Interview with Marika Pettersen - 1914

SPEAKER A Hello. SPEAKER B I'm Kaysie Butler, and I want to. SPEAKER A Welcome you to healthy living around the world. I am recording on site in Porto at a youth conference, and with me is Marika Pettersen. SPEAKER B Welcome, Marika, to the program. Thank you so much. It's lovely to be here. SPEAKER A That's good. It's lovely to meet you here. Look, this program is about health and healthy living. Can you tell us a little bit, first of all, where you're from and what you're doing now? SPEAKER B Yes, I'm from Norway, so northern part of Europe, and at the moment I'm working in a lifestyle center called Fredheim. And yeah, that's in the middle of the forest in a city called Kungsburg, which is one and a half hour away from Oslo, the capital. And it's a beautiful place and yeah, enjoy working there. SPEAKER A Very good. So how long have you been working there now? SPEAKER B It's actually two and a half years that I've been working there and yeah, I've learned so much since I started working there about health and about how to meet people where they're at and help them with motivating them to make changes in their lives, especially with lifestyle. SPEAKER A So what is your role there? SPEAKER B My background is nursing. One of the typical nursing things that I do is to take blood samples. We take that the first and the last day, and we check like, glucose or like, blood sugars and cholesterol, amongst other things. And it's amazing how that drops when the guests are there in just ten days because we have vegan food there. So one of my roles when it comes to the food is to have cooking demos. SPEAKER A Okay. SPEAKER B And then we go for walks every day and we have lectures and devotionals or encouragement for the day so they can think of something deeper than just normal small talk. And we have exercises both inside and outside and conversations and coaching, many different things. SPEAKER A Yeah. That's a great variety of things in your role. There quite a big scope. SPEAKER B So that's why I really like it as well. SPEAKER A Okay. You like having that diversity of experience in your everyday working life. That's very nice. So tell me, how have you come to appreciate healthy Living and living a healthy lifestyle for yourself personally? SPEAKER B Yes. Well, I grew up with my family. My mom always made vegetarian food, so she was very aware of us kids being healthy. So I've kind of grown up with that. But when I became a student and in my early twenty s, I learned more about how the health really impacts the life and yeah, I heard about the China study. I don't know if you heard about that one yeah. SPEAKER A By Dr. Colin Campbell. SPEAKER B Yes. So it made me really curious. And so I chose, like, five to six years ago to eat, like, plant based food. And, yeah, it's very interesting how good food you can make and how taste it is and how now, when I see at the lifestyle center how it helps people with depression and energy and sleep and it affects everything in your life, then just encourage them more and more. So it's been like many steps along the way. SPEAKER A Wow. So it's been like a journey that you've just grown and learned more and incorporated more in your life. So what would you say is one of your favorite lifestyle principles that you apply personally in your life? SPEAKER B Wow. One of my favorites. That's really hard, actually, because at this lifestyle center, we have these eight health keys. Yeah, I can mention them. It's like air fresh air and sunshine and nutrition and exercise and rest and trust in relationships and with God and how do I say have to remember all of water and temperance. Like, you shouldn't do too much of something even though it's good itself or too little. Yeah. So if I'm going to choose, like, one of them, or is there any. SPEAKER A One of those that really you found has impacted your life and experience? SPEAKER B I think it must be nutrition, actually. Yeah, I think that's the one I'm most passionate about. But they're all important. Yeah. Especially nutrition. SPEAKER A Especially nutrition, yeah. Well, from what you're explaining before about how when people come to the center and they go on the diet there and they have all their cholesterol levels drop, that shows them the power of changing your diet and the effect that has in people's lives. So you're working with that all the time by the sounds of things. SPEAKER B And I've had this guest coming and telling me that he changed his lifestyle to a plant based diet and he had angina and he recovered from that, it went away. So to actually hear the guest telling that he worked yeah. That's really encouraging. SPEAKER A That is very encouraging. So how has living a healthy lifestyle impacted your spiritual life and your walk with God? SPEAKER B So one of the areas where I've been struggling is with the sleep, to get to bed early enough in order to get up early as well. When I've really taken that seriously, to go to bed early around ten or before would be like, ideal. It's so much easier for me to get up in the morning. And I love to start the day with God and to be truly awake and concentrated. Just like when I talk to my friends and family, I want to be there and not be distracted or tired. So it's the same with God. So when I really take sleep seriously, my conversation with God and my time with Him, the quality time is so much better. So yeah, that has really impacted my spiritual life the most, I think. SPEAKER A Right, okay. So it's had a real practical effect in enhancing the quality of your time with God. SPEAKER B And when I read the Bible, I remember what I read. I'm just more concentrated. SPEAKER A That's very good. I mean, qualities makes a huge difference when you wake up tired and bleary eyed and you're trying to read the Bible and connect with God, it's a lot harder, I know from experience. Yeah. So that's very powerful effect that it has. So obviously you've had experience working with people and also personally applying healthy living principles. What would you say is one of the things that you would recommend to people who are wanting to make changes in their life and maybe adopt some healthier lifestyle habits? What things would you recommend for them to think about or do in making those changes? SPEAKER B Well, first of all, because I often talk with a guest about this because they ask me and often it can be overwhelming for them with all the information that they receive and they don't know where to start. So I often tell them, start with something small. If you want to replace something, like, if that's your goal, then you need to add something else. If they want to quit smoking, they need to maybe replace that with something like a smoothie or go for a walk instead of just taking something away. And yeah, replace it with something that they like. Or if they want to actually start doing something, for example, exercise, they should do something that they already like. If they don't like running, then don't start with that. Start swimming or strength or lifting weights or something. Do something that they already like. And if it comes to the diet, because it can be overwhelming for people, if they like Norwegians, they eat a lot of meat and they have a little bit of vegetable on their plate. So the food they receive at Fredheim is very different, like a lot of salad, and then they get the kind of warm meal after the salad, so they're already kind of full. So if they don't know where to start, I'm just saying just give yourself time and take one thing at a time. Because if you're going to change the whole diet in one week, some people can manage, but very few, because, yeah, just give it time. And I share that in my personal experience going from vegetarian to vegan, I spent a whole year just taking it step by step and I often like, oh, this is too hard. And I went back to cheese and milk and all of this. So I'm just honest with them saying, give yourself time and be kind to yourself and just do one thing at a time. So this was probably several tips. SPEAKER A I think that's very practical advice for people who are wanting to make changes because it can be a very daunting thing. People want to get to this place, this end goal of better health, but the steps to get there can be huge. And I think the tips that you've shared today are very practical and realistic for people to be applying in their lives. Thank you so much. SPEAKER B It's good to have an ideal and to try and reach that. But yeah, like a ladder. SPEAKER A Okay. Take one step at a time, and you'll get there eventually. That's a good way to put it. I like that. We'll remember the ladder to health. That's very nice. Well, look, thank you so much for sharing with us today, marika on the program we've been recording here in Porto in Portugal, at a youth conference, I've met with Marika Pettersen, and she's from Norway, and she works at a lifestyle center there. Thank you for tuning in to healthy living around the world. I'm your host, Kaysie Butler. And until next time, may God richly bless you. Bye for now.