Diabetes and Whole Health with Dr. Jelina Shah

Tanya Gill: 00:00:00

Dr. Jelina Shah, you're a clinical pharmacist and a holistic diabetes health coach for people with type two diabetes or pre diabetes. And you come with over 15 years of health care experience. And I was so excited to talk to you. Because your reality is, is that I don't I don't know if anyone knows someone who does not have diabetes.

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:00:33

Yeah. It's so prevalent one in 10 people are living with diabetes. One in 10. But what's shot one in five of them don't even know they have it, though. Wow. And one in three people have pre diabetes, which is the precursor, and 80% of those people don't even know that their health is, is leaning towards diabetes. So when you say it's prevalent, and they're there, chances are you definitely either you or someone you know, is on the road to have diabetes, or has diabetes.

Tanya Gill: 00:01:13

Why? Wow. Wow. And so, okay. And so then our natural reaction, right is, is is to feel fearful, right. And fear is a mobilizing and fear is the energy of, of really, truly getting gripped in that, that idea of hopelessness or helplessness. And, and the reason I wanted to talk to you is because you work with people who have with or you probably have people who are there right now. And and, you know, I think the question is, is, what is the message to their to them?

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:02:01

There's two things, I think one is, there's definitely a hopelessness or helplessness that comes. But too, there's a stigma. There's also a fear of bringing up, because a lot of people with diabetes are like, it's like, it's like, they're like, Oh, I ate too much sugar, or I knew I wasn't eating right, and I wasn't exercising, right. And so because of that stigma along with it, voicing how they feel, or their fears doesn't come up to the surface very often. And at least in my experience with working with people with diabetes is there is a piece of shame and blame associated with it. And so, I think like it, it's just really important for people to know what's happening and have awareness. The problem, I think that's going on with the current medical system that we have set up, at least in North America, I can say is that it's very tunnel vision. So fixated on like a problem, like a sprained ankle or a bacterial infection. And that's okay in those situations. But when we talk about chronic diseases, like diabetes, it is a a whole body disease, it affects your entire body. And we have to get the blinders off and think about it in a more holistic approach, because your psychological social stress factors, in conjunction with what's happening physically, all contribute to the problem. And so without the awareness, because I also have a belief, and I heard this once, and I think this is so true, that chronic disease should be a choice. If you and I say that I know, it seems really weird to say that. But it should be a

Tanya Gill: 00:03:46

chronic disease should be a choice. It should

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:03:49

be because at the end of the day, if you had awareness and you knew what you were fueling your body with, the kind of activities you were or were not doing, were affecting your body, knowing that it's going to push you in one direction or another. It's one thing if you know, that if you eat a bunch of processed foods that aren't nourishing, and you decide that that's the way you want to live your life. And you go into it, knowing that and then you get diabetes, that's been the no judgement. You do you. But that's, that is a choice. But a lot of people aren't aware that they're making that choice, that they're not nourishing their bodies, that they're not moving them in ways they're not getting enough sleep. And so and we keep making other things a priority over that. And I think that's that's where the choice point comes in. I want to remind people and bring awareness to the fact that they have these choices. And these choices are affecting their health.

Tanya Gill: 00:04:51

And that's a that's such an important statement like we are always faced with choice, moment to moment to Moment to moment, we are faced with a choice. Yeah, we're faced with a choice in conversation, we're faced with a choice in environment we're faced with we are we are consistently and constantly being faced with choice. And most of the time, we're just an autopilot. Like we're, we really are in autopilot. And so that stepping into that, that true presence and the awareness, to be able to say, I recognize that this choice. It and for some, it may be as simple as this choice will move me toward a chronic illness, or this choice will move me toward something

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:05:50

else healthier. Here's how.

Tanya Gill: 00:05:52

Yes, and I guess the description and see, and this is a funny, I love the word healthy. Okay, I want to have a conversation, I want to interrupt you so badly, but and I did. So tell me your definition of healthy.

