Summary of Chasing Holistic Wellness

We love our Krabby Patties but we’re still on our holistic wellness journey.

Join your hosts Mercedes and Mama Telanna as they go beyond french fries to share a candid and insightful conversation that dives deep into wellness and holistic healthcare.

Mama Telanna opens up about her recent venture into holistic healthcare with an integrative doctor, turning 50, and the pivotal moments that led her to prioritize her well-being. Discover the role of technology in their wellness routines, from glucose monitors to Oura rings, and how data-driven insights have empowered them to make informed decisions about their health.

From battling the temptation of french fries to confronting the realities of aging and autoimmune diseases, Telanna’s story is a testament to the power of proactive health management and finding joy in the journey.

Mercedes, not to be left behind, shares her own experiences of falling off the wellness wagon and the revelations that have pushed her towards a more mindful and health-conscious lifestyle.

Together, we explore how technology like MyFitnessPal, Smartwatches, and even virtual reality games like Supernatural have become our allies in the quest for better health. But it’s not all tech; we delve into the emotional and spiritual aspects of wellness, challenging the idea that health transformations need to stem from trauma or drastic life changes. It’s a conversation about making peace with your body, embracing change at your own pace, and the realization that sometimes, the most significant wellness breakthroughs come from the simplest of questions: “Can I still have my coffee?”

Whether you’re just starting your journey or interested in going deeper, this episode is a mix of laughter, sincerity, and a bit of mother-daughter banter that promises to inspire, motivate, and maybe even convince you to give those VR workouts a try. So plug in, get comfortable, and let’s chase wellness together.

And if you’re enjoying this podcast, send us your thoughts, review, or note of encouragement at ⁠⁠hello@chasing100club.com⁠⁠! We’d love to share it on our social media platforms!

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LINKS AND RESOURCES

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Oura Ring: https://ouraring.com/

ABOUT YOUR HOSTS:

Telanna (Mom), the Purpose Minded Woman, ISTJ

About Telanna: ⁠⁠https://www.purposemindedwoman.com/site/about ⁠⁠

Mercedes (Daughter), the Career Love Coach, INFJ

About Mercedes: ⁠⁠https://www.mercedesswan.com/about⁠

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Chasing Holistic Wellness Transcription

