Renew Your Mind, Rebuild Your Health

What if the fastest way to change your body is to start with your mind? We sit down with wellness consultant Shay J to trace a gritty, hopeful journey from grief and burnout to steady energy, sustainable weight loss, and a calm, clear head. The turning point wasn’t a perfect diet; it was a daily practice—renew your mind, anchor your spirit, then feed your body like it matters.

Shay opens up about losing a loved one, facing betrayal, and watching her health slide while trying to hold everything together. That honesty fuels a practical framework anyone can try: a brief three-day detox to reset cravings, a morning ritual that sets intention before emails and errands, and smart food swaps that trade heavy, processed habits for clean, mineral-rich options. We get specific with green juices, elderberry, turmeric, ginger, sea moss, sun time for vitamin D, and a clean eating plan that uses chia, flax, leafy greens, legumes, nuts, and carefully chosen proteins without forcing labels like vegan or nothing. It’s not dogma; it’s doable.

We also press on the real barriers: stress that drives snacking, medications without context, dehydration that quietly harms kidneys, and the trap of thinking moderation is a strategy. Shay’s stance is firm but kind—be your own health advocate, ask better questions at the clinic, and pair any prescription with lifestyle changes that actually move the numbers. Movement returns as a joy tool, not a punishment: walking, light weights, pool work, even a mini-trampoline count when you show up consistently.

By the end, you’ll have a step-by-step way to begin, whether you’re carrying extra weight, managing blood pressure, or just tired of feeling foggy. If you’re ready to stop negotiating with your excuses and start practicing what works—mentally, spiritually, and physically—this conversation will meet you where you are and point you forward.

If this helped you rethink your routine, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show. Your story might be the spark for someone else’s change.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:03

Good evening, everyone, and welcome to Gentry's Journey. I am Carolyn Coleman, and we have on today um our wellness guru, Miss Shay J. Okay. So she is here to talk with us about wellness and how we can get started and re the reasons why we need to concentrate on our health. So, Miss Seyjade, you can take it away.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Well, great day, everybody. My name is Shay. I am the owner and founder of Shay Jay's Wellness. Um, I've been on my journey over 15 years. I actually started back in 2012 realizing that enough was enough. Um, for me, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. And when I got sick and tired of being sick and tired, I had to realize that in order to be changed, you have to renew your mind. So my motto is be ye changed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is good and perfect, what is the good and perfect will of God. So, with that being said, um at my my healthcare background, I am a nursing student. Well, I was a nursing student at Lawson State Community College. I also graduated from Virginia College as a certified medical assistant. So with my knowledge and learning the background of physiology, anatomy, biology, and learning the basic life, basic um basic unit of life, which is the cell. Everybody has cells, everybody has cells that either die or regenerate. So what I did was I dug a little bit deeper into the knowledge of learning about the cells, how they reproduce themselves, how they die, and what do we need to do in order for our cells to reproduce in a positive way that our organs may regenerate to be more healthier?

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Well, that's great. Um, all of that is very important. I love the way you just thought about your process, and how are we going to do this and create a platform of wellness? So that's great.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Yes, ma'am.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

Now, you told me blue is your platform, the shade of blue.

SPEAKER_01 2:21

Blue is my brand.

The Blue Brand And Sister’s Legacy

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Okay, that's your brand. Yes, ma'am. Okay, and explain brand.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Uh all shades of blue. Um, the reason being is because um I had a sister, my older sister, she passed away back in 2015. Her colors was were blue. Uh, she was my biggest advocate. She loved her some shade. And anything that I stepped forth to try to do, she was always she's always my greatest advocate. She always promoted me, she always pushed me forward. And before she passed, I had just started getting into the holistic world, um, where I was feeling like a pretty much like an imposter just doing stuff, uh, but however, the stuff that I was doing was working for me, then I started passing it out to family and friends. She was the one who recommended that, hey, maybe you should go into wellness, maybe you should do stuff to help other people. And you know, when before, prior to me being the size that I am now, I was 265 pounds. So when I realized that um, in order for us to be changed, we got to do some things different with our bodies. And I started rolling it out to my family members and friends. My big sister was the one that pushed me forward. So when she pushed me forward, and after she passed, unfortunately, I went into a depression moment. But what I did was I picked up her advice, made her favorite color, my color. So all shades of blue is Shay Jay's brand.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

That's excellent. Um sorry to hear about the loss of your sister.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Thank you, thank you.

Mind, Spirit, Body Assessment Method

SPEAKER_02 3:53

Um now, when you speak of wellness or holistic wellness, how do you do your initial assessment of people?

