#51- Diabetes Remission Is A Team Sport

If you’ve ever left an appointment thinking, “They didn’t hear me,” you already know why so many type 2 diabetes plans fail, even when the advice is technically correct. We connect a little league pitching breakthrough to the real reason many people stay stuck with type 2 diabetes: the plan never matches the person. 

We lay out how the right team, the right questions, and small tactical steps create the follow-through that moves the needle on blood sugar improvement and builds a path toward diabetes remission. You’ll see how progress happens when the guidance fits the person, not when you collect more instructions.
 
 You’ll hear all of this plus how Brian and Cory’s coaching styles differ and complement each other, when and how to seek a 2nd opinion while avoiding conflicting extremes, and how to get curious and learn rather than spiral after making a mistake.

Ready to take control of your health and stop settling for “managed” diabetes?
  Grab your earbuds and listen in.

Brian & Cory
 Diabetes Remission Partners

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·       Get clear on why your blood sugar is where it is
 

·       Understand what’s realistic for reducing or eliminating medications
 

·       See whether a medication exit strategy makes sense for you

Book your Diabetes Medication Exit Strategy Call here:
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Transcript

Free Remission Workshop Invite

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Quick note. We're hosting a free live diabetes remission roadmap workshop on Thursday, April 23rd at 7 p.m. Eastern. If you've been looking to dive deeper into getting onto the road to remission, this is your chance to do it live with us. And if you show up live, you'll get our medication freedom self-advocacy cheat sheet free. So, again, we're hosting a free live workshop on Thursday, April 23rd at 7 p.m. Eastern, and we'd love to see you there. Registration link is in the show notes. Alright, let's hop into the show.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

If you have type 2 diabetes and you're tired of being told it's chronic and something you'll just have to manage forever, if your A1C is controlled but your medication list keeps growing or stays the same, and you know deep down you're capable of more than this, you're in the right place. This is the Diabetes Remission Roadmap Podcast, where Brian Bisher and Corey Jenks, two pharmacists who spent over two decades inside healthcare. And we started this show because we got tired of watching capable people stuck getting managed instead of rebuilt. Here's what most people aren't told. Type 2 diabetes isn't just a blood sugar problem, it's a muscle and energy storage problem. When your body loses strength and metabolic flexibility, blood sugar rises. And you can rebuild that. On this show, we break the script to say more meds are inevitable, you're destined to just manage, remission isn't possible, and instead we teach you how to build muscle, eat in a way that keeps you full, and regain control of your health again. No extremes, no shame, just practical strategies to help you move toward remission and lead your health again. Let's get to work.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

Welcome back to another edition of the Diabetes Remission Roadmap Podcast. I'm one of your hosts, Corey Jenks, and Brian with me as always, smiling, wiping food off his face, just raring and ready to go, showed up ready to play today. And speaking of ready to play, we recorded this in April of 2026. It's little league season, baby. I know Brian's in the thick of it as a coach. I'm coaching one team, I'm assisting another team. And I actually had something come up the other day that I think is going to be relevant for today's topic. And so I'm at the level where the kids start pitching, and I had a kid on my team that you look at him objectively, big kid should be able to throw it really well and was just kind of struggling. And so I was giving my perspective on how to help him throw the ball better. And then yesterday we had practice, and I've been working with our pitchers. I was a pitcher in high school. Uh, and I had one of the other coaches who's very knowledgeable. I said, You go talk to the pitchers. I don't want to touch them. And this same kid who had been struggling was walking away from his little bullpen session, and the coach just like clapping his hands, being like, You got it, man, you got it. And something that that coach saw and was able to relate to that player clicked with that player, and he was throwing the ball away better. And it reminded me that you can have a really good coach, but if that coach doesn't connect with you or can't solve the problem in a way that fits your life, well, then they're not going to be really helpful. And whether it's a coach, a doctor, a nurse, you know, this is a diabetes podcast, wherever you're interacting in that healthcare system, sometimes having that other perspective is useful.

SPEAKER_01 3:06

Yeah, I agree. And it's a great example to bring up pitching. I mean, I too pitched. I didn't make it as far as high school. Um, I think I threw up my arm in grade school just because I was stubborn and I pitched through a lot of pain. And as I know now, my form was way off because Corey has since taught me how to correct my pitching form. So thank you, Corey.

