Podcast: From Stuck to Thriving: How Sherea Transformed Her Health at 43

Introduction

Listen to Sherea's inspiring story of health transformation! 

At 43, with 4 kids and feeling stuck, she overcame food allergies, rediscovered her love for exercise, and completely changed her relationship with food. 

Learn how small, consistent changes led to big results in energy, weight loss, and overall wellbeing. 

Tune in to hear practical tips and heartfelt motivation for your own wellness journey!"

Want Dr Orlena's help in doing a Reboot? Book a free chat here: https://calendly.com/orlenakerek/breakthrough-call-pod

Transcription of Podcast

Dr Orlena: Hello, hello, hello. Welcome to Fit and Fabulous with me, Dr. Orlena. Super excited today because we have my favorite things, which is chatting to people who are going to inspire you. Sherea, hello, hello. Welcome, welcome.

Sherea: Hi, Dr. Orlena. So good to be here with you.

Dr Orlena: Well, first of all, thank you so much for doing this.

Dr Orlena: It really is, I think, fabulous to inspire people. So first of all, thank you. And second of all, congratulations, because I know you've made some amazing changes and we're going to get to that in a minute. But do you want to just start by introducing yourself and telling people a little bit about who you are and, you know, your life?

Sherea: Yeah sure. So I am 43 years old and we have four kids. We have a 22 year old who's still here at the house. He has special needs. I'm his legal guardian. It's fun. It's, it's a lot of fun. He has a job, so we're very proud of him. And then we have a 15 and 16 year olds that are still here with us.

Sherea: It's fun. Yeah, it's a lot of fun, but a lot of running with them. And then our 21 year old daughter, she moved out flew the coop, loving life happy for her, but I'm sad, wasn't expecting all that sadness. And she's been gone, you know, she's been out for like a year. It's hard. But yeah, I, I turned 40.

Sherea: And I was like, okay, when I turned 40, I realized things are going to be changing. I'm not going to be able to do things that I used to be able to do. And that's going to be okay. My body's going to change. That's going to be okay. I turned 40 and I felt amazing. I'm like, ha, 41. I'm like, ha, I'm slaying this middle age.

Sherea: Like, ha, take that middle age, you know, turned 42. And it was like, what happened? And I don't wanna blame it. I don't wanna blame it on age. I'm blaming it on my body was sending me signals that I was choosing to ignore and. It kept going until my body just couldn't do it anymore and made me have to go to my doctor.

Sherea: And I told my doctor, I said, something's up. I don't know what, I don't think I'm depressed. I'm stuck. I am stuck. Everything is just, Doc, and she's like, okay, she and you know, she asked questions. It was great. And she goes, you know, I know you don't think so, but you're losing interest in your exercise.

Sherea: You're, you're not watching your football games like you like. She's like, I think you may be depressed and I really would like you to go and see someone. I'm like, okay, sure. You know, whatever. Just get me out of the stuck position. And she goes now about that itching because I itched and I talked, I talked to Older women, I talk to women my age and a lot of them say, Oh, yeah, it's the hormones.

Sherea: You're going to itch. But I was itching constantly and it was, I wasn't sleeping. The itching was so bad. She's like, I'm thinking you might be allergic to something. I'm like, Oh, I'm 42 years old. What on earth could I be allergic to? So she sent me to a specialist who he thought with my symptoms, He really thought I had an audio issue.

Sherea: Autoimmune disease of some sort. So I had to go do testing with him and everything comes back normal. And they're like, do you want to do allergy tests? I'm like, yes, please. So we did an allergy test and we found out I'm actually allergic to eggs. And my environment pretty much the nurse said, Hey, you know what, where do you live?

Sherea: So West Virginia, she goes, you got trees. I said, yes, we've got a lot of trees. We've got farms. We got, we got grass. She's like, yeah, don't go outside. I'm like, oh great. But we figured it out. The allergy was causing the itching. I was eating eggs Every day I take out the eggs the itching stops But this is the thing, what happened was, okay, stop the itching, I was getting my rest, I was feeling better, I wasn't feeling stuck anymore I went to counseling, but I wasn't feeling healthy, I was, Packaged foods because I'm a mom on the go.