Hitting Rock Bottom And Finding Faith

Three-Day Detox Framework And Daily Rituals

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Yes, so I'm a holistic wellness consultant, and what I do is I consult mentally, spiritually, and physically from the inside out. The reason being is because all of us have a lot that's going on in life, mental-wise, and a lot of our mental stresses come from just everyday life. Life just be living. Uh, for me, I personally have my own testimony to where I was going through mental stresses of life. And my mental stresses that I was going through for me, I lost my grandmother and I lost my husband on the same day. I lost my husband due to infidelity, and I lost my grandmother uh just for natural causes. She passed. But in the process of me learning about my husband, being with another woman, and all these things that my husband, this other woman, had done, the same day, someone called me and said, Hey, grandma passed. So I was in a whirlwind trying to figure out like which way to grieve. I didn't know whether to grieve my marriage, I didn't know whether to grieve my grandmother. My mind was just going in a whirlwind. Um, I also consult spiritually because the reason being is we say we trust, we say we believe, whoever we trust and we believe in. But when times get hard, we have a hard time trying to put those twos and twos together. We worry, we be wondering, we be praying, we overpray, we over ask, we overthink things, and it's just be hard to just do that one simple thing, which is trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not to thine own understanding in all your ways, acknowledge him and allow him to direct your path. So with if it's hard to get your spiritual right, your mind is just gonna be however your mind is gonna be. So that's the reason here at Shay Jay's Wellness, we consult mentally and spiritually, because for me personally, when I was going through a mental whirlwind and I didn't know which way to turn, I was trying to figure it out myself. I stayed depressed, I stayed down. I I'm I'm the type I'm always happy, I'm always upbeat, but I found myself couldn't get out the bed, uh being one of those persons that couldn't get out the bed, uh being one of those persons that couldn't eat, being one of those persons that says, Oh my God, just when nothing working right for me. So in the process of me not working on what in the process of me being mentally depleted and not being spiritually connected the way I knew I should have been, I let my physical body go. And what it looks like when you let your physical body go, it just looks like you're not taking care of yourself. Either you're overeating or you're not eating at all, you're definitely not doing your proper meditation, you're not doing your proper prayer, and you're not doing your proper trusting in God, you're not doing anything that's gonna be healthy to the body because your mind is just like, uh, it's all over the place. Your spirit is not connected. So for me, when I this is what happened. The the day I found out my husband's sheet, they called us their grandma pass. For me, what I did was, and this is how I really understood that being spiritually connected was very, very important. I got on my knees. I actually got on my knees to pray. I didn't know what to say, but I got on my knees to pray, and what I heard was I heard my grandmother say, because my grandmother, although she passed, she was still a very spiritual woman, and she was so spiritual where we used to call her Jesus herself, like this Jesus, you don't play with Jesus, you know, you better not do this around grandmom, you better not do that. So, with that being said, when I got on my knees to pray, I knew grandmother was in a better space, a better place. I was just depleted physically here on earth. Um, but when I got on my knees to pray, I I prayed and I I say, Lord, and what I heard was my grandmother just say, Baby, it's okay, it's okay. Back in the day, we know how people had multiple multiple families. And what I heard her say, my husband, Johnny has had six families. I had six babies by Johnny, and Johnny had six outside families that I didn't even know nothing about. So that gave me strength to like, okay, this is a part of life. At the time, it was detrimental to me because pretty much I was really in the process of losing everything. I was so hurt from my marriage. I told my husband, I want an uncontested, I want an uncontested divorce. I don't want absolutely anything, which means I didn't want any part of our four-bedroom home. I didn't want the car he had just purchased for me, definitely didn't want his last name anymore. I just wanted out. The only thing I asked him to do was just pay for the divorce. Just pay for the divorce and let me be. But throughout the process, what I learned is we all have a journey. Life is a journey, and it's everything, even the worst thing that seems the worst for you, is a part of your actual journey. You also have to understand and be so spiritually connected enough to know that God is the one who orchestrates our life. If we're gonna try to take it all on ourselves, we're depleting ourselves because we don't have that spiritual connection to say, okay, this is life, life has happened. What do I need to do next in the name of the Lord to move forward? What do I need to do next to be a better person? What do I need to do next in order to work on myself? So when I came to the point after speaking with four psychologists, and everybody asked me, said, Hey Shay, do you want to kill yourself? And what I used to say, no, I don't want to kill myself. I just don't want to be here. I don't want to be here, I just don't want to be here. But what I had to realize when I was got on my knees to pray, going back to that, and I heard my grandmama say it's gonna be okay. Johnny had four, he I had six kids by him, he had six outside families, and this is just a part of life. God is still gonna take care of you, you're still a blessed child. Everything happens for a reason. However, this was something my grandmama used to always say, and this is why this is my motto. When we were little kids, she would send us a card. Every card that she sent, all of her grandkids, 13 of us, she put at the bottom trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not to thine own understanding in all their ways, acknowledge him, and he shall direct that path. When we were kids, what we'll do, we'll take that card, we'll get the little money out, and we'll just throw the card to the side. Oh, grandma got the Bible verse in there. Oh, grandma got that Bible verse in there. Now you understand that as you grow, one day you're gonna meet that Bible verse. One day life is gonna get so hard, you're gonna you're not gonna know absolutely anything about what you should do in order to move forward. But if you know the Lord and you trusting in him with all your heart and leaning not on to your own understanding, it's okay. He's gonna direct that path. So, what I've learned throughout my hardship is I see it. No matter what I've been through. And yes, I had a job experience to where I lost my husband, I lost my job, I lost my car, I lost my house, I lost when I got an apartment, I lost that apartment. My business was not um was very shaky. It was like I was running a business as a hobby, just you know, whatever little money I got in, it wasn't even structured as a business. I was just running because I was on like so-called autopilot. However, when I got connected and I started getting up in the morning, and this is one thing I teach my people if you ever become a part of my program, which is a three-day detox program, we're gonna detox that mine. I got to talk to you about what you got going on mentally because we have to keep it real in order for us to heal. Then once we talk about what you got going on mentally, we're gonna get connected with that spiritual side and getting connected with your spiritual side looks like you got to wake up every rising, and you got to seek ye first the kingdom of God and allow everything else to be added unto you. Because if you get up in the rising and think that everything is gonna be about you and how you're gonna orchestrate your day and what you're gonna do to make it and what you, you, you, you. Nine times out of ten, let's keep it real, it's not gonna work, it's not gonna work. So, with my program, I teach you how to get up and arising. I have a step-by-step program to teach you how to take your supplements because you will be detoxing three days a week. Your body has to rest. Number one, in order for you to hear from the Lord, your body has to rest. So when we're working and we're eating everything that we see out there, and you know, we're gonna stop and get this and stop and get that. I don't want to eat healthy, I want to eat this, I want to. We're actually feeding the flesh, which is not good for the soul. However, once you get on my program, I'm gonna put you on foods that's gonna help you detox your mental, help you connect your spirit, and then help you to feed your soul, feed not your flesh, but feed your spirit. Because in order for us to move around successfully, we have to have a healthy body. I always tell people, this is our temple. We don't have anything else to live in besides this. This is all we have. So if they take the clothes away, take the shelter away, take your car away, the only thing you have to live in is your temple. So we have to keep our temples healthy mentally, we have to keep them connected spiritually. I cannot say this enough. This is the only way we're gonna be able to work on our physical selves. That's just it. So it gets hard, but if you're on a step-by-step structure program, I'm gonna go pat myself on the back, such as Shay Jay's Wellness, three-day detox plan. It's gonna help you to get to restart, reset everything. You only do this program, I recommend it once a month, and that consists of three blood cleansing green juices. There's gonna be kale, stuff that we never heard of before. And then let's back up, let's talk about me a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