SPEAKER_00 3:25

Yeah, we also, if you're looking for a a youth pitching consult too, just reach out to me directly, ignore Brian. Uh on that. Yeah, I can't do it. He he's not the he's not your guy for that.

When Your Provider Doesn’t Listen

SPEAKER_01 3:35

No, but this is a great point because I think so often we talk about this, like, and here I am saying like Corey's gonna have to try to cut this out. I'm trying to be more aware of this. He's coaching me on this, he's a professional speaker. I'm not, I need to remind myself of that. But I am reminded of all the time when people are like, I just want to be seen and heard by my provider, but they just don't seem to listen to me. And maybe we're not connecting, we're not on the same level. And I I don't I have a big example of this. I just recently had to go to the doctor for like a like annual checkup and had uh little concern to get addressed. I might have to get into that details. Um but but anyway, all that aside, um essentially I did not feel heard in that moment, and it was really, really frustrating to me to have express my concern, have my provider immediately dismiss it, not even acknowledge it, and just be like, no, this is the this is the way we're gonna do it. And I said, Okay, all right. And so being a little, I still did my own thing a little bit. I I eventually followed the instructions. Anyways, I'm getting a little off tangent here, but long story short, it is nice to be felt like you are heard and seen and listened to. And sometimes it works really well when you have a couple different coaching styles, like Corey and I bring to the table. We were talking about this on the phone the other day. How well I was telling him, or he was telling me how much he's enjoyed making the YouTube video that he just dropped.

SPEAKER_00 5:06

And which, by the way, if you've not go check out our YouTube channel, uh we'll be doing uh I'll be it'll probably be me mostly doing videos every Monday. So in addition to our Wednesday podcast, you'll be getting a little bit more midform content from YouTube. But yes, I've really been enjoying that process of being an educator and teaching something about I've always enjoyed uh ever since I was a pharmacist teaching students, residents, patients, etc. Continue Brian. We were on the phone talking.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Yeah, you were mentioned how you really liked to reframe this idea in your mind, like I'm an educator, that's what I'm doing. And I said, Hold on a second, I think we're change makers. And you said, Well, I like I like being an educator more. I said, Well, I like being a change maker more. So I think that really makes a nice one-two combination punch where we core can be the educator and I can be the change maker, really drill him, drill home the change and look at the psychology, behavior changes behind the things necessary to put what we talk about into practice. Because I I I've even heard listeners email us in and be like, I I know what to do, I'm just not doing it. And that's why sometimes it just takes having someone on your team, a guide, to actually follow through, because there's a lot more that goes into it, Corey, right?

Second Opinions Without More Confusion

SPEAKER_00 6:19

Yeah, and let me let me let me step back. And so, how if you're listening and you want to reverse your type 2 diabetes, improve your blood sugar, get off medicines, what does what we're talking about have to do with anything? Well, I think the first thing I really want to stick a fork in, go deeper on, is that you need to be working with someone that is is is listening to you, understands your concerns, your wants, uh, and also understand that if you're working with somebody, because like we we work with a lot of clients who are working with a doctor and working with some really great doctors. I mean, the the number of times I've heard praise for the for our clients' doctors is is I've lost count. And I think that's great. However, if you are working with somebody and you're not getting the results you want, it could mean that they are not giving you the right information, they don't have the right information, or they struggle with communicating the right information. And so if you need to find someone to complement that, that to me is that whole idea of getting that second opinion. Like I had to get the second opinion from our other pitching coach the other day to break through to the player that just my communication style and him, we didn't match. And so just because you're working with someone whom isn't getting through to you doesn't mean that they're they they're not an expert or they don't have expertise. It just might mean that they are the right learning style for for you or communication style. Now, with Ryan and I, I think it's really funny because yeah, he mentioned like I like the idea of being a change maker and I just I just made a face. He couldn't see it because we're on the phone. Like, I don't really want to be thought of as a change maker. I like educating, and through that education, change can happen. But I think we we with with the two of us, what you want to look out for with getting that second opinion is when you get a second opinion that's diametrically opposed to that first opinion, then you are confused. You're like, wait, wait a minute, what the heck? Like, this person says to do nothing but cardio. This person says never do cardio. What am I supposed to do? We often shut down and give up. I think Brian and I, and we're gonna tweet around Horn a little bit, and we'll talk a little bit about our teaching and coaching styles, is we have a shared vision, we have a shared roadmap. And the way I go about coaching and teaching is a little bit different than the way Brian does, right?

