"We all have our own inner doctor"
This week I welcome, Sherry Shaban, an extraordinary fitness and life coach who’s battled back from the brink of paralysis to transform not only her body but her entire outlook on life. With over 23 years of experience in the fitness industry, Sherry is a renowned expert in the most challenging weight loss cases and has helped thousands of people worldwide transform their health and fitness using her revolutionary method to rewire the brain, release self-sabotaging limiting beliefs, and patterns, and fall in love with fitness so that weight loss becomes easy, predictable, and enjoyable.
For the first few years of being a gym owner, Sherry felt like a phony. She was frustrated with herself, disappointed and angry for being a “victim” of her circumstances, unable to demonstrate a single squat. But her turning point toward recovery came from understanding that one of the central elements of transformation is to let go of debilitating and self-limiting thoughts, and to begin to rewrite a new story.
If you want to connect with Sherry, visit the following:
Instagram: @sherryshabanfitness
Website: sherryshaban.com
FREE workbook: www.makepeacewithfood.com
_____________________________________________________________________
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Have a question, suggestion or comment for the podcast? Fill out form here
Plant Centered Nutrition Essential Resources:
"We all have our own inner doctor"
This week I welcome, Sherry Shaban, an extraordinary fitness and life coach who’s battled back from the brink of paralysis to transform not only her body but her entire outlook on life. With over 23 years of experience in the fitness industry, Sherry is a renowned expert in the most challenging weight loss cases and has helped thousands of people worldwide transform their health and fitness using her revolutionary method to rewire the brain, release self-sabotaging limiting beliefs, and patterns, and fall in love with fitness so that weight loss becomes easy, predictable, and enjoyable.
For the first few years of being a gym owner, Sherry felt like a phony. She was frustrated with herself, disappointed and angry for being a “victim” of her circumstances, unable to demonstrate a single squat. But her turning point toward recovery came from understanding that one of the central elements of transformation is to let go of debilitating and self-limiting thoughts, and to begin to rewrite a new story.
If you want to connect with Sherry, visit the following:
Instagram: @sherryshabanfitness
Website: sherryshaban.com
FREE workbook: www.makepeacewithfood.com
_____________________________________________________________________
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
Have a question, suggestion or comment for the podcast? Fill out form here
Plant Centered Nutrition Essential Resources:
Welcome to the Plant-Centered and Thriving Podcast. I'm your host, ashley Kitchens. I'm a plant-based registered dietitian and virtual nutrition mentor. I was raised on an Angus Cattle Farm, grew up with a lot of GI issues and used the power of plant-based eating to promote healing. Here you'll find inspiration, ideas and encouragement for your own plant-based journey. I'm so thrilled you're here today. Let's get started. Welcome to the show Plant-Centered Listener. My name is Ashley and I am your host today. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to listen to this episode.
Speaker 1:Today I have an extraordinary fitness and life coach named Sherry who get this. She battled back from the brink of paralysis to transform not only her body but her entire outlook on life. This conversation is incredibly transparent. Sherry is vulnerable in her story and I just really appreciated everything that she had to say. So get this.
Speaker 1:For the first few years of being a gym owner, sherry felt like a phony. She was frustrated with herself, she was disappointed and angry for being a quote victim of her circumstances and she was unable to demonstrate a single squat. But her turning point toward recovery came from an understanding that one of the central elements of transformation is to let go of debilitating and self-limiting thoughts and begin to rewrite a new story. And that's what she walks us through today, sherry, I will say she will challenge your conventional wisdom on dieting and fitness. As we take a look at why diets fail and what you can do differently, we're unpacking the nuances of what transformation actually is versus results and how you can move from a life of limitations to one of endless possibilities.
