The Planting Wellness Program
A 12-week Program for growing healthy habits
to prevent type 2 diabetes
Are you experiencing some of these issues:
Rising fasting blood glucose or hemoglobin A1c levels
A prediabetes diagnosis
An expanding waistline
Lower energy or physical fitness
Maybe your doctor has warned you that you need to improve your diet soon or she’ll put you on meds. And you don’t want to go on meds.
You’ve seen family or friends suffering with type 2 diabetes . . . and you don’t want to go there!
We all know that lifestyle changes like eating better and exercising more can help prevent type 2 diabetes.
But, let’s face it, change is hard.
It’s not like you haven’t tried. You learned about the benefits of a whole-foods plant-based diet so you’ve been leaning towards eating more plants for some time. But so far, you’re not seeing the improvements you’d like to see.
It’s discouraging. You’re well aware that the health risks go up with each passing year.
This is a tough place to be.
And, it’s also a special place.
Yes, this discomfort you feel is a spark—a spark to ignite a transformation.
But a spark isn’t enough. To really get your fire of transformation burning, you also need fuel. And plenty of it. That’s where we come in.
We’ve developed The Planting Wellness Program to support people who want to reverse the downward trajectory of chronic lifestyle disease that is so common in our modern world.
Starting in September, we’re running the Planting Wellness Program specifically for people who have a diagnosis of prediabetes. That means your bloodwork shows:
HbA1c is 5.7 - 6.4, or/and
fasting blood glucose is 100 - 125
This group is for those who want to make eating more wholesome plants a central part of their strategy to lower their HbA1c. They may not want to go 100% plant-based, or they may be vegans who want to eat healthier.
Anyone who wants more wholesome plants on their plate, and wants to improve their blood sugars are welcome and can benefit from this Program.
We offer a step-by-step, flexible approach for developing your own unique healthy eating habits. The Planting Wellness Program guides your transformation in a way that feels self-directed and organic. Since every aspect of our lifestyle contributes to our well-being, in addition to building healthier habits around food, participants may also address any aspect of their lifestyle like movement, sleep, stress and social connection.
This is a fully online 12-week lifestyle coaching program where we meet on Zoom weekly in a small supportive group. We provide short, carefully-curated modules. At every step you’ll be engaging your values and strengths to move closer to your health goals. You’ll build self-care skills that lead to aligned and sustainable progress.
Why we struggle
Over millions of years of evolution humans adapted to a wild environment where food was scarce and danger was just around the corner. Our voracious appetites were honed through scarcity: scarcity of food and little time for rest. Now we’re surrounded by abundant, cheap, manufactured food, expertly formulated to be irresistible so we’ll keep buying more and more of it.
We will insist we love it while it’s slowly killing us. Sorry, that may sound harsh. But it’s true.
If you’re one of the lucky ones who is not hooked on junk food, you have it better. But let’s be honest. We’re swimming in a culture where it’s normal to medicate all our discomforts with food. Bored? Eat. Stressed? Eat. Like aspirin, the medication is only short-term pain relief and does nothing to address the cause. Our essential needs for social connection, creative expression, emotional healing, proper nutrition, movement (etc!) aren’t met by our extra trips to the kitchen. So we struggle.
It’s not our fault! Our appetites are perfectly honed to the environment we’re adapted to!
The only problem is: that environment no longer exists.
Let’s also acknowledge the influence of the devices in our purses and pockets. They’re cleverly engineered to entertain and distract us, which also gets in the way of our connecting with others, with ourselves, exploring new places, engaging our interests, moving our bodies and getting outside in Nature.
It’s no wonder we struggle to adopt healthy habits! Modern culture sets out tripwires everywhere!
This Program provides a much-needed boundary between the toxic aspects of modern culture and your one precious life on this beautiful planet.
By joining with others with similar health concerns, who also want to eat a more wholesome plant-strong diet, you’ll finally have the support you need to reclaim your health.
So, if you’re unhappy with how you’re feeling in your body…I know this sounds weird but, in a way, that’s great! It indicates you’re aware and in touch with yourself. That’s big! And it shows you care about how you’re feeling. That’s beautiful! You’re reading this because you believe in your natural potential to feel better and live a healthier life through your own efforts. You are powerful!
And, we dare say, you know it. We certainly do.
Lisa’s story
When Lisa first came for coaching she had just learned her blood sugar was in the pre-diabetic range. This was quite upsetting to her. Her mom had diabetes and it was really limiting her life. At first Lisa said she “had to lose 40 pounds.” And you could see this was a heavy weight on her shoulders. She felt defeated before we even got started. As we worked in a gentle way, honoring her unique values, and her circumstances, she realized that what she wanted more than anything was to be a model for her 13-year old daughter. She wanted her daughter to see her acting with self-respect and being persistent with a difficult problem. When she applied those values to her self-care, she felt more motivated than ever before. There was a lot more to the process but the values were really powerful for her. She also realized that preventing diabetes was more important to her than just losing weight. In a few months, Lisa lowered her glucose into the normal range. She worked on establishing healthy habits that finally felt truly sustainable. An unexpected benefit was that her relationship with her daughter became closer.