Telanna: If you would have told me that, like, I could go a month without french fries, girl, preach.
Mercedes: That’s the testimony right there. This is the lead into the episode. A month without french fries. You have been delivered.
Telanna: Yes. Come on now.
Mercedes: Come on now. Amen.
Telanna: Reach godfather and have some potatoes for me in heaven.
Mercedes: Yes, ma’am, every day. Well, yeah, maybe once in a while you can have some french fries, but.
Telanna: I will say that is the absolute thing I asked the integrative doctor. I’m like, look, lady, I don’t care what’s in these 23 pages. All I need to know is, can I still have coffee? If I cannot have coffee, just throw my whole body away.
Mercedes: I would just go to early grave, because.
Telanna: Hey, chasers, it’s Mercedes and Mama Telanna here.
Mercedes: It’s your favorite mother daughter duo. And we are finally back with another episode. Today we are talking about wellness. Yes. We are going to be talking about holistic healthcare and how we’re using technology to support this as one of our biggest goals. Now, me, your girl Mercedes has been off the bandwagon, okay? But I started off 2024 strong. We are eight days in. But Mama Telanna had a very lovely, amazing last year where she just went and brought in the new year strong. She may say otherwise, but I’m going to pass it off to her to tell us a little bit about her wellness journey so far.
Telanna: Hey. Well, Mama Telanna turned 50 last year. Really? Sounded a little bit lame. I need some more energy behind. Well, I didn’t want 50.
Mercedes: I didn’t want to bust our friend’s eardrums. But I do have.
Telanna: You know what?
Mercedes: We got a new podcasting app that we’re using.
Telanna: It has sound effects. All right, I’m sorry, guys. That was the app.
Mercedes: Sound effect.
Telanna: Okay, well, that was an apping. That was an apping. Next time, I’ll bring my own little horn, okay?
Mercedes: Okay. Sorry.
Telanna: But, yes, I turned 50 last year. And so, as you know, for most women, maybe not you guys, right? Because you all are doing a lot better with embodying whoever I want to be. You’re not waiting till that 40 year old midlife crisis. You all are doing it now, which is wonderful. But for my generation, us Gen Xers, we had the midlife crisis at 40, and then I feel like at 50, you have the health life crisis, right. Although it’s not really anything serious, right? So I turned 50 last year, and one of the things that was on my life list to do was to really visit a functional, integrative doctor. And one of the things. I feel like mercedes can relate to this, even though she kind of fell off the wagon, the truck, the van, whatever.
Mercedes: It left me in the dust. And it said, I’m going to leave a couple of pounds with you as I leave you.
Telanna: I think if you’ve listened to our previous podcast, we try to find ways that are maybe a little bit unconventional, a lot of ways that use technology, because we both love technology. And so, as you know, with one of the previous podcasts, we did the floating right, and that was all about the health, too. And so with this episode, we’re just going a little bit deeper around what other steps that I took in order to really figure out what my future, best self health wise looks like. Right? Because I’m only going to get older, I’m going to look fabulous, right? But I’m going to get older. And so I really want to make sure that I know what I’m looking forward to and then really putting myself in the best position possible to be able to deal with my health in the future.
Mercedes: That was a lot. I didn’t hear anything that you said.
Telanna: Wow, podcast.
Mercedes: Okay, so I love that you were talking about, like, we have this moment where we’re like, I can’t keep doing this, which is how a lot of times we get to most of our goals of actually doing the work or taking action. But what was it that really made you do that in a different way? I know you were like, I turned 50. But what really made that difference for.
Telanna: You to see this difference in business? Why are you trying to get.
Mercedes: That’s what I’m here for as you’re. I’m not here for the soft questions, okay? I’m here for the hardball, get right to it questions, okay? I’m not Shannon sharpening it. Okay.
Telanna: Sound like you’ve been listening to the Shayshe club. But anyway.
Mercedes: Dragged him, mommy. No, people dragged him. Say, what kind of questions are you asking, sir?
Telanna: But anyway, I don’t claim that we won’t go there.
Mercedes: Okay?
Telanna: So for me, rheumatoid arthritis runs in my family. I’m not really sure if it’s hereditary, but I think it is. I don’t know if it’s.
Mercedes: Thank you for that.
Telanna: I don’t know if there is a consensus about that, but generally, more or less I think that it is. And so that is an autoimmune disease. And so I feel like given that it’s in my family, I really wanted to make sure that I stopped ignoring that, because for a while it’s like, I’ve known it was there. But like you said, that day comes when you wake up and you’re like, okay, I’m sick of this. I need to do something about it. And if I don’t do something about it now, it’s just going to get worse. And so I think for me, turning 50, right. Was also a wake up call to say, okay, Telanna, now this is the time for you to really do something about it. Because I may not have an opportunity to fully correct it, but I can definitely slow it down, if that makes sense.
Mercedes: Yeah, for sure. It’s not just, I don’t know, the generational or the genetic pieces, like, whether it’s hereditary or not. But also, I think, kind of all these other compounding effects of how poor wellness or health kind of makes you feel. I think that’s been one of the biggest things for me. That has been the shift of, like, I can see how different I feel when I’m eating better or exercising more. So I’ve been trying to. When you talk about that embody piece, like, really trying to stay connected with that, like, how she feels, like, when she’s. Can’t say I’m totally there because I was struggling today and I had to go pick up some trail mix. Okay. Instead of the Ferrero Rocheres, I did eat a krabby patty, but I only ate one Krabby patty, and it was 33 calories. So thank you, my fitness pal, for enabling my 33 calories of sweets today. You are welcome. Yeah, I didn’t say you. I said my fitness pal, too. Are you my fitness pal? I wasn’t talking about you because you did not see my Krabby Patty, even though you’re the reason why I have that problem. So take that hereditary problem.
