How do we put ourselves first when living with a chronic illness?

Hey there and welcome back to healing in hindsight, your no BS source

for thriving with diabetes, and I'm really excited to have you here today

because we're going to ask a really, I think important question and that is how

on earth do we put ourselves first when we're living with a chronic illness?

And the reason why I want to ask that question is simply because of.

Oftentimes, it feels like when you're living with some type of chronic

condition, it takes over everything.

And so that means that is the only thing that you can focus on at that point.

who you are, as a person, your career, everything seems to

just take a back seat to that.

And so I thought it would be great to sit down with a guest who works with others,

living with diabetes, more specifically type one, but I feel like what she teaches

is really helpful for anybody living with diabetes on how we can gain trust

back with their bodies and start to lead again with who we are, and work with

our condition, in a way that still makes sure that we're doing okay, but doesn't

take away the essence of who we are.

Sometimes it feels oh, we are as our disease at that point.

And that there's nothing else that can.

The first in that matter.

So I'm really excited to talk with Elisabeth Poyner and she is a not only

type one, but she is a coach as well.

And she is helping others learn how to have a harmonious relationship with

their bodies and their illness, and still be able to be a normal human being.

Cause that's all we want to be at the end of the day.

So I hope that you guys really enjoy this episode.

Please make sure that you go follow her on all of the social platforms.

I'll make sure that you have access to all of that in the show notes, but really

excited to just really dig deep and talk more about how we can take better care of

ourselves while we're, listening, dealing with this crazy up and down disease.

So let's do it.

Hi Lyssie how are you today?

Hey, I'm so excited to be here.

This is awesome.

Thank you so much for having

me.

yeah.

Yeah.

I'm equally excited to have you, been following for a while.

So it's cool to not only meet someone else who totally gets the diabetes

space, but also as a podcaster as well.

So it's just really cool to be able to sit and chat with you Cause I

love your approach about things, but thank you so much for your time.

Yeah, thank you.

I feel like we could probably talk all day, but it's about the

conversation and especially being podcasters, So I'm definitely excited,

there'll be Good nuggets inside.

Yeah.

absolutely.

So I already, talked about, I think something that really just attracted me

to what you do and what you're talking about is just supporting people with

their journey and their relationship with their bodies and this chronic illness.

And that's what brought me to the question of the show is like,

how do we put ourselves first?

Because it's so very easy to immediately let diabetes take over everything.

and question everything.

And every time that I have an ache in my is that diabetes

or is that something else?

like all of these just constant.

Awkward companionship.

I would almost say of I have to have you around.

I wish I didn't.

and it feels like all the attention goes there.

before we dive into why I feel like you're so strong in this area, I would love for

people to just get to know who you are.

so if you could just see her, where you're from on your diagnosis story and what led

you to deep dive into health coaching.

Yeah.

So my name is Lissie I'm from New Jersey, born and raised here.

central New Jersey is a place.

I promise some people that's like the hot debate around here, but from

central New Jersey, right by the shore, not the Jersey shore where you see

all the poofs and, that whole show, very different when you live here.

But I was diagnosed with diabetes type one diabetes when I was 19.

So I had a lot of years without it.

I was a freshman at Penn state, actually in my spring

semester when I was diagnosed.

So I had just gone over the flu.

I had been sick for about two or three weeks when I started noticing all of

the classes, symptoms, feeling really thirsty using the bathroom a lot, but

there was one really alarming symptom of, I had woken up one morning and we

have very tiny, dorm rooms at Penn state.

It's a big school.

So those rooms probably as big as my office right now.

And I had gotten up and I looked over at my roommate who was maybe six feet away.

And I couldn't really see her.

My vision was very blurred, which to me that was the biggest concern.

I'm like, okay, maybe I can pass off being thirsty.

I can pass off using the bathroom because I was thirsty because I

was recovering from the flu, but this was like the biggest red flag.

so yeah, I had gone to the university health services They had basically

said, Don't make an appointment come in right in the morning, which that

was like a huge alarm for me, because I went to a school with 40,000 people.

It was hard to get an appointment in general.

So for them to say, don't make an appointment come in first thing

in the morning, that was like, all right, something's off here.

pretty much diagnosed on the spot.

They didn't really have to do much, they took my blood all the tests.

And it was pretty much confirmed right then and there, which I'm really lucky

because I've heard so many stories of misdiagnosis, like months and

months of not knowing what's going on.

So I was very lucky in that aspect.

so yeah, I was basically, diagnosed when I was a freshman in school and those four

years, were pretty much just managing, taking the injections, checking my blood

sugar, maybe three or four times a day.

Not really understanding the depth of What this was actually doing to my

body and all the ins and outs of it.

four years later, I graduated in energy engineering, which a lot of

people were always surprised about because I'm a health coach now.

so I think that just goes to show, don't make a decision like that

when, you're 18, but it's just mine.

but I had gotten a job in Miami, so I had moved, thousand miles

away from home from New Jersey.

And, it was actually three, four, sorry.

Three days before my diversity that I was diagnosed with, ulcerative colitis,

which is now I'm more formally diagnosed.

with Crohn's.

So that was the first moment where I was really like, okay, something's there.

Isn't, there's now a pattern before with diabetes.

It was like, okay, I have this autoimmune disease.

My dad has thyroid disease.

I can connect that with the auto-immune gene.

but now there's a pattern here that, maybe all this stress accumulated

on my body, something's going on.

and it's really from then that I had started really looking at more of

those environmental factors the stress management, what I was putting into

my body who was founding myself with that, I realized all of the impacts

that those had on both my diabetes management and my, colitis at the time.

I had actually gotten in a pretty toxic relationship at the

time, pretty verbally abusive.

So It this buildup of events of, being away from my family, being

in this poor relationship, being in a job that I really hated.

And it took leaving that six scenario and looking at all of those different

factors, like my environment, my like my career the people I was surrounding

myself with my social life that I realized, okay, those had a big

part of my management and my also my colitis, like now I'm in remission.