Mary’s Story
At her sickest (May 2021), Mary weighed over 300 pounds, was diagnosed with diabetes, legally blind as a result of the diabetes, experienced migraines, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, failing kidneys, was not able to walk the distance off her property and felt deeply hopeless. Following a whole food plant based lifestyle resulted in her reversing diabetes, decreasing blood pressure and cholesterol numbers to a safe place, regaining her sight, and losing a considerable amount of weight. Mary signed up for Momentum, a group coaching program facilitated by Karen, to continue receiving and giving support in a community of like minded people that were each on a different place on the continuum of health. She said the following about her experience: “I never felt alone. I'm more pliable and less afraid to trust myself with change. It helped me to lessen the hard lines or rules I've heard somewhere else about behaviors on living this lifestyle and allows me to soften up a bit. It allowed me room to grow myself.”
More about the Program
So how will this Program support you to eat more plants and get healthier?
Luckily, we have most of what you need inside us. We all carry inside us natural resources like your deeply-held values, strengths, purpose and passions. When we work together you’ll creatively enlist your resources to fuel and direct your actions. We also practice mindful awareness and acceptance of our bodies, thoughts and feelings. This awareness and acceptance opens the door to transformation. In addition, we apply habit change science to support your taking steady and effective steps forward each week. The Program helps you build both human BEING and human DOING skills.
Best of all, you take your self-care skills with you after the Program is over.
We call this The Planting Wellness Program because it’s like you’re a gardener planting a garden of healthy habits in your life. Your garden keeps growing and you harvest the fruits of your efforts for years to come.
About Marian
I’ve been in the field of health and healing for several decades. I love supporting people to reclaim their health and well-being. I’ve been immersed in the wellness coaching world, as a student, coach and teacher, for more than a decade.
In the past few years, I’ve witnessed the wonderful synergy of coaching in small groups. I’ve had the privilege of co-teaching in two trainings for coaches (Wellstart Health’s Coach Training and Food Revolution Network’s Plant-based Coaching Certification). I believe health coaching is poised to play a powerful role in building a more sustainable, and healthy world.
I’ve been a student of whole foods plant-based living since 2007 (or even, since 1980 when I first became vegetarian). Cooking is my jam. I’m also nerdy about nutrition and health sciences. I love to learn from the experts who distill research down to actionable guidelines. We know so much about how to eat for good health. It’s a lot less controversial than some “influencers” online would have you believe.
And, of course, how we care for ourselves is based on much more than science. I meet you at the intersection of rigorous science and everything that matters to you. That’s where the magic happens. I guide you to grow strong roots in a sustainable, wholesome lifestyle. (You can read a longer bio here).
About Karen
I’ve been a dietitian for almost twenty years (that’s nearly half my life), and when I first started my career, I did not understand just how powerful our food choices are for preventing and treating chronic disease. I also had no clue how our food choices affect so much more than our personal health. Fast forward ten years into my career when I first learned that a plant-based diet consisting of whole foods was more effective than medication for lowering blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol! I was excited about a new way to really help those I served and angry that this way of eating hadn’t been presented to me during my education and training to be a dietitian.
This was a turning point for me, personally and professionally. I changed my own way of eating and started down a path of helping others eat more whole plants. I went on to become certified in lifestyle medicine because I believe that our lifestyle behaviors are interconnected and all are important. I also believe that eating lower on the food chain means we are taking better care of the planet and animals, and that is important to me, too. I love learning about behavior change and how to best help people put information into action. Being a coach means that I partner with my clients and really listen to what matters and why change is important to them. I love the solutions-focused approach of coaching and helping others tap into their strengths and values, build resilience, and take on challenges knowing that while change is hard, doing hard things on purpose teaches us a lot about ourselves.
In our clients’ words
“There are so many things you did for me, Marian. Before we started I did not have a lot of hope that I could lose weight and keep it off. Today I am able to effortlessly plan my meals and eat healthy food without feeling like I'm deprived. Thank you!!! You are a wonderful coach! Hopefully many other people benefit from what you do. It truly changed my life.” ~ Elizabeth S.