I got a picture right here. I was 200 my fat girl. I was 265 pounds on this picture.

Weight Loss Journey And Fibroid Healing Claims

Food Swaps, Meat Debate, And Medication Skepticism

SPEAKER_01 14:01

And this was back in 2006. This is when I started working on myself, and I always tell people I I haven't always been a good eater myself. See, I was eating ribs and everything else that I could think of about eating. But this is me when I started working on myself, when I started working on my body, and I had to throw this up because um we we are overweight, you know. Um, I was 265 pounds, and like I said, I got sick and tired of being sick and tired. I had fibroids, I had uh gastrointestinal problems where they had to, where they wanted to stick a scope down my throat and figure out what I had going on stomach-wise. But when I realized that um the body is created to heal itself, and we don't have to continue to run back and forth, back and forth, back and forth to the doctors. The only thing we have to do is properly fuel our bodies so that our bodies can do the work that it needs to do for themselves. Me personally, I heal myself from fibroids. I'm gonna show you another picture, and I hope I'm not taking over Miss Garrett. No, please continue. This is my other fat girl picture. Now, this picture right here when I had a fibroid the size of a grapefruit and the size of a golf ball, I worked on myself. It took me three months to work on myself, but the only thing I did to begin with, I did a 21-day green juice cleanse. That's just straight drinking green juices, taking sea moss, taking elderberry, taking turmeric and ginger. And um, I did have the opportunity to eat a healthy tomato soup, but it couldn't have all that salt, a lot of different seasons and stuff in it. The only thing I could have in it was garlic, onion powder, and pepper. That was the only uh seasoning that I could have in it. But however, that was to heal the body. Here I go again. Fat girl picture before when I had the fibroids, and this is my after picture when I ate right, did the cleanse, but did the cleanse, ate right, and got myself together. So I went from being 265 pounds to now I'm 147, 147, 150 around that weight. So I did it all naturally, I did it so easily, and I'm going back to say um we can't eat everything. What I started doing in order for me to be a healthy version of myself, I started eating, stop eating that and started in this. And what that looks like is let's stop eating mayonnaise and let's do avocado and lime. Let's start get out, get get away from that sugar, and let's start off with honey, but eventually let's go to agave, maple syrup, let's get off of let me see what else I had to change. Um, cheese. I stopped eating cheese and well, I stopped eating cheddar cheese, but I went to like cottage cheese. Those are stuff, things, foods that we say, uh, I ain't finna eat that. That's nasty. But however, those are the best foods in order to fuel our bodies. So, with that being said, we gotta make those lifestyle changes in order for our bodies to do what our bodies need to do. If we continue to eat all that sugar, if we continue to eat these high-fat foods, processed meats, meat, period. Let's listen, let me just be honest. For me, it was so hard to get rid of meat. And number one, it was very, very hard to stop eating pork. And I'm gonna tell you the reason why. Pork is very, very, very, very, very, very good to us, to us, to us. However, it's the most poisonous food that we can eat as a human being. Pork gives us that high blood pressure, it gives us that cholesterol, it um diabetes. That's what pork kills a cancer, that's where all these ailments come from. It comes from that pork. Like I say, understanding it's the hardest thing to get rid of. But the way I look at it is a pig is poison, poisonous. So if we're eating pig, that's like really compatible because you're eating rat poison. And when people tell me, well, I don't eat pork like that, I just eat it a little bit. Well, I ask the question, how often do you eat rat poison? I mean, I you may have never tasted it before, but if it was good to you, would you keep eating it just because it's good to me and it's killing your body on the inside? I don't think so. No, we will not. So you have to change your mind because again, your temple matters. If you put bad free fuel inside of your vehicle, what's your vehicle gonna do? It's gonna run bad. But if you put good fuel inside your vehicle, it's gonna run the way that it needs to, and that's the same with your body. So you got to change your mind, you got to get to the point where enough is enough, and you got to be sick and tired of being sick and tired. Number one, going back and forth to these doctors. And the reason I say that is because we go back and forth, we go back and forth. But the bad part about it, we're not being cured, we keep we're continuously being pacified because if this pill don't work, they're gonna put you on another one. If that pill don't work, they're gonna put you on another one. And then the one pill that they gave you. Well, I'm gonna give you this pill, but in order for you to uh for for water weight, I'm gonna give you this pill. Well, this pill is gonna help with your high blood pressure, but you're also gonna need one for your cholesterol. They go down the rabbit hole with giving you pills and refills after refills after refills. And what I hear a lot of, well, I've been had blood pressure by five years now. Okay, so what's going on? My doctor, he got me on this medication, and I take it every single day. Okay, so you take that medication every single day, you're not being cured, you're being pacified. And what we fail to realize that you may go to the doctor, they put the cuff on, you may have high blood pressure for that moment. However, your doctor don't ask you, what do you have going on in your mind? What type of life stresses are you under? Um, they don't even really ask you what type of food you eat. And if you do tell them what type of food you eat, they'll tell you, oh, that's okay, just eat that in moderation. They won't tell you, oh, well, make sure you stop and make sure you start. Stop eating this and start eating that. They don't tell you that. And if they do tell you, they're gonna say something like, Stop eating this and just eat some fruit. What type of fruit stopped eating this and you can have a little bit of that? I mean, you know, make it make sense. So for me, I have to pride myself, guys, because we cater to what you got, what you have going on within your body. If you got high blood pressure, my recommendation, as far as holistic is concerned, is always going to be elderly. However, um, if you come to me and tell them I got high blood pressure, we gotta talk about it. What you got going on in your mind? Let's talk about that first. Because sometimes we have so much stuff going on here in life. Because, like I said, life be life, and and life be life is so hard, we need in and everything just to keep everything balanced. But if we think about it, well, I got this, got the kids, got my husband, I got my job, I got this, and then we get to talking that stuff out, and then I get to helping you make it make sense, you're feeling better. You're like, okay, wow, I never thought about it like that. Oh, I feel better already. And when you learn how to take those stresses off of yourself, that's what heals your high blood pressure. So said that to say a lot of us are taking this medication for absolutely no reason at all, just because the doctors recommend it. Um, keep in mind, I don't know if a lot of us know or not, but they get commission off of each pill that they recommend to us. The pharmacists get commission off of each pill that he feels, off of each each prescription that he feels for us. So we're just throwing money down the drain instead of saying, okay, let me back up. Let me do a reset and a reset, let me do a detox, let me see what I need to do in order to cure high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes. And I name those three because those are the most common ones I hear. I hear about um kidney disease every now and then. Um Yeah, kidney disease, heart disease is gonna be cholesterol and high blood pressure. But that that cholesterol and the high blood pressure, um overweight, obesity, um, hormone imbalance. I hear about that stuff all the time. But the only thing we need to do, we got to get holistic, we got to renew our minds, we got to be able to see what's gonna help us for the long run, not just temporarily. Does that make sense?