Sherea: I got to get my kids wherever they need to go. I'm in the car. So what does that leave me? Packaged breakfast bars packaged fruits you know, trail mix with chocolate, lots of chocolate. It just wasn't healthy. And my weight is not healthy. I didn't mind it, but I didn't want it to go any higher.

Sherea: I was at 140 at the beginning of this year, 2024. When I started doing the things I used to do to lose weight, it went down to 136 and then it stopped like. February, March, I was at 136, couldn't budge. That scale would not budge. I, like, well, I'm giving up desserts. I'm giving up my eggs. Like, I should be losing weight because I'm giving up all this pasta, all this bread, all the, all this stuff.

Sherea: I should be losing weight. No, it stayed, and I was going on and then someone's like, well, you need to eat more vegetables. I don't like vegetables. Well, you're going to have to eat more vegetables. All right, well, what do I do? So I had this opportunity to do a free health summit and Dr. Alina actually had a little program on there and she talked about a free call.

Sherea: I'm like, I could do a free call, you know, see what's out there. Never had a life coach before. What could it hurt? And I called her. And she's like, so why are you not exercising? I'm like, because it makes me sore. She's like, huh. No, it makes me sore. She's like, yeah. Oh,

Sherea: why are you not eating vegetables? Cause I don't like vegetables. Why not? I don't like the taste, you know? And so just that one free call. Like, she, I started exercising after that one call, I started trying vegetables, the vegetables I liked, you know, the safe ones, carrots, celery, broccoli. And then I decided to get on with the program and, you know, see what this life coach can help with my life.

Sherea: And It has been an absolutely great adventure. And I'm learning it's going to continue. It's just, it's a continuous journey. And I don't like to call it weight loss journey. I like to call it my wellness journey. And I like to think I wasn't in it to lose the weight. Losing the weight was great, but I wasn't in it to lose the weight.

Sherea: I was in it to be better at eating and healthier.

Dr Orlena: Excellent. I love it. I love it. And yeah, it's what I call Healthy Amazing You. It's the journey to Healthy Amazing You, yeah?

Sherea: Yes. Yes.

Dr Orlena: Exactly. So now fast forward. And tell us, tell us about those vegetables. How many vegetables do you eat and like, what's changed for you?

Sherea: Oh my goodness. So on the Facebook group you have, you had a challenge of how many did you get your tin in? And it's like 10 different things. And I'm like, nope, I got five. Oh, all right. Challenge accepted. So I'm just trying different things. During our coaching sessions there's always little tidbits of it.

Sherea: And like, I'm writing it down of, you know, how to add more budget. I'm doing a lot of like stir fry and just throwing vegetables in. Maybe the recipe doesn't call for a vegetable, but you know what? We're going to throw in those peppers. We got green, we got red, we got orange, we got yellow. Kids don't like them.

Sherea: Fine. Pick them out more for me. We got this. Cauliflower. I. It wasn't huge on cauliflower, but there's so many things you can do with cauliflower and we had made a casserole and I kind of hid cauliflower in there because there was potatoes in there, and I didn't think the kids would notice the cauliflower, and I told my husband, I'm like, you know, they didn't even notice.

Sherea: I could have just done all cauliflower and no potato. And they, I don't think they would have even noticed. He's like, yeah, like, whoo, you know? So I'm starting to get cabbage.

Dr Orlena: You get the cabbage crown this week and we've fallen off the cabbage crown wagon, but we used to give out a prize for whoever was, Most dedicated to eating cabbage and you could wear the cabbage crown for that week.

Dr Orlena: And this week you definitely get the cabbage crown.

Sherea: Yay. Yeah. Yeah. I found a really simple. I don't cook. I don't cook. I don't meal prep. I do now. But it has definitely changed that just the whole program just got my mind shifted into things I can do. And I just love it when you just ask, why can't you?

Sherea: Like, well, I don't know. Why can't I? There's no good reason why I can't. But yeah. Let's see. Oh, and I tried You have a magic likes. And I tried that. I'm like, oh, let's try it. And we tried cucumber because I would avoid cucumber at all costs. If it was on my salad, I could still taste that cucumber.

