January 10, 2023 • 32 mins
Episode 97 features Lissie Poyner, founder and CEO of Needles and Spoons, a type 1 diabetes coaching company. Lissie is a hardworking personal trainer, health coach and type 1 warrior. Together with her team she take a flexible approach to helping others living with type 1 learn how to manage their blood sugars well without missing out on all of life's little joys! Sounds pretty great, right? Listen in as Lissie gives listeners 5 practical tips to lower your A1C with a flexibility centered approach to diabetes management. Be sure to check out the links below to find Lissie on the web and on social media. Enjoy!
LINKS
Needles and Spoons WEBSITE
Lissie on Instagram @needlesandspoons_
Lissie's T1D Judgement Free Zone Group on Facebook
Learn more about The Spoon Theory
Follow the show on Instagram @sugarmamaspodcast
Come join the Facebook Group!
Visit the Sugar Mama's Podcast Website
Donate to the show through Buy Me a Coffee!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Katie (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to episode 97 of the sugar mamas
podcast.
Today.
My guest is Lissy pointer, whois the creator and CEO of
needles and spoons.
You'll learn all about needlesand spoons and the resources
they offer to the type onecommunity and just a bit.
But until then, Just know thatLissie is a hardworking health
(00:21):
coach, personal trainer And typeone warrior.
Today, we're going to talk allabout a flexibility centered
approach to lowering your A1C.
And she's going to give us fivepractical tips To live a
balanced and healthy lifewithout diabetes calling all the
shots.
Make sure you check out thelinks in the show notes So you
can take a look at the needlesand spoons website.
(00:43):
As well as where you can findLissy on social media.
I think you're really going toenjoy this episode and bonus
Lissy, we'll be back next weekto talk about exercise And how.
Those living with type one canexercise and keep blood sugars
stable throughout.
All right.
Enjoy.
(01:07):
You're listening to the sugarmamas podcast, a show designed
for moms and caregivers of typeone diabetics here.
You'll find a community oflike-minded people who are
striving daily to keep theirkids safe, happy, and healthy in
the ever-changing world of typeone.
I'm your host and fellow T one Dmom, Katie Roseboro.
(01:29):
Before we get started.
I need you to know that nothingyou hear on the sugar mamas
podcast should be consideredmedical advice.
Please be safe, be smart, andalways consult your physician
before making changes to the wayyou manage type one diabetes.
Thanks.
Hello, and welcome to thisweek's episode of the Sugar
(01:52):
Mamas Podcast.
I have a special guest here withme today.
Her name is Lissie Poyner andLissie.
I'm gonna let you introduceyourself and tell listeners your
personal and your professionalconnection to type one.
Lissie (02:03):
Yeah, so thank you for having me.
I'm really excited to be here.
My name is Lucy Poyner.
I have been a type one diabeticfor the past, going on nine
years now.
So I was diagnosed when I was 19years old, which I was my
freshman year in college, springsemester.
Unfortunately it came down withthe flu.
I think it was like the one yearI didn't get my flu shot, so
that kind of backfired a littlebit.
(02:24):
But yeah, I was diagnosed myspring semester and ever since
then, just living life withdiabetes.
I'm now a health coach inpersonal trainer and I work with
other type one diabetics ontaking a restriction free
approach to diabetes.
So there's a long backstory onhow that got started.
I'm sure that we'll talk aboutthat as well, but, Yeah, it's
very crazy to say it's been thislong.
Katie (02:46):
I know.
What was that like gettingdiagnosed in college?
Did you kind of like stop andtake some time off, or did you
just keep chugging along andfigure it?
Lissie (02:52):
My advisors definitely recommended that I take the
semester off and just say, Hey,now's a good time to withdrawal
kind of.
you know, figure this out.
But I was very persevere anddidn't wanna do that So, you
know, my grades did suffer alittle bit, but I do think that
it was a good time because I didhave a good community with my
friends there.
So I, I stuck it through
Katie (03:13):
that's good.
That's good.
I mean, I honestly, I thinkthat's probably best.
We uh, when my daughter gotdiagnosed, we pulled her out of
school for the first nine weekson, well, number one, she got
diagnosed the day before schoolstarted, and it was also covid
year.
So we had the option to do thatand just do virtual school, but
honestly, that was rough.
That was really rough to kind oflike, stop what you're doing in
life and, and just like befocused in on type one for a
(03:36):
couple months.
I don't, I don't know if itwould've gone better if we had
done it differently, but anyway,all that to say, it was just, it
was rough to kind of puteverything on, on pause,
Lissie (03:44):
right.
I think it's twofold.
I think it's definitely, I thinkI wish I took some time to
grieve and almost figure it outa little bit better.
Especially being that, you know,I, I was 19 years old.
I had a lot of years behind mewhere I didn't have anything to
live with like this.
So it was definitely anadjustment, but at the same
time, stopping your life andtaking yourself away from your
community.
(04:05):
I definitely think there's prosand cons to both, for
Katie (04:07):
Yeah.
So what, how did you know youhad type one?
What were your signs andsymptoms?
Lissie (04:11):
Yeah, well, at first, like I said, I had the flu, so
I, you know, definitely wasleaving a lot of the symptoms to
just recovering, like, again,being really thirsty you know,
peeing a lot.
Yeah, so I was leaving a lot tothat.
That to the recovery of the flu.
And I was getting up in themiddle of the night a lot to pee
and I was like, this is reallyweird, but you know, nothing,
I'm gonna look too far into it.
(04:31):
Wasn't until two thingshappened.
One, I woke up one morning and Ihad a roommate and we're in
these small little dorm rooms atPenn State, like it's not very
big, but I looked up and Icouldn't really see my roommate.
My vision had gotten really,really blurry and that to me
was, you know, alarming signnumber one and like, this can't
be normal.
And then number two, I wastaking a physics exam and I
(04:53):
remember being in the room andlike looking at my exam, but I
couldn't really.
I, I couldn't look at, Icouldn't see it really.
Like I, I could visually see it,but I wasn't there.
And um, I ended up getting a 19%on that exam just cuz I was, I
guess my blood sugar was sohigh.
Again, you know, you have allthe other things like the
cravings and I think it justboiled down to those two
scenarios where I eventuallycalled the health services on.
(05:16):
Campus and I, I said, I toldthem my symptoms.
It was about 8:00 PM that nightand they said, don't even make
an appointment.
Which I went to a school with40,000 people that was not
normal to hear.
They said, come in right away inthe morning and you know, don't
eat anything.
And I was like, okay, so this,this could be serious.
And right away they left it totype one diabetes, which I'm
very grateful for, cuz I knowthat's not everybody's case.
Katie (05:38):
Right.
A lot of people get misdiagnosedand it just drags on and.
Wow.
Well, you, as you've alreadymentioned, you're a personal
trainer, you're a health coach,you have your very own business
called Needles and Spoons.
I know you're very well known inthe, at least in the Instagram
space where I spend most of mytime but tell, tell us about it.
Tell us about the creation ofyour business.
Kind of how did you get to thatpoint?
Just like the when and the whyand the how behind all of that.
Lissie (06:01):
Yeah, I get a lot of weird looks when people hear
needles and spoons.
But there's a bad story behindthat.
So about four years after I wasdiagnosed with Type one
diabetes, I graduated college, Igot a job about.
I live in New Jersey, so I got ajob in Florida.
So I had moved away and starteda new job and a few months into
that I was diagnosed withCrohn's disease as well.
It was formally colitis.
(06:21):
Now I'm, now it's more formallydiagnosed Crohn's.
And that's where a lot of thingsstarted happening in relation to
my health.
I said, this is not kind of afluke.
There's kind of more thingshappening.
I got very restrictive with, youknow, what I ate cuz I was
reading a lot of books and.
All around just felt like I needto, I really wanna look inwards
(06:43):
because a lot of the externalwasn't working in the sense of,
I felt really restricted.
So it was a, it was a bigemotional battle along with the
physical.
So in my searches online, I hadcome across the, the spoon
theory, which if you haven'theard of it, it's a way it's
kind of a metaphor or a story oftelling somebody explaining to
their friend how they use theirenergy with living with a
(07:04):
chronic illness.
And I really had never relatedto anything better.
So I started kind of living bythat theory of like, you know,
using my energy wisely.
And that's how needles andspoons came up.
Needles for taking care of myType one diabetes.
Spoons for the spoon theory.
Katie (07:19):
can you explain the spoon theory?
I feel like I've heard it, but Idon't, I don't remember.
