Scott Webb (Host): They say that we have to love ourselves before we could really love others. That might be easier said than done if we don't like who we see in the mirror or we compare ourselves to influencers on social media. And I'm joined today by registered dietician Hannah Shaffer. She's here to help us to understand how we can eat healthier and still enjoy our meals, and that we're all special in our own way, and there's no such thing as normal when it comes to our bodies.

 This is Healthy Vitals, a podcast from Summa Health. I'm Scott Webb. Hannah, it's a pleasure to have you here today. Essentially, we're going to talk about setting realistic expectations for our bodies and what does that mean and how do we do that? So, what is considered "normal", in air quotes, for bodies? And is there such a thing as "normal", again, in air quotes, for all bodies?

Hannah Shaffer: It is so hard because if you look at your genetics, so let's say you look at your mother and your father, that is what your body is going to look like. If you continuously look at all of these magazines, Instagram, all of social media movies, you see the "perfect body." And you see I'm a millennial, so like there was a lot of rom-coms in the early two thousands. So, you had Reese Witherspoon or Jennifer Gardner, that were absolutely perfect. And then, you fast forward to the 2010s, you had Jennifer Lawrence, who was actually asked to lose weight she played Katniss. So when you look at those body types and those women were asked to lose weight, and then you look at yourself as either a curvier man or woman, just a curvier person in general, if you're non-binary...

so to keep that in mind, there is really no perfect body. Yes, we have the different body types, the exomorphs, which is the very lean body frame. And then, we have the endomorphs who are along the curvier side. And then, you have the mesomorphs who are the perfect body shape. So, there are different types of bodies. There is no perfect body. It's just the healthiest you can be. So if the best you can do is walking, if you're not a runner or like an all-star athlete, then you exercising what you can do and what your body allows and you eat the best that you can, then that is the healthiest for you. There is no perfect being. So even if I eat all my fruits and vegetables and everything, I'm not going to be as skinny as Reese Witherspoon. I'll never be that small because I don't have her tiny frame. So, it's unrealistic to think, "Oh, I'm going to look like this celebrity at this point in time." It's just very unrealistic. So, you have to kind of reset what a real expectation for yourself is compared to what everyone looks for. But also, even celebrities are fake, so we can't compare ourselves to them.

Host: Yeah, we definitely shouldn't use Instagram. Everybody is filtered and beautiful and thinner and all of that. And of course, all these famous folks, you know, they have nutritionists and all these, a team of people to help them look "perfect". And the truth is obviously, Hannah, that everyone's different. So, how do you recommend that someone set reasonable nutritional goals for ourselves? And what are maybe some reasonable expectations for this journey?

Hannah Shaffer: So, I want people to look at their lives and see what is the most important to them. I have patients that they're busy moms, they're busy dads, or they own businesses, so they don't really have the time to focus on food 24/7, as you see influencers do, because their whole job is filming so they can cook and spend the whole day in the kitchen and do everything from scratch versus let's say a small town business owner who is there Monday through Saturday and their only day is Sunday, you want to enjoy your Sunday. You don't want to spend the whole day in the kitchen. So, I always try to work with my patients of what their limitations are as well. Some are able to sit in the kitchen and put in that time where I have others that ask if I have to go to, let's say Walmart, get a hot and ready meal, would it be better to get a rotisserie chicken or would it be better to just get like the chicken in a box that's all separated and it might be breaded? I'm going to go with the rotisserie chicken for their protein. It just makes so much more sense. Yeah, it's processed to a degree, but that's going to be way better for them versus them going through McDonald's. If they're putting in the effort of going to the store, getting something that's hot and ready, okay, so there's a little bit of processing to it, but everything is so heavily processed now, that I would rather there be a balance or if you're making mac and cheese for your kids and that's your carb side, that is perfectly fine. Mac and cheese is not going to kill you in one sitting. It's the repeatedly getting the processed foods and going for the frozen meals that have 500 to 1000 milligrams of sodium in one sitting. We don't want to keep that repetition of eating the same highly processed thing. If we can find balance, that's how we can be the healthiest being is making sure do we have a protein, do we have a fruit or a vegetable? And trying to explore our palate too. Trying different ways of cooking things.

I have patients that ask me all the time, "How do you like Brussels sprouts? Why do you like them?" And I've experimented with cooking them different ways. If you get the frozen ones and you just throw them in the microwave, but they're mushy and disgusting, I'm going to be honest. But if you put in the effort of maybe using the oven instead of the microwave, that might give it a crispiness that you didn't realize you could get. And then, do like a balsamic drizzle on there. It could be the balsamic vinegar, or if you wanted to get a reduction sauce. Just playing with different flavors. It's just making sure it's not anything that has excessive saturated fat, added sugars and sodium because we want to make sure we watch blood pressure, we want to watch our blood sugars for those of us that have diabetes. And also, watching our fat intake because a lot of people don't realize if we're watching our carbs and we're watching the sugar, but we're just eating all fat all the time, that's going to make us gain weight as well.

Host: Right. Yeah. And as you say about mac and cheese, like it's fine. Just maybe don't have it twice a day every day, right, you know?

Hannah Shaffer: Right. Exactly.

Host: Yeah. Things in moderation. Mix things up a little bit. Have some Brussels sprouts. I happen to love Brussels sprouts as well, so you're speaking my language, so to speak. Wondering if you have any tips for like appreciating our bodies at all sizes, all versions of ourselves.

Hannah Shaffer: Personally, when I was younger, it was during the Abercrombie and Hollister timeframe. So, all the girls were super skinny. And I hit puberty and I decided to hide my body in hoodies and baggy pants and trying to hide the fact that I had curves instead of wearing clothes that fit me and not going with the trends.

Host: Sure.