Speaker 1:Oh my goodness, that just gets me so excited. She's got over 23 years of experience in the fitness industry and she has quite the story that has gotten her here. So please join me in welcoming Sherry to the show. Welcome to the show. Thank you so much for being here today, ashley. It's an honor. Thank you for having me. From what I understand, you were on the brink of paralysis at one point, so I'm really kind of curious if you could just like back us up and tell us sort of what happened and really what led you to what you do today, which is amazing.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you so much. Growing up I was really involved in sports. I was a tomboy. I would compete against the boys, I had to do more push-ups in them, I always had to let them know that I could run faster, and so that really was my identity growing up in elementary school, and then by the time I got to high school, I was in varsity sports basketball, volleyball, track and field and so, again, that was really my world, and I was MVP, often for the varsity teams, and I was actually, at that time, living in Europe.
Speaker 2:I was in boarding school and this one day I heard Pearl Jam was in town. So I don't know, that's like dating me. I was an alternative girl. I heard Pearl Jam was in town, so my roommate and I went downtown to purchase Pearl Jam tickets, and as we were trying to rush back to grab the bus to come back on campus because you had to check in on time and there were serious consequences if you didn't I ran as fast as I could to catch the bus, and I did not see the car coming, and so I was struck by a car, and the next time I became aware and regained my consciousness, I actually woke up in the hospital. So I think what had happened according to my roommate, who, poor girl who witnessed all of this she saw me get hit by a car and then fly across the road to the other side of the sidewalk and when I woke up in the hospital it was funny because I had honey on my face and in addition to all the abrasions, my face had scraped up the concrete. But I had honey and broken glass in my hair because we had just gone grocery shopping to buy honey and yogurt and little things for our dorm rooms. So that's what I remember.
Speaker 2:And when it first happened, you know there was some scrapes and some bruises and you know my knee hurt a little bit and I was on crutches and that was sort of the extent of what they thought had happened. And so it wasn't actually until I came back to basketball practice, maybe a couple of weeks later, that I started to feel intense pain in my right glute and it just kept getting worse and at first I thought it was muscle soreness. I'm like, okay, well, I've been out of practice for a couple weeks, that must be it. But then it just progressively kept getting worse until it was all the way down my leg and all the way to my little toes, and it got to the point where I couldn't walk up hill every time I went from seated to standing. It was excruciating pain and eventually I needed assistance to shower, to go to the washroom, things like that. And that was at that point where I flew back home.
Speaker 2:I went to see my parents and I went to see the doctor and I had my first back surgery and I've had two, by the way. The second one would come later. But after my surgery I was told you're not allowed to play sports again like you have to stop. You're now at high risk in case you re-injure yourself. You can do some light walking on a treadmill, that would be appropriate. And should you ever become pregnant one day, well, we'd have to monitor you because there's gonna be a lot of risk on your lumbar spine if ever you do so.
Speaker 2:I remember I was so mad when I heard this. I was so angry, I pounded my fist so hard on the table. I mean, this was like someone basically robbing me of, like, my love, my passion. But I listened. I had to listen because it was serious and I was so young, and so I continued just to listen to what the doctor's advice had said. What the doctor's advice was, I started to take the pain medication that they were prescribing me, because now I had excruciating back pain from the surgery, and I just continued to, for the next few years, follow this path and eventually it led me to a new peer group, a peer group that did not resonate or align at all with my old values.
Speaker 2:In fact, I would got more into the party scene and raves and things like that. And I just remember this one moment in my early 20s where I just woke up one day just like who is this person? This is not me. I always envision myself to be very active and athletic, and I love that. I never thought I would do any of the things I'm doing right now and that this would be my life, and so that was the first moment I actually stepped into a gym.
Speaker 2:I decided that day to sign up at the local gym, even though I was a chemistry nerd at the time I was actually doing my master's degree in chemistry I was like, okay, I'm just going to sign up.
Speaker 2:And so I just started copying people around me and I just started imitating the exercises I saw, and I consistently did that for a few months until I realized that I was able to actually come off of pain medication.