Sherea: So I want to eat the salad, even if I picked off the cucumber. Like, I just, for some reason, I didn't want to eat cucumber. So that's the first thing we tried with magic likes. And I eat cucumbers now and they're actually, they're very good.

Dr Orlena: Amazing. That is amazing. That is magic, isn't it?

Sherea: Yes, yes, it was.

Sherea: It was magic. And then we tried it again for avocados. I was afraid of avocados, just the green color of avocados and the consistent, it just, it messed with me. Like, Oh, come on, you can try it. You know, it was group pressure. That's what was group pressure, and I tried it, and I'm like hot

Sherea: diggity dog, I did it, but I'll eat them in smoothies. I don't really, I'll eat hummus, I'll eat, but yeah,

Dr Orlena: guacamole. I think sometimes these things are a process and it starts. Where, wherever you're coming from, sometimes people get instant results, like, okay, I can like cucumber. Sometimes it takes a little bit time to, like, take a step and you've got to, okay, avocado isn't the disgusting, disgusting thing I thought it was, but it's not my favorite, but that's okay.

Dr Orlena: And you don't have to like every single vegetable anyhow, but, so anyhow, tell me how you feel and tell me about weight loss as well, because you said I'm, I'm not going to lose weight.

Sherea: Yeah. Yeah. I feel amazing. I feel amazing. I did all four pillars. My goal was not to lose the weight. There was a goal to lose weight, but that was not my goal.

Sherea: I was happy with 125. Okay. I was at 140 starting, let's say, January 2024. In March, I was 136 and I was stuck. I have the numbers here. The end of June, I was 133. 4. But, I will say, this went up after I took it. This went up to like 135. Okay? I started the reboot in July, 1st of July, and it just started going down and staying down.

Sherea: So, the end of July, I was at 127. And then, at the end of August, I was at 124. 8.

Sherea: And then I kind of, I kind of stayed stuck. I was kind of going from 123. 6 to 124. 8, back down to 123. 6, but then back up at 124. Like, I was like, okay, well 125 is good. I'm good. That's fine. I'd like to get it down to 120, but 125 is fine. I noticed. Because Dr. Alina reminds you with the life coaching and stuff.

Sherea: How are you with your four pillars? So I did all four pillars. Okay, my healthy eating. Yeah, I'm I'm doing really good with that I'm gonna give myself a nine because there's always room for improvement Sleep yeah, I'm getting that real good. I got my routines down. I'm yeah. Yeah stress, yep, yep, I'm starting to meditate, I started yoga, I, I'm gonna give myself a nine on that one.

Sherea: Exercise, yeah, I'm doing good, oh wait, you know, I'm getting about 12, 000 steps and I'm used to be getting 15 to 20, 000 steps averaging a week. I'm averaging 12, 000, I wonder if that's my exercise. So I started exercising more. I got myself a stepper cause I like steppers. My weight just yesterday was 122.

Sherea: 2. So, yeah, but yeah, it's just really easy. Like, okay, what am I doing? How are my four pillars? And it's just, it's just amazing. And it's fun and it's easy. I can't

Dr Orlena: have you ever, here's a big question. I think a lot of people feel. Like they're worried that they're gonna have to give up things that you know, their life is gonna be like, oh my goodness How can I live without this?

Dr Orlena: Have you ever felt deprived? Have you ever felt like oh my goodness. I'm beating myself I'm using my willpower. This is really hard work.

Sherea: Yeah. No I will say I am a Mm hmm. I was a coca cola Drinker. A few years ago, I decided I was going to do the healthy thing and switch from regular Coca Cola to Coke Zero.

Sherea: You know, because there's no sugar. So I was a fanatic of Coke Zero. Did the reboot, I can't drink Coke Zero. I can't drink Coke Zero. It makes me, it makes me sick. I can't drink pop. I tried Sprite. I was like, well, maybe it's the caffeine. I tried Sprite. I'm like, Nope. Nope. I can't. It's the sugar. So I, I did.

Sherea: I, yeah, I gave up things. But when you look back at it, like I'm reading the ingredients on this stuff. I'm like, you know, this wasn't good for my body anyway. And I do not feel deprived at all. I, my body feels so much better. I feel so amazing. I just, I wish I could just. Show everybody just how amazing I feel.