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:06:06

i Yes. So for me, health is having a body that is feeling nourished, and you're feeling happy. And you know, it's not that you're happy all the time, by the way, it's recognizing that I have other emotions, and being able to regulate those emotions and move through them as they occur. So to me healthy is taking good care of myself. So I am physically mentally, and emotionally working, you know, not only optimally, but just like in a way that feels comfortable and good. And, and I know is getting me towards a long, healthy, good quality of life. And that's what I think. And I just wanted to say, like you talked about, we talked about the choice. And you talked about being helpless and hopeless. And my big thing is that when you have awareness, it empowers you. And you no longer have to feel helpless and hopeless because then you remember you do have choices. So I choose to be healthy, which means I take care of my mind the best I can and my body the best I can and my emotions, and making sure that I have lots of you know, joy and play in my life and rest along with doing things that do challenging. Challenge me facing my fears. It's not always fun. But

Tanya Gill: 00:07:35

yeah. Because they're part of life. Yes, yeah. And so I appreciate so deeply your description of health because my gosh, my it's so funny, I have several values, but my core values are love, adventure, and health. And in my overarching value is authenticity, which is why, you know, I, I try to edit these as little as I can. And I just try to just be me because, well, that's just the way it's gonna be. I've just, I've made that decision in love for myself. So when I chose and to find so clearly that my values were love, adventure and health. I had a conversation with my inner critic, who I didn't realize was even my inner critic at the time, but I had a really brutal conversation with her. And the conversation was you weigh 200 And I don't know what that time was probably like 225 30 pounds. You aren't active enough, you should do this, you should do this, you should do this, you should do this, you should do this, you should do this, you should do this. Final part was. And this is the part right? This is the conversations we have in our head, who the fuck are you to even consider choosing health as one of your core values. So then it was like you I took a perspective on health is important to me. And that is a piece of health, that I remain as important. But health is also about my relationships. It's about my experiences, it's about my connections. It's about my impact in the world. It's about to me help was about taking care of me and taking care of others together. And so it was so interesting, because then you look at that window of helplessness and hopelessness. And and you say you're making the decision toward you choose to make the decision and I love this you choose to make the decision toward how Oh, versus toward a chronic disease. Yeah. Right. So then, okay, and so then I, my inner critic sister was like, I could probably be drinking something a little healthier right now, am I choosing chronic disease? So it's like very interesting, right?

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:10:21

It is. And I have a philosophy that food isn't good or bad. My biggest thing because I was 65 pounds heavier. Myself, yeah, I don't think foods good or bad. I do label it as nutrient dense or not as dense. And and what I mean by that is, is this going to be like fueling myself with vitamins and minerals and fiber and the things that it needs so that my body gets the gets to work or not? Because I want to work optimally. So for me, I'm like, is it giving me all the things I need to work optimally? Or like yesterday, I had like, pumpkin bread. I mean, I had a couple slices. I'm not even gonna try to lie. Okay. And I was like, Oh, that was like, but here's the thing. Like, also, if I'm going to eat it, I'm going to enjoy it. I don't think that we need like when we come from a place of scarcity of like, oh, I can't have

Tanya Gill: 00:11:14

that's where the mind fuck lives. Yeah, mind fuck lives. And you know what? Sister? Like? i You've lived the mind. Fuck, I've lived the mind. Fuck, and the rest of the world lives the mind. Fuck a lot. Yeah. And you let the funny thing is, is I created a program. It's called shine. Love yourself light. And, and I couldn't figure out how to describe it. Because it was like, how do you explain to someone that the process is about losing weight if you choose to? And most importantly, loving yourself along the way. And just like you it was like, making conscious choice about food. But there are no good foods, and there are no bad foods. Yeah. Because the stigma we attached to that. Yeah, I can't have it. That that'll, that'll haunt you till you have 15 of it.