Speaker 2:My pain was gone and I now felt so strong and so stable and this is someone, by the way, who, like their whole life revolved around pain. I mean, during that time, before I actually got into the gym, the amount of time I would sit in a chair, what type of chair it was, what type of car I would sit in. If I would go to someone's house, I'd always have to ask if there was a place for me to lie down, because I can sit for more than an hour. And so I went from that to suddenly gaining a lot of confidence in my body, and then that led to really buying a treadmill, working up to an hour of running and then eventually being able to do that outside, and then dropping out of my master's degree in chemistry to pursue this new career, because it hit me Like if I could do this and if I'm able to overcome my injury and my struggle with back pain, I want to help others do the same thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I'm sure you realize that there are probably so many other people out there who are scared out of going to a gym or, oh, you have this injury. You need to take it easy, you need to rest and for some reason, that is the case in some circumstances, but for a lot of times, what we know is that strengthening your body, getting into the gym responsibly, can actually really benefit the pain that you're undergoing, this chronic pain that you're suffering from and it sounds like that was your testimony. You're like OK, chemistry, see you later. I'm going to go help other people achieve what I achieved, which is possible.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, and I love that you say that, because the body is so resilient and we. It's interesting because and I say this with utmost respect because thanks to doctors and allopathic medicine, I am where I am today and both my parents were doctors and my brothers are doctors, and so I say this absolutely respectfully but we have our own inner doctor and and it's hard to really connect with that part of us because it's scary, because as soon as we hear the diagnosis, we think it's, we think it's so scary and and there is no way to overcome that, especially when we've heard about the odds or the doctor said we can do such and such, and so if we are getting to that place where we're listening to our body, respecting our body and lovingly honoring our body, we'll be able to pick up the cues. And so I didn't walk into the gym actually deadlifting a bus, like there was no way. Right, I was, I was very cautious, I was very mindful, I was, I was doing a little bit at a time.
Speaker 2:And you know, throughout the last 25 years since that moment I walked into the gym, I've injured myself many times. I've had another back surgery. That was in 2012, where I was millimeters away from paralysis, opening up my first crossfit gym and I've had two babies. And so, after every single injury and every time your body has to go through these massive, massive forms of trauma because that's what it is and these stressful events, you have to reconnect and you slow down and you listen to the cues, because I never saw the advantage of injuring myself or pushing myself to the point where I would almost break Right.
Speaker 2:And so if we're able to really connect with our body and just just be patient, that's the most important thing that I find most of us are actually missing these days is just the patience to allow the body to adapt and then remember also to speak to the body so lovingly, because we actually many of us too when we start at our health and fitness journey, essentially and especially, we're already walking into so much self loathing. Right, I have to work out because I can't stand my body. I have to stop eating this because I need to lose weight, because look at me, right, that is so abusive actually that's very abusive talk and so that doesn't actually dry peeling that that triggers the nervous system to feel like we're being attacked, and then, when we're in that place, then of course, there's going to be absolutely no healing. And then, for sure, we're not going to fall in love with the process, fall in love with fitness and stay committed and consistent towards our goals.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I could not agree more, and I want to just reiterate what you said about that inner wisdom, that we have that inner doctor. We are all born with that and I just I could not agree more that it's so important to, just as best as you can, slow down and practice listening, because the more you practice listening, the more you're going to build that relationship with yourself that you had in the beginning when you were born, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so good. And just to distinguish the difference between listening to my body and listening to my mind, right, because the mind is the ego, right, like that's the ego part of us. That's actually being very disrespectful to what we're currently experiencing, and so the question always comes up is okay? So how do I know the difference between my body and my mind, right? So I want to have some Oreo cookies, and is it? Maybe it's my body that wants it? That could be true. Your body could want some Oreo cookies, but your body never wanted you to eat the entire row or half the box of Oreos and then feel sick afterwards, right? And so that's what the body doesn't want.
Speaker 2:If we really get to the place where we're intuitively moving, intuitively eating and really intuitively even choosing our diet and I want to say that our diet is not just what we're putting or consuming through our mouth, it's who we're hanging out with, it is the conversations we're listening to, it's the media that we're watching, it's the information that we're hearing so if we decide that we get to choose what we allow to become our diet, we can start to actually super fine tune with those messages and anytime that we're thinking oh, I did. I had such a tough week, I deserve a pizza Right. Or I had such a tough week I deserve to eat all these things. Or I deserve to drink. I deserve All these harmful things, let's say things that don't serve us because we use them in excess. That is not the body speaking, that's the mind speaking, and you can get to that place where you're able to tune in, to determine who's speaking to you simply by stopping that negative self talk and really bringing in more love and respect and patience.