My A1C went down to a 5.7 as soon as I let those scenarios and started

taking that holistic approach So that was like the biggest aha moment

of there's more to Diagnoses then, we're led to believe in our typical

healthcare provider's office So that?

That's why I teach my clients And we re we really take that holistic approach.

So I know that was a long answer, but definitely a

big story.

No, that's great.

And it's crazy how I wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't for my diagnosis either.

And so it's always, I try to almost as much as it's like annoying, I'm just

like really, of like me, like, why does it have to happen kind of thing?

Cause I was 25.

so I was, out of the college life, but I was still living it, deal.

And so to thrust on a young adult, all of these additional decisions to make when

you're just trying to ensure that you're, having your career or you're following

the typical American dream steps.

but, to have this kind of, you don't think that you're going to deal with

medical stuff until you're way older.

so it definitely is eyeopening to have these experiences so young, and just

do a full pivot, because it's just okay, I see where my parents were.

Both of my parents live with type two and the, I don't, I didn't even know.

Yes.

Lack of information, but time of I've got two kids, I've got, a

husband or a wife, and I've got, a job that I've been in for forever.

And how do I have the time to even sit down and really understand why this

is, I'm just going to take the drugs, do what I gotta do, kind of thing.

so I think it's always interesting to hear how people come to, this kind

of miniature awakening of ah, maybe this, I need to change something

because something's not adding up.

It's not making sense.

And it starts to get weird when you're like, nobody sees how this doesn't make.

Yeah, they make it make sense.

I don't understand.

so I totally get it.

wow.

Wow.

so you got a double whammy there, and as soon as you started to

make more than just, food shifts, all of it started to change.

And I think that's huge.

how environments can really impact us so deeply and in a lot

more passively than we think.

definitely had a similar situation where like I was at my heaviest,

I was getting zero support.

and so it, it didn't put me in a position to want to try, honestly, cause

there's just like Y there's nothing around me until I got out of that.

a kudos to you for getting out of that and turning all that around,

definitely would acknowledge it.

So I wanna really start to talk about how, especially when you're

working with clients now, what you find the most difficult thing to do.

when you're trying to live with a chronic illness holistically, like

roads or like diabetes, because.

I think, especially when it's something that feels more of a burden than it

is something that's helpful for you.

it can be really hard to see it as like a harmonious relationship because when you

hear the word harmony, it sounds positive.

It sounds like it's supposed to be good.

But when you pair that with a disease, which sounds and has been, labeled

as negative, you're just like H how can I have harmony with the

disease that doesn't even feel right.

so I'm curious as to what your take is on how we can approach that and how

people, struggle with that when they're trying to, just get by basically.

Yeah.

And that's an important question to ask, because I feel like the biggest

thing that we all go through, no matter what, when you're diagnosed with a

condition like this, is that we go into that all or nothing thinking, because

we're told, okay, by our doctors, just do this, just take your injections.

Or, some of my clients are told that.

That dangerous information of just eat really healthy or eat low carb and just

exercise more, which kind of gets us into this spiral thinking of, okay, now

I just need to do this every single day.

I can't have the bread.

I can't have the foods that I typically love.

And now I have to work out every single day, which is then putting

more stress on our body, but we tend to have this all or nothing thinking.

So I think that is what.

Almost are the basing holding us back because we're told like this, we think

of it as like an equation of, okay.

If I just count my carbs, if I just take my injection, if I

just exercise, everything will be fine, but then we start living it.

We start managing, we start doing the things that, we were told and

everything is not fine either.

Our A1C is, for me, a big thing was that I was doing those things and I A1C was okay.

it was a 6.8.

in the range that my doctor wanted it to be, but I was feeling awful.

I felt like shit all the time.

every time I brought that to my doctor, they just give me, gave me this,

overgeneralized while you're doing great, this is what it's supposed to look like.

And then what does that lead us to we have that mindset

of, oh, I have this condition.

This is what it's supposed to feel like.

So I'm just going to accept that.

And that's what.

That sucks.

That really sucks to say, okay, this is my new quality

of life when there can be more.

So I think going back to that question of we have to overcome that part of

that acceptance and almost accept that there's more to it that we can

be involved or that we can, just bring into that quality of life.

oh, I had to forget what the rest of the question was.

no, I actually wanted to pause there because, you touched

on something that, I even recently experienced and it didn't really Dawn

on me until a little bit later, because I was so emotionally charged from it.

So I didn't know, as someone living with type two that I was supposed

to see an endocrinologist, in fact, an endocrinologist never came up.

It was me and my primary.

They're like, here's a Metformin and do the things.

He was pamphlet, do the things.

And I'm like, okay.

And my only resource at the time where my parents.

But my parents, their life was completely different in their twenties.

They were already together.

They were already married.

They already had me and my sister, like there was no, I live by myself,

I'm dating, I'm doing all these other things, so there was only so much that

I could take from them because they hadn't had that lived in experience.

And then when I finally get to an endocrinologist after being, with this

condition for five years now, six, same thing, did I get valuable information?

Sure.

At that point, been better about advocating for myself.

Sure.

But he still said count carbs cardio four to five times a week.

And I'm like you talking to the wrong one when it comes to that,

sir, like I'm not downloading it.

I've been there, done that.

Hated it.

cardio makes me cringe, but now I ride a Peloton.

That's really weird, put, posing it to me in that way.

It didn't help.

it didn't really give me any, how do I adjust to Taylor's lifestyle?

Cause I did my best to tell them here's how I live.

Here's what I'm doing, help me fill in the blanks kind of thing.

And that's where I feel like a lot of us get the short end of the stick, no matter

what type that we have is that nobody's really filtering in our lifestyles and

saying, here's how this can fit into you.

it's just this general arching theme.

And I feel like we're starting to see a big shift of Hey, that's.

That's not the way to do it.