Lissie (07:23):
yeah.
So I forget the, the originalauthor or the storyteller I
forget which, I think she eitherhad lupus or another chronic
illness, and her friend wasasking, you know, why are you so
like, you know, tired all thetime, or, or something of that
sort.
And they were at a restaurantand she took basically all these
different spoons off the table.
And she laid out 10 spoons andshe said, okay, tell me what you
(07:45):
do during your day, like fromstart to finish, what do you do?
She's like, well, I, I get upand I get changed.
She's like, take away a spoon.
That's, that's this a piece ofyour energy right there that
living with a chronic illness,you won't even think, think
about without it.
She said, why you up and shower?
Take away two spoons?
So every like, kind of movementin your day, it was using a
(08:06):
spoon.
And I never could really explainwhy I felt so maybe physically
exhausted or mentally exhausted,and that, to me really explained
it so well.
So I, I used that to send to myfamily, my friends, and just
said like, Hey, when I'm, whenI'm low on spoons, this is what
I mean,
Katie (08:22):
My spoon level is low today for sure.
Gosh, I feel like I, my spoonlevel is low a lot of times.
especially at night after thekids have gone to bed.
I'll have to read, I'll have toread more about that.
I like that.
I like that.
Vi visual with the spoons.
All right, so I interrupted youthere in the middle of you
telling us how needles andspoons came about, so continue
on.
Lissie (08:39):
So about after a year after living in Florida with
this job again, I was diagnosedwith Crohn's.
I was living, you know, I wasliving a thousand miles away
from my family.
I was in a pretty emotionallyabusive relationship.
I was in a career that I didnot.
Like so all these kind offactors were piling up and I had
decided that it was time to movehome back closer to my family.
(08:59):
And that move was kind of theinitial look inwards to how can
I kind of use these diagnoses tojust get curious about my body
and what it needs.
So I started looking at thingsoutside of just, you know, what
I'm putting into my body and howI'm moving my body.
Cause the way that I was doingthat before was very
restrictive.
It was very, you know, eatingtowards certain diets.
(09:21):
I was working out every singleday, regardless of how my spoon
levels were, and overall, I wasadding more stress to my body.
So I started looking at, okay,like, how is my environment
affecting me?
How is my social life affectingme?
How is my career affecting me?
I got into a new relationshipand all these different things.
I started looking at.
kind of my battery or my healthof these different areas of my
(09:43):
life.
And that's really what theholistic approach is.
And a lot of people think theholistic approach is just, you
know, drinking your smoothies orherbal things and I take it more
as like, let's take a 360 degreelook at your life and see how
that's impacting you on aninternal level.
So yeah, once I started lookingat those things, I started
seeing the improvement in myblood sugars.
(10:03):
My A1C went from a 7.1 to a 5.7.
That's the lowest that it hadever been at that point.
I just refused to think thatthat was a coincidence.
So that's kind of where needlesand spoons came about, because I
really started to look at, okay,there's definitely more than
we're being told that impactsour health and wellness.
Katie (10:22):
So you feel like your stress level, there was a direct
correlation between like thelevel of your stress and your
a1c and just your ability tomanage your, your numbers.
Lissie (10:32):
I definitely think so, because not only are you having
that internal stress, but youknow there's that mental stress
of all these other places inyour life and that affects your
decision making with your.
Your blood sugars.
So I really felt that all thesedifferent things were impacting
how I was able to show up formyself and how my body
responded.
So I, I definitely think thatthere was a correlation there,
(10:52):
for sure.
Katie (10:53):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well then all those stresshormones too, those don't make
things easy to manage too.
Cuz it, cuz you even went alittle bit, I don't wanna say
backwards cuz it, it, you wenttowards a better approach.
Like, it sounds like you kind ofstopped pushing yourself to work
out every day.
If you even, you know, if you,if you're feeling low on energy
and you kind of stopped dietingor following certain restrictive
diets and you would think peoplewould see like a decline in
(11:15):
their health if they did thosethings, but you saw an improve.
Lissie (11:17):
Yeah.
And that's why I think the ironyis because we look at health and
we think, okay eating clean allthe time or exercising every day
and even like on a marker ofsuccess of being like, oh, okay,
I had a a safe career.
I was in a, you know, I had a401k.
I had a, I was in a Fortune 500company.
Even those things like you lookat.
Okay.
Diet, exercise, career, thosethings were all healthy, quote
(11:38):
unquote, but in reality for me,they were not.
And it was once I took a stepback and asked myself, okay,
what does my, me as a personalhuman, what do I need that I
actually was able to figure thatout and my health responded to
it.
Katie (11:53):
I love that.
That's great.
Good.
I hate that it takes most of usso long to figure that out, you
know, like well into adulthood.
So when did you officiallylaunch Needles and spoons?
Lissie (12:02):
that was in ju June of 2019, so yeah.
Yeah.
It's been about three and a halfyears.
Katie (12:10):
Three and a half?
Yeah.
Okay.
Wow.
So just tell us a little about,a little bit about it.
What, what resources do you guysprovide to the type one
community?
Lissie (12:17):
Yeah, so we have our main program, which is keep you
100.
And a little backstory on that,we do not encourage everybody to
have a flat line of a bloodsugar of a hundred all the time.
That would be pretty.
It's hard to do Um, But ourapproach is that, you know, when
you show up and give a hundredpercent whatever that looks like
that day, if your energy levelis at a 40% and you're giving
40%, that's still a hundredpercent.
(12:39):
So showing up and giving ahundred percent, we keep, we
like to keep it real.
So like giving a hundred percentVery much giving like the
strategy behind things,understanding that things won't
be perfect, and going throughthe troubleshooting process.
So we like to say like, we'rekeeping you 100.
It's just a, essentially just aplay on words for a hundred,
which is the ideal blood sugar,but we're not aiming for that.
Katie (12:59):
right?
Lissie (13:00):
We take a hybrid approach to diabetes care.
So we are not just giving theresources, we're not just giving
the education.
We really work to give supportfrom all angles.
So we are giving you thecommunity.
So everybody is a part of a, thekeep 100 community.
You're showing up on communitycalls, but you're also getting
that personalized supportbecause diabetes is not one size
(13:20):
fits all.
Even though we're kind of.
the things that you read andthe, the care system very much
kind of treats it that way,where we take that personalized
approach and above all, wereally work to find that balance
between, here's the strategy,but here's the implementation
for you as a per, as anindividual.
So that's our main core offerwith keep 100, and that's been
(13:42):
there since day one.
It's like my baby, it's thesupport that I wish that I had
from the very.
Katie (13:46):
Yeah.
So is that like a, a certainnumber of weeks, like a, like an
eight week program or 12 weeks,or is that sort of like a
ongoing thing throughout whatkind of, whenever they need you
type of thing?
Lissie (13:56):
Yeah.
So it's a 10 week program and wego by a four phase framework.
So we've, we've gone through itthrough, we've gone through a
few.
Different like cohorts.
We've tried eight weeks, we'vetried 12 weeks, and we really
found that 10 weeks was thatsweet, middle, middle ground
where a lot of people had thatsuccess.
So we go through the four phaseframework where one, where you
know, we're going through ourbehavioral based behavioral
(14:19):
defaults, so we're reallylooking at habits and lifestyle
and I.
I like to emphasize that we'renot taking that checklist
approach.
So you might hear kind of likeprograms like 75 hard, where
it's like, just show up andcross us off your cross off the
box.
We very much like to support youin creating those blood sugar
supporting behaviors that workbest for you.
So that's in phase one.
Phase two, we're going throughall of the baselines.
(14:41):
So this is where you're nailingdown your basal rates, your carb
ratios, your correction factors,and really understanding how.
Assess those and when it is abaseline issue.
So we have a uh, C D C S on ourteam.
Her name is Jessica She isamazing and she really supports
all of our clients through thatprocess.
And I just think it's reallyempowering to get to go into
(15:03):
your endocrinologist appointmentand say like, I have this trend
and I know the true.
Root cause of it, and this isthe support that I need.
In phase three, we're goingthrough all the daily
variability.
So all the things that are likewhen it's in your routine, kind
of how can we approach that?
So this is where we're talkingabout nutrition strategy,
exercise strategy, and then on ahormonal level, how does that
impact your insulin sensitivity?
(15:24):
That was a conversation I nevergot when I was first diagnosed,
and it's changed.
The entire way that I look atmy, my diabetes management.
And then phase four, we're kindof looking at conquering the
high variability areas.