Telanna: You’re welcome. They are great little snacks because, you.
Mercedes: Know, they’re not all made the same.
Telanna: Of course I do. I love SpongeBob, so why wouldn’t I love Krabby patties?
Mercedes: Crabby patties are made the same. The gummy ones. Okay, so let’s get into this, right? So you said, I acknowledge that I had this moment where I was like, I’m not going to do this anymore. How did you get from that to saying, I’m going to go do this holistic wellness piece and all of these other things that you’ve implemented, like, we’re doing myfitness pal. You have some other technology we’re using. Notion, aura ring, Samsung health, all different sorts of things. So how did you get from here’s? What I want, and here’s how I’m going to actually implement this into my life. Yes.
Telanna: So, a few years ago, I had my gallbladder removed. Right. I think that was 2016, maybe.
Mercedes: That was very traumatic.
Telanna: I’m sorry. Stay off the french fries. Stop eating the Krabby patties. There’s my advice. God.
Mercedes: Listen, ma’am, I’m trying to counteract all this, okay? How many years?
Telanna: How many years? Yeah. So, with losing your gallbladder, there are certain things that came with it. And with it came, for me, was, like, a lot of bloating. From 2016 up until now, I just experienced bloating just from random, different foods that I might eat. But I’m not really tracking it enough. I’m not giving myself the data to be able to make better decisions about my food habits. And so that was one reason. The second reason, like I said, the fact that rheumatoid is in our family. And then I think the third reason was also recognizing that perhaps my body might have started to go into this perimenopause stage. I noticed, of course, having some hot flushes, having some difficulty sleeping, also still having a different type of bloating, I felt like. And so it was just like, okay, enough is enough. Because if you can’t be comfortable in your own body, there’s really something really wrong with that. And then, too, there’s a spiritual side of that too, for me as well, because, of course, the Bible says that our bodies are actually the temple of the Lord. And so it’s like, okay, here I am in this position where I’ve been giving this beautiful gift of this body, and I’ve spent most of my adult life abusing it. Some people might say abuse is kind of strange, but it’s actually abuse when, you know, like, I shouldn’t be eating as many french fries as I have been eating. But what can I say? I love french fries. So really, that’s where it started. It was like, you know what? It’s all piling on top of each other. Low energy, just all sorts of stuff. It was just like a downpour. So I’m like, you know what? Something’s got to give.
Mercedes: Yeah, I can definitely agree with that. I think for me, more so as I have a way that I want to see myself in clothes or booty naked in the mirror. Yeah, girl. Okay. But I think one of the challenges with that is kind of, like, this idea that you still kind of have this desire, this goal, and you see yourself in that cycle. Because I know, that’s what everyone talks about when it comes to fitness and health goals of one having this desire to be there, but kind of going through the cycle of in and out, fluctuating weight, but then also kind of separating that idea from what looks to be physical health versus actually feeling healthy. And I think that’s the difference for me this time of, like, there’s no reason that I should be taking two tums every night before I go to bed unless somebody snuck coconut milk into my food. Okay, that’s my one valid excuse, talking about the coconut milk right now. Coconut milk has ruined many a night. Many nights. But that being said, I think that’s been the thing for me this time. Just really seeing. Wanting to be more thoughtful about the health side of it and the wellness side of it. And I think that’s why my fitness pal, I used to just be just tracking calories, like, how much can I eat today? How much can I eat today? But I have really liked seeing the difference in my sleep score and seeing what my micronutrients looks like and doing my food diaries on these different websites. So let’s talk a little bit about the technology. I know that you’re using an aura ring, and I think you’re also using Samsung health and myfitness.
Telanna: So as a result of going to my physician, it wasn’t my regular physician. So I just throw that out there. I know that we don’t want to run on in this episode about all of this, so we might do a second episode more about going to an integrative doctor outside of your regular primary care doctor, because it actually wasn’t my primary care physician that helped me with all of this. Right. I would just go to him and.
Mercedes: He would say, oh, look, you’re getting.
Telanna: Close to being pre diabetic. Work on that. Right?
Mercedes: Not helpful, sir. Not helpful.
Telanna: Yeah, not helpful at all. Right? And so I’m like, well, I’m not diabetic yet. Let’s go get those french fries, please. All right. Going to the integrative doctor really opened my eyes. And I will also say, too, it was probably in 2018 that I first heard, okay, go visit an integrative doctor. And I also heard that it was extremely expensive, like, thousands of thousands of dollars.
Mercedes: Really hard to find them. Right?
Telanna: Yeah, exactly. Actually, the one that I was looking at was all the way down in Fort Lauderdale somewhere. So I just put it on that life. Like, that’s not something I need to do right now.
Mercedes: I see you when I’m pre diabetic.
Telanna: Yeah.
Mercedes: No, that’s not funny.
Telanna: And so we put limitations on ourself. I didn’t do any research. I just took it for what it was. But at the same time, too, I feel like God puts you in a position to give you what you need when you need it. So I didn’t necessarily need it back then, or maybe I wouldn’t have been ready for it back then. So it is what it is. But the integrative doctor was like, I want you to actually go and get a glucose monitor so you can start tracking your sugar. And I’m like, okay, you know what? I went from one Doctor who never.
Mercedes: Told me I was fat, like, at all. That was wild.
Telanna: Never right to this doctor. So I was thrilled about that. So I got that. I have, of course, blood pressure monitor, which that’s all fine and under control now. I got my oring last year before I went to the integrative doctor. And I love this little thing because the more data that you have about what your body is doing, the better you are able to make adjustments for yourself, right? So when I wake up in the morning and I look at my aura app, I can tell what type of day I’m going to have, right?