Patient Advocacy And Hydration Basics

Movement, Consistency, And Feeling Better

SPEAKER_02 22:28

Absolutely, absolutely, and you know, I always encourage patients. I don't know, I don't prescribe, can't prescribe, but I do always encourage patients to be your own best advocate. Amen. You have to don't just go in the doctor's office and sit on the table or the chair. And well, what you think, doc? Well, you know, your doctor needs to be asking you that question. Why are we here today? Have you had any problems? Um, what are you doing? And my doc, I hate she's leaving. She doesn't think I see her because I don't go in as the nurse, I go in as the patient. She looks at me from head to toe, and she didn't think I see that, but I appreciate that. She's not trying to run me in and run me out, she's trying to see what type of shoes I have on, and do I have a steady gait, those type of things. The only place that and we did not, we did, we did not fall out. We had a healthy discussion. My A1C was 6.1. And she's I want to put you on med form. And I said, No, ma'am, that's why we're this is where we're gonna give me. I know what I'm doing. I said, I know what I'm doing. I said, I love my desserts. I haven't been walking like I've been accustomed to walking, and um, I will drink a soda once a day. I said, but now that I'm looking at this number, it's not all the way out of range, but I'm cutting back on all of it except exercise, I'm picking it back up, and she's okay, I'll give you six months to get it done. And she did, we did, I did my part, still wasn't at full throttle, but I did my part, and my A1C came down, so we're good, okay. But a stressor came up in life, and uh, when I went to see her, it hadn't been but a couple of months, and uh she was like, Oh, your A1C is back to 6.1. I said, Yeah, and I told her what all had gone on, so she was like, Okay, all right. So, I mean, so she doesn't push, and you that that's been your advocate when you know yourself, you know your body, you know what's going on. Um, life be lifey, uh, as you said, and I've been hearing that a lot over the last couple of years. We have to be our health care advocate, don't be bragging about how many prescriptions they wrote for you that day. Now, some things you need. We're not saying don't take anything, we're not advocating that we want you healthy, wealthy, and wise is what Miss Shea is saying, right? But uh, when when I saw that picture of that um that barbecue rib, it was funny because I just finished eating some, okay. Look at that. Girl, it was so good. Lord, it was so good, it was so tender. But my point is moderation, and I moderation. We don't drink enough water, we don't drink enough water to take the medication. We drink a sip of water and we take that pill. And I'll be like, you need to drink a couple more sips. That's why I tell my patient. I said, You really need to drink at least four ounces. I'm good. I'm like, it's not that the pill didn't go down, we need to help it to dilute and go through your entire system, okay? Because if you're not drinking well enough, you can start hurting your kidneys. And they're like, I didn't think about that. I said, Well, everything filters through our bodies, and I had some patients that would just swallow their their appeal. I oh, I take mine without water. I said, No, we're not doing that today. We're not doing that today, but his family allowed him to do that. He's only with me, what, a couple of days uh in a month. I may not ever see him again, but if he continues that routine, he's gonna come back as a renal disease, right? And and you know, because you're not drinking your water behind your medication, even your vitamins, you need to drink water behind that, you know. Before COVID, even way before, I was let's just go and put it out there. I was a beast in the gym.

SPEAKER_01 27:18

Going to the gym like you're supposed to.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

Just love it. I just absolutely love it. It gets your adrenaline up, you know, you're just doing what you need to do. I don't have goals that I'm meeting personally. My goal is to get in the gym, do my thing, enjoy my workout, and come back. You can't really do that in 30 minutes, so you got to give yourself an hour to two hours to get some things done. But when COVID came, I decided just walk, walk, walk. And I enjoy walking, but I still was not walking an hour and a half. Like if I had been in the gym, I would have worked out for an hour and a half, I would have done the weights, I would have done the elliptical, I would have been in a couple of classes, I would have been in the pool, you know. So you have to kind of balance it out, and it just leads to a healthier you. Uh, it's not about necessarily how you look, but how you feel.