So, okay, things look great whenyou're in your routine, but what
about when we're traveling, whenit's the holiday, like it's a
holiday season right now?
How do we approach thosescenarios so that we can have
that balance between thepredictability, but also
(15:47):
allowing yourself to enjoy themoment and be completely
present?
So, long answer to yourquestion, 10 weeks, and I've
broken up into those four.
Katie (15:55):
Yeah, no, that sounds great.
I I love that.
I love how you're, you're take,you take a very practical
approach and you're kind of likebringing it into each individual
person's everyday life and justwhat they're doing.
I like that.
That's great.
Yeah.
You're welcome.
Okay, so I got on your websitecause I always like to check out
my guest website if they haveone.
It's n ne excuse me.
It's needles and spoons.com.
(16:16):
Correct.
Lissie (16:17):
Yep.
Katie (16:18):
Yep.
Yes.
And I noticed the first thingthat pops up, it's an adorable
picture of you, and then it sayshelping you create the life you
love without T one D calling theshots.
So obviously very flexibleapproach.
You've already explained alittle bit about that, but I'd
love to hear more about justyour flexibility centered
approach to just helping people,you know, manage diabetes
better, lower their a1 cs, andjust, you know, without going
(16:41):
crazy at the same.
Lissie (16:42):
Yeah, and, and to your point, I think that there is
that balance.
I've kind of been on both sidesof the spectrum where I one
restricted everything in my lifeto fit diabetes because that's
why I was told I grew up as agymnast and to me, like I
always, I was used to feelingstrong.
I was used stew, getting to eatwhat I wanted.
I had 19 years where I didn'treally.
(17:03):
Lived according to a, atextbook.
So I had done the things.
I had, you know, done the lowcarb diets, exercised every day,
kind of done just the checklistmentality.
And then on the other end, I'vealso had those times where I'm
like, I don't wanna live bythat.
I diabetes, like diabetes wasn'tthere for 19 years.
I don't wanna think about it.
So I'm just gonna live my lifebased off of how I like to live
(17:25):
it.
And diabetes will be thereeither way.
Kind of that um, almost tooflexible.
So what I've found is that therehas to be that balance.
And at the end of the day,you're the driver of your life.
You, you have your own, you're ahuman.
At the end of the day, you haveyour own preferences.
You have your own priorities.
You might be a mom, you might bea student.
There's so many different.
Things that, you know, indicateyour life outside of diabetes.
(17:49):
So how do we make that, how dowe make diabetes fit into your
life?
So we very much take that roleof, okay, on a nutrition level,
whether it's a salad on yourplate or cupcake on your plate,
like you should have the toolsand the strategies to be able to
conquer either one.
And yes, that comes to bolusBSing, but it also comes to
like, how are you pairing yourfood?
(18:10):
Is this a, you know, how can weget this to feel good for you
and your body?
So on all levels, I just thinkthat there are these balances
that we don't have to live oneither end of the spectrum.
It's just how can we makediabetes fit into the life that
you are meant to serve?
And the rest kind of can fallinto place with that healthy
balance of strategy, mindset,support, and educat.
Katie (18:32):
that's good.
I like what you said about, orlike the example you gave in
your own life, how you've kindof lived both ends of the
spectrum.
Like this really restricted lifeand this kind of free for all,
where you throw your hands upand you're like, whatever, I'm
gonna do what I want.
You know, and I think.
I think that's really how lifeshould be.
I mean, you know, even if youtake diabetes out of the
picture, you know, nobody shouldbe living this super restrictive
life.
Nor this life where you're justthrowing all caution in the wind
(18:54):
and eating whatever you want anddoing whatever you want all the
time.
Like, I mean, even in a lifewithout diabetes, there needs to
be, there needs to be balance.
And it's interesting how whenpeople all of a sudden get
diagnosed with a chronicillness, they feel like they
have to.
Usually I feel like the swing isin the more restricted direction
first, right?
And then people easily, quicklyget tired of that because that's
hard and boring.
And so they swing in theopposite direction and then they
(19:16):
kind of come, come backsomewhere in the middle.
So it's, it's great that you,you know, and I'm sure people
get stuck, which is why theyseek, seek you out, right?
They're, they're stuck in oneplace and they're just not
enjoying life.
it's nice to know there's peoplelike you to kind of guide them
through that.
So what would you say, justspeaking from your own
experience and then yourexperience, you know, running
your business, what are the topfive most practical tips you can
(19:40):
offer someone living with typeone to accomplish this, to have
a more flexible life and justhave that balance that you
mentioned.
Lissie (19:46):
Yeah, I love this question.
I have literally my sticky noteright here with with everything
written down cuz I'm like, Iwanna make sure to, you know,
give these practical tips.
And I think it comes down to,okay, one, acknowledging the
fact that there's never gonna bea formula for, I know that
there's a lot of informationonline and it can be.
Overwhelming because you're notsure how to take those pieces
(20:07):
and apply it to your own life.
So all of my advice would bevery much.
let's gear this towards you.
So number one, you don't have tobe an endocrinologist to
actually understand your bloodsugars for so long, I was kind
of, I would show up to my endoevery 90 days.
They would go through myreports, meet some changes in my
basal rates through my carbratios, and.
I didn't feel like I was a partof the process and I felt like
(20:29):
that was just my doctor's job.
And yes, they're very supportivewith changing the pump settings.
You know, everybody has adifferent perspective on that
and different relationship withtheir endo, but I think it's
really important to getcomfortable looking at the
numbers.
I view it as almost like.
If you went 90 days withoutlooking at your bank statement,
you might not have a healthycash flow or healthy
(20:50):
relationship with your moneyeven.
But I found that like the morethat I look at the reports,
maybe not excessively, not everysingle day, but having that
healthy balance, I can feelreally empowered.
Walking into myendocrinologist's office, I feel
really empowered looking at themand being able to break them
down and.
okay.
This is a pattern that I canself-identify and I can take
action on because maybe it comesdown to my behaviors and I can
(21:11):
walk into my Endo's office andsaying, Hey, this is the trend
that I found and this is how Ineed your support.
So I think I'm reallycomfortable with those reports
and just building thatrelationship.
It's like.
Having a date night with youryour blood sugars once a week or
once every other week, whateverit is, and just sitting down and
saying like, let me confrontthis for a minute and, and get
curious about maybe why it mightbe triggering, triggering, or
(21:33):
just how I can approach themmoving forward.
So I would definitely be numberone.
Katie (21:36):
Okay.
Yeah, I'd like that.
A regular check-in with yourdata.
Lissie (21:39):
Mm-hmm.
.Yep.
Katie (21:41):
All right.
Lissie (21:41):
Number two, so this is kind of a saying that we have
inside of our program, but youcan't know how to bowls for the
cupcake if you don't eat thecupcake.
And cupcake is just a metaphor.
It can be anything, but I amvery much somebody who I would
rather eat a food 20 times andfigure out how to bowls for it
than avoid it completely.
And I just think that moreknowledge is power, especially
(22:01):
in relation to your own body,like getting curious about how
does this impact my digestion?
How does my insulin timingaffect the outcome of this?
What happens when I do X, Y, andZ?
Just getting really curiousabout how you can make it work
for you is all around healthier.
I think, again, just myperspective, healthier than
taking it off the tablecompletely and never having it
(22:22):
again.
Katie (22:23):
Well, and I feel like, especially if you've already
lived a really full life withoutdiabetes and you, you know, you
know all the wonderful foodsthat are out there, like as soon
as you take something off thetable completely, that just
makes you want the thing evenmore.
Lissie (22:35):
Right, exactly.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
Katie (22:37):
All right.
I love that.
Okay, number three.
Lissie (22:39):
All right, number three.
So again, I'm not a checklistperson.
I don't love that mentality.
So my third piece of advicewould be don't focus on the
daily checklist of diabetes, cuzI know that there can be more,
or, or sorry, that can be reallyprevalent and kind of what we're
told from day one of countercarbs.
Take your insulin.
But I focus more on creatingsystems that work for my blood.
(23:00):
I'm a Virgo.
I love things like systems.
So this is how my brain kind ofthinks some things.
But, so for example, inside ofkeep 100, we talk a lot about
habit anchoring, or we call itbolus anchoring.
So this is really a way to likeattach those bolus decisions or
that pause when looking at yourfood to just your everyday
behavior.
So it doesn't really feel likeanything extra that you have to
(23:22):
do, it feels like it's builtinto your life.