Mercedes: Is that good or bad?
Telanna: It’ll literally say, girl, you ain’t had enough sleep or you didn’t have enough. You need to take it easy today. And it’s not lying. So I love just being able to have that data, and I also take that data, and I put it in the notion so that I want to see the big picture of it all. So I also load it in notion. I just started using my fitness pal with crusaders as a form of accountability as well. So I’m using that, the paid version, because I’ve done things like Noom before, but with Noom. The thing that I love, the psychology of Noom, the thing that annoyed me with Noom, is that its library is, like, ridiculous. So they need to do better with that. And then, like you said, I’m also using my watch that keeps telling me I’m not walking enough, not taking enough steps. Right.
Mercedes: Listen, Sam is petty.
Telanna: It is petty. But even though I have been told that that whole 10,000 step thing was a market employee.
Mercedes: Was it really? Wait, come on.
Telanna: That’s what I found out. I was listening to some.
Mercedes: Wait for the fitness trackers or something else.
Telanna: No, it was for the fitness trackers. But it was like, I want to say it was like the. Don’t know. If it was in China, I would have to look for it. And hopefully I can look for it and put it in the show notes, because it was used as a marketing tool to get people to focus on their health and wellness. And I don’t know if it’s actually scientifically proved that you need the 10,000 step.
Mercedes: Okay. I thought you were saying that, you know how people. The whole conspiracy theory with. I don’t know if it’s a conspiracy, but how that healthy food chart is based on marketing people that they needed, like, the dairy, is not really that important.
Telanna: I wouldn’t be surprised about that either.
Mercedes: So I thought that’s where you were going with the people with the watch manufacturers, like, the fitbits of the world and the garmins of the world. They were like, if we can just get people to feel that they have to track their.
Telanna: Yes.
Mercedes: Which is for sure. Oh, okay. It is.
Telanna: That is what I’m saying. It was a company, I believe, somewhere in Asia, in the.
Mercedes: Well, I mean, as much as I want to be like, ooh, conspiracy theory about it, I will say that the steps helps me better evaluate my activity levels, which is helpful. And then also, who knows? Whatever. The American Heart association could also be a load of ****. But I think their thing is, like, 30 minutes of activity. Yeah.
Telanna: And I think that’s why no one really bothers about it. Right. Because it’s legit either way, it’s still good for your health. But I think with my goals, one of the things that I’m really focused on, I’m not focused so much on making sure that I do a particular thing or a particular outcome. I’m really focused on what my desire is to embody a healthy person, what that identity looks like. Right. So that may not necessarily mean I’m tied to this outcome of, I have to take 10,000 steps a day. For me, one of my goals is to hit my activity marker on my. Hit my activity marker on my aura ring, because it gives you an activity score every day, and the more you hit it, the higher it goes up. And so I feel like if I’m hitting that or maybe for somebody else, if they’re using Google, if you’re hitting Google fit, I think Apple phones have a little circles of all the colors you’re achieving that you know that you’re doing the work, and it eventually is all going to add up. I think that’s what’s most important. Instead of stressing out, should I get on the scale? Should I be measuring every little thing? I think it’s important to find what you love, experiment with it a little bit and then move on to the next thing.
Mercedes: I know. This is going to sound, like, very counterintuitive of most of the ways that we talk about embodying the person that we want to be or the person that we are becoming. But I think actually, for this one, at least, when I was originally starting this and I talked about how a lot of that had to do with body perception, my own self perception of my body. But I actually found that demotivating because I would look at it and I would say, oh, a healthy person would not eat this Ferreira rochere. A healthy person would not eat this krabby patty. And I guess when I’m saying it out loud now, I’m like, that’s a ridiculous thing for you to say. That’s how you embody a healthy person. But I was using very punitive metrics or evaluations of that progress. So I think that was why using my fitness pal has been super. Like, I’m mostly on Samsung health just because I want to track my activity and to be honest, see how many calories, because, like, so food driven. I just want to eat all day. Food is happiness, okay. Food is happiness, okay. But I think I found a way to be like, okay, well, I’m incentivizing myself. Like, okay, if I’m active today, if I play supernatural today, if I go on a walk, like, oh, that means more calories. It’s been really interesting where then I then value those calories more, and I’m actually less likely to eat them. So I’ve somehow psychologied myself into this, which I’m okay with. But I will say that being able to see what food is this really high calorie, it’s also helped me be more intentional about just not overeating because it’s just customary. Like, I looked today and I was like, I’m going to eat two pieces of bacon because I want bacon. And that’s not a healthy food, but I want bacon. And I’ll have two eggs and some avocado. But normally that portion for me would have been like, I have three pieces of bacon, a slice of bread, some toast, some ham, some avocado, put some onion on, some tomato on there, and then I’ll have three pieces, oh, maybe some fruit on the side. What are my things?
Telanna: I think that’s the healthy way to do it. And I think that’s what I like so much about noom is like, it didn’t limit what you were eating. It didn’t try to put you on any strict diet. But what you said, you become more mindful of the things that you’re eating when you’re using the know, it’s like kids when they get their first job, right? And you’re like, oh, I want to go to McDonald’s. And you’re like, well, in this day and age, your McDonald’s is probably cost more than an hour of, you know, for high school kids or whatever. And so it’s the same thing with the food. You have choices that you can make because, you know, I love coffee, right? And I’m pretty sure that most of the sugar that I consumed in my life, the creamer was from creamer.