SPEAKER_01 28:12

Amen. That is so true. Oh my gosh, I cannot stress that part enough. Um, and I don't mean to cut you off, but a lot of people get to talking about how they look. If I lose weight, my breast's gonna go down or my butt gonna go down. No, it's not about how you look, it's definitely about how you feel. Um, being 265 pounds, I feel awful. And I would say, even when people see this picture and see how pretty my hair was, and how my little make my little makeup on my little germ and that oh, you got you look the hell, you look no, baby. I felt so bad, I was so miserable. It's it's hard bending down sideways to tie your shoe. It's hard when you got when you're trying to walk up a flight of stairs with where we well, when you don't have another choice but to walk up a flight of stairs, and you can't even make it, and you stop and you breathe, and then that's horrible. That does not feel good at all. It really does not, you know, and then even us as big women, we have to wear them girdles. That's another thing. I just baby, baby. The the the the summertime, those girdles was not my friend, they were not my friend. I'm telling you, and see, my mama, I grew up to where you're gonna keep it cute. I don't care how big you is, you're gonna wear the long lamb bra with the shorts. You got to put the feet in the shorts and and buckle it up in the in the middle. Some people know what I'm talking about, but it's not comfortable.

SPEAKER_02 29:37

They do, it's uncomfortable, can be, but it's uncomfortable because you need to know you've you've gone up a size and hadn't adjusted, okay.

Comfort, Body Image, And Preparedness

SPEAKER_01 29:50

But let me tell you now, and you're in denial. Let me tell you the girl can be comfortable, okay, until you eat. Yeah, just say you out and you eat. Oh my god, babe, I gotta come about this thing. That's embarrassing, depending on who you're with. That's embarrassing. So for me, I just got sick and tired of being sick and tired. And then as I as I was going through the journey, I did see myself starting losing weight in places I'd rather not have lost the weight in. Um, I did kind of beat myself up, like, oh, my face can't too little. Um, this something, and I had to think about it, baby. Come on. Now you're able to fit through some things, you're able to slide through some things, you're able to get through this little tiny space. And another thing we have to think of um, be ready when you come. Get your house in order. This is your house right here. Get your house in order because times are changing. And I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I do believe and I don't know what's gonna happen, that's gonna make us have to use our stamina, our endurance, our strength. I don't know what's gonna happen in these last days that's gonna make us have to just be active. So if we're not physically fit and we're not able to run to the hills, we're not able to go out there and and do whatever we have to do, physical manual labor, and we're not able to do those things, we are depleted, we are absolutely nothing. So if we're not working on absolutely anything else, it's gonna be 80 of what you eat and 20 of working out. However, like you said, you you weren't going to the gym and getting the workout like you used to get get before, but you was doing something.

SPEAKER_02 31:26

Uh I have to it I have to take that mental health is what I have to do. I have to take it either after work in the middle of work, I have to take it to get these people because I still deal with patients, whether I'm in the hospital or not, and they come with baggage, but it's needed. I mean, it it is a part of them, and so they don't have anyone else to speak to but me, and I and so, yes, and so it does get stressful to hear some of the stories that you hear. So, yes, that's when I have to just walk away. And if I can't go outside, I work out in the garage, you know. Okay, the weather permit, you know, it's not permitting I do that. I have a little trampoline that I jump on, you know, just something I have to do. I I really have a little mini arsenal downstairs.

SPEAKER_01 32:24

I'm proud of you. I'm proud.

Stress At Work And Home Fitness Tactics

SPEAKER_02 32:28

Yeah, a friend of mine and I we laugh about that, our little arsenal that we have, and uh, but I keep my weights, but still it's consistency. And so this year I just said I've got to get back on a consistent key of things, doing things um that I know I need to be doing. Uh, I'm not one to lie around, I'm not one to just roll around in bed all day, even though I did do that Monday because I was present day, it was present day, and but still that wasn't really an excuse for me. But I was tired, and I'm not saying work through your tiredness because you you have to have some rest, you have to rest, you have to take care of yourself, mind, body, and soul. And um it is it's necessary, it is necessary. I I don't know if some people like brag and writes about the medication they take and what the doctor said about them, how much blood they took, and then they're not comp they're not compliant with the medication, they're not compliant with what the doctor tells them. They need to eat more whole grains, you need to eat more green leafy vegetables. Uh, they're not compliant because I have a friend, she'll call me and she'll be laughing. Oh, girl, I had that ice cream today, and and she's diabetic. And I'll be like, Okay, it's all right to eat some, but you don't need to eat it every day. Well, I just told her I just had to have it, you know. So it's crazy, it is because because she is not well. I mean, she looks great on the outside, but she's not well, and she will tell you, you know, and so I'm like, we all have something to do, we all have something to do. I have another friend, she has an autoimmune disease and she has uh ambulatory issues, but she keeps pushing, she keeps pushing. So my thing is I she wants to be healthy, and she said, I get tired of taking all this medication, but I'm doing what I'm supposed to do. But if you were to see her, you wouldn't notice because, like you said, mind, body, and soul, you know, uh Christ is the head of her life, okay? And so you have to think of those things too, uh, because a lot of people would fall without having that stabilizing force in their life, right?