So I'll play the example of.
You know, when I, every morningwhen I wake up to, you know,
start my day, I go to thebathroom, I brush my teeth as
I'm brushing my teeth, I will bopre boose for my breakfast and
it no longer feels like thisadded thing that I have to do.
Like I have to count my carbsand take my insulin.
It's just, this is just anatural part of my day.
(23:44):
And I think that the more we cancreate these systems, the less
mental energy goes into ourdiabetes management and we can
put that energy else.
Katie (23:52):
Okay.
So would you, would you saythat's kind of similar to like
just tying it to the routinesyou already have in place in
your daily life?
Lissie (23:59):
Yeah.
So when it comes to anchoring,it's just tying a new habit onto
a preexisting behavior.
So anything that you're alreadydoing subconsciously in your
day, whether it's, yeah,brushing your teeth, brewing
your pot of coffee, maybe it'sjust taking your food out of the
oven, whatever it is, like youcan attach a new habit onto that
and it can just become a newpart of your.
Katie (24:18):
Okay.
I like that.
Okay.
Good.
All right.
Number four.
Lissie (24:21):
Okay, number four the power of the 1% will get you
further in the long run.
So I struggled a lot and a lotof my clients have as well with
that kind of all or nothingmentality, just kinda like we
were talking about earlier.
And instead, my new focus is howcan I improve my blood sugar is
1% or how can I just show up,you know, how can I commit to
one thing that will allow me to.
(24:43):
Either improve 1% or you know,feel 1% better than yesterday,
and sometimes it looks likegoing and doing a working
workout.
Sometimes it's just pre bullingfor 10 minutes, and that can
look different from day to day.
But I definitely think it willget you further in the long run
than just going from zero to ahundred and kind of going
through that burnout period.
Katie (25:03):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's good.
Setting small.
I'm a physical therapist and I,that sounds like goal setting to
me.
You know, and you never wannaoverwhelm people with these
giant goals.
You wanna start small, small,attainable goals, All right.
Let's talk about number five.
Lissie (25:13):
Number five.
So again, kind of like I wassaying, kind of similar to that
all or nothing approach, but Ifocus on adding in to increase
predictability for my bloodsugars.
So for so long I was taught ortold or had that belief that I
had to take away from my bloodsugars.
I had to take away certainfoods, I had to take away
certain activities or x, y, and.
(25:35):
And instead now I've changed mymindset or my thought process to
what can I add in to support myblood sugars?
So again, sometimes it's addingin different foods, it's adding
in fiber to my meal to slowthings down.
Sometimes it's adding in a walk.
Sometimes it's adding in a fiveminute pre bowl or glass of
water.
It can always look different,but I definitely take more of
that approach of how can I addin to feel better rather than
(25:58):
take away and feel more mentallyre restricted.
Katie (26:01):
Yeah, that's, that's great.
That's great.
And there's such a mental shiftthere, right?
Like, cuz as soon as you takesomething away from somebody,
like we just were talking about,like they just wanted all the
more, so adding things insounds, sounds way better.
Way gentler.
Lissie (26:13):
yeah,
Katie (26:13):
Well, thank you.
I know I asked you for five, andI don't know if you have more
than five, but
Lissie (26:18):
I could go on and
Katie (26:19):
uh, yeah.
Lissie (26:20):
think
Katie (26:21):
Yeah.
That's a great place to start.
Lissie (26:22):
Yeah.
We have our podcast, our blog,our Instagram.
There's so much on there.
So if you, I think if anybodylistening takes the add in
approach or wants to have more,a restriction free mindset,
that's the place to look.
Katie (26:34):
Yes, absolutely.
Okay.
Yeah, and I will link to all ofthat in the show notes.
I'll link to your website and Imean, really you can find, you
can find all the links toeverything right from there, you
know, links to social media andlinks to your podcast.
And what's, what's the name ofyour podcast?
Lissie (26:47):
Keep you hundred radio.
Katie (26:49):
That's right.
Keeping it 100 radio.
Okay.
Very good.
Yes, definitely go check it out.
so we talked about, you know,just day to day top five tips,
kind of managing blood sugars.
What about keeping our sanityand, and they're probably very
closely related, but do you haveany good tips and tricks for
caregivers out there or peopleliving with type one just to
(27:09):
maintain your sanity as youmanage this disease?
You know, every day.
Lissie (27:13):
Yeah, and I can't speak from the perspective of a
caregiver, and I give, I giveyou guys so much credit because
I know, I mean, the best, I wasdiagnosed when I was 19, like I
had mentioned, and I think thebiggest part of the blessing of
that was that my parents couldsupport me, but they didn't have
to be as hands-on.
And maybe that's just mypersonal perspective of, you
know, Being grateful for thatpart of it.
(27:34):
But I've worked with a lot ofparents and people that live
with diabetes for 20 plus years,that they always had their
parents a part of the process.
And I think when it comes downto it, like one, I think.
just for the, the, your, yourchild, and as they grow up with
diabetes, I think including themin the process of that decision
making and handing them downthat skillset, I think is one
(27:57):
the most important thing.
But I think also to your pointof keeping your sanity, giving
yourself the biggest creditbecause you are taking on the
role of somebody else'spancreas.
And that's a hard task to do.
And at the end of the day, likeyou are putting in the work, and
I just want, I don't wantanybody.
dismissed how much that meansbecause I know, again, all the
(28:17):
support that I've had on anexternal level, nothing, nothing
compares to that, and I justknow how much of that takes up
your mental space and your likeyour day and maybe.
Your CH child can't acknowledgethat right now.
They don't understand it rightnow, but I know that in 10, 15
years they absolutely will.
So give yourself that grace and,you know, share the sh I always
(28:40):
say like delegate the workload alittle bit.
It is almost like a job.
So even if it's delegating, liketo me, my mom, she always she
always carries around an extrajuice spots in her purse, even
if we live an hour away now.
But she'll always carry thatjuice spots in her purse.
And to me, That's reallyalleviating a lot of that mental
load of the, the what if, like,do I have to carry this?
And same thing for thecaregivers.
(29:01):
You know, feel free to pass onsome of that, that workload
because you're carrying so muchon behalf of your child.
And that's, that's a big, that'sa big load to carry.
So yeah, feel free to, I justfeel like treat it like a job,
delegate it out where you canand allow other people to be
part of the process.
Katie (29:18):
Yeah, that's great advice.
I know I've recently startedteaching Sarah and I, I do most
of it still, but like for, we'vejust started with one snack a
day.
She measures everything outherself like, you know, weighs
it on our, on our scale, which.
we don't weigh everything.
Obviously some things havenutrition labels with, with card
counts and stuff, but you know,things like fruit or if it needs
to be weighed, if there's not aa label.
(29:40):
So she's taken on more of that,which is, it's funny, I mean
it's literally the snack thatshe eats when she gets home from
school.
But it is funny how much of abreak that provides me, like a
little mental break like that.
She's just taking over this one,one snack.
It's really nice.
And she's learning to, you know,she's figuring it out on her
own, like how to switch thescale to grams or ounces or
(30:01):
whatever it is.
So teaching her little lifelessons along the way.
Lissie (30:04):
Oh,
Katie (30:04):
thank you.
thank you.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
Thank you for, Just sharing, youknow, your approach with the
listeners and you're gonna beback next week.
We're gonna talk about exerciseand just how to keep things set,
hopefully steady and stablewhile we, while we exercise and
get some movement.
So I'm looking forward to that.
But before we go I already kindof mentioned where people can
(30:25):
find you, but if there's anotherlink that you wanna share, by
all means or is there anythingelse you wanna share with
listeners in.
Lissie (30:32):
No, I think we covered a lot and I'm, I'm really excited.
Thank you again for having me.
Anything, if you search justneedles and spoons, uh.com or on
Instagram, needles and spoons,underscore, you can find me
there and we have all of ourlinks there.
But I really appreciate youhaving me on.
This is really fun.
Katie (30:46):
Yeah, I enjoyed it too.
I really love chatting with you.
Thank you so much.
Lissie (30:50):
Of course.
Thank you.
Katie (30:55):
That's it for our show today.
Again, Lissie, thank you so verymuch for coming on.
I loved our chat.
I can't wait to have you backnext week.
Again, check out the links inthe show notes, there you will
find the needles and spoonswebsite.
Where you can access all theresources that Lizzie and her
team have to offer.
And of course, you'll be able tofind where you can follow Lissy
(31:16):
on social media.
