In this episode, Dr. Deepti Sharma sits down with Erica Rooney from Walk West to pull back the curtain on why this podcast exists — and what drives her work in obesity and lifestyle medicine.

You'll hear Dr. Sharma get personal about the patient story that changed everything, the 30-year-old with undiagnosed diabetes who passed away suddenly, leaving behind young children. That moment shifted her focus from treating illness to preventing it — and it's the reason she's here today.

This conversation covers the real stuff: how to fit exercise into an impossibly busy life (spoiler: gardening counts), why mental health is the starting point for all health changes, the two core nutrition principles that actually matter, and how to stop treating movement like a separate chore on your to-do list.

Dr. Sharma also tackles the stigma around obesity head-on — why it's a chronic neurohormonal disease rooted in genetics and biology, not a moral failure. And why creating a safe, shame-free space for her patients is the foundation of everything she does.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by conflicting health advice, stuck in patterns you can't break, or like you're failing because you "know what to do but can't do it" — this episode is for you.

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