SPEAKER_01 35:07

You know, and when you say this, not to cut you off, but I want to say this um we perish due to a lack of knowledge, and that's true, that's very, very true. A lot of things that we think we're doing the right way, we're not doing it the right way. A lot of things that we think we're eating and it's healthy for us because we haven't done the research on it, it's not healthy for us. So a lot of us think that just I'm just gonna give an example. Um, daily meat. I used to think that daily turkey and um daily chicken, that's good, that's great. Now that I know that that is number one, it's fake meat. That's just online, and then they put a lot of sodium and preservatives in this stuff in order to preserve it. So when we eat it, it's depleting our body still. But we think, oh, I just had a little turkey sandwich, a sliced turkey sandwich. Nope, that's not good for us. So, like I said, we perish it to a lack of knowledge. However, if if anybody was to ever get on my program, I hold your hand, I take you step by step. Um, I don't know if I showed you, but this is my program. Um, this is the uh healing mentally, spiritual, and physically from the inside out. And then what I do is I give you step by step, step-by-step guide to let you know from the what you do from the time you waking up, wake up, keeping in mind that everything is spiritual until the time you go to bed. Just some things you do from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed. And then if you're not a spiritual person, I also have a spiritual guide in here. This is my little spiritual guide to tell you some things that you can do. You probably can see it, you probably can't see it. But this just tells you some things that you can do so that you can connect spiritually. Um, being out in nature, that's spiritual. Taking those walks, that's spiritual. Um, listen, just peace and quiet. Listen to the trees, listen to the birds, listen to your surroundings. That's spiritual. And I don't know if a lot of people know a lot, not, but um, taking them shoes off, get out there in that grass, telling God, thank you for today, Lord. Just hold your hands up and just worship the sun. Just worship the sun and just say thank you for just a beautiful sunshiny day. Because a lot of us women don't know that the sun is what give us our energy, the sun is what give us our vitamin D. So it gets deep when we get into the spiritual world. And then after that, after you do your three days, just juicing, no eating, I also put you on a clean eating meal plan. And what that looks like is going to tell you what you eat. Uh let's say pre-break breakfast, before breakfast, I tell you some things that you do. And these are just some examples of some things, the clean eating things that you could do for breakfast. You know, a lot of us probably have seen these things, uh, chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, but we don't know how to incorporate those things inside of our diets. So that's what I do, just give you a little guide for breakfast.

unknown 37:56

Uh-huh.

Knowledge Gaps, Labels, And Guided Plans

Spiritual Routine, Supplements, And Mindfulness

SPEAKER_01 37:56

Some different things you can eat for lunch, different salads, green salads that you can eat for lunch. And then also some things that you can eat from dinner, not taking your meat away, but just giving you some better choices of some meats that you can possibly eat. And then I also give you little snacks that you can have. Fruits, your nuts, your protein bars, and dark chocolate for your sweets. And then this right here, last but not least, this is my clean eating grocery list. It doesn't have meat on here, but it tells you different vegetables that you can have, different nuts and grains that you can have, um, different seeds, vegetables, uh, beans, all that great fruits, all that great stuff. And this is an aciline clean eating plan. So a lot of people may ask the question what's vegan, what's acoline? Um, I'm gonna say, listen to your body. I'm not gonna get into uh get into the hell be hellbent on you being a vegan or being straight vegetarian or not eating this and eat that. I'm gonna give you suggestions of some things that you can do different prior to what you were doing before. And then as the Lord work with you, you'll stop eating that meat, you'll stop eating some things that you know that's not healthy for you. That's why I say it's spiritual because this the spirit is strong, but this flesh, Lord, it gets so weak. The rib, baby, the ribs was babe. I would tell people I don't eat pork, but I ate bacon, and then I also say I don't eat pork, but when my daddy cooked them ribs and he put that box and butt in that smoker, I was the first one to have me a taste test because the flesh was so weak, Lord. But the spirit was strong. However, when we're walking in the spirit and we have a daily regimen as okay, I'm gonna seek God first. Okay, Lord, what you want me to do today? My life is not my own. Get into your praise and worship because praise and worship can tell us a story, and praise and worship can actually help us to testify to some things, or it can testify to us when we get into praise and worship. I don't know if a lot of people have experienced that, but my recommendation is try it. If it's not praise and worship music, let's do some inspirational music or whatever inspires you. Let's get into that, and then once you set the tone for your day, it's gonna be easier to now go have your supplements. In my regiments, you have elderberry, turmeric and ginger, seed moss, take your supplements. Now drink your tea, now relax, pray some more, thank God some more, do some more meditation and just giving God all the praise and all the glory for every single thing that He's done in your life. Then you're gonna be mindful. I'm on a spiritual journey, so I can't do anything to this body. I have to only do what God has called me to do so that I can be a better person and a better version of myself. Does that make sense? Absolutely, amen, amen. So that's what we do here in Shay J's wellness. Once you come under me, you're gonna be like my baby. Nobody held my hand, so that's why I've been working myself for over 15 years, working on myself for over 15 years. But the people's hand that I hold is taking them short, shorter period of time to get to where they need to be. It only begins with thought. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. Enough is enough. So here I am, Lord. I let you have control. You do I surrender all and allow you to do whatever you would do inside of me to make me a better person. Amen. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.