Coaching Questions That Unlock Action

SPEAKER_01 8:26

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And I'll I'll share an example because I was on the phone with a client the other day, and she was mentioning how she's got a lot of dietary restrictions, and she just she's getting a little burnt out on some of the food choices and how she's talked to nutritionists and she's met with them, but nothing has really been quote that game changer for her. And instead of me making more suggestions at that time of just something else to try, I said, Well, what would it take for it to be a game changer? And it was just like a deep question, open-ended question. So I think that's where the coaching really comes into place, is I was taught into the philosophy of like I don't have the answers like the client does, like inherently they they know the answer. And so it's just my job to help unveil and release that answer. And so that's always the mindset and approach I'm taking when I'm in a conversation with someone is like, I'm not again, we what we talked about, we were taught like, hey, you're not the sage on the stage waving the finger. Essentially, like my doctor, I felt like he was to me, he was like, I'm up on this stage and I'm gonna tell you what to do, and you're gonna do it. Um we are we would rather be like the guides on your side walking you through, walking you across this journey, this bridge toward remission. And so that's again, Chore, the philosophy that I was taught is like they have the answer in them. It's your job to extract it, so ask those questions, reflect something back to them, uh, that in the words they just used, and and see what comes up of it.

SPEAKER_00 10:06

And that's why I love talking to you, Brian, is because I every time I talk to you, you you you you say something that teaches me, and and the idea that the person in front of you has all the answers. And that's something I'm I'm a trained improv comedian, and what we do is we simply listen and respond, yes, and and something that I've I've I mean, I wrote a book called Permission to Care, Building a Healthcare Culture That Thrives on Chaos. And one of the, yeah, I know, I like to drop the fact that I'm board certified and I have written two books, Brian. Uh, that's my style, is to make fun of Brian. But the reality is the the answers do lie with that person right in front of the that human being, the client, the patient. Brian hates the word patient, but when I was practicing as a pharmacist, that's just my default, my apologies. This is where we're a little opposed, folks, but we're still here on your side. And so the the truth is, yes, the answer lies within that person in front of you and the ability to extract that answer from them by asking the right questions. And Brian's a great question ask. And I think that for me, my my strength lies in little tactical victories, uh, fitting the changes into your life. And so I think I really enjoy creating that, you know, solving the solving for the puzzle of I'm traveling, I struggle with X, Y, and Z, and I like coming up with one, two, and three. And admittedly, for someone who has done like basically theater, I'm still pretty left-brained. Pharmacy attracts a certain type. And so I think what Brian and I, we we complement each other is we have the same idea of a roadmap. And when you work with us, it's you're getting both of us, and you're getting Brian's like philosophical big question view of the world. And I feel like I, and Brian can can back me up on this, I'm a little bit more tactical. Um, yes, I I still listen, I still try to get the get get you, the person in front of me, to to come up with that answer. But I I do like solving for those little quick puzzles and wins too, uh, and diving a little bit deeper into that and then educating as well. So that's you know, I think why I think healthcare should be a team sport. Uh and then maybe that's the theme of this of this episode is that getting the right team behind you, you're gonna have the right philosophy. Just like a little league team is full of a bunch of coaches who have the same goals to help their their kids get better, but they might have a little different philosophy on pitching or hitting or how to play the game. But if you can have a civil discussion, listen, make others feel seen, heard, and understood, then you're gonna have more success.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

Yeah. Philosophy followed by execution, because it has to be executed, can't just be taught. So that's where I that's where I like the idea of change maker too. But I totally get the educator that you you enjoy kind of identifying with being the educator because that part is really important. And uh just a little drop here, like the YouTube video you did was great. I could not replicate that because that's not my wheelhouse. Again, not the professional speaker here. Corey's the Corey's the book writer, professional speaker, and it definitely shines. And I that's why I love his that's why I love giving Corey the spotlight on the podcast too. I just like to sit back and and watch him work and be a little bit of a whatever he he you make fun of me and that's fine. I'm used to it.