I'm also going to leave a linkto a suite blog post that goes
over the spoon theory.
I really liked that visual orthat metaphor or whatever you
want to call it.
And if you want to read a littlebit more about it and where it
came from.
Check out the links in the shownotes.
All right.
You guys have a fabulous week.
Like I said, Lissy, we'll beback next week to talk about
exercise and how we can keepblood sugar stable while we get
(31:38):
our bodies moving.
But until then stay calm andbolus on bye.
Hello, and welcome to episode 97 of the sugar mamas
podcast.
Today.
My guest is Lissy pointer, whois the creator and CEO of
needles and spoons.
You'll learn all about needlesand spoons and the resources
they offer to the type onecommunity and just a bit.
But until then, Just know thatLissie is a hardworking health
(00:21):
coach, personal trainer And typeone warrior.
Today, we're going to talk allabout a flexibility centered
approach to lowering your A1C.
And she's going to give us fivepractical tips To live a
balanced and healthy lifewithout diabetes calling all the
shots.
Make sure you check out thelinks in the show notes So you
can take a look at the needlesand spoons website.
(00:43):
As well as where you can findLissy on social media.
I think you're really going toenjoy this episode and bonus
Lissy, we'll be back next weekto talk about exercise And how.
Those living with type one canexercise and keep blood sugars
stable throughout.
All right.
Enjoy.
(01:07):
You're listening to the sugarmamas podcast, a show designed
for moms and caregivers of typeone diabetics here.
You'll find a community oflike-minded people who are
striving daily to keep theirkids safe, happy, and healthy in
the ever-changing world of typeone.
I'm your host and fellow T one Dmom, Katie Roseboro.
(01:29):
Before we get started.
I need you to know that nothingyou hear on the sugar mamas
podcast should be consideredmedical advice.
Please be safe, be smart, andalways consult your physician
before making changes to the wayyou manage type one diabetes.
Thanks.
Hello, and welcome to thisweek's episode of the Sugar
(01:52):
Mamas Podcast.
I have a special guest here withme today.
Her name is Lissie Poyner andLissie.
I'm gonna let you introduceyourself and tell listeners your
personal and your professionalconnection to type one.
Lissie (02:03):
Yeah, so thank you for having me.
I'm really excited to be here.
My name is Lucy Poyner.
I have been a type one diabeticfor the past, going on nine
years now.
So I was diagnosed when I was 19years old, which I was my
freshman year in college, springsemester.
Unfortunately it came down withthe flu.
I think it was like the one yearI didn't get my flu shot, so
that kind of backfired a littlebit.
(02:24):
But yeah, I was diagnosed myspring semester and ever since
then, just living life withdiabetes.
I'm now a health coach inpersonal trainer and I work with
other type one diabetics ontaking a restriction free
approach to diabetes.
So there's a long backstory onhow that got started.
I'm sure that we'll talk aboutthat as well, but, Yeah, it's
very crazy to say it's been thislong.
Katie (02:46):
I know.
What was that like gettingdiagnosed in college?
Did you kind of like stop andtake some time off, or did you
just keep chugging along andfigure it?
Lissie (02:52):
My advisors definitely recommended that I take the
semester off and just say, Hey,now's a good time to withdrawal
kind of.
you know, figure this out.
But I was very persevere anddidn't wanna do that So, you
know, my grades did suffer alittle bit, but I do think that
it was a good time because I didhave a good community with my
friends there.
So I, I stuck it through
Katie (03:13):
that's good.
That's good.
I mean, I honestly, I thinkthat's probably best.
We uh, when my daughter gotdiagnosed, we pulled her out of
school for the first nine weekson, well, number one, she got
diagnosed the day before schoolstarted, and it was also covid
year.
So we had the option to do thatand just do virtual school, but
honestly, that was rough.
That was really rough to kind oflike, stop what you're doing in
life and, and just like befocused in on type one for a
(03:36):
couple months.
I don't, I don't know if itwould've gone better if we had
done it differently, but anyway,all that to say, it was just, it
was rough to kind of puteverything on, on pause,
Lissie (03:44):
right.
I think it's twofold.
I think it's definitely, I thinkI wish I took some time to
grieve and almost figure it outa little bit better.
Especially being that, you know,I, I was 19 years old.
I had a lot of years behind mewhere I didn't have anything to
live with like this.
So it was definitely anadjustment, but at the same
time, stopping your life andtaking yourself away from your
community.
(04:05):
I definitely think there's prosand cons to both, for
Katie (04:07):
Yeah.
So what, how did you know youhad type one?
What were your signs andsymptoms?
Lissie (04:11):
Yeah, well, at first, like I said, I had the flu, so
I, you know, definitely wasleaving a lot of the symptoms to
just recovering, like, again,being really thirsty you know,
peeing a lot.
Yeah, so I was leaving a lot tothat.
That to the recovery of the flu.
And I was getting up in themiddle of the night a lot to pee
and I was like, this is reallyweird, but you know, nothing,
I'm gonna look too far into it.
(04:31):
Wasn't until two thingshappened.
One, I woke up one morning and Ihad a roommate and we're in
these small little dorm rooms atPenn State, like it's not very
big, but I looked up and Icouldn't really see my roommate.
My vision had gotten really,really blurry and that to me
was, you know, alarming signnumber one and like, this can't
be normal.
And then number two, I wastaking a physics exam and I
(04:53):
remember being in the room andlike looking at my exam, but I
couldn't really.
I, I couldn't look at, Icouldn't see it really.
Like I, I could visually see it,but I wasn't there.
And um, I ended up getting a 19%on that exam just cuz I was, I
guess my blood sugar was sohigh.
Again, you know, you have allthe other things like the
cravings and I think it justboiled down to those two
scenarios where I eventuallycalled the health services on.
(05:16):
Campus and I, I said, I toldthem my symptoms.
It was about 8:00 PM that nightand they said, don't even make
an appointment.
Which I went to a school with40,000 people that was not
normal to hear.
They said, come in right away inthe morning and you know, don't
eat anything.
And I was like, okay, so this,this could be serious.
And right away they left it totype one diabetes, which I'm
very grateful for, cuz I knowthat's not everybody's case.
Katie (05:38):
Right.
A lot of people get misdiagnosedand it just drags on and.
Wow.
Well, you, as you've alreadymentioned, you're a personal
trainer, you're a health coach,you have your very own business
called Needles and Spoons.
I know you're very well known inthe, at least in the Instagram
space where I spend most of mytime but tell, tell us about it.
Tell us about the creation ofyour business.
Kind of how did you get to thatpoint?
Just like the when and the whyand the how behind all of that.
Lissie (06:01):
Yeah, I get a lot of weird looks when people hear
needles and spoons.
But there's a bad story behindthat.
So about four years after I wasdiagnosed with Type one
diabetes, I graduated college, Igot a job about.
I live in New Jersey, so I got ajob in Florida.
So I had moved away and starteda new job and a few months into
that I was diagnosed withCrohn's disease as well.
It was formally colitis.
(06:21):
Now I'm, now it's more formallydiagnosed Crohn's.
And that's where a lot of thingsstarted happening in relation to
my health.
I said, this is not kind of afluke.
There's kind of more thingshappening.
I got very restrictive with, youknow, what I ate cuz I was
reading a lot of books and.
All around just felt like I needto, I really wanna look inwards
(06:43):
because a lot of the externalwasn't working in the sense of,
I felt really restricted.
So it was a, it was a bigemotional battle along with the
physical.
So in my searches online, I hadcome across the, the spoon
theory, which if you haven'theard of it, it's a way it's
kind of a metaphor or a story oftelling somebody explaining to
their friend how they use theirenergy with living with a
(07:04):
chronic illness.
And I really had never relatedto anything better.
So I started kind of living bythat theory of like, you know,
using my energy wisely.
And that's how needles andspoons came up.
Needles for taking care of myType one diabetes.
Spoons for the spoon theory.
Katie (07:19):
can you explain the spoon theory?
I feel like I've heard it, but Idon't, I don't remember.
Lissie (07:23):
yeah.
So I forget the, the originalauthor or the storyteller I
forget which, I think she eitherhad lupus or another chronic
illness, and her friend wasasking, you know, why are you so
like, you know, tired all thetime, or, or something of that
sort.
And they were at a restaurantand she took basically all these
different spoons off the table.
And she laid out 10 spoons andshe said, okay, tell me what you
(07:45):
do during your day, like fromstart to finish, what do you do?
She's like, well, I, I get upand I get changed.