It's very unique.

how do three people who have type two at three different medication

regimens and three different set of numbers and all these things.

So if it's so generalized, we'd all be the same.

But it's not.

And so I think that's something that is so baffling is how we don't put

any uniqueness into treatment anymore.

but now we're starting to, because we're starting to speak up and say, I'm not like

the last person who was just in this room.

So I need you to really absorb what I'm saying and give me solutions

that can support how I'm living,

And I think that shows how flawed the healthcare system really is,

which to a certain extent, it's like, how much can we truly change when there

are healthcare provider shortages?

And we only have, they truly only have, maybe 20 minutes

to see us every three months.

How are you going to really learn a person in that amount of time?

So I think the beautiful thing about now and having this online space

is we get to see the other people's experiences and we get to actually

say, oh, things can be different.

And I don't have to just meet the status quo when I was diagnosed.

The biggest thing around, Instagram was definitely a thing, but there

wasn't like coaches or healthcare providers posting on there.

So I was going to like YouTube to see what other people were doing,

but there weren't many YouTubers.

I would just see, Nick Jonas videos and he's the most unrelatable,

diabetic ever privilege.

So in a way we almost do have to advocate for ourself and make those

other connecting points to say, how can I make this work for me?

Because nobody's teaching us how to do it other than this

community right here.

Yeah, absolutely.

And that's the thing where, it's, it gets sticky even there, because now we

have the internet doctors, have I found all of this information and I don't

know why we still rely on Wikipedia when anybody can change the information.

stuff like that.

I never want to rag on the people that spent years in school and thousands

of dollars to, have that doctor title and be able to guide, but also at the

same time, recognizing that the way that they even gained information like

to find out, you only spend one day on nutrition and maybe a chapter on,

if it's not your specialty, like if you're not going into endocrinology

to learn about hormones, then you're not really touching it that much.

You just know the overarching health factors of like obesity

causes diabetes and all these other things that don't really fit.

It's just to get you through the test, like some of our

school systems, unfortunately.

and so it's balancing that out and not trying to discredit what doctors can do,

but yes, I do appreciate that this rise and people wanted to step up and do health

coaching and take the time to dig deeper.

And I didn't even know, that there were diabetes certified specialist.

until what last two years and learning how they actually fit in to the process.

And when I worked closely with one, at a previous job, she was like,

yeah, I was always in the office.

You saw me more than you saw the window.

And I was the one telling the endo what the plan should be.

And they were just the ones to put the numbers and make sense and dosage at all.

I'm like, what?

Like where, why don't we know this a and why aren't there more of y'all

and why aren't, and then you learn that they have such a hard time

getting their hours for certification.

I'm just like, but diabetes is on the rise, but the diabetes is

becoming this unspoken pandemic.

And we're not doing anything about it when there's plenty of

information in history to do that.

And we just need to advance the learnings a little bit.

so it's so crazy to see this kind of tipping scale, and trying to

understand, like, how can I trust.

When I know the back systems aren't really working well and the business side of the

systems are definitely not working well.

The fact that I'm still fighting with my insurance, for medication, all

these other things, come into play.

so yeah, I just, it's just, it just blows my mind because I'm just like, there's

too many people that need help and we're sitting here running around in circles,

Yeah.

But honestly, that's where I see like the health coaching

industry as a beautiful thing.

And there's a lot of kind of arguments online about.

Okay, health coaches are trying to be doctors now.

And honestly, not the, if you're going within your scope and you're acting

with an integrity and ethically, then that shouldn't be an issue because

honestly, there is this missing gap that the health coaching industry deals,

and that is that lifestyle factor.

That's exactly what health coaching is.

That's what I learned in my certification.

It wasn't how to take the place in the doctor's office.

It's how can we be supplemental?

Because we know in our current healthcare system, that is not

something being talked about because there's just not the capacity.

So how can we fill that gap?

So I do think it's like this really like beautiful rise that's, that's

coming, I'm excited about it.

I love, the transformations that our clients see just from

that simple aspect of focus.

but you're right.

There's just so many, there's a lot of system flaws that still need to be worked

out, but hopefully we're getting closer.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I would love to see, health coaches.

Being just as integrated in the medical teams as anything else, like at the

point that my primary is asking, okay.

or, and, also this technology, so like my setup, they can see everything, a lot

of people use like my chart type stuff.

everything talks to each other.

So my dietician can see, what my primary is doing, what my endo is doing.

And, and then they'll ask Hey, when you go to your eye doctor, grab whatever

information there and there's that conversation going, okay, let me refer

you to this specialist or whatever.

and even with the dieticians, that are working in clinics, I do see a bit more

of a shift of more holistic approach.

I will say with the lady that I was working with.

but I would love to see health coaches come in deeper because dieticians are

also still set up in that same way of I got you for 30 minutes and that's it.

I might be able to see you more frequently, but it's still not.

as, and like you said, with the technology aspect, the, diabetes care specialists

that I work with now, we have phone calls.

every other week.

and it makes it easier because that goals based off of what's going on in

my life and non necessarily off of, okay, what are your medications doing?

We talk about that.

And, we then, set up a game plan of okay, when I reach out to, my doctor's team

or whatever, like here's what I need to say and talk through or ask about,

but just having that perspective and I think that's, I always value perspective.

And so the fact that we're not taking perspective of it makes me think

of almost like middle management having been in middle management

in my corporate careers of you're literally speaking for the people.

So Hey, upper management doctors, medical professionals, here's, what's

going on with people on the front lines and why they're disgruntled.

Can you please provide these things?

And we'll make sure it's handled and that everybody's happy, And so I

do, very much hope that, and I feel like it is happening that the health

coaching space is, like you said, that supplemental gap and that there's just

more integration of Hey, I get that a lot of health coaching certifications

are shorter than what doctors spin.

And so there's that aspect of that, but I'm like, we're not here to learn how to

look through a microscope and dissecting no, we're just here to learn people's

it's like psychology and sociology.

that's the best way that my brain can do it.