Overthinking Versus Imperfect Action

SPEAKER_00 13:19

I like it. No, we've got a lot of feedback on how much people enjoy when they make fun of you. So I like that. Honestly, we have to like play to the downloads, honestly. So we gotta juice the algorithm. Uh no. But here's the thing I think we can also, with our own style, trip ourselves up. And so for me, uh, I think that if you're listening out there, and like Brian says, we'll get we'll get emails and and messages from folks who say, hey, I know what to do, I'm just not doing it. And for as much education and tactical stuff that I like to do for my left brain, I tend to be an overthinker. And so if you're like me, you love listening to every podcast, read every book, read all the research, and then just you'll still feel stuck. You you won't take action because you're still waiting for all the stars to align. And you know, you you're just not going to get that perfect clarity. Instead, I think Brian's philosophy would be don't wait for perfect clarity, start taking imperfect action. And I think that's where work with with you and me is I like even when we're working on a project or a post, I like to be super sure about stuff, and you're more of a it's good, Corey. Just make the edit, trust yourself.

SPEAKER_01 14:24

Yeah, yeah. Make the change, trust, learn. That's why I I then teach people hey, curiosity over criticism. If you tried it, it didn't work, don't beat yourself up. Talked to someone about eating a whole chocolate bar the other day. It was Easter time, and they hate the whole chocolate bar. It's like if you eat a whole chocolate bar, great, don't beat yourself up, just learn from it. Um, yeah, it it's okay to make those mistakes.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

And and at the same time, if you just do stuff without any direction, you're not gonna get the results either. And so I think that's where having some clarity, having a good direction is so important. And so I think results happen, your blood sugar improves, you improve your health when the right actions need the right understanding. And so sometimes people who think like me word vomit understanding so much that people can't take action. And Brian, I think your philosophy that is rubbed off on me is let's let's get some understanding, but let's find ways to take little actions and and draw that out from within you. Yeah.

Why What How Now Framework

SPEAKER_01 15:27

And that reminds me of just how we break things down. So in terms of educating, you always like to look at we always start with the why. Why is this important? What do you or how do you do it? What do you do, and what do you do now? So if there's ever something we're teaching, it's we start with that why and then you end with the now. What's the thing you can do right now? Because again, knowledge without power is just potential knowledge without action is potential power. So it's that whole idea of putting knowledge into action that gives you the power to then be on that road to remission.

unknown 16:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

So I'm here.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

Yeah. So like as a as the teacher, I like teaching mechanisms. And then with coaching, it's taking those mechanisms and actually doing it because you need to know what and why something matters, but then actually, actually do it and take action. And so I think we've we've seen countless people in our careers as pharmacists who seem to know everything, they read every book, but they just keep waiting to take action, or they keep having roadblocks that come up in life that get in the way of taking that action theoretically. And what I what I just every time that I I listen to Brian talk to to a client, to a patient, to me to myself, is he is so good. And I'm gonna brag on you. You bragged on me for writing books and being good on this. You're so good at draw at asking, asking very thoughtful questions. And so you're gonna draw more thoughtful answers that are gonna drive action. And whether someone works with us or a doctor or a nurse or another health coach or their mom, whatever it is, I think a good guide is gonna ask those difficult, thought-provoking questions with the background of why are we even doing this?

SPEAKER_01 17:06

Yeah, questions are the answer, Corey. That's my philosophy too. Questions are the answer.

SPEAKER_00 17:11

So oh my gosh, questions are the answer. That's see, the hard part for me as an improv improviser. So if you can believe so a little improv comedy background, in improv comedy scenes, the worst thing you can do is ask a question because you are literally putting all of the work on the other person. So as we're going back and forth here, if I just said, Brian, what are your thoughts on asking questions? Now you have to come up with an entire theory on asking questions. But if I say, Brian, I think asking questions is stupid, you now have a strong opinion to bounce back, bounce that back against, right? Does that make sense? I'm giving you true. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:45

You can give context in the questions. I think the ultimate question maker, question asker, and almost this goes too far, is if you've ever listened to the three economics episode.