Accountability, Boundaries, And Personal Readiness

SPEAKER_02 41:22

That is great, that is wonderful. It's it's what some of um some of us truly need to hear. Uh and I get it. Uh it is control, you know, it is determination. Yes. You know, do you really want to be healed from the crown of your head to the sole of your feet? You know, do you really want to be healed? And there are some people who don't. They kind of brag about the illnesses and the disease processes that they have. I was in the pharmacy, and this young lady, she couldn't have been no more than 30, and she was definitely overweight. And she saw someone she knew. Oh, yeah, they had the hardest time sticking my bang, honey. They stuck me right here and right here. She had this big smile on her face, and I'm like, you need to stop. You know, you and I and I was like, Yeah, and they got me on this and they got me on that. I'm like, you're about 30 years old, you're acting like you're 70. So you know, that's nothing to brag about. I'm saying this to myself, I'm not getting their conversation, but what you hear when you are at the grocery store, when you're at the pharmacy, when you're in the waiting room, the things that you hear, you you can't help but to say, you need to do better, right? Some form of fashion, you need to do better. No one likes being some people do enjoy the attention. I will say that. I mean, I've been for quite a few decades now, and some people do enjoy the day uh that, but there are some people who want to be better, and some people do things for attention. Um, I've seen them, a diabetic came in, and he refused any and everything we had to do with him. He wouldn't wear the heart monitor, he wouldn't put on a gown. I was like, Why are you here? Just had enough of him because he aggravated everyone else. I said, Why are you here? Well, my wife made me mad, so I ate a sniffer. Okay, I said, but who's in the hospital? Who's in the hospital, sir? Well, I am, and I said, and you're here giving us a hard time. We can't do anything the doctor wants, we can't draw blood, you're refusing that, you won't put on the hard. Monitor, you're refusing everything. We're letting him know everything that you're not doing. Well, when the doctor came in, he changed it to well. They didn't really offer me that they didn't really act, they didn't do me like that. Uh uh, and the doctor came out. I said, Look, he's been here for a day and a half, he's been acting like a brat for a day and a half. This is a full-grown man. Because I said, He said, You made him come to the doctor. He said, And you're right, he's a full-grown man. I did not make him come to the doctor, I suggested that he come to the emergency room. And so I was like, You see what we're having to deal with? The back and forth. You know, he ate the snicker, he's the diabetic. It didn't take his blood sugar up that much, but he wanted attention from his wife. Well, guess what? She didn't give him any because she didn't come to Sam for three days. You know, she was like, I'm over it. I'm gonna let him get it together because that's his body, and that's the way you have to look at it. It is your body, and you need to be healthy for yourself. That's what you need to be healthy for, and some people don't do that.

SPEAKER_01 45:05

That's right, Miss Carolina. I also always say this as well we can lead a horse to water, but we cannot make them drink. Um, you have to you can be the change that you want to see, but you cannot force absolutely anybody to do absolutely nothing that they don't want to do. However, when you when you're in a transition and you're doing things different, you have to continuously do things different because as soon as you decide that, oh well, I'm gonna eat that snickerbot, I'm gonna eat that. That person's gonna come back and look at you like, well, how can you tell me what to do? Look at you, look at you. But you didn't say anything when I was eating healthy, but they're waiting on the downfall. That's just the enemy, that's the devil. He waited on your downfall, or he he tempts us with certain things that gets us in the flesh and help well have us doing certain things that we're not supposed to be doing, and that's how we fall by the wayside. But other than that, we just have to be the change. We want people to see, we cannot force people to do absolutely anything, but I'm with that wife. You're not gonna deplete my energy, sir, when you get stuck in this hospital, you're not gonna have me coming back and forth, back and forth when I could have done things at home to help you. And for my family, I've already told them okay, here I am. I'm a holistic wellness consultant. No, I'm not a doctor. I cannot make any recommendations outside. I can make recommendations, but I cannot make you make changes outside of what the doctor is telling you. But there's something you said earlier, you have to be your own advocate. If you are trying this medication and this medication is not working for you, why not try something else and listen to your body? It just makes sense. But if you're not willing to try the things that we know come from nature and we know that God has put here to help us, then hey, you're gonna just be in the same boat that you're in. And guess what? I'm not being ugly, I'm not being mean, but that's your problem that you have to deal with. My energy cannot be depleted for somebody that's hard-headed, and that's how I deal with that, and that is so true because it is so frustrating to try to get a patient to be compliant, right?

Compliance, Consequences, And Hard Truths

SPEAKER_02 47:15

They have every excuse in the world, and that those are their excuses, and I just offer this when I am educating my patients because they call me little missy, you know, because I'm short, and I don't think they really know my age, and it's fine, but little missy, so I'm not doing anything you said, little missy, and I'm like, well, that's fine, but I gave you the information, and it is it is up to you to do what you need to do. I said, But you're gonna come in here one of these days, sir, and you're gonna have a stroke, and I'm not wishing anything on you, but you have had near misses the last three times you have been in here. If you have near misses, you're eventually gonna have the big one, right? And it's because he was not compliant with his medication, his exercise. Um long story short, short story long, he wouldn't take his medication because he couldn't take his viagram. Okay, one of the two. So the viagram meant more to him than medication, yeah, bless his heart, yeah. Bless his heart in more ways than one because he ended up a big stroke, and um, and there I was as he came in. The nurses were used to him. I was a case manager at the time. I'm like, well, I said, well, he won't walk out summon us this time. He won't walk out, he's gonna leave. We're gonna send him to what are we gonna do? I said he's going to rehab, and he's not going. He, if you think he was non-compliant here and at home, you think he's gonna be compliant at rehab. He's gonna be angry and he's going to be very difficult to work with. That's sad, and it is sad because he was relatively, I don't think he was 60 years old. Wow, you know, but some things we can prevent, and I I tell men, and I'm trying to be very, very gentle when I speak with them why are you not taking your blood pressure medication? And they were like, Well, you know, I said if it's for the reason I think you have a male physician, he's gonna understand your male problems. Right. So just be open, honest, open your mouth and tell him what your issues are. There are other medications, blood pressure medications, he can put you on, and you can still uh enjoy your partner. Right. But don't be ashamed to talk to people. People won't know. We can't pull it out your head.

SPEAKER_01 50:08

In order to heal, you got to keep it real.

SPEAKER_02 50:10

You got to, you you have to now. I like that. I like that. You have to, and so he was really accepting of my advice. Um, and I think it worked. He had that big conversation when the doc came in. I made sure I closed his doors because in the in the units, you know, there are glass doors. I closed these glass doors. I said, now have the conversation, and I said, Don't forget, I won't, I won't, ma'am. I won't. You know, so some people are humble enough to accept, and some people are, I'm gonna do things my way, yeah. And and you have to just do things the right way, right?