She's like, take away a spoon.
That's, that's this a piece ofyour energy right there that
living with a chronic illness,you won't even think, think
about without it.
She said, why you up and shower?
Take away two spoons?
So every like, kind of movementin your day, it was using a
(08:06):
spoon.
And I never could really explainwhy I felt so maybe physically
exhausted or mentally exhausted,and that, to me really explained
it so well.
So I, I used that to send to myfamily, my friends, and just
said like, Hey, when I'm, whenI'm low on spoons, this is what
I mean,
Katie (08:22):
My spoon level is low today for sure.
Gosh, I feel like I, my spoonlevel is low a lot of times.
especially at night after thekids have gone to bed.
I'll have to read, I'll have toread more about that.
I like that.
I like that.
Vi visual with the spoons.
All right, so I interrupted youthere in the middle of you
telling us how needles andspoons came about, so continue
on.
Lissie (08:39):
So about after a year after living in Florida with
this job again, I was diagnosedwith Crohn's.
I was living, you know, I wasliving a thousand miles away
from my family.
I was in a pretty emotionallyabusive relationship.
I was in a career that I didnot.
Like so all these kind offactors were piling up and I had
decided that it was time to movehome back closer to my family.
(08:59):
And that move was kind of theinitial look inwards to how can
I kind of use these diagnoses tojust get curious about my body
and what it needs.
So I started looking at thingsoutside of just, you know, what
I'm putting into my body and howI'm moving my body.
Cause the way that I was doingthat before was very
restrictive.
It was very, you know, eatingtowards certain diets.
(09:21):
I was working out every singleday, regardless of how my spoon
levels were, and overall, I wasadding more stress to my body.
So I started looking at, okay,like, how is my environment
affecting me?
How is my social life affectingme?
How is my career affecting me?
I got into a new relationshipand all these different things.
I started looking at.
kind of my battery or my healthof these different areas of my
(09:43):
life.
And that's really what theholistic approach is.
And a lot of people think theholistic approach is just, you
know, drinking your smoothies orherbal things and I take it more
as like, let's take a 360 degreelook at your life and see how
that's impacting you on aninternal level.
So yeah, once I started lookingat those things, I started
seeing the improvement in myblood sugars.
(10:03):
My A1C went from a 7.1 to a 5.7.
That's the lowest that it hadever been at that point.
I just refused to think thatthat was a coincidence.
So that's kind of where needlesand spoons came about, because I
really started to look at, okay,there's definitely more than
we're being told that impactsour health and wellness.
Katie (10:22):
So you feel like your stress level, there was a direct
correlation between like thelevel of your stress and your
a1c and just your ability tomanage your, your numbers.
Lissie (10:32):
I definitely think so, because not only are you having
that internal stress, but youknow there's that mental stress
of all these other places inyour life and that affects your
decision making with your.
Your blood sugars.
So I really felt that all thesedifferent things were impacting
how I was able to show up formyself and how my body
responded.
So I, I definitely think thatthere was a correlation there,
(10:52):
for sure.
Katie (10:53):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well then all those stresshormones too, those don't make
things easy to manage too.
Cuz it, cuz you even went alittle bit, I don't wanna say
backwards cuz it, it, you wenttowards a better approach.
Like, it sounds like you kind ofstopped pushing yourself to work
out every day.
If you even, you know, if you,if you're feeling low on energy
and you kind of stopped dietingor following certain restrictive
diets and you would think peoplewould see like a decline in
(11:15):
their health if they did thosethings, but you saw an improve.
Lissie (11:17):
Yeah.
And that's why I think the ironyis because we look at health and
we think, okay eating clean allthe time or exercising every day
and even like on a marker ofsuccess of being like, oh, okay,
I had a a safe career.
I was in a, you know, I had a401k.
I had a, I was in a Fortune 500company.
Even those things like you lookat.
Okay.
Diet, exercise, career, thosethings were all healthy, quote
(11:38):
unquote, but in reality for me,they were not.
And it was once I took a stepback and asked myself, okay,
what does my, me as a personalhuman, what do I need that I
actually was able to figure thatout and my health responded to
it.
Katie (11:53):
I love that.
That's great.
Good.
I hate that it takes most of usso long to figure that out, you
know, like well into adulthood.
So when did you officiallylaunch Needles and spoons?
Lissie (12:02):
that was in ju June of 2019, so yeah.
Yeah.
It's been about three and a halfyears.
Katie (12:10):
Three and a half?
Yeah.
Okay.
Wow.
So just tell us a little about,a little bit about it.
What, what resources do you guysprovide to the type one
community?
Lissie (12:17):
Yeah, so we have our main program, which is keep you
100.
And a little backstory on that,we do not encourage everybody to
have a flat line of a bloodsugar of a hundred all the time.
That would be pretty.
It's hard to do Um, But ourapproach is that, you know, when
you show up and give a hundredpercent whatever that looks like
that day, if your energy levelis at a 40% and you're giving
40%, that's still a hundredpercent.
(12:39):
So showing up and giving ahundred percent, we keep, we
like to keep it real.
So like giving a hundred percentVery much giving like the
strategy behind things,understanding that things won't
be perfect, and going throughthe troubleshooting process.
So we like to say like, we'rekeeping you 100.
It's just a, essentially just aplay on words for a hundred,
which is the ideal blood sugar,but we're not aiming for that.
Katie (12:59):
right?
Lissie (13:00):
We take a hybrid approach to diabetes care.
So we are not just giving theresources, we're not just giving
the education.
We really work to give supportfrom all angles.
So we are giving you thecommunity.
So everybody is a part of a, thekeep 100 community.
You're showing up on communitycalls, but you're also getting
that personalized supportbecause diabetes is not one size
(13:20):
fits all.
Even though we're kind of.
the things that you read andthe, the care system very much
kind of treats it that way,where we take that personalized
approach and above all, wereally work to find that balance
between, here's the strategy,but here's the implementation
for you as a per, as anindividual.
So that's our main core offerwith keep 100, and that's been
(13:42):
there since day one.
It's like my baby, it's thesupport that I wish that I had
from the very.
Katie (13:46):
Yeah.
So is that like a, a certainnumber of weeks, like a, like an
eight week program or 12 weeks,or is that sort of like a
ongoing thing throughout whatkind of, whenever they need you
type of thing?
Lissie (13:56):
Yeah.
So it's a 10 week program and wego by a four phase framework.
So we've, we've gone through itthrough, we've gone through a
few.
Different like cohorts.
We've tried eight weeks, we'vetried 12 weeks, and we really
found that 10 weeks was thatsweet, middle, middle ground
where a lot of people had thatsuccess.
So we go through the four phaseframework where one, where you
know, we're going through ourbehavioral based behavioral
(14:19):
defaults, so we're reallylooking at habits and lifestyle
and I.
I like to emphasize that we'renot taking that checklist
approach.
So you might hear kind of likeprograms like 75 hard, where
it's like, just show up andcross us off your cross off the
box.
We very much like to support youin creating those blood sugar
supporting behaviors that workbest for you.
So that's in phase one.
Phase two, we're going throughall of the baselines.
(14:41):
So this is where you're nailingdown your basal rates, your carb
ratios, your correction factors,and really understanding how.
Assess those and when it is abaseline issue.
So we have a uh, C D C S on ourteam.
Her name is Jessica She isamazing and she really supports
all of our clients through thatprocess.
And I just think it's reallyempowering to get to go into
(15:03):
your endocrinologist appointmentand say like, I have this trend
and I know the true.
Root cause of it, and this isthe support that I need.
In phase three, we're goingthrough all the daily
variability.
So all the things that are likewhen it's in your routine, kind
of how can we approach that?
So this is where we're talkingabout nutrition strategy,
exercise strategy, and then on ahormonal level, how does that
impact your insulin sensitivity?
(15:24):
That was a conversation I nevergot when I was first diagnosed,
and it's changed.
The entire way that I look atmy, my diabetes management.
And then phase four, we're kindof looking at conquering the
high variability areas.
So, okay, things look great whenyou're in your routine, but what
about when we're traveling, whenit's the holiday, like it's a
holiday season right now?
How do we approach thosescenarios so that we can have
that balance between thepredictability, but also
(15:47):
allowing yourself to enjoy themoment and be completely
present?
So, long answer to yourquestion, 10 weeks, and I've
broken up into those four.
Katie (15:55):
Yeah, no, that sounds great.
I I love that.