Mercedes: That’s the one thing I love, is creamer.
Telanna: People probably don’t even pay attention to that, right? Because if I’m having like three cups of coffee a day, sometimes four, just depending on how I feel, and I’m putting creamer in all of those, that’s no different from me drinking soda. I mean, I don’t drink soda generally, but it’s the same premise. And so I don’t even need the creamer. Now, that’s a beautiful story.
Mercedes: More power to you.
Telanna: You’ll be there someday.
Mercedes: You’ll be there someday.
Telanna: No, ma’am, but too, I like black coffee. You drink.
Mercedes: I drink creamer.
Telanna: Coffee with your creamer.
Mercedes: No, I mean drink creamer.
Telanna: You drink coffee with your creamer.
Mercedes: Ma’am, I drink creamer with a bite of coffee.
Telanna: Yeah.
Mercedes: Anyway, that’s the one thing on my myfitness pal that is like, ma’am. But that’s okay because my fitness pal will tell me when I’ve hit my allocated sugar for the day and I have not. It’s just my creamer. Maybe today with the krabby Patty. I’m not sure. We’ll see how it shakes out at the end of the day. But, yeah. Anyway, I think this is like a really good segue into the habit. So I was saying before, it kind of has been this really good reverse psychology into making better decisions. But I now feel like how many ever days it takes to create a habit. I’m on day eight, and my habit has really been to be very intentional about entering my calories so I can make better decisions and trying to integrate other things as I go through. So what are some of the things that you’ve done to create better habits around your health and wellness?
Telanna: Well, first I’ll say that a habit takes you as long to build it as it takes you. That whole 21 days is nonsense. Okay. If you wake up on day 22 and you don’t do it, and day 23, you starting all over again.
Mercedes: Well, we could talk about how the neurodivergent people don’t do well with habits. There’s no such thing as a habit.
Telanna: I’m just saying.
Mercedes: So I’m anti habits, but I’m trying to be okay for the neurotypicals out there who could do habits.
Telanna: Well, I don’t know if it’s. So I like habits. I don’t like routine.
Mercedes: Are you going to explain the difference between that? Because I feel like a habit is.
Telanna: Something that you choose to do and it’s part of your journey, right. It’s part of your growth journey. And whereas I feel like a routine is something that people get locked in. Like, you hear people say, oh, my gosh, I hate my morning routine, or I just need. And to me, that’s more stringent, right? To say, I’m going to get up and do the same thing all the time, every day. And so I prefer to create habits and not necessarily just have this routine that people use, if that makes sense.
Mercedes: So give me, like, a tangible. Because I feel like there’s so much overlap between the two. What’s a tangible wellness habit versus routine?
Telanna: Okay, so I think a routine would be saying, I’m going to get up and I’m going to go to the gym every morning at 05:00 a.m. Before I get KJ up for school.
Mercedes: Well, those people are called psychopaths, but.
Telanna: Okay, yeah, so that’s a routine I feel like they’ve put into their day. And so for me, I still want to have a healthy lifestyle and create a habit where I am getting that activity. But for me, saying I’m going to do it every day at 05:00 a.m. Is not saying that I want to have this habit that I do each and every day. Whatever that may look like is more empowering for me. So for me, that might mean, okay, I’m going to talk trash about you now, but it’s okay. You’re my child.
Mercedes: It’s okay. I’ll forgive you, probably.
Telanna: I got a message in Whatsapp today. Say, hey, let’s do supernatural.
Mercedes: Oh, my God. I was just trying to be accountable because you said you were starting on Monday.
Telanna: Don’t interrupt me.
Mercedes: I’m interrupting. I said I was off the bandwagon, but I was catching up.
Telanna: Girl, you asked for the example. Now let me give my example. So back up, right? So say, for instance, someone I won’t say who sends a message and says, hey, let’s do supernatural at 05:00 in the afternoon. And you say, okay, I’m going to wait till 05:00 in the afternoon to do it. Even though you really realize it’s Monday, Mondays are a low energy day for you. I think I want to do it at lunchtime. That way I get that little extra adrenaline. But you get that message and you’re like, I want to be accountable. I want to be in it with her.
Mercedes: I just wanted you to start strong.
Telanna: And then what happens at 05:00 comes and the person says, I need a nap.
Mercedes: That’s so rude.
Telanna: And I end up doing it at six. And so it’s still a habit that I’m a daily habit that I’m building, but I’m not so stringent to say, okay, I have to do it this time. Because I think a lot of times when people have these stringent routines, if they don’t do it at that time, they feel like they can’t do it at all. So if I don’t go to the gym at five, oh, I just can’t do it. I just messed up my whole day. And so that’s why I kind of don’t like to fall into that. And that’s possibly because that was me.
Mercedes: Routines are successful. The last thing I want to do is be like, you know what, every single day at 05:00 I’m going to do supernatural because then it won’t be something that I’m enjoying or, yeah, I’m not enjoying it anymore.
Telanna: Hey, if you want to keep track of your habit, I have a notion template for you. Okay.
Mercedes: Okay, girl. Okay, girl. Lincoln bio. Lincoln show notes.
Telanna: Yes, Lincoln show notes.
Mercedes: Yay, girl. For the low, low price.
Telanna: I don’t even remember the price. I think it’s $25.
Mercedes: Get you your habit tracker for $25.
Telanna: Well, it is more than a habit tracker. It is a life organizing. Hey, y’all. Telanna here. And I’m on a mission to challenge women of God to fall head over heels in love with pursuing God’s purpose and plan for their life. Purpose minded Woman is a faith brand with a blend of inspiration, practical advice, spiritual guidance, coaching tools and resources tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities faced by christian female professionals and entrepreneurs. Join me and other ambitious women of faith by subscribing to purposefully nourished, a weekly newsletter to pique your curiosity, build your faith, and pull you into taking inspired action towards your divine destiny. Join me@purposemindedwoman.com it’s just that, of course, habits are a big part of that.
