. More into balance with your view on your past and your childhood. Like. Just a little bit more into balance. Not, not perfect, not any kind of expectation like that, but take one step because that will put you one step closer and it's time to stop running from who you're meant to be.
Jessie Johnson:Yeah. I always say a pebble can make waves. Like you just throw a pebble in the pond, but the waves go and they can get bigger and bigger. And that was one thing I learned with working with clients. It's like, it's not cold Turkey or all in or all out. Like that's just not, you're going to give up. And then I'm going to be frustrated with you and you're going to be frustrated with me and no one gets anywhere in the world doesn't get better. So I'm like, it's just one thing. What's one thing you can do until the next time I talk to you that you want to try and then we're gonna discuss it when we come back. Like what happened? Was it hard? Was it easy? Were you excited? Were you upset? And it could be anything. Maybe you usually go out to eat and trying to cook it at home for once. Or taking your traditional yeah, like taking grandma's traditional, cheesy potatoes and trying it with goat cheese or something. Like just something else, like some local cheese that you maybe have access to you can afford. And you just want to try to boost the nutritional value and quality. Like, I don't need you to just all of a sudden go all organic or be buying only 90% vegetables or only eating grass fed beef. Like that's just unrealistic. Yes. I would love that. I would love if that's the only choice that we all had and it was a four, that's the ultimate goal of good farmer. Like making the stuff that's like whole foods, if whole foods wasn't like for the, like this pretentious thing, it was just the norm and it was accessible and healthy for everyone. That's the ultimate goal, but of course we're like very far from there, but whatever you can do to support your health, and then eventually start thinking about what I call the collective health at the planetary health, cause those choices matter, you should feel good about, buying the QCOMP. I say, buying the bag of potatoes versus buying the bag of Doritos. Like if you can buy potatoes versus potato chips, potato chips are bad, but I'm thinking about, of course the planetary aspect of it. That's a big step and just taking those potatoes home and experimenting with them.
Courtney Nicole:Yeah, well, and how many times do we eat per day? If you count snacks and breakfast and lunch and dinner? Not that everyone eats three square meals. I definitely don't. But just take one of those and how many meals are there per week? If you can't take one per day, take one per week. If you can't take one per week, take one per month. Like, just start with one. Pick one, do the one by the baked potato or by the potato and bake it, get all frisky here.
Jessie Johnson:No, either one works.
Courtney Nicole:yeah, just do it, but have a good time and, and just, just do one. So
Jessie Johnson:Everybody is expecting this quick fix or that they needed to get to the finish line so fast and they have to do everything. No, it's a slow process. I'm sorry to say it, but it's slow and
Courtney Nicole:no silver
Jessie Johnson:with it. Yeah. And I think that it's better when it's slow. You get to live in the moment.
Courtney Nicole:absolutely. Cool. Well, thank you so much. If people wanted to get in touch with you, did you want to spell out maybe your website or another good place to find you?
Jessie Johnson:Yes. So, yeah, I'm just sort of getting into social. I'm not very good at it. So I am on Instagram. That's the one social thing that I do. I try to do. I'm a little frisky over there. Just to warn ya. That's where I like I'm very sarcastic. So that's where it comes out there. So that's at@good_farma_ and Farma's F A R M A. And then the website is at mygoodFarma.com.
Courtney Nicole:all right. Well, people will be in touch. We'll make sure we include the links in our episode description and we will be chatting soon.
Jessie Johnson:Yeah, please come hang out. Thanks for having me.
Courtney Nicole:Thanks so much for joining us for the podcast today, and I hope you learned some valuable lessons that will help you on your journey to success. If you're interested in coaching with me, you can check out Nonpareilcoaching.com. That's NONPAREILcoaching.com. Courtney Nicole can be found on most social medias. You can also slide into my DMS on Instagram@courtandwhiskey. If you're interested in being a guest on this podcast, you can check out our website it's just the acronym for what our parents didn't teach us.com www.WOPDTU.com to be a guest on the podcast. You can find us wherever you find your podcasts. Don't forget: the universe is conspiring with you.