I love how you're, you're take,you take a very practical
approach and you're kind of likebringing it into each individual
person's everyday life and justwhat they're doing.
I like that.
That's great.
Yeah.
You're welcome.
Okay, so I got on your websitecause I always like to check out
my guest website if they haveone.
It's n ne excuse me.
It's needles and spoons.com.
(16:16):
Correct.
Lissie (16:17):
Yep.
Katie (16:18):
Yep.
Yes.
And I noticed the first thingthat pops up, it's an adorable
picture of you, and then it sayshelping you create the life you
love without T one D calling theshots.
So obviously very flexibleapproach.
You've already explained alittle bit about that, but I'd
love to hear more about justyour flexibility centered
approach to just helping people,you know, manage diabetes
better, lower their a1 cs, andjust, you know, without going
(16:41):
crazy at the same.
Lissie (16:42):
Yeah, and, and to your point, I think that there is
that balance.
I've kind of been on both sidesof the spectrum where I one
restricted everything in my lifeto fit diabetes because that's
why I was told I grew up as agymnast and to me, like I
always, I was used to feelingstrong.
I was used stew, getting to eatwhat I wanted.
I had 19 years where I didn'treally.
(17:03):
Lived according to a, atextbook.
So I had done the things.
I had, you know, done the lowcarb diets, exercised every day,
kind of done just the checklistmentality.
And then on the other end, I'vealso had those times where I'm
like, I don't wanna live bythat.
I diabetes, like diabetes wasn'tthere for 19 years.
I don't wanna think about it.
So I'm just gonna live my lifebased off of how I like to live
(17:25):
it.
And diabetes will be thereeither way.
Kind of that um, almost tooflexible.
So what I've found is that therehas to be that balance.
And at the end of the day,you're the driver of your life.
You, you have your own, you're ahuman.
At the end of the day, you haveyour own preferences.
You have your own priorities.
You might be a mom, you might bea student.
There's so many different.
Things that, you know, indicateyour life outside of diabetes.
(17:49):
So how do we make that, how dowe make diabetes fit into your
life?
So we very much take that roleof, okay, on a nutrition level,
whether it's a salad on yourplate or cupcake on your plate,
like you should have the toolsand the strategies to be able to
conquer either one.
And yes, that comes to bolusBSing, but it also comes to
like, how are you pairing yourfood?
(18:10):
Is this a, you know, how can weget this to feel good for you
and your body?
So on all levels, I just thinkthat there are these balances
that we don't have to live oneither end of the spectrum.
It's just how can we makediabetes fit into the life that
you are meant to serve?
And the rest kind of can fallinto place with that healthy
balance of strategy, mindset,support, and educat.
Katie (18:32):
that's good.
I like what you said about, orlike the example you gave in
your own life, how you've kindof lived both ends of the
spectrum.
Like this really restricted lifeand this kind of free for all,
where you throw your hands upand you're like, whatever, I'm
gonna do what I want.
You know, and I think.
I think that's really how lifeshould be.
I mean, you know, even if youtake diabetes out of the
picture, you know, nobody shouldbe living this super restrictive
life.
Nor this life where you're justthrowing all caution in the wind
(18:54):
and eating whatever you want anddoing whatever you want all the
time.
Like, I mean, even in a lifewithout diabetes, there needs to
be, there needs to be balance.
And it's interesting how whenpeople all of a sudden get
diagnosed with a chronicillness, they feel like they
have to.
Usually I feel like the swing isin the more restricted direction
first, right?
And then people easily, quicklyget tired of that because that's
hard and boring.
And so they swing in theopposite direction and then they
(19:16):
kind of come, come backsomewhere in the middle.
So it's, it's great that you,you know, and I'm sure people
get stuck, which is why theyseek, seek you out, right?
They're, they're stuck in oneplace and they're just not
enjoying life.
it's nice to know there's peoplelike you to kind of guide them
through that.
So what would you say, justspeaking from your own
experience and then yourexperience, you know, running
your business, what are the topfive most practical tips you can
(19:40):
offer someone living with typeone to accomplish this, to have
a more flexible life and justhave that balance that you
mentioned.
Lissie (19:46):
Yeah, I love this question.
I have literally my sticky noteright here with with everything
written down cuz I'm like, Iwanna make sure to, you know,
give these practical tips.
And I think it comes down to,okay, one, acknowledging the
fact that there's never gonna bea formula for, I know that
there's a lot of informationonline and it can be.
Overwhelming because you're notsure how to take those pieces
(20:07):
and apply it to your own life.
So all of my advice would bevery much.
let's gear this towards you.
So number one, you don't have tobe an endocrinologist to
actually understand your bloodsugars for so long, I was kind
of, I would show up to my endoevery 90 days.
They would go through myreports, meet some changes in my
basal rates through my carbratios, and.
I didn't feel like I was a partof the process and I felt like
(20:29):
that was just my doctor's job.
And yes, they're very supportivewith changing the pump settings.
You know, everybody has adifferent perspective on that
and different relationship withtheir endo, but I think it's
really important to getcomfortable looking at the
numbers.
I view it as almost like.
If you went 90 days withoutlooking at your bank statement,
you might not have a healthycash flow or healthy
(20:50):
relationship with your moneyeven.
But I found that like the morethat I look at the reports,
maybe not excessively, not everysingle day, but having that
healthy balance, I can feelreally empowered.
Walking into myendocrinologist's office, I feel
really empowered looking at themand being able to break them
down and.
okay.
This is a pattern that I canself-identify and I can take
action on because maybe it comesdown to my behaviors and I can
(21:11):
walk into my Endo's office andsaying, Hey, this is the trend
that I found and this is how Ineed your support.
So I think I'm reallycomfortable with those reports
and just building thatrelationship.
It's like.
Having a date night with youryour blood sugars once a week or
once every other week, whateverit is, and just sitting down and
saying like, let me confrontthis for a minute and, and get
curious about maybe why it mightbe triggering, triggering, or
(21:33):
just how I can approach themmoving forward.
So I would definitely be numberone.
Katie (21:36):
Okay.
Yeah, I'd like that.
A regular check-in with yourdata.
Lissie (21:39):
Mm-hmm.
.Yep.
Katie (21:41):
All right.
Lissie (21:41):
Number two, so this is kind of a saying that we have
inside of our program, but youcan't know how to bowls for the
cupcake if you don't eat thecupcake.
And cupcake is just a metaphor.
It can be anything, but I amvery much somebody who I would
rather eat a food 20 times andfigure out how to bowls for it
than avoid it completely.
And I just think that moreknowledge is power, especially
(22:01):
in relation to your own body,like getting curious about how
does this impact my digestion?
How does my insulin timingaffect the outcome of this?
What happens when I do X, Y, andZ?
Just getting really curiousabout how you can make it work
for you is all around healthier.
I think, again, just myperspective, healthier than
taking it off the tablecompletely and never having it
(22:22):
again.
Katie (22:23):
Well, and I feel like, especially if you've already
lived a really full life withoutdiabetes and you, you know, you
know all the wonderful foodsthat are out there, like as soon
as you take something off thetable completely, that just
makes you want the thing evenmore.
Lissie (22:35):
Right, exactly.
Mm-hmm.
Yep.
Katie (22:37):
All right.
I love that.
Okay, number three.
Lissie (22:39):
All right, number three.
So again, I'm not a checklistperson.
I don't love that mentality.
So my third piece of advicewould be don't focus on the
daily checklist of diabetes, cuzI know that there can be more,
or, or sorry, that can be reallyprevalent and kind of what we're
told from day one of countercarbs.
Take your insulin.
But I focus more on creatingsystems that work for my blood.
(23:00):
I'm a Virgo.
I love things like systems.
So this is how my brain kind ofthinks some things.
But, so for example, inside ofkeep 100, we talk a lot about
habit anchoring, or we call itbolus anchoring.
So this is really a way to likeattach those bolus decisions or
that pause when looking at yourfood to just your everyday
behavior.
So it doesn't really feel likeanything extra that you have to
(23:22):
do, it feels like it's builtinto your life.
So I'll play the example of.
You know, when I, every morningwhen I wake up to, you know,
start my day, I go to thebathroom, I brush my teeth as
I'm brushing my teeth, I will bopre boose for my breakfast and
it no longer feels like thisadded thing that I have to do.
Like I have to count my carbsand take my insulin.
It's just, this is just anatural part of my day.
(23:44):
And I think that the more we cancreate these systems, the less
mental energy goes into ourdiabetes management and we can
put that energy else.