Sherea: And again, like if that scale didn't move, okay, I feel great. Yeah. I think that is the thing that I kind of wish you could just show somebody like you could feel like this and you don't have to do all horrible things. The idea is you do stuff that you enjoy doing, but you get to feel amazing and then just, you know, put them back to how they feel tired and lethargic, and then just like be able to switch between the two.

Dr Orlena: So people can experience it. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. My, my kids say that the reboot ruined me, by the way. And we, we kind of laugh about it, but, you know, I don't, I just don't, I don't eat the chips anymore. I don't. Eat the candy. And sometimes, you know, like M& M's. Who doesn't like M& M's, right? And you used to have a whole handful of M& M's and you just put it all in your mouth.

Sherea: I'm good with two. Like, I'm good with two. And I'm like, okay, I'm done. And my daughter just looks at me like, are you serious? Yeah, that was really good. Thank you. You can have the rest. Like, I'm, I'm good.

Dr Orlena: And it's amazing as well that children pick up on those things. And obviously all children, like they're, I think our human driving is for glucose and kids have that totally.

Dr Orlena: unrefined. And they live in this era where it's so easy to get. And I think even when I was a kid, it wasn't as easy to get as it is now. But I think when we start demonstrating two is enough, I'm perfectly fine. They're not going to take it on board now, not right this very minute, but it sinks in over a period of time.

Dr Orlena: And then what we aim for is that they grow up into adults who have that. Oh, actually I eat vegetables and yeah, I can enjoy treats, but not overeat the treats and that they have those internal limits that it's not like, oh yeah, I have to eat the entire packet.

Sherea: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's great. And she has actually, cause she wanted a chocolate bar.

Sherea: She goes, you want my mom? I'm like, no, not really, but I'll get you a chocolate bar. I just noticed she only ate like one little square off that chocolate bar. It's still, it's still in there. Yeah, I was like, you know, that that bar would have been gone before we even got home. So I do kind of see that already.

Sherea: And it's like, okay, all right, you know,

Dr Orlena: perfect. And do you have any like now, like, this is a few months down the line, and you've made so many changes. Do you feel you have any challenges?

Sherea: So I heard that fasting can actually help with the gut, the my allergies they say could be caused because of an imbalance in the gut and fasting may help. help reset that. And I, my goal is to see if I can get unallergic to eggs. But yes, I have to work on not willpower more so the why I am fasting.

Sherea: I can make it to 24 hours, but an actual good fast. My current best would be 72 hours. That's with, like, the chicken broth. Like, it's with some stuff, especially water. You know, you're not going without anything. And I'm not, my mind's not there yet. So I need to continue working on that mind and my why And even if it doesn't take away my allergies, a lot of the research I see, fasting is good for your body.

Sherea: Not all the time. You don't fast all the time. But it's good for your body. You don't fast all the time. Yeah, not all the time. Yeah, not all the time. But yeah, yeah, so I think that is what I want to work on that is my goal, if not to reverse this allergy, just to get my gut better because I have, I have picked up on things like, Oh, so that's why I'm like, that is my gut, you know, okay I don't drink a lot of milk anymore I think we discussed this before I stopped eating bread because the reboot.

Sherea: You try to stay away from the bread, white potatoes. And when I started adding bread back into my diet, my gut was not feeling good. I felt, I felt it. I'm like, Oh, and you said, well, you know, there's a lot of gluten in that bread. I'm like, yeah, probably.

Dr Orlena: And, but that's another amazing thing, isn't it? When we.

Dr Orlena: Get that self awareness of, do you know what happens when I eat this way? What are the consequences of how I feel so that we feel more control? And for me, it's very much been alcohol. And I don't want to give you the impression that I drink loads and loads. Well, okay, let me put my hand up when I was a medical student in the UK.

Dr Orlena: Yes, I did drink loads and loads. That's another story. But as I think most, I don't know if medical students do now, but back in the day they did. But now I find even just drinking a small glass of beer and you think, oh, it's just a beer. It's nothing. But I actually find that I, the next day, I don't feel as good, and I think it's only a small glass, but I want to enjoy my day.