Mercedes: Amen.
Telanna: But I was going to say, I think the most important thing with anything is just to really make sure that you’re doing the things that you enjoy, you’re not doing the things that other people say you should do, because that’s a big part of the success, not just in your health goals, but in all of your goals, that it’s something that you actually want to do and you know why you’re doing it.
Mercedes: I was going to say that that’s been one of the biggest things for why supernatural has been such a great thing for us, because we didn’t really say what supernatural was. We’ve just been name dropping supernatural. So KJ, my brother, your son, got an oculus and then eventually just converted all of us. Right? That’s how that worked. He got it first. Right. It was.
Telanna: That worked okay.
Mercedes: Because I was like, was it his that I tried? And so then I was like, well, I had been wanting one for a. So. Cause we know I like the technology. I want to play games. I got to get cute, cool stuff. So then I finally got it, which is a year and a half. Well, yeah, because we got it not last birthday, but the birthday before that. Anyway, so a year and a half of having one, and then Brandon got one. And then Brandon’s whole family got one. You stole KJ’s and then lost out on a deal of your lifetime, ended up getting the new one.
Telanna: Yeah, he got a good deal.
Mercedes: He got a good deal.
Telanna: I had to make it sweet for him, so I had to put in that option to buy. So he made some money, and he got to keep his oculus.
Mercedes: I mean, if that’s what makes you feel better as you review that story from your own lens, yeah, that’s fine. Fair.
Telanna: I believe in being fair.
Mercedes: You could have just gave him the money. Okay, sorry.
Telanna: We were doing better than yours.
Mercedes: I mean, it is, but my camera is better than yours. We all got priorities. So, yeah, I went there. Low blow. But anyway, so we started playing beat saber, and then that was kind of became an exciting way to kind of stay in shape or get active in the house. And so we’ve been doing. So that whole thing turned into playing supernatural. And they’re both kind of these virtual reality games where we have batons or we’re punching or we have sabers, and you’re kind of moving to hit targets. And supernatural is more like fitness related. So there’s like, squats and lunges and boxing and meditation. I haven’t done a yoga. Knee strikes. Yeah, that thing. And so anyways, it’s been a nice way to. Oh. And the best thing about it is it has lots of music. Like, all different types of music styles in there. So I’d be having some fun listening to little Wayne.
Telanna: I literally did the knot cracker today.
Mercedes: Who?
Telanna: Music from the knot cracker.
Mercedes: That’s interesting. But give me a little Wayne one. Give me a little Wayne or a paramore one.
Telanna: And I don’t do the nutcracker, honey, do the nutcracker.
Mercedes: Enjoy that. I don’t like Christmas as much as that.
Telanna: No, but you like that.
Mercedes: Everybody likes the nutcracker.
Telanna: You just imagine trying to.
Mercedes: Okay. Actually, I can see it. I can see it now. Thank you for doing the little. You can’t see it, but she made a little dinosaur arm.
Telanna: It was very. Because I was telling you, it only had two songs in it and it kicked my has, like, Lil Wayne has nothing on it. Okay.
Mercedes: Not even worse than that paramore one where you were like, I’m never doing the paramore one ever again.
Telanna: I don’t know. And I just did the queen one, too, which was pretty intense, too.
Mercedes: Anyway, we love us some supernatural.
Telanna: We do.
Mercedes: I’ve had my heart rate monitor from my Samsung watch on while doing a stairmaster at the gym. And my heart rate has been higher, like supernatural in the living room. So I feel like it’s a good exercise and I’m not about all of the gym grind and the self consciousness that comes through it. I tried personal training for a little bit. It was not it. So to circle back, find your joy, what’s going to help you? What do you like doing? I found that I really like snacking. I would like to eat seven meals of little tiny snacks. And I would also like to wave my hands in the living room like a crazy person to exercise. And it’s working for me. On day eight of 2024.
Telanna: Yes. Gosh.
Mercedes: Okay, so I think we’ve covered a lot. Is there anything that you feel like we haven’t covered yet? If not, I have a closing question for you.
Telanna: No, I think we covered everything. I mean, I think I would like to do, and especially if they want to hear more about the experience of going to an integrative doctor and what that.
Mercedes: Well, I want to because you didn’t tell us all the things. So. Yeah, it doesn’t matter what they want a lot.
Telanna: Just think about when you go to your doctor. They give you a one page summary or whatever. I left with like 15 or 20 pages.
Mercedes: That’s rough.
Telanna: Real eye opener. Yeah.
Mercedes: I have to muster the energy to go do that because blood work just terrorizes me. Yeah, all health care terrorizes me. Really? My gynecologist is going to get a nasty gram. No, I like her, so she’s not going to get a nasty gram. She’s going to get a polite, nasty gram because she was like, you can’t have your birth control, ma’am. And I said, ma’am, last time I was there, you told me that I’m not allowed to cry in your office and that I can have two years do it. I can’t handle these. Being in these people’s offices, telling me crazy stuff. Oh, my gosh. Did you see, I will circle back to my question, I promise, but did you see that stupid white doctor on TikTok? Hey there, it’s Mercedes. If you’re listening to this podcast, you probably have some pretty big dreams and aspirations. Are you looking to break into your dream job? What about pivot into a new career that aligns with your purpose? Or maybe you want to advance your career as an amazing black woman. If any of this sounds like you, it’s time for us to have a chat. In the show notes, you’ll find a link to schedule a quick and free 15 minutes career clarity chat with me during our call, we’ll dive deep into your career goals, and I’ll share some transformational career advice. If coaching with me could benefit you, we’ll discuss that too. If you’re feeling uncertain about your career, it can be tough, but it’s possible to find clarity and direction. So why not take a step to your breakthrough and schedule your free career clarity chat with me today. The link is awaiting for you in the show notes, love. All right, let’s get back to the episode. I’m guessing, based on your face. No. So there’s this man, he gets on TikTok and he proceeds to say, ask this stupid question like, sir, you’re a doctor you went to through how many years of education to get on the Internet, ask a stupid question like that? He said, I want to know why. Whenever my black patient, white man, whenever my black patients come into the office, they’re always on the phone with somebody else, a family member or whoever. And he really posted that on the Internet, right? TikTok was ******. Well, black TikTok, obviously.