Katie (23:52):
Okay.
So would you, would you saythat's kind of similar to like
just tying it to the routinesyou already have in place in
your daily life?
Lissie (23:59):
Yeah.
So when it comes to anchoring,it's just tying a new habit onto
a preexisting behavior.
So anything that you're alreadydoing subconsciously in your
day, whether it's, yeah,brushing your teeth, brewing
your pot of coffee, maybe it'sjust taking your food out of the
oven, whatever it is, like youcan attach a new habit onto that
and it can just become a newpart of your.
Katie (24:18):
Okay.
I like that.
Okay.
Good.
All right.
Number four.
Lissie (24:21):
Okay, number four the power of the 1% will get you
further in the long run.
So I struggled a lot and a lotof my clients have as well with
that kind of all or nothingmentality, just kinda like we
were talking about earlier.
And instead, my new focus is howcan I improve my blood sugar is
1% or how can I just show up,you know, how can I commit to
one thing that will allow me to.
(24:43):
Either improve 1% or you know,feel 1% better than yesterday,
and sometimes it looks likegoing and doing a working
workout.
Sometimes it's just pre bullingfor 10 minutes, and that can
look different from day to day.
But I definitely think it willget you further in the long run
than just going from zero to ahundred and kind of going
through that burnout period.
Katie (25:03):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's good.
Setting small.
I'm a physical therapist and I,that sounds like goal setting to
me.
You know, and you never wannaoverwhelm people with these
giant goals.
You wanna start small, small,attainable goals, All right.
Let's talk about number five.
Lissie (25:13):
Number five.
So again, kind of like I wassaying, kind of similar to that
all or nothing approach, but Ifocus on adding in to increase
predictability for my bloodsugars.
So for so long I was taught ortold or had that belief that I
had to take away from my bloodsugars.
I had to take away certainfoods, I had to take away
certain activities or x, y, and.
(25:35):
And instead now I've changed mymindset or my thought process to
what can I add in to support myblood sugars?
So again, sometimes it's addingin different foods, it's adding
in fiber to my meal to slowthings down.
Sometimes it's adding in a walk.
Sometimes it's adding in a fiveminute pre bowl or glass of
water.
It can always look different,but I definitely take more of
that approach of how can I addin to feel better rather than
(25:58):
take away and feel more mentallyre restricted.
Katie (26:01):
Yeah, that's, that's great.
That's great.
And there's such a mental shiftthere, right?
Like, cuz as soon as you takesomething away from somebody,
like we just were talking about,like they just wanted all the
more, so adding things insounds, sounds way better.
Way gentler.
Lissie (26:13):
yeah,
Katie (26:13):
Well, thank you.
I know I asked you for five, andI don't know if you have more
than five, but
Lissie (26:18):
I could go on and
Katie (26:19):
uh, yeah.
Lissie (26:20):
think
Katie (26:21):
Yeah.
That's a great place to start.
Lissie (26:22):
Yeah.
We have our podcast, our blog,our Instagram.
There's so much on there.
So if you, I think if anybodylistening takes the add in
approach or wants to have more,a restriction free mindset,
that's the place to look.
Katie (26:34):
Yes, absolutely.
Okay.
Yeah, and I will link to all ofthat in the show notes.
I'll link to your website and Imean, really you can find, you
can find all the links toeverything right from there, you
know, links to social media andlinks to your podcast.
And what's, what's the name ofyour podcast?
Lissie (26:47):
Keep you hundred radio.
Katie (26:49):
That's right.
Keeping it 100 radio.
Okay.
Very good.
Yes, definitely go check it out.
so we talked about, you know,just day to day top five tips,
kind of managing blood sugars.
What about keeping our sanityand, and they're probably very
closely related, but do you haveany good tips and tricks for
caregivers out there or peopleliving with type one just to
(27:09):
maintain your sanity as youmanage this disease?
You know, every day.
Lissie (27:13):
Yeah, and I can't speak from the perspective of a
caregiver, and I give, I giveyou guys so much credit because
I know, I mean, the best, I wasdiagnosed when I was 19, like I
had mentioned, and I think thebiggest part of the blessing of
that was that my parents couldsupport me, but they didn't have
to be as hands-on.
And maybe that's just mypersonal perspective of, you
know, Being grateful for thatpart of it.
(27:34):
But I've worked with a lot ofparents and people that live
with diabetes for 20 plus years,that they always had their
parents a part of the process.
And I think when it comes downto it, like one, I think.
just for the, the, your, yourchild, and as they grow up with
diabetes, I think including themin the process of that decision
making and handing them downthat skillset, I think is one
(27:57):
the most important thing.
But I think also to your pointof keeping your sanity, giving
yourself the biggest creditbecause you are taking on the
role of somebody else'spancreas.
And that's a hard task to do.
And at the end of the day, likeyou are putting in the work, and
I just want, I don't wantanybody.
dismissed how much that meansbecause I know, again, all the
(28:17):
support that I've had on anexternal level, nothing, nothing
compares to that, and I justknow how much of that takes up
your mental space and your likeyour day and maybe.
Your CH child can't acknowledgethat right now.
They don't understand it rightnow, but I know that in 10, 15
years they absolutely will.
So give yourself that grace and,you know, share the sh I always
(28:40):
say like delegate the workload alittle bit.
It is almost like a job.
So even if it's delegating, liketo me, my mom, she always she
always carries around an extrajuice spots in her purse, even
if we live an hour away now.
But she'll always carry thatjuice spots in her purse.
And to me, That's reallyalleviating a lot of that mental
load of the, the what if, like,do I have to carry this?
And same thing for thecaregivers.
(29:01):
You know, feel free to pass onsome of that, that workload
because you're carrying so muchon behalf of your child.
And that's, that's a big, that'sa big load to carry.
So yeah, feel free to, I justfeel like treat it like a job,
delegate it out where you canand allow other people to be
part of the process.
Katie (29:18):
Yeah, that's great advice.
I know I've recently startedteaching Sarah and I, I do most
of it still, but like for, we'vejust started with one snack a
day.
She measures everything outherself like, you know, weighs
it on our, on our scale, which.
we don't weigh everything.
Obviously some things havenutrition labels with, with card
counts and stuff, but you know,things like fruit or if it needs
to be weighed, if there's not aa label.
(29:40):
So she's taken on more of that,which is, it's funny, I mean
it's literally the snack thatshe eats when she gets home from
school.
But it is funny how much of abreak that provides me, like a
little mental break like that.
She's just taking over this one,one snack.
It's really nice.
And she's learning to, you know,she's figuring it out on her
own, like how to switch thescale to grams or ounces or
(30:01):
whatever it is.
So teaching her little lifelessons along the way.
Lissie (30:04):
Oh,
Katie (30:04):
thank you.
thank you.
Thank you so much for your timetoday.
Thank you for, Just sharing, youknow, your approach with the
listeners and you're gonna beback next week.
We're gonna talk about exerciseand just how to keep things set,
hopefully steady and stablewhile we, while we exercise and
get some movement.
So I'm looking forward to that.
But before we go I already kindof mentioned where people can
(30:25):
find you, but if there's anotherlink that you wanna share, by
all means or is there anythingelse you wanna share with
listeners in.
Lissie (30:32):
No, I think we covered a lot and I'm, I'm really excited.
Thank you again for having me.
Anything, if you search justneedles and spoons, uh.com or on
Instagram, needles and spoons,underscore, you can find me
there and we have all of ourlinks there.
But I really appreciate youhaving me on.
This is really fun.
Katie (30:46):
Yeah, I enjoyed it too.
I really love chatting with you.
Thank you so much.
Lissie (30:50):
Of course.
Thank you.
Katie (30:55):
That's it for our show today.
Again, Lissie, thank you so verymuch for coming on.
I loved our chat.
I can't wait to have you backnext week.
Again, check out the links inthe show notes, there you will
find the needles and spoonswebsite.
Where you can access all theresources that Lizzie and her
team have to offer.
And of course, you'll be able tofind where you can follow Lissy
(31:16):
on social media.
I'm also going to leave a linkto a suite blog post that goes
over the spoon theory.
I really liked that visual orthat metaphor or whatever you
want to call it.
And if you want to read a littlebit more about it and where it
came from.
Check out the links in the shownotes.
All right.
You guys have a fabulous week.
Like I said, Lissy, we'll beback next week to talk about
exercise and how we can keepblood sugar stable while we get
(31:38):
our bodies moving.
But until then stay calm andbolus on bye.
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