Speaker 1:That's a really good point, actually, and how do you recommend because I know that you work with people who are kind of in this place right now how do you recommend someone start kind of stopping that negative self talk, Because that can be a hard cycle to get out of.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, it is. And you know, I like to bring in the analogy of, let's say, your grass, your lawn Do you have a lawn? Do you take care of your grass? Yes, I don't take care of my grass. Okay, I'm gonna go on and say I don't take care of my grass, but there was this one summer, okay, when I used to take care of my grass. Actually, this was like maybe seven, eight years ago. There was this one summer I saw all the weeds on my grass and I'm like all right, I'm going to go pick them all. And we had, like, this little picker. So I'm like, oh, my God, took me a good two hours to pull out every single dandelion from my lawn. But guess what happened when I came back the next day? There were more there, right? So it's like I did all that work and then I come back the next day and there are more weeds in my lawn.
Speaker 2:And so you cannot remove the negative thoughts. By removing the negative thoughts. The only way that you can actually do it is by putting in more grass seed. So that's what I've learned is, if you really want to take out all the weeds in your lawn, you add more grass seeds, and so the only way as well to really reposition the mind to more positive thoughts and more favorable and self-serving thoughts is, instead of trying to block or resist the negative thoughts, we start to implant positive ones, right. And so we start to maybe incorporate a morning routine where we are speaking beautifully to ourselves.
Speaker 2:And one of the most powerful exercises I like to share is the mirror exercise, where we stand in front of the mirror naked and we just scan the body and just appreciate every teeny, tiny square inch of our body and have gratitude.
Speaker 2:Something as simple as being grateful for the eyes that can see, being grateful for my mouth that can speak right now, right, being able to swallow is a gift. So all of these things, because I know people who've had throat cancer who weren't able to swallow, and that's something so small, right, and we only notice these things once they're gone, and so can we get into that practice of being grateful and having gratitude for our body. So as I go for a run, I thank myself, I thank my body and I remind myself I get to do this, I don't have to do this, right? This is a privilege. Someone else in a wheelchair would give anything to be able to do this. This is a privilege, right, and so we start to just incorporate more positive thoughts, positive affirmations, and slowly weed out the negative ones. Oh, I like that.
Speaker 1:I like that. I think that's such great advice and a good place to start for someone who might be struggling with that right now, who just feels like they're in that cycle of negativity and can't quite get out and I'm proud out those negative thoughts with some positive ones. So start playing those grass seeds Right. Well, sherry, I also know that you're not a big fan of those, the fad diets. You're a fan of having and cultivating a helpful relationship with food. So I'm curious, with it sort of being still the beginning of the year, what is your opinion on why diets, fad diets specifically fail or don't last, or why they're just unsustainable?
Speaker 2:So much to unpack around that. And I think the first question is we have to ask ourselves about sustainability, right? So when we take on certain diets and it's exactly what you said actually they're super extreme and they're fad, and you know there's probably a lot of buzz around that. But the question we oftentimes don't ask ourselves is okay, so if I start this, can I continue this? Right, if I take carbs out of my diet to release X number of pounds, can I still continue to live this way? So that's the first thing is really just asking ourselves can I keep this Up Because diet culture has set our brains to think that this is a temporary thing?
Speaker 2:Right, there is an end date to this. There's an expiration date, and I only have to push so hard and I have to suffer through these next few weeks, because then I'm going to get the results that we want, and so we've already had it set up in our mind that we're going to stop working the moment that we achieve our goal, which is like what we do every year when we submit our taxes. Right, I get my stuff ready for the accountant. It's like a couple of weeks of like ah, but then I submit it and then I forget about it until the next year, right, and so that's the way the brain works. We want to know when this ends, and once it ends, I don't need to do it anymore, especially if there was a lot of pain involved. And the pain that comes with dieting is the hunger, it's the restriction, it's the feeling like you're missing out. You don't get to hang out with your friends and have all these foods, and maybe there's a family event and you don't get to have it. And so there's this constant drive towards an outcome. So diets are so outcome focused, and they also say to us that life is on the other side of that outcome. So when I release 30 pounds, then I'll be happy. When I have my six pack, then I'll be fit. Or when I get the guy, then my life will be amazing, right. So when we set up goals in our mind like that, what we actually say is that we're going to delay our happiness to this one moment in the future, distant future. I don't know when it's going to come and, by the way, I actually have no control over it. So there's a lot of stress and anxiety that already comes with just setting up our mind in that way.