They both think about the mind and how it works, but one's in a social

setting and one's in a singular setting.

So let's work together, both exist in the same space.

And so I really hope to see that.

yeah.

So my next question, I really want to understand how has your relationship

with your body changed over time?

because it's.

Great to see such a huge shift in, and I'm sure you've seen this with

your clients too, but, we only get one and now we're aware of, I know we

watch all the, I don't know if you're a Spotify watch it, but we see all

the things, body switching, all that.

I don't know if it will ever get to that stage, at least in this lifetime.

but you only get one.

And so how do you find and appreciate something that you're frustrated with

and that you want to see changes in, or that you want to take things out or put

things in or whatever, and be able to just co-exist with this, thing that you

have to keep an eye on your shoulder.

It's a hard concept for sure.

I was, like I said, I was diagnosed with it when I was 19.

Before that I was a gymnast for 10 years.

all I really knew was feeling strong.

Like my best friend in middle school would call me man arms, because

I literally was, I was a Jack, like I was a competitive gymnast.

And so I was used to feeling strong.

I was used to, my doctors is telling me, I was little, I was petite.

so they're always like.

Eat anything you want eat anything you want, as long as you're eating.

You're good.

So then when I was 19 diagnosed with type one, it was almost, I felt very blindsided

because I was like, all I've known is trusting my body for the past 19 years.

And now suddenly I don't know what I can eat.

I don't know what I can eat.

I don't know why this happened.

There were so many things going on and now I'm having all of those outside

perspectives of, cut out gluten.

don't let them, don't let them give you insulin because then you'll be

dependent for the rest of your life.

all those outside conversations that happen in the beginning.

and then, fast forward four years, I'm hit with another chronic illness,

which now is not just about blood sugar numbers, but it's about physical pain.

And that for me, like I could handle the diabetes at that point.

Like I felt, okay, this is a part of my life I've implemented.

I've integrated it for four years now, but bring on physical pain.

It is a very.

It's very different.

And I had a hard time trusting any food I was putting in my body.

I'm like, okay, I know how to handle the blood sugars, but now what can

I eat to not cause inflammation?

Like, how can I bring this part into it now?

And so I would stop eating because it was just easier not to have to think about it.

I didn't want to work out because I didn't feel strong anymore.

there's a lot going on where I had no trust in my body.

And at the time I didn't think that there were any learning

lessons to be made there.

I was like, this is the worst thing that could possibly happen.

And there's no upside, but again, to your point, I think we touched on it.

It's like these diagnoses teach us how to take care of our body.

That's like the perspective I had to shift to of I can either spend

this energy hating my body and resenting it and not trusting it.

Or I can flip this switch and say, I'm going to learn how to take care of it.

And I'm going to meet my body where it is.

And that's where things changed.

That's where, you start bringing in these diagnoses to all

those other areas of your life.

And that's how you start trusting again.

Like now I feel like I am healthier, like in a weird sense, like you

go to your doctor's office and you hear these diagnoses and

all the medications they're on.

And they're like, you're not healthy, but in a sense, I feel healthier

than I have ever felt, because I know that I'm nourishing my body.

I know what it needs like through, the exercise that I'm doing.

I, I'm learning more about my hormonal health.

I'm just, I'm taking care of it more from the inside out and both ends.

I think it's in how we view what this diagnosis is doing.

do we want to resent it some days?

there's it's still going to happen.

Of course, there are days where I'm like a few weeks ago we were going

to a wedding and my pump leaked, my blood sugar was sitting at 400 all day.

I was leaving.

Like I was traveling from New Jersey to Philadelphia for this wedding.

I'm like, this is not the time or the place.

And I'm mad that this is even happening.

That's always going to happen.

But I, again, I think it's just like how do we want, where do

we want to spend this energy?

What's more conducive to our health and our overall wellness.

So that to me was a huge learning curve.

And just that aspect of maybe there's still, sometimes I don't

trust it completely, but how am I going to go about that?

Yeah.

you made me think about, cognitive behavior disorders and how,

when I was learning about it, How your body processes, emotions, and that each

emotion, anger being the most strong and actually replace anger with passion now

because I'm, trying to remove negative ideas around those things, because it's

just a feeling and it's not a bad feeling either, it's, it happens to all of us.

but that at most, your body responds to emotion within 90

seconds and then it's over.

But because of our supercomputer up here, it continues to replay that memory and

process that feeling over and over again.

That's where this kind of grudge long feeling comes from.

Is that the mind can't separate time, have you actually only experienced

this for like less than two minutes?

but it feels like you're mad all day because you're just repeating

the same thing over and over again.

And when I learned that it blew my head because I used to get

so bothered by people who would have something happened to them.

Whether it was their fault or not.

And it's something that you feel like, oh, you should be sad or angry or whatever

we've associated negative feelings with.

and they're not, they're just like, that happened.

Here's how I'm going to deal with it.

And they move on.

I'm like, what God given gold, are you hiding from us that, yeah.

Like how do you just get over?

And after learning that, it's just okay, it's just all about, like you said,

the perspective, how do we shift that?

because it doesn't change that it happened, and of course we want to

acknowledge the emotions and the feelings and that, it's something that we're

going through, but I'm spending so much time angry is so much more exhausting.

And I try it because there are moments where, I'm like in my relationships

and people don't want them, I really want to just be managing right now.

I really want to be bothered by you right now, but I can't.

So I either choose to put up with.

Because I want to prove a point or I can drop it and move on.

and I think that's something that's so powerful when we are trying

to really come to terms with our bodies and something I had to spend.

I think what I appreciated about the pandemic, if we can appreciate

anything about it is that time to myself where I couldn't run.

And I had to really sit and be like, okay, this is where we're at.

Yeah.

I think it's okay to have that grieving process too.

if there's anything I wish cause when I was diagnosed, my, my advisors,

my professors were telling me this would be a good time to withdraw

because you're in the spring semester.

take the rest of the semester in the summer and come back.