Telanna: No, I did not see that. Yeah, I’m black and I’m never on the phone allergic to my.
Mercedes: You okay, well, we’re going to have this conversation, okay. Because the comment was that people, you can’t trust your health care providers, especially when it comes to wellness health and being able to advocate for yourself in a health care setting. And so that’s why they’re on the phone.
Telanna: I don’t know if that’s on the phone. I’ve had my own issues with advocating for myself around having this cough that I had. And if that’s it, but why don’t you ask your patients?
Mercedes: Well, that’s what people said. But people said, like, you just got.
Telanna: On the Internet sign up and saying, but we live in this age where people just think they can put whatever they want on the Internet. So there you go.
Mercedes: Well, I’m glad. And then people were like, don’t cancel him. He’s a doctor. Like, you really got on the Internet to say some stupid stuff like this. And then we’re expecting. We were going to be like, oh, here’s why we do this. You should already know this answer, sir. But anyway, yeah, it was just wild. And I was like, the amount of times that I’ve had apple tell me something that somebody that went to school for how many years to be a doctor could not tell me is the reason why. I don’t care what you say to me. Just give me my prescription, sir, so I can go home.
Telanna: Yeah, I mean, it’s rough out there. I mean, my doctor basically told me I had lupus, and I was like, what?
Mercedes: I’m sorry. This is a man that we don’t. Well, whatever. This is the man.
Telanna: Yeah, but just because he’s not used to looking at test results for autoimmune diseases, that was his response when he saw a little bit. I mean, I did more information searching. That’s absolutely.
Mercedes: Did I know you said, did you show me? I’m sorry.
Telanna: No, I didn’t tell anybody. I told Kevin. And I’m like, I’m not telling anybody else because this is ridiculous, and we’re.
Mercedes: Already traumatized for other reasons. So it’s.
Telanna: But. And. And that just goes to show you why visiting an integrative doctor is so important. Because she opened my eyes to so many things that I wouldn’t have had a clue was going on in my body just by. Because it’s one of those things, right? Like, she’s trying to prevent things, so she’s proactive. My physician is reactive. So you got to be dying before they want to do something. And I’m not saying that’s all his fault. Right. That’s kind the type of medicine, the type of healthcare industry that we’ve created in America. I mean, there’s so many constraints on physicians about how much time they spend with a patient and all sorts of things. So I know that it’s not all of their fault, but it’s like, if you have the ability to do this on your own, I would absolutely say, do it. Yeah, I’m sorry.
Mercedes: I just realized that there are two spongeBob backpacks back there because I forgot about the other one because I love SpongeBob. You do?
Telanna: 50 year old woman that loves SpongeBob. And I’m not ashamed.
Mercedes: And crappy patties. I was, like, looking at them, I was like, oh, that’s another SpongeBob backpack. It’s okay because I enabled you for the second one.
Telanna: Yes.
Mercedes: Oh, I was last, I think last question about your integrated health, lady. So was she a woman of color, or do you feel like she was culturally competent in how she spoke and interacted with you?
Telanna: No, she was a white lady. She was great. And actually, I didn’t find out until after my second appointment, like, my follow up to go through my reports and stuff. I didn’t find out until after that that she was actually married to somebody black. But, no, she was great. I mean, my first appointment with her, we sat down for, like, an hour. She’s like, tell me everything that’s going on. When has a doctor ever said that to you? Right? I’m like, I just want to sit here forever with you.
Mercedes: Yeah.
Telanna: So, no, it was very nice. She was very understanding, of course, because when you’re doing that, you don’t necessarily have the words to explain everything that’s going on. So I’m like, I think this and I think this. Meanwhile, I don’t really know anything. Whereas when I went to my other doctor, not the man, but before that, she was like, well, why do you think you’re in perimenopause?
Mercedes: That’s a great question. That’s a great question.
Telanna: But I had told her some of the symptoms that I thought. I’m like, if you just want to ask me, lady, have I been on Google, just ask me that.
Mercedes: The answer is yes, because my doctor sucks.
Telanna: Yeah.
Mercedes: I mean, I love that because, I don’t know, it was one of the things that I was really committed to a couple of years ago when I was going through all of my anxiety and depression stuff. Well, it wasn’t a couple of years ago, but it happened before then. But it’s continued through each of the things of, yeah, I made sure. My dentist was a woman of color. I made sure that, well, my gynecologist wasn’t a woman of color, but she’s fabulous, so she can stay forever. She’s a lady, though. And then when I was trying to find a primary care doctor in my area, I made sure it was, like, in a facility that was actually owned by a black man. And then more recently, when I was going through all of my mental health challenges, the physician was a black woman. And so it’s been really nice to kind of be in these settings where it’s nice to feel kind of, like, safer in the conversation versus feeling like you might go into a facility where somebody’s going to ask you why you’re on the phone and why all their black patients are on the phone. So I love that. Yeah.