Speaker 2:And then the other thing, too, is just the confusion around diets. If anyone has gotten into diets or has experienced several diets, you'll notice that there's a lot of contradictory information, which is all backed by science, by the way, which what makes it even more curious and more confusing. So when we're on the keto diet, there's a lot of evidence that high fat is good and that carbs are not good for us. But then when we're on a vegan diet, then that's another conversation. And then when we're on a paleo diet, then that's another conversation. And so when we choose to eat a certain way, if we decide to become vegan, as an example, if the focus is about losing weight, then again the idea set up so that I can achieve this outcome. But when the focus is around health and the focus is around how I feel, and the focus is around how I'm sleeping, and maybe my skin's cleared up and maybe all these other conditions have resolved themselves, and perhaps even my impact on the environment is something that I'm so proud of, and so all of these reasons become sustainable. This makes the process sustainable.
Speaker 2:And so the thing is again with diets is, anytime we restrict ourselves because we're looking for this future outcome that we cannot control. It starts to build this massive reward system in our minds and it starts then to get us to engage in unwanted eating behavior. So it's very common that we binge eat after a diet, or even some diets actually suggest or encourage you to binge eat on your cheat day. That's your cheat day. You can have whatever you want.
Speaker 2:So we've already conditioned ourselves to feel like we're either on or off. We're either on the wagon or off the wagon. We're either being really good or really bad. We're either eating really good food or really bad food. And all of this now starts to play with our psyche because we're now adding self-worth, no-transcript and self-value to what we eat, how we look, what our weight is, and then, of course, that starts again to play with emotions. So I'll feel really happy and life is really good. And if I got on the scale and I dropped a couple pounds, my world is amazing. But then, when I get on the scale and it went up a couple pounds, now I'm really upset and I'm frustrated. I'm having the worst day ever and that's just gonna drive me to more unserving eating behaviors.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, I just think that's really helpful, helpful information, and I know right now, especially with it being still in the beginning of the year, that there are a lot of people who are maybe kind of in this place where is what I'm doing sustainable? Is this something that I can do the rest of my life? And so I think, kind of using these outcomes that you're talking about, these sustainable goals that you have, whether it's health-related, sleep-related, maybe workout-related that's so much more sustainable than maybe just a number on a scale or a pants size or something like that. Do you think, sherry, it's possible to sort of like rewire your brain around food or to really take those steps towards healing your relationship with food?
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely, and it is the greatest gift that you will give yourself if you right now feel that food, the thought of food, what to eat, what not to eat, and your self-worth, a lot of the shame, frustration, doubt, disappointment and self-of If you are consumed in that space the majority of your day. It is so freeing because the moment that you can relax around food and you're not overthinking food, you'll have one cook and you'll walk away. Or you'll have a slice of pizza and it's done and you don't think about it, right, instead of oh my God, I had a slice of pizza. I can't believe I ate carbs. Oh, my goodness, I'm out of ketosis right now, and then, now that starts to become well, since I'm already here, I may as well just have six more slices of pizza, because then the next day I'm going to be clean again. And so, yes, absolutely, actually, it does create that level of anxiety, and what I actually would like to offer anybody who's looking at creating sustainability and transformation is maybe to reframe, like you're saying, our goals. So, instead of them being outcome focused, we actually maybe create system focused goals. So, as an example, if let's say, our goal this year is to release 30 pounds and, by the way, that's still okay. And I want to say that being anti-diet, being an intuitive eater and helping women overcome unwanted eating behavior does not contradict with moving towards health, right, it's just that if I'm going to start to address my health habits, my nutrition habits and my fitness habits and I have an unwanted eating behavior, binge eating, emotional eating, stress eating, nighttime snacking, any of these things that's actually driven by the nervous system, let's address that first, because once you address that first and now, you start to make positive changes around what is sustainable for you when it comes to nutrition or fitness. That is so much easier to commit to, and so that would be the first step.