Hannah Shaffer: So from a girl's standpoint, I would say look at what you're not just comfortable in, but what you feel beautiful in. Because we're all different shapes and sizes. So for our leaner body types, they can get away with wearing something that might be a little bit tighter or straight versus curvier people might want something that follows their curves. So, it goes into just appreciating what you have and not looking for something different. And just like there's the curly haired people and the straight haired people. The straight hair want the curly hair and the curly hair wants the straight hair.

So once you embrace yourself and love yourself, that's what it comes down to. You need to love yourself before you can really love anyone else. So, it comes down to putting in the time to get to know yourself and appreciate what your-- for those that believe in God, what God gave you, for those that believe in science, what your genetics gave you. So just looking and appreciating, "Okay, this is me, this is who I am. Now, how do I fuel myself?" Because for food, it comes down to food is the gas in your tank. We want to make sure that it's high quality and you're not putting anything in your tank that's going to blow it up. Because everyone knows diesel is for diesel trucks, unleaded is for regular cars, and then electric cars, you just plug it in. So for some people with different chronic conditions, they have certain diets. And that goes to, are you leaded, unleaded, diesel? Are you electric? So, that's where we have to kind of take a look at that and see what's going to fuel your body? What's going to harm it more? Or what is the perfect balance for you? And that's what I always take a look at. Do you have chronic kidney disease, diabetes, and gastroparesis? Those are three complicated things. And when you put them all three together, it's very frustrating.

But if you don't have any diseases, you have it easy. All you have to look at is, do I have a carb? Do I have a protein? Do I have a fruit and a vegetable? And do I have non-starchy vegetables on my plate that don't contradict my carb? Because there's a huge difference between having potatoes and corn on your plate and potatoes and asparagus on your plate.

Host: Right

Hannah Shaffer: So, just knowing how to balance your plate. And like I said before, it does not have to be from scratch going to Farmer Joe down the street.

Host: I love Farmer Joe.

We do, we do. want to support small local farmers. We do. But if you live in the inner city and the easiest thing for you is to go to Walmart, or heck, even Dollar General, then we'll make it work. You can utilize any type of food. It can be fresh, frozen, canned. It doesn't matter. It's just looking at what's the salt, what's the fat, is there any added sugar in it? Looking at those little things, those can make a huge difference.

Scott Webb: Sure. Yeah. And I know you work in endocrinology and Summa has a diabetes support group available. So, maybe you could talk more about that and how it's a helpful resource for someone with a diabetes diagnosis and just managing their nutrition.

Hannah Shaffer: Of course, we have free classes that are done by our diabetes educators, so we have a couple nurses. We have an educator. And then when my schedule allows it, I go in and cover the food side of things that the educators cannot. So, those are free. It's usually a two-part. So, the initial class goes over the disease state, all of the different complications that can occur with diabetes. And then, the second half of the class is the nutrition part because, of course, everyone wants to know what are the dos and don'ts food-wise for diabetes. That's our free classes, which are fantastic.

And then, if you go to the Endocrinology office, some of you may have been referred to the diabetes educators. So, the doctors, nurse practitioners and physician's assistants will suggest, "Oh, maybe you need diabetes education," or "Maybe you want to see Hannah, she's our dietician." Because for some people they might have their A1c under control, but they might need food guidance. Maybe they have weight loss goals or they might have other things where they're like, "Okay, I know I eat okay, but what are the areas I can work on? Or what's the missing piece that I'm struggling with and why are my sugars doing this?" So, that's where the educators usually do a download if you're on a CGM, which is a continuous glucose monitor versus the old school pricking your finger. But I can also access that too, depending on what we're talking about, what the appointment is, different things like that. So that way, I can look at the trends, be as on the graphs, they tell us what you're doing.

My dad is also a diabetic and he has the mentality of, "Oh, if I'm good for the week before I go my A1c. We'll be fine." And it's like, "No, no, no, no. Your A1c is a three-month average of how much glucose is stuck to your red blood cells." It does not lie. We know what you're doing and why. So, there's no tricking us. We definitely know. So, we can tell when, okay, maybe you had fast food, because fast food will show us on the graph. We'll see your sugar go up from the carbs. But because fast food is such a high fat, high carb meal, we can see the trends and where the fat keeps you higher longer. So, you'll see a big box on your graph and you'll eventually see your sugar come down. But because of how much fat's in the meal and the type of fat, it keeps your sugar higher longer.

Host: Sure. Yeah. And I know you see patients beyond diabetes patients, of course. So, what resources and recommendations do you have for those folks?

Hannah Shaffer: For those-- oh my goodness. So, I see such a wide, wide variety. I give even my non-diabetic patients the American Diabetes Association website because they have a nice food hub of how to balance your plate. It's more in the diabetes MyPlate sense, but it does give snack recipes, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Are you vegan? Are you vegetarian? They take in account all of the different types of diets out there, and try to coordinate that. But there's also the Kidney Foundation. They also have a very similar website as the American Diabetes Association where you can look at recipes or are you confused on what kind of kidney disease you have. It's very, very easy and accessible in that sense.

Host: Yeah, that's great, you know, that some of these things are unique to diabetes and diabetics and others are just for people. And we're all people, of course. And so, some of the things you've talked about here today is like, you know, sort of loving ourselves, who we see in the mirror, finding balance in our meals. You know, try to maybe not go to McDonald's every day, you know? All good stuff. Good advice. So, thank you so much.

Hannah Shaffer: Oh, of course. No, thank you for having me.

Host: To schedule an appointment with Hannah, call 234-312-2111. And if you enjoyed this episode of Healthy Vitals, we'd love it if you'd leave us a review. Your review helps others find our educational content. I'm Scott Webb. Thanks for listening, and we'll talk again next time.