Telanna: And I agree with that. Comfort is important. I don’t know for me if I really care that the person is black or white or whatever. It’s important to me that I’m heard. I’m happy with her. So I’m still keeping my primary care physician, and I’ll see her probably every six months or so.
Mercedes: Yeah, like, well, round.
Telanna: And then, of course, now I have a rheumatoid physician that I literally cannot get in to see until March. So there you go.
Mercedes: Well, that was rough. That story was a little rough. Well, I’m glad they’re still your physician after that.
Telanna: Because I did have a black female physician, and we loved her. And then one day she was gone, and I honestly think she was gone because she spent too much time with her patients and she ordered tests that I had never had before. And so I really think that’s why she couldn’t fit in the mold of what the healthcare system needed. So I’m steady looking for her.
Mercedes: I will find her one day. We go find you, girl. I’m not going to say her name. We’re going to find her.
Telanna: I have her MPI, so I can find her. Yes. Whenever she goes somewhere else, Miss Billing.
Mercedes: Claims reimbursement lady, I’m gonna find you.
Telanna: Now let’s wrap up this podcast, girl, because somebody has to go to Walmart to pick up their groceries because I forgot to order from Kroger and I actually have to go to a Walmart. Somebody pray for me.
Mercedes: That is so sad. I am so sorry for you.
Telanna: But not going in, I’m just going for, you know, I didn’t even like to be in the parking lot.
Mercedes: Well, I have a fiance that just says, send me your grocery order. He was all excited because he got some good job updates today, and he was like, what you want, baby? I got you. Get me all the fruit. Yeah, I’ll tell you later.
Telanna: I got to get that just from Publix.
Mercedes: Oh, the fruit. Oh, but I was getting smoothie stuff because I’m doing. Where’s that?
Telanna: Well, that’s different.
Mercedes: Yeah, well, I mean, it was some fruit, but I am doing your little girl. This book comes up every once in a while. Ten day green smoothie cleanse. I’m not doing a ten day cleanse. But I do like their smoothies.
Telanna: No, but some of those smoothies in there are real good.
Mercedes: Good.
Telanna: They’re. I have to pay attention to my sugar intake this whole time.
Mercedes: I did not know this was a black woman in the back. Okay, JJ Smith will be linked in the show notes. We’re a mess. Okay, so I know you got to go, and I also have a call because we do in business and life and health and all these things. So my closing question to you was going to be, if you had to tell yourself something 20 years ago, or. Well, you’re getting old. Maybe 25 years ago about anyway. If you had to tell 25 year old Telanna something that would change her life about health and wellness, what would you tell her?
Telanna: That you can be healthy outside of your trauma. I feel like every time, whenever I look back at things that I’ve changed in my life in regards to my health, it was always attached to me, trying to ignore something that I had gone through. So whether it was a breakup or whether it was just another outlet when I look back, other than being pregnant, those are the times when I had lost weight. Right. So after a breakup, pouring yourself into the gym, and I don’t necessarily know if that was because I wanted to prove a point, because I’ve never really had this strong body image. Like, my body has to look this way. But I think that’s not just for the weight loss, but for just so much different stuff. Like, you don’t have to go through trauma in order to really have and create the life that you want. You can do that now. And so I think that’s a big part of it for me, understanding that I can have what I want whenever I want it. And for me, that’s just now and really understanding that why behind it. Because a lot of times, that why is not really the why. It’s fabricated. Why is an illusion. So that’s why you don’t stick to it. Right. So the really why now is because I’m not trying to die or have my body in pain, and that’s the truth of it. And sometimes you need to give yourself that wake up call, the reality of it, and stop sugar coating it and saying, well, I want to fit in a size two or I want this. No. What is the why? The why is if you don’t correct something in your life, Telanna, you will die. That’s a cloth you have to have with yourself.
Mercedes: I’m having flashbacks about Mr. What’s his name from 600 pound life. What’s his name?
Telanna: Oh, my gosh.
Mercedes: You are going to die. I don’t know. It’s true. He’s not wrong. He’s very terrifying. What’s his name?
Telanna: I mean, if you would have asked me, and this is the last thing I would say, if you would have told me that I could go a month without french fries, girl, preach.
Mercedes: That’s the testimony right there. This is the lead into the episode. A month without french fries. You have been delivered.
Telanna: Yes. Come on now.
Mercedes: Come on now.
Telanna: Amen.
Mercedes: Reach.
Telanna: God’s going to have some potatoes for me in heaven.
Mercedes: Yes, ma’am, every day. Well, yeah, maybe once in a while you can have some french fries.
Telanna: But I will say, last week, last week, that is the absolute thing. I asked the integrative doctor. I’m like, look, lady, I don’t care what’s in these 23 pages. All I need to know is, can I still have coffee? If I cannot have coffee, just throw my whole body away.
Mercedes: I would just go to early grave because that is hilarious. I love it for you. Well, I love that feedback. I think that is a good nugget to leave off of. You can have your coffee and french fries and you don’t have to live by your trauma. I love that. So thank you all for joining us for this very special chasing wellness podcast episode. We are definitely going to do a follow up about holistic wellness, whether you all ask for it or not. So there we go. So until next time, we wish you so much success with you chasing your biggest goals. And we’ll see you for our next episode. Bye bye.
Telanna: Bye.
Mercedes: They can’t see you do that. They only get the audio. They can see me. Okay, great. I’m glad that they can. All right, bye, all.
Telanna: They may want to.
Mercedes: No, they don’t. Absolutely not. In the closet.

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