“I worked with Marian for a year, both 1-on-1 and in groups. Both were powerful and effective. Her guidance has been invaluable to me in making better choices around my health. She helped me get deeply connected with my values of health and freedom so I could finally release an addiction to coffee and binge eating.” ~ Lara Hedin, mother and yoga teacher
Included in this 12-week Program
A private group of 6 - 8 participants
Weekly 1-hour live video group coaching sessions. Attendance highly recommended (on camera is important for us to connect)
Short 10-15 minute weekly lessons - available in both video and text format delivered via email and youtube
Weekly homework: listen to lessons and reflect. Total time: 30-60 minutes (in addition you’ll be selecting Actions you want to take each week)
A digital workbook provided in Google docs (or you can use a paper workbook)
Group discussion in a private facebook group
40% discount on 1-to-1 sessions, up to 2 sessions during the Program
Zooming in on the lesson content
You’ll be cultivating human BEING and human DOING skills that make your behavior changes sustainable.
Human BEING skills
Discovering your unique values, passions and strengths and applying them to fuel your actions.
Practicing present awareness of our bodies, thoughts and emotions.
Cultivating our wise, compassionate Self to lead self-supportive decision-making.
Practicing self-kindness and self-compassion.
Human DOING skills
Formulate a Vision or/and Goal you want to move towards.
Design and commit to specific Actions each week to move forward.
Review your week and your results. Learn and choose your next steps.
Bring your warm-hearted presence to participate in group meetings. Share your struggles and your wins, and respectfully interact with others.
This Program is for you if:
You want to eat more plants, especially whole, unprocessed plants and one of the reasons is to get your blood sugars into the normal range. Or, you’re already as plant-based as you want to be but you’re not experiencing the health improvements you would like so you want to experiment with tweaks to your food and other lifestyle parameters like movement, sleep and stress management.
You want to honor your intrinsic wisdom and intuition about self-care while also remaining open to new ideas and stretching yourself.
You value self-reflection and you believe taking action is also very important.
This is a good time for you to invest a couple hours or more per week in lifestyle change. (The lessons take 30-60 minutes AND you will choose additional activities each week.)
You appreciate having some structure and accountability.
This Program is not for you if:
You’re looking for a ready-made diet plan. This isn’t a cookie cutter diet laid out for you. You formulate your own compelling goals and the steps you want to take. The Program supports your decision-making process.
You want training in plant-based eating. “What the heck do I do with brussels sprouts to make them taste good?!” Very good question! (and we do have ideas…) But that’s not the main focus of this group. We will surely exchange cooking tips and ideas but this isn’t a comprehensive plant-based cooking course.
You’re looking for a therapeutic diet or/and exercise plan to treat a medical condition. If you already have a plan given to you by a licensed health professional, such as a dietitian, you can use this Program to implement it. But we don’t prescribe therapeutic diets to treat conditions. If you’ve already been diagnosed with a health condition that may be related to your lifestyle, let’s talk, to see if this Program is right for you.
You think of yourself as seriously addicted to food. Overeating is a common issue and participants are often working on it. But if you’re convinced overeating is an addiction for you, we encourage you to seek out programs specifically designed to address this. We would love to help but we’re not experts in addiction.
You hate writing exercises. The Program includes some writing in a workbook. You can do a lot or a little writing. It’s been immensely helpful for our clients to maintain continuity and motivation, and achieve results.
You want to talk about eating animal products in group meetings: like how much chicken or eggs you should eat. We welcome anyone who wants to eat more plants into this group, including meat eaters who don’t want to become 100% plant-based. But this Program focuses on getting more whole plants on your plate, not on navigating the animal foods on your plate. We also want group discussions to be relevant to everyone, including vegans.
Price
A Program such as this would typically cost upwards of $1200 or more. We’re offering our Program at a highly discounted rate: $600.
Why so inexpensive?
Because we need your help, too!
We’re passionate about helping our clients eat more wholesome plants to supercharge their health and well-being. We’ve combined everything we know and created something brand new. It’s unique. Some might call it a beta program.
We prefer to call it a plantiful adventure!
And we need your feedback along the way to make it as powerful and effective as it can be. To that end, all participants in the Program will fill out a 5-minute feedback form every 2 weeks. Since we’re asking for your commitment to this contribution before you enroll, here’s exactly what the form will look like:
What did you most like about the Program these last couple weeks? (short answer)
What did you least like about the Program? (short answer)
How much do you feel you progressed towards your goals in the last couple weeks? Give it a 1 - 10 rating: 1 - zippo, 10 - enormously!
Overall, are you over the moon (10) or very unhappy (1) with the Program?
Feel free to add further comments here:
This feedback form will help us personalize the Program to your needs as we go!
If you’re ready to dive into a plant-strong approach to preventing diabetes, fill out this short form to get on the waitlist. When we get closer to the Program start date, we’ll reach out to you to schedule a free initial conversation to discuss whether this Program is a good fit for you. You can also ask us any questions you might have anytime via email: marian@blumingwellness.com or karen@karensmithrd.com.