And I I was like, that's not an option.

I, my I'm sorry, but I'm not doing that because again, more of that

stubbornness than anything else.

But at the same time I do looking back, I think.

Having that time to grieve and to actually at least be able to process, okay,

what do I want this to look like for me instead of just going in the day to day?

Okay.

Now I have to manage, now I have to check my blood sugar.

Just go.

I think it would have been time well spent to, to take that.

And I'm glad that you got that with the pandemic.

I know a lot of my clients actually did too.

Yeah.

Which I think is yeah.

If there's anything we can appreciate.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And, I feel like that should be a part of our treatment plans, because like

you said, we're conditioned, especially when we're like jobs in school,

like you only get so much time off.

You don't get to do this, but yet once something major happens, I'm

just going to pick out a pandemic.

Cause it's the easiest, oh, you can work from home.

It is possible for companies to shift business at home.

Oh, you can take time off and.

the business and the burn to the ground, because you came in contact

with something that's life altering.

And how is that any different than something that goes beyond getting a

shot and the sniffles and going home.

and I really do wish that they would implement a grieving process of,

Hey, when you're diagnosed, whether you're in school, whether you're

at work or whatever you should be.

whether it's a doctor's note or whatever, and of course it requires companies to

stop being assholes too of, Hey yeah.

This thing just happened.

This person allow them two weeks to figure out and adjust how this is

supposed to be in a life, because that's something that I don't know

about you, but felt rushed is okay.

I get home.

And I'm so overwhelmed with what I have to shift.

I don't know where to start outside of take the meds.

and do I toss everything out of the fridge?

That's hundreds of dollars.

just making sure I have what I thought was energy for this body, now I gotta

shift how I'm thinking about it.

I definitely think that, one of the ways that we can take back

our lives with diabetes is just having that time to say this sucks.

And I just need to process that this sex and be able to piece by piece

shift things, and not feel like I have to overhaul everything immediately.

I really wish that was something that, that our treatment plans

implemented because nobody prepares you for the mental curve ball.

That is, Hey, this is your everyday now.

And for a lot of people for the rest of your.

oh, go ahead.

I was just gonna say, like walking to my endocrinologist appointment

or that first university city health services appointment where I was

diagnosed, I had done the Googling.

So I I walked in and, figuring, okay, this is going to be type one diabetes, but even

no matter how much you prepare yourself for that moment, you're not prepared.

Cause I still didn't know what carb counting was.

I didn't even know what a carb was at that point, which is embarrassing,

but didn't know what a carb was.

you don't expect the injections to happen right away.

yeah.

You're not, no matter how prepared you are.

You're not prepared.

Yeah.

So I definitely agree.

There needs to be that time.

So that leads me to my next question.

and I've heard variations of responses to this.

but it's always, to me, a good thing to talk about is how do we lead our medical

team instead of them controlling us?

Cause that's what it feels like sometimes of, even when I met

with my endo, they were like, I do everything with your diabetes.

And I'm like, shouldn't, we talked to my primary too though.

shouldn't do I just show up to my next one?

I'm like, Hey, you don't get to talk about this anymore, which I get that

they understand that, but it was just so abrupt and it just for years felt

like I'm just being strung along, versus I'm the person who is the coach

on this team and y'all are my star players to help me get the w right.

And so w what do we do to start that process with our medical teams?

Because there's obviously a lot of people involved, and sometimes with

gaining titles and information and all that, there comes this arrogance that

you should listen to me, and I shouldn't have to follow what you say, deal.

Definitely valid.

I think we're in this, we're conditioned to have this reliance on our doctors.

And that comes from that same attitude that you were talking about of I know

this better than you do, which, okay.

Yes.

They went to school for it.

They understand the science behind it, but majority of our.

Endocrinologist or doctors or physicians are not living with the same condition.

So as easy and as much of a equation, quote, unquote, that they might see

this as it is almost never that way.

So the first thing that I always talk to my clients about, I was like, what does

that relationship look like right now?

Are you reliant on that relationship?

Where do you feel ownership in your and your diabetes right now?

yes, you're doing it day to day, but do you actually have that ownership

when you're in that appointment?

So I think it's okay to like, to preface and that like you're

allowed to change your doctor.

Yeah.

You are allowed to go and get different kinds of consultations.

You're allowed to see, like you're allowed to get referrals.

You're allowed to do that.

There is nothing saying that you have to see the same doctor, even

if it was your childhood doctor.

And now you're an adult and they're not giving you the support that you need.

It is okay to change.

I did that.

I was seeing.

And I thought that she was just very like simplifying everything,

giving me over generalized advice.

And I stayed within the same hospital, but I actually found

a new doctor and I love her now.

She's very we were on the same page.

She's I'm here when you need me.

But when you come to your appointments, I'm expecting you to show up with

the questions of what you need.

we'll go through ops, but I'll ask you a question and if you're

telling me that was a, just a rough day, all right, we're good.

You want to make adjustments to your insulin management, go out the hat at it.

we'll talk about it when I see you in three months.

So I think it's okay to find those providers that are giving that.

They're just that extra leg of support.

They're asking you what you need and answering the questions that you have,

but how are they empowering you to take control over your own diagnosis?

Because in those three months, if you're seeing your endo, every 90 days, They're

not holding your hand in this 90 days, we need to figure out how to take ownership.

one thing that we do in our programs is we start just by looking at the

data, which is almost like the hardest part of sometimes of looking at we're

looking at numbers all day, but looking at our blood sugars, we're looking at

our car counts were calculating how much insulin that we need if we're on insulin.

So it can be really hard to actually confront that data.

But we start by doing it every week.

Not by looking at it of like how good or bad did I do?

What's my score.

What's my grade.

But looking at it, just from that nonjudgmental lens.

What's going on this week.

And most of the time, what happens with my clients is that they actually end

up showing up to their doctor's office, feeling more empowered by the numbers.