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:12:21

Let me take willpower is a bunch of bullshit. Oh, thank you. Yeah, it's a bunch of bullshit. I never left a party when because I was when I was heavier. And I'm always watching my weight. And I was always doing this stuff. And I'd go to a party and I had to say no to something, I didn't come home going. I said no to that. I'm like, oh, man, that looks so good. And I wish I could have eaten that. I come home exhausted from having to exert willpower. So the one thing I tell my clients is like, you need to set yourself up so that you don't have to you use as little willpower as needed. And I also, you know, want them to understand, you should, instead of looking at it, like, oh, I can't have that pasta, you should look at it, like I'm gonna have a little bit it. Like I have like parameters. I don't do meal plans. I don't do any index, I feel like you should eat what you want to eat. But you know, find the things that that nourish your body best. But it's like, if you're gonna have the pasta, instead of thinking, Oh, I can't have a whole bowl of it think like, I'm gonna take this bite and it's almost Central, you're gonna put it in your mouth, and you're really going to enjoy it. Like this is coming from a place of pleasure, not from a place of scarcity. This is I like I ate that pumpkin bread. you best believe every mouthful, every crumb that was in my mouth. I'm like, This is real good. Because if it's not, then I needed to put it aside. You know, it's the mindless eating it's that's where we get ourselves in trouble when we start to use it as a medication to self medicate to not feel what we're really feeling that was at least the case for me. And a lot of people that I've worked with, it was not addressing, you know that I wasn't happy all the time. Because I was told you know, it's like the media and social media, it's like you should be happy. No, you shouldn't. That's not normal. That is not normal. That's what the toxic positivity that is not normal, you will be sad, you will be disappointed. You will be hurt, you will be envious. You're also going to be joyous. You're also going to feel love, you're going to have gratitude, all of those things. There's a spectrum. We're not just like only happy and not happy. Those aren't the only two emotions.

Tanya Gill: 00:14:22

And the way to really actually experience joy is to be able to identify it because of moving through the stuff that isn't being able to be aware it. And it's like if you it is it is exactly if you're looking for the joyous moments all the time. You're dreaming this the trifecta of joy podcast is about real shit. It's about real life. And that is the fucking joy. Yeah, right. And the joy by the way of the pumpkin bread. Yeah, the pumpkin pumpkin loaf, two pieces. I love that. But That's seriously because if you loved it, yeah and it and it was like an every morsel meant that to you. That's what fucking matters. Yeah. I used to I used to, like seriously. I don't know if you're familiar with the Lindt chocolate bar the length so 32 Chocolate. That thing is like a. Yeah, I used to be able to sit down to one of those and not even notice that it was gone. Yeah. Now I break a square and I enjoy it. I know how many granules of salt are in one square? Yeah, because I spent that much time enjoying it.

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:15:40

Yeah. Yeah. And it's it comes down to like, you're not enjoying it. If you're just inhaling it. It's like what's actually happening there. You know, and, and that's the other like, it's like, and it doesn't mean that I still didn't like beat myself up later because I didn't really need to pieces like Jay Lena. You know, and I still have that chatter. And it's not that it ever just like, at least it never just like fully goes away. That's the reality of it. But how do I manage it now? Like I don't berate myself, you know, you talked about how you would like talk down head like who the fuck do you think you are? I have done that so many times in my own life. Like I understand that negative voice that I would never speak to another human being the way I spoke to myself. And it wasn't until I started. Yeah, it wasn't. And I never thought it affected me that much. Until I started to be kinder to myself. And then I was like, Oh man, like that version of God. She's a mean bully. She is like out of control. And she tries to pop her head. Everyone's like last night. She was like you had two pieces of pumpkin bread. Did you see that? And then I'm like, Well, yes, I did. Thank you so much.