Dr Orlena: I would rather enjoy my day feeling good than drinks a beer. Now, I'm not saying I don't ever, ever, ever drink beer, but my default now is. Actually, I prefer not to because I know what it feels like and it doesn't really matter whether it's bread or sugar or whatever it is. It's just having that self awareness and being in control when you make decisions and thinking, what's the decision I actually want to make here?

Sherea: Yes.

Dr Orlena: Yeah. Perfect. So for you, looking forward, Anything else that you would like to happen or do you just think okay? I want to fix my gut in terms of the egg allergy, but I just feel so good I just want to carry on or can you see a new goal around the corner?

Sherea: I don't know right now i'm thinking about it and I think I just I just want to maintain what i've gained right now, you know, and then Maybe I will add more.

Sherea: I, I used to love to do like Zumba and like the high cardio 45 to one hour hardcore stuff. I don't do that anymore. Maybe I can get back into that, but I'm doing like, I'm doing Pilates, I'm doing yoga, I'm walking, I'm doing my stepper. Like one day I was on the stepper for like 40 minutes. I'm like, Oh, it's already been 40 minutes.

Sherea: But those aren't like, those aren't like the high core. aerobics that I used to love to do. So maybe around, around the corner, we'll see how how my body is. It's juggling all the balls, isn't it? It's having time and juggling all the balls. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, yeah, I just, I noticed, you know, my joints don't hurt anymore.

Sherea: Oh my gosh, they hurt so much. so bad. And I remember you were like, okay, yeah, you're going to get sore when you exercise. Like, yeah, but I'm so sore. And I'm not, I'm not like that anymore. And it's, it's just, it's wonderful to like the body you're in and just enjoying life again and enjoying healthy eating.

Sherea: That has been a goal of mine since I was born. Probably 16 years old healthy eating, but I always had I had that sweet tooth. I loved pastas. I love bread like I'm like, nah, I'm not going to do the healthy eating yet. I don't need to.

Dr Orlena: Oh, amazing. Congratulations. And just for the sake of the podcast, when I talk about you're going to feel sore when you exercise, you aren't going to feel sore all the time, but there is definitely a hump.

Dr Orlena: And if you are unfit and you start doing an exercise, your muscles are going to go, Oh, this is a little bit different. And actually what's happening is you're building those muscles. Now, obviously when you. Keep going and you keep going, the soreness disappears. So you might find, for example, if you, for example, went away and you stopped doing it for whatever reason, and then you came back, you might find you'd have that soreness again, but it probably wouldn't last as long as it does the first time, because you get back into that habit more quickly.

Dr Orlena: But I know, for example, when I don't run. I don't run much because I swim so much and I never stop swimming enough to ever stop swimming and have to go back to swimming but running I do stop and when I come back to running I feel sore for a day or two and then after a week or two I just don't feel sore anymore because my muscles are like, Oh, yeah, this is what we're doing.

Dr Orlena: Perfect. Shreya, thank you so much for coming and chatting to us. What would be your message for people who were back where you were? I think for me it would be, when listening to you, it's like, book the free call. But what would

Sherea: Absolutely. Yes. And once you book that call, take advantage of everything she offers because you have such wonderful resources.

Sherea: I think more mindfulness of just why am I eating that? You know, am I bored? Am I really hungry? Is there a healthier choice? And I also liked you had me on that first free call, not even knowing I was going to continue with the program. You had me have a statement to continue repeating to myself and my statement, I had to change it a little bit so I could remember it.

Sherea: It says I am making my health and wellness a priority. And I would say that every day, multiple times a day. And I found myself making better choices. I found myself finding ways to get a good night routine so that I can go to sleep and get my eight hours. I just, yeah, mindfulness and just having that commitment to yourself that you're going to make it a priority for your health and wellness just to make the better choices, maybe not the healthiest choices.

Sherea: But the better choice.

Dr Orlena: Perfect. Perfect. Yes. I am somebody who prioritizes my health and wellness. That's the statement, isn't it?

Sherea: Yes. Yes. That's the statement. Perfect.

Dr Orlena: Fabulous. Thank you so much, Shreya. All right. Thank you.