Speaker 2:But let's say our goal is I want to release 30 pounds. Instead of saying I want to release 30 pounds, which is an outcome focused goal, let's instead reframe that and say what would happen who do I have to become to be the person who's 30 pounds lighter? So what kind of person is that? Who do I have to be to be that person? Because now I could start to actually reverse, engineer some habits that I can start to incorporate into my schedule. And if I don't know what that could look like? So if I'm like, ok, I want to be the person who is 30 pounds lighter, I don't want to just lose weight. And, by the way, you're going to hear me always say release weight instead of lose weight, because when I lose my keys, I want to find them, but when I release something, it is gone and done right. So if that is the goal, and really the goal is to release that weight, then what do I have to do to become the person?
Speaker 2:And maybe I'm going to ask Ashley hey, ashley, what do you do in the morning? By the way, when you wake up, like, what's the first thing you do? What do you? What's the first thing you eat? What time do you eat? What do you have? And do you like you walk? Like what kind of workouts did you? What's your last meal? How do you spend your day? Right?
Speaker 2:And so I can start to learn from Ashley what she does and then start to write these things down and then ask myself, one at a time Well, well, she loves running, not so much for me. Let me try walking, I like walking, right. And then I can. I can schedule that in, and so when we learn from others, we are able to model them, and what that allows us to do is, very comfortably, take on one habit and try it out.
Speaker 2:I'm going to say the word try it out, because that's key. I always like to say be curious about the habit and don't just put it in like it is final, right. So I'm never going to eat carbs again, or I'm never going to have sugar again, ever, ever, ever. That that's a very big statement, right? But if we ask ourselves what would happen if I stopped sugar for 28 days refined sugar, let me see. Because if the feedback in my body intuitively is like oh my God, thank you, I'm less swollen, I'm sleeping great, I'm digesting great, I'm pooping great, all these great things are happening, maybe I have a better reason to release sugar from my diet for the most part than just because I want to lose weight. Right, that's not sustainable enough, that's not attaching enough. And so we would start to add in one habit at a time, and as soon as you feel like you've mastered a habit, let's say, you started a daily walking ritual, done it for an hour.
Speaker 2:Okay, that feels good. All right, cool. Now let's add something else. All right, let's add more colors into all of my meals. My meals are a little bit beige right now. Let me add more color. That's it. I'm going to add more color. I'm going to work on that. So now I'm walking and now I'm adding more color to my meal. Cool, okay. What's next? Well, ashley told me that she wakes up in the morning and she drinks a liter of water. Okay, let's try that. Okay, I'm going to. She's not, I believe that. Right. And so, as you continue to layer these habits, you're noticing now you're being, you're becoming the person. It's not about what you're doing, it's now who you're being and who you're becoming. And now that becomes sustainable and, more importantly, enjoyable, because if you enjoy it, it'll always be sustainable.
Speaker 1:So you're almost like envisioning this future self and like kind of creating these habits and helping you get there, in a way, and taking inspiration from other people, which I think is phenomenal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's exactly it, and that's sort of a process I do is I help people create that avatar and, if you're listening, this is something that you could do on your own. Don't get so overwhelmed comparing yourself with someone else who's doing it, because we all start someplace. And then you hear my story today, for example, but if you go on my website, you're going to see a person who's in shape and works out, but you don't know that that person's had two back surgeries and you don't know that person's gone through so many years of struggle. And so don't be fooled by the after photo Someone who you find successful.