Tanya Gill: 00:16:53

So in the trifecta of joy, the book, I and the podcast, actually, I introduce people to my inner critic, and the one that you're talking about sister in my world, her name is deja vu. You're gonna love it. her middle name is here we go again. And name is poo. As in I have heard this shit before. Right? Yeah. Yeah. And the way you handled her is exactly it. It's like, oh, yeah, I see you. I hear ya. And I made this choice. And I own it. Yeah, you Thank you. But that's an old

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:17:35

story. Yeah, yeah. And yeah, that's exactly it. It is it's an old story. And it's one of those things where I'm like, is this serving like, listen, our anxieties and our like, your deja our alter egos, they come up, we have to befriend them. I think people also want to, like, you know, shove them out the door and just in it's like, no, no, no, they're there for a reason. They're there for self protection. You know, like, she's, she has good intentions. She might not be her delivery shit. But her intentions are great. Like they are there to, you know, to make sure that I'm taking care of my body. And so I just I have to work on I have to remember that her intention. It's a good intention. And I'm like, Thank you, you know, I love you. I'm gonna be okay, we're gonna do we're gonna do it. Today's a new day, we're gonna do it different.

Tanya Gill: 00:18:27

Well, it doesn't have to be Today's a new day, it can be moment to moment to moment, moment or present. Right. That's, that's about I think, is a real challenge. Especially and, you know, I have diabetics in my own life. And I have seen examples where people have said, well, I've fucked it for today.

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:18:51

Yeah, yes. Thank you for bringing that up. You are right. The next bite you take you make a different choice. You make a different choice. You know, for me, it was like and I That's That's exactly it. We go off on these tangents where we're like, well, we just ruined it for the day. Like I just like I had, you know, I had this doughnut this morning. It's over now. Like, I'm just gonna eat whatever I want. It's an excuse to do the things that like feel comforting for us, especially for anyone that befriends food like I had. Like I used to, like make with my friend. And so that's it. And it was it was comforting, but I say it's like a loan shark. Because not only were you feeling whatever you felt when you first aid it, like for me, I would start eating stress eating so then I still felt stressed and then 10 minutes later, I would have like feelings of guilt and shame for eating the doughnut. So it was like the loan shark food is not your friend. It's a loan shark. It's collecting interest. It's yeah,

Tanya Gill: 00:19:50

it is it is collecting interest and and and then you play the game with yourself and you and you beat yourself up to the point of saying well fuck it. And then suddenly your elbow deep in a box of crackers. Yeah. And then 20 minutes later you're walking through the kitchen and you you walk past even the fruit bowl straight to the fridge and grab a slab of cheese or whatever. Like, I mean, I'm just walking you through through some experiences that I personally Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Right and it is real. And, and, and again, you can beat yourself up over all of that shit. You can. It's all done. You can spend all the time you want back there but at the end of the day, moment to moment is what matters, right? Yeah, moment to moment is what matters. Yeah. Now, sister, we've had an amazing conversation. And I I'm absolutely in awe of how wonderful this is. I know that part of your mission is to help address diabetes, either working with as minimal medication as possible, or the elimination of metal of medication because of some of what we've talked about those root causes of attending to that emotional and mental and, and, and spiritual aspect. That is a piece of wellness or health as you describe. Yeah. So if people want the best way to get in touch with you, what is the way the best way to get in touch with you to Jelina?

Dr. Jelina Shah: 00:21:37

Okay, so I am on all sorts of social media platforms at jelinashahconsulting, and my websites, www Jelina shah consulting.com. And, yeah, I have a and if you want like tips and tricks, and like how, like I have a Facebook group called the Sugar Bombs. So I help people in there. And I bring up the Sugar Bombs because my actually my tick tock name is Dr. Sugar Bombs. So yeah, so you know, check me out. Let me know what your questions are. It is I am personally on a mission to help people feel the happiest and the healthiest versions of themselves. And I do that from a space of I've been there and I've done that and I've helped hundreds of other peoples and people people and I want to do that. Like I feel like that's my mission in life. Like I went through all the struggles and the hurt and all of that experience and I want to give anybody anything that will help them struggle or suffer less so