They don't feel scared of when they're going through their reports and they

go in with a lot more questions.

I had one client who went through the program and she saw

the same doctor for 20 years.

And she's been there for a long time and she like showed up.

She was like, okay, I know I need to do this.

I have this question about my basal rate.

my timing range is this.

And he just looked at her.

He's is this the same person that I've been seeing in my

office for the past 20 years?

Because this has never happened.

Wow.

So yeah, finding those points of ownership that you have in the

diagnosis, whether it's the numbers or specific areas, whatever that is like

identifying that first, I think is huge.

And of course finding somebody that you, you feel supported by, in that off.

Yeah.

I think it's huge what you said about it's okay.

To change your medical team.

and I think for a long time, I was nervous about that because one insurance

and even just sometimes finding a it's an agreement to find an endo.

And even when my primary referred, they were private pay,

I was like, millennial year.

So I'm not living on the paycheck that y'all think I should be living on, so

I need to make sure that the copays are low and all that kind of stuff like that.

but yeah, I have a three strike rule now of, I will see you three times

and if I'm not feeling that we are understanding each other, that we are

building a rapport and a relationship that is going to be, progressive for my

health, then I need to find somebody else.

and that's almost treat it just like dating.

if you see red flags on a date, you, they know to the next one.

so why not do that with your medical team, but still have the conversation, because

at the end of the day, they're still professionally, inclined to support you.

And so when I hear people say, yeah, my doctor would give me this test.

I'm like, did you have that documented that they refused because they have

to document that they refused to give the test that you requested.

and nine times out of 10, when you say, okay, I need you to

document that on my chart.

They're like, actually fine.

Whatever, if you did your mind, kind of thing.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And those little things trip me up.

I was like, what?

So yeah, absolutely have like change doctors get a second opinion.

and I say, be upfront about what your goal is of I'm seeing you because

this is the information I need.

This is the kind of relationship that I want to have.

we joke about, if relationships were honest on the first date of, I have

these flaws, but I'm really great at this, but I expect this, all of those

little videos of I laugh at, and I'm like, it's the same with your doctor,

except you can actually do that.

And so it's, yeah.

It's yeah.

I had an appointment the other day, maybe two weeks ago, my

current doctor is on maternity leave.

So I had to see a fill in and I was dreading that appointment so much.

Cause I'm like, I know I already know how this is going to go.

And I had just gotten, about a month ago I went off of hormonal birth

control just because I didn't like the effects was having in my body.

So I was drinking a lot more low blood sugars.

And I went in and I had literally said, Hey, you can see this.

You can see like 15% low on my report.

So I'm like, that's my concern for this appointment.

And did she address that?

No.

Yeah.

She picked out one out of a week of data.

She picked out the two high blood sugars that I had and said, it

looks like that you're having highs.

That's not what I came into this appointment for.

And that's not the concern that I brought, so where are we going?

I left.

I'm like, okay, all right.

This stuff, that appointment, I'm like, I'll figure it out.

Thank

you.

Yeah.

it's crazy when, you hear about not being listened to.

So when I was, before the year before I was diagnosed, I had a

conversation with my dad because I started to get concerned that I might

be on, on-trend to, to be diagnosed.

And I spent the entire year prior trying to avoid by diagnosis.

Cause they're like, oh, type two.

it's the beatable one.

And I even hate hearing that sometimes because it's just ah,

I could have done everything.

And still ended up here because of my family history.

but the doctor that I saw, I said, diabetes runs in my family.

Both of my parents have it.

I was at my heaviest I'm like, I know my health is not the greatest.

I want to get tested to see where I'm at.

And he monologues the entire point.

About just nonsensical health, random shit.

And at the end of the day, I was like, okay, but can I get this test though?

And still?

And I was like, yeah.

And I literally marked, but I never want to see this doctor again because

he did not listen to me at all.

And I'm just like, why is it so hard to hear a very simple request and do that

if you want to say your other nonsense.

Sure.

But at least do the thing that I asked you, because at least I'll be

more willing to pay attention because you did the thing that I asked you.

That's so crazy.

so I want to shift to your actual coaching business and your podcast, keeping it

100, which I love the name by the way.

I like the kind of the double a in there.

I only just learned about unicorns like a year ago.

and I've.

A couple and I would post them of Hey, I got my 100.

Yay.

so I love the play on the name.

I think that's awesome.

But I want to start with your, wellness company, needles and spoons.

And so after you made this huge pivot in your life and got out of all these

situations to really take back hold of your relationship with your body, you

started coaching others who are living with type one to have this harmonious

relationship of, I love the name of your program beyond the A1C, because it

feels like a report card every 90 days.

And I've even found myself, cause I had that same similar situation

of Hey, your numbers are great.

I don't even think you need your CGM anymore.

And I'd only just had it for six months.

I was like, no, that's the reason why I'm here.

Why would I immediately take it away?

no, So that kind of, thinking too, this is a bond that whether we let her know

we're here, so we should work together.

And so I would love to hear why you started that journey and how you

are working with people to feel that middle ground that sometimes we're

not getting from our healthcare team.

Yeah.

So again, like in that time where I had moved home from Miami, I had,

been making all these shifts myself.

I had started to realize that the word, I think when you go on

social media and we hear the word holistic, we're like, oh, they're

anti-medicine or, they're all about green smoothies and yoga all the time.

This is very over the stigma ties to definition.

And that's where I've truly realized what the word holistic actually means.

And it involves all those other areas of wellness.

So I didn't, I took my certification through the Institute for integrative

nutrition and one thing that they really, I think do a really well

good job on is that they have.

The chart and it's called like the circle of life, not like the line teen

or anything like that, but, and it's all these areas of wellness that actually

have nothing to do with our, like the food that we're putting into our body

or the nutrients or anything like that.

so it's all about, the, our creativity, our home environment, our, our education,

our career, our finances, and like social relationships, all those things.