Speaker 2:Just know that they failed 99 times to succeed that one time and that's what you're seeing. You never saw the 99 times that they failed. I failed so many times and I still continue to, because that's how I learn and grow and I embrace that as just part of the journey, and so don't give up. Just put one habit at a time. If it doesn't resonate with you, if it's challenging for you, maybe leave it to the side. And always start with things that you know you can master right away. Right, and then add on the next challenging one and just see how you feel and you'll get there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely. There's a quote out there that I can't remember who said it, about don't compare your beginning to someone else's middle, because it is so important, and we see these people who can be really inspirational, but my goodness, they had to start somewhere too, right? So I think that's always a great reminder. Yeah, sherry, what kind of clients do you work with? If someone's interested in working with you locally or out of the country, which I imagine is okay what kind of people typically work with you?
Speaker 2:So I mainly work with women and they're busy professionals, they're busy moms and they're really looking to release unwanted eating behavior. They've been dieting for years. They're feeling so stuck and where they're at they feel like no matter how they try or what they commit to. It's hard to stay consistent with them. So, those that are really struggling with releasing weight and working on their health and, more importantly, that feel so over consumed by the thoughts of food and confused about food and a lot of guilt and shame around food and body, those are the women that I work with.
Speaker 2:Because, again, in my 20, almost five years of experience, I've always found it so peculiar how, even when I would work with certain women and I would give them a meal plan or I would help them with their fitness and nutrition because it was a six week meal plan Same thing that we've been talking about after six weeks, boom, they'd go right back and to be completely vulnerable as well myself.
Speaker 2:The reason why this conversation is so incredibly important to me is because, even though from the outside you couldn't really tell that I was actually struggling with unwanted eating behaviors myself, being in that space for so long, going from low calorie to low fat, to keto, to paleo, to primal, to all these things and vegan, and because I'd gone through so many different transitions around nutrition, I also started to get very confused around food, and then I would secretly binge, because there's no way that the mind allows us to be that restrictive. And so if you're experiencing that, I would love to support you, even just through a conversation, to feel, maybe, that you could start your journey in a place where you feel comfortable with.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, thank you for sharing that. I can't people connect with you if they're curious to connect with you online?
Speaker 2:So they can find me on Instagram. That's a great place to connect. It's at Sherry Shaban Fitness, and you could also check out my podcast. I have these conversations. If you've enjoyed this conversation, it's called Fall in Love with Fitness, and there's a YouTube as well version of it. So those are all the resources that you can check out for now, Wonderful.
Speaker 1:We'll include those links in the show notes. So if you're curious to connect with Sherry, you can easily do that just below Sherry. Is there anything else that we missed or anything else that you want to make sure that we talked about before I close it down?
Speaker 2:I would love one last comment, and this one is so important, and I love sharing this one because I want to say to you that it is never too late and that it's always possible. It is always possible and I see this every single day. I see women in their 50s, 60s and 70s getting gorgeous results, and really, if you desire to make a change, don't listen to what other people are saying. That is going against what you can actually achieve. The naysayers will always be there. Just acknowledge that, and we are the product of the five people that we spend the most time with, and so the people that we're spending time with are telling us oh, you can't, you're too old, you've already had a bunch of kids, all your bodies now. We're always going to believe that as our truth, and so if you really want to step away from that just following the conversation that we've had today about how important it is to rewire the brain to those new thoughts, start spending time with people who are going to inspire you.
Speaker 2:Try to find people who you can model. So the people that I follow on Instagram are in their 50s, 60s and 70s. There's this amazing woman named Joan. She started training in her 70s, and these are the people that I follow, because that's my future. I want to do what she's doing in my 70s, and so who you spend time with is also part of your diet, and as we talk about moving towards health and moving towards really vitality, this is a part of the diet that we must also address, and so you can do everything and anything that you possibly can and want to do. Just believe and you will become.
Speaker 1:Lovely. Well, I think that's the perfect way to end it. Sherry, thank you so much for coming on sharing your story and just sharing your wisdom with everyone too.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Ashley. I loved it. You're amazing. Keep doing what you're doing and sharing this message with the world.
Speaker 1:Yep, right back at you. Thank you so much for tuning in today and we'll catch you on the next episode. Thank you so much for listening to the Plant Centered and Thriving podcast today. If you found this episode inspiring, please share it with a friend or post it on social media and tag me so I can personally say thank you. Until next time, keep thriving.