SPEAKER_00 17:53

So no, what I'm trying to say is that my training is one where I don't ask a lot of questions in in random conversations, and I'm trying to get over that. I'm giving you praise. I'm saying questions in this context is good.

SPEAKER_01 18:05

Yeah, so questions are good.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

Questions in trying to do a back-and-forth podcast are less effective with you and I because then it just puts the onus on the other person. But when we're trying to draw an answer out of someone who's trying to find a path to better health, asking those difficult questions are thought-provoking. You can take the time and come up with that, come up with that answer that you're looking for.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

So it's well, I'll say this. It's so empowering when someone gives you and creates that space to like they actually ask you a question and they're not as they're not assuming that they know everything about you and that they know the best thing for you. Whereas they're like again putting the ball in your court and saying, Hey, well, what do you think will be the best answer? What does this even mean to you? And then there, like, I'm not afraid to I did it again. Sorry. I'm not afraid to give feedback once I have better context and understanding of what's going on for them. So it's not like I'll just say, hey, well, you just figured out on your own. I am definitely in the still, still giving people that guidance and recommendation once I have a better understanding of what's going on.

Build Your Support Team

SPEAKER_00 19:11

So yeah. So if you're if you're listening to this and this resonates, just remember as you build your team, because it does take a team to lower your blood sugar, go on the path to remission. You want to have a team behind you. And that team could be your spouse, your household, your friends that support you out in the real world. It could be your doctor, a nurse, an educator, a coach, whatever it is, make sure that your team is supporting you, uh, asking the right questions, holding you accountable, um, and and so you can so you can better yourself. Because I think that oftentimes people don't need more information. They just need better direction in which way to go to take that action. And so uh, if you're looking for more information, uh more ways to take action, you're already listening to the podcast, do us a favor. We haven't asked in a while. But if you can give us a like, make sure you subscribe, uh, write a review, share it with someone who needs to hear this. Uh, we we love hearing the stories of people improving their lives. It's it's what drives us every day. Uh, as Brian had alluded to, uh, we're more active on YouTube now, so we're putting shorts of the episode up on YouTube so you can check that out and check for some midform content every Monday. So you're gonna have two juicier pieces of content every week. You're gonna get a YouTube video and you're gonna get the podcast. So uh make sure you subscribe on YouTube to uh make sure you don't miss anything. But uh in the meantime, Brian, any final words of wisdom before we get out of here? I I got nothing, man.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

Uh I think that was a good conversation, and it was again just stemmed from us having a conversation on the phone. So I think it was a good way to summarize how our different coaching styles really support people in general and how you mentioned people need a team. I totally agree with that. Although I will has I will caution people when saying be careful on being your spouse's accountability partner. Yeah, yeah. That's a blowback.

Requests And Closing Disclaimer

SPEAKER_00 21:02

It's not so much accountability as can they just not be sabotaging you, I guess is where I'm going with that. You don't need your spouse to be your accountability partner, just don't have them bringing fresh baked chocolate chip cookies into the house every day. Uh I've seen it happen too many times. So uh let us know who which style you like more. Uh, this is a contest, Brian. Uh let send us a message, send us an email, say, hey, I really like Brian's style. I think Corey's hilarious. He needs to make fun of Brian more. We'll we'll listen to all that feedback and uh incorporate it in. And uh make sure to if you have a question about your blood sugar uh about diabetes, send it to us uh so that we can address it on a FAQ uh Rapid Fire Friday episode. So until then, uh keep it simple and do what works.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

If this episode gave you clarity or hope, share it with one friend who's been stuck in the diabetes trap. That's how this mission grows. One person, one family, one story at a time. And if you haven't yet, leaving a quick review helps more people find the show and realize they're not stuck with meds forever. It takes less than a minute and it means. world to us. Thanks for being here and thanks for being part of this movement toward freedom. Thanks for listening to the Diabetes Remission Roadmap. The ideas discussed here are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute medical or nutritional advice. We are pharmacists but we're not your personal healthcare providers. Always consult your own physician or qualified clinician before changing medications, exercise routines, or nutrition plans. Results vary and what works for one person may not work for another.