And when we feel, when we put the energy into those areas, we feel

that's what true wellness is.

So as I was starting to learn that and experiencing all these shifts in

my own life, it clicked of if I can get diabetes to, to co-exist with

these other areas of my life, I can feel like I have true ownership.

I can feel like I have true control and that I'm not just chasing the

rollercoaster no matter where I go.

So I went through the certification process and that's how, our program,

our signature program PPO 100 came about because I'm like there, people

need to know about this because we are, there's so much advice in our endo's

office and yes, there's a time and a place, but nobody's talking about this.

So we have a 10 week program that takes our clients through a, basically

a hybrid coaching experience.

So there's a community aspect along with one-on-one coaching inside.

I'm joined by two co coaches.

Are absolutely incredible.

We have a registered dietician certified diabetes educator on our team to teach

about, the bowls, strategies, nutrition.

We have a women's wellness coach who talks about hormonal health.

I, myself am a health coach and personal trainers.

We talk about all about, lifestyle and exercise and creating

blood sugar, supporting habits.

So getting more about true holistic experience that I wish that I had when I

was first diagnosed and even years later.

so that's how the program was born beyond the A1C is our private coaching

experience so that people who want that, true one-on-one experience that they're

not getting in their endocrinologist office, they can get that experience too.

so I love what we do.

I love what we've created.

It's been almost three years since we've created it.

And I, I think it's, we've had a lot of amazing client transformations that are

more than just the blood sugar results.

Yeah.

Actually coexisting with this diagnosis, which

is huge.

Yeah.

And that was one of the big things that really impressed me.

as I was just learning about more, what you do and how you serve people

because, in the wellness space and how we've seen it blown up, it's very

easy for folks just to fall into.

I'm just gonna give you this, I don't want to say fake, but I feel like people

are trying, but I want, I'm going to give you this thing and it's supposed to

just get this one result and that's it.

And you don't really walk away.

You have to keep coming back.

and I think what I appreciate is that, it's saying, how can this

be a long-term thing for you?

And how can we just be, again, a support system if you need it.

once you've gotten over that bigger hump, in the beginning.

And so to see something that looks at all angles of how you co-exist

with this illness, and how you can still enjoy things, even some of the.

The questions I've seen popped up in different, support

groups, things like that.

cannot travel.

Can I do this?

And at first in my head, and, I will say living with type two, there's a

perspective that I don't always see.

and my dad is, an insulin based type too.

So starting to experience that through him since he was so close, definitely

has given me a realization, but like travel, like if you were to come visit,

we can only be out so long because he's got to do a shot at the end of the day,

and all these kinds of different things.

And so I'm like, oh yeah, I guess that is a concern.

the first time I wore a CGM to the airport, I was like, oh

yeah, I didn't think about this.

This is going to fry my arm or something like, I just never, had

those experiences yet because I hadn't been exposed to other options

of management that touches on that.

And so for you to bring in not only the kind of same thing that

you do and taking care of it, but what about outside of that?

What about your mental health?

What about, hormonal health for women.

I really feel learning that PCLs was is very close to being on my radar.

If I don't keep things in, check in, what if I want to have kids, what

if I want to do all these things?

And it's just wow, it touches literally everything.

So why would we not try to formulate a plan?

That's flexible to adjust to those different life factors that comes in.

and not a lot of places are doing that.

And especially not a lot of medical offices are doing that.

not it doesn't cause they don't have time, but it's not really being talked about.

So I really appreciate that you guys provide that, in all

different areas because, you just get, you get tunnel vision.

Sometimes when you get diagnosed and you just take the drugs, keep

the weight down due to cardio, watching numbers all day, every day.

And that should be it.

That should be the answer.

It's no, that actually stresses me out more.

Yeah.

We're going to, we're going to be on the brink of burnout if

that's all we're focusing on.

and I like the word that you used in that flexible aspect,

because that's what it should be.

You should have a diagnosis that tailors to you in your life, no matter what your

goals are, what your journey looks like.

So that's what we really aim to do is we want to make it flexible for whatever that

person is going through in their life.

So definitely a, a huge priority

of ours.

Yeah.

I love it.

And I love how you started your show to go deeper and have those

kinds of uncensored conversations.

because.

There's still so much.

and I feel we are seeing a, and there are great shows out there, that, that really,

touch on the deeper medical side, the history, the scientific kind of thing.

but the day-to-day lifestyles.

Of Hey, I think sexual health is one of the biggest underrated pieces of it.

And it was one of the first things that I learned when I was diagnosed for my dad

of all people, of, yeah, sexual health kind of sucks when you have diabetes,

I'm like, I'm sorry for you both.

I don't want to know though, like I know how I got here, but yeah.

but even now it's I never thought I would have to think about that.

I never thought that would play a role.

and it should be talked about, and so I appreciate that you even take it a step

further to, for those who just want to understand, or just having a dialogue or

feel safe to can we even talk about this?

bringing that to your show.

I think it's been awesome.

at least from the episodes that I've heard so far.

yeah, so I want to close out with asking you this question of what's

one tip that you would give someone.

Who just feels like they're fighting with their body and their diagnosis.

I don't know what it felt like for you, but for me it was just like, great.

Not only are you fat, but now you've got this disease and

you, can you work with me here?

can you not make my life harder?

That was just some of the things that I just kept saying in my mind

of like, why does my body hate me?

and so I would love to hear, what you would share to

somebody who has that mentality.

Yeah.

And that's actually a conversation that I just had this week

with a few clients actually.

I feel like when we are, we have these diagnoses, we we there's a spectrum

when it comes to our relationship with our body and our diagnosis.

And we either find ourselves on one end where we are compartmentalizing diabetes.

So let's just say diabetes is in its own little box.

We don't want, we don't want diabetes to spread to any other area.

We don't want it to be involved in any other area, our social life,

our relationships, our career.

So we keep it in its own separate little.