SPEAKER_01 50:53

Sometimes it helps better to hear it from somebody else versus hearing it from somebody that you used to always hear it from.

SPEAKER_03 51:00

Uh-huh. That's true too.

SPEAKER_01 51:01

Yeah, you know, if I can get somebody else to, you know, kind of talk to me and let me know how important it is, then yes, I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon. But if you my wife or you my child, if you said, I'm not gonna listen. But then I'll always be able to go back and say, Well, my wife told me that, or my husband told me that, you know, but that little nurse she came in and she did this, that another. So I'm gonna listen now. Then you probably made it better for the wife for him to now is his wife going forward. So that's still all about us helping each other, and that's like I say, you can still lead the horse to water, but you can't make them drink. But what I tell my people is I'ma I'm gonna plant the seed, it's up to you to make it grow, and that's how we operate. I don't force absolutely anybody, but what I'm not gonna do is continuously hold try to hold your hand, and you're doing whatever that's you're going against what we got going on. Yeah, in my contracts, I let them know this is a partnership, accountability for me to do what I say that I'm gonna do to help you, and accountability for you to do the things that I tell you to do in order for you to help you. If you get out of wag to where I'm not doing my part, then that's an automatic refund. But if you're not doing your part, I'm gonna have to dismiss you from my program. And I gotta keep your money because this is what you agreed to do. Absolutely. So the thing about it is it's time out for play play. Um, it's it's time, the time in society, in the world, is for us to be more serious about ourselves if we're not serious about absolutely anybody else. Because when it all boils down, you matter, you matter. Yes, you may have kids and spouses and family and this and the other, but nobody can control you but you. So you got to, it's a lifestyle change, but you got to like, you know what? Again, I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. I gotta do something. It's like I don't even have no more room to even play with myself anymore. You know, I don't even have no more room to be like, I'm addicted. I I can't, I can't even be, I can't even afford to be addicted anymore because I want better for me. So that's just the bottom line. We have to want better for our individual sales. Once we get there, and once we get to the once we master being a better person for our individual sales, then by all means, people are gonna start jumping on the bandwagon, people are gonna start asking questions. What you do? What you do? That's gonna be the main question. Yes, and for me, I was so used to giving the information away for free because I love to talk as you can tell, and I love to give great advice, but God said, baby, it's time for you to start doing something different. Now, I was originally working for T-Mobile, and I worked for T Mobile for over 18 years, and when I got into the wellness and um, you know, just helping people, helping people, T-Mobile wanted me to become a coach for their business. And I thought about it, I said, No, I'm gonna be a coach for my business because everybody needs wellness, everybody needs to need to know about how to be healed, they need to know how simple it is, and they need accountability, they need their hands to be held in order for them to make it from one step to the next step. So I quit my job, and now I'm my own consultant, I'm my own coach, I'm my own accountability person to where I can help somebody else that's gonna make it holistically throughout life, not throughout a job, throughout life, period. So I'm here for the people, but the people got to be willing to do what's right in order for their bodies to do what they what order for their bodies to do what their bodies need to do. That's just the bottom line.

How To Reach Shay And Final Advice

SPEAKER_02 54:37

It is, and that reminds me, a friend of mine will always say, No one's coming to help us, nobody, she always has that, so we have to help ourselves. No one's coming to save you, no one's coming to help us, and um and I'd be so tickled when she says it because it's so true, but she is so serious about it. I said, You you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. She said, We're giving out good information where we're doing a lot of education regarding health and you know, being a healthier you. Uh, she's but you have to. I said, You have to want it. Yeah, you're giving out great information, but you have to want it. That person has to want it, and somebody will. For every three people that walk away from you, there's gonna be a fourth one that says, Hey, I need to do something. Something I need your I need your help. I need your help. So that that's wonderful to know. Well, I had to learn that God said go ahead, go ahead, sweetie.

SPEAKER_01 55:45

God I was just saying, God told me to to show up and the people gonna come. No, show up, the people are gonna come. And now it's it's not about if I make a dollar, it's just about showing up, see who's gonna see who he's gonna lead to me for the day. Because, like I say, everybody wants to make a change, but like you say, out of the four, one person's gonna stop and really, really be willing to get on the bandwagon.

SPEAKER_02 56:08

And that's just people, that's just people, uh, and it doesn't matter if it's male or female, that's just people. But I want you to tell the audience how they can reach you.

SPEAKER_01 56:23

Um, you can reach me. I do have a website, sj wellness.us, that's sj w e l-l-n-e-s.us. You can also reach me on Facebook, that's Shay J's S-H-A-E, J A E S Space, W L N S or Instagram. It's gonna be the whole Shay J's underscore wellness. Great, great, great.

SPEAKER_02 56:47

Well, do you have any parting remarks?

SPEAKER_01 56:51

Oh, well, it's been a pleasure to actually have gotten to be able to have gotten this information out on the platform. Um, the information is very, very important. A lot of people know people that are holistic, but they don't know exactly what we do. Everybody program is totally different. I pride myself because I say that I do everything natural, all organic, all authentic. This is my baby, this is my passion. So if you come to me, don't come to play with me, come to be for real. I tell people all the time, yes, I want your money, but I want you to be ready. I really want you to be sick and tired of being sick and tired so that you won't just spend your money, you'll spend your money, do the work, and get the great benefit from the work that you've done. That's mentally, spiritually, and physically. And I've done the work, guys. I can assure you that if you put the effort in, it does work.

SPEAKER_02 57:50

Well, that is so great to know. There's another resource out here for us who want to put in the work, who want to get started, or who just has questions. So you can get in touch with Miss JJ. She'll be in for personal testimony, and then she'll tell you what type of plan you guys can work with. Indeed. Thank you so much for being a part of Gentry's journey. I have truly enjoyed it. And no, you don't over talk, okay? You just get the word out, okay? I love it. Thank you.