No on the other end of the spectrum we have where it's all consuming,

where diabetes is not just in every other area and it's not just in every

other box but it's overflowing the boxes There's not much room for any

thought process in anything else.

we're out with our friends and we were just thinking about our blood sugar.

We are watching our monitors all night.

what we want to do is have that middle ground where we are coexisting with it.

So the first thing that I always tell my clients is figure out where you're

at, where is diabetes right now?

Are you compartmentalizing it?

Or is it feeling really consuming?

And then I did both step further and identify those

different areas of your life.

Like those areas of wellness.

So your social life, your career, your finances, your home environment, all of

those things figure out where it is mostly feeling consuming or where you are most in

compartmentalizing it, and then work from there and say, how can I start integrating

this diagnosis into these areas?

What are some habits that I can just start bringing in?

What conversations do you not have?

What boundaries do I need to lay out for other people or myself?

What are some of those things that need to happen for me to feel

more of that balance in that area?

So I think it all comes down and not.

When we think of diabetes and our diagnosis, it can feel really

overwhelming because it does.

We're taught, we make 180 plus decisions every single day.

We're taught that it affects every single area, but we're

not taught how to handle that.

And so we feel really controlled by it.

We feel like we are just flying by the seat of our pants

and we resent the diagnosis.

So if we can start taking control and taking ownership over those

areas bit by bit, that's going to make the best, biggest influence

and impact on not only our diabetes management, but our life with diabetes.

And that's why I really think the pitcher needs to turn into is what do I want

this life with diabetes to look like?

Whether you're type one or type two or insulin dependent or not.

It's an important question to ask.

So they'll definitely be my biggest piece of advice.

Yeah.

I love that.

I love the concept of reverse engineering things, because it's so easy to, look

at here's where I'm at and here's the big picture where I'm supposed to be.

I think of it like a.

you see this big intricate painting, but you don't think about where did it start?

sometimes it's just, it starts to draw on the first line and adding

in the details and then layering the colors and all these things.

It's a process, in order to create the full picture.

and nobody taught me that.

and so I think that's a beautiful piece of advice of think about

what you want it to look like.

And then let's step backwards until we get to the one easiest, simple

step that you can start to implement.

And then once you've overcome that, add an, add, an add, because it's

so overwhelming and you immediately think I need to take all the things

I need to stop all the things and you're just completely overwhelmed.

So I love that of, the, where you're at and then work from there and make it.

let's see, this has been such an informative and great conversation.

I am so glad that we got to connect and chat.

if people want to connect with you, if they want to, join your coaching program

or, check out, keeping it 100 radio, like how do they get in touch with you?

Yeah.

so I'm mostly hanging out on Instagram.

So at needles and spoons underscore, I have to say, because I get

a lot of questions about that username, just a little side story.

so needles comes from obviously the diagnosis of type one, diabetes and

spoons comes from the spoon theory.

if you haven't heard of it, I definitely recommend, just doing a quick Google

search because it really lays out, how people use energy with chronic illnesses.

So I always say it's an ironic pairing of things that saved my life.

So That story.

So for anybody wondering is I get a lot of questions on,

I could see how it could be perceived one way, but I got halfway, but

I will definitely get the spoons there.

I had no idea.

That's what I got.

Yeah.

It's great.

I've gotten, yeah, a lot of comments.

so Nielsen spoons underscore on Instagram, on, Spotify, apple podcasts,

any of your, podcasting platforms, you can look up keeping 100 radio.

That's where we were having all those uncensored conversations that we

don't, really bring into our endo's office or that maybe people who, your

friends and family aren't understanding that really play into your diagnosis.

that's on all podcasting platforms.

And then if you want to learn more about coaching or we have a ton of

free resources, you can go to needles and spoons.com and find out what.

Awesome.

thank you so much for your dest crazy amount of wisdom and understanding,

and I'm so glad that you were out there supporting so many of us, in our journeys

because, as firsthand, it is not easy.

but if we can get back into a flow of, just that harmony with our bodies

and knowing that we can take control, I think that's the part diabetes

feels like it's so uncontrollable sometimes, that it's impossible to do.

So I'm very grateful for what you're doing in the world.

thank you so so much and we will catch you guys next time.

Thank you so much for having me

Oh, man, that was a great combo.

I M.

I'm so lucky to just meet some really cool people.

Honestly, also, Lissie thank you so much again, for your just perspective, wisdom

and everything that you were doing for those living with diabetes and changing.

not only how we view things, but how we can have a better

relationship with our bodies.

and living with this illness.

I think it's super important for that acceptance piece and to understand that

you don't have to do all the things and be a master of all things all at once.

it didn't work for me.

I'm sure it didn't work for a lot of people of trying to do it all at once.

and just taking it step by step and really trying to understand how

you want your, life with diabetes to look like and feel like, and

just take those small steps to it.

I'm six years in, I'm still learning.

I'm still getting better.

and as much as I know, this is a long haul thing, I feel a lot better

where I am now with my body and diabetes than I did when I started.

Be sure to go check out everything that Lissie is doing.

I will make sure all of her links are in the show notes for you check out

her coaching program or one-on-one coaching, check out, keeping it 100 radio.

She's got some great episodes on there that I think a lot of you would enjoy.

cause y'all know, I love perspective and it's cool to see how others are tackling a

lot of the things that we're dealing with when it comes to the diabetes community.

of course every Tuesday and Thursday is where you can catch new episodes.

Go follow on all the things, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and

also make sure you listen on all of your favorite podcast platforms.

I think you guys will really appreciate a lot of, some of the thoughts that

I've been having and these questions.

And, if you have anything that you want to share or comments or, ideas or stories,

please don't hesitate to reach out.

Leave any feedback on the weekly feedback foes post.

That is where you can let me know if you resonate with this week's episodes.

If you have any questions, comments, anything that you want to share, I

definitely want to ensure that the information and perspectives that

I'm sharing are valuable to you.

So with that being said, I'm going to get out of here, but