Talking Health and Building Your Practice Back to the Basics with Niti Shah and Sachin Patel

Hello friends and welcome to perfect practice. I am super thrilled because today I having a conversation, I'm having a conversation with Niti Shah. Niti is a board certified clinical nutritionist and she actually just shared a story with me about how she got to know about our work. And I'm super excited because I want to bring that up in our conversation because it just demonstrates you just never know the impact that you're going to have on people by putting your truth and your message out there. So Neeti is based out of Dallas, Texas where she runs her practice called Back to Basics Functional Nutrition. And her goal is really to do just that, is to take it back to the basics for people and help them find their inner wisdom and unlock their inner healer. So I feel like we're going to have an awesome conversation talking about how she does that and then also discussing and sharing how she has built up her practice and what her vision is to help as many people as she possibly can. So Niti, thanks for joining me today.

Thank you. Thank you Sachin for having me and thank you for having me on this wonderful platform. And as you say, always say the world needs more of us. Here I am sharing the wisdom that I gathered from you and multiple mentors of mine and what I've learned along the way. I'm excited to share. And going back to the conversation just that we just had before we went live was I want to tell everyone how I first found Sachin Patel was I read on a friend's page one of his quotes, it said we won't have a cure for diseases until we have cure for greed. Boy, that just resonated with me. You never know just for other listeners and business owners, just keep posting what you believe in because you never know when what people are reading and when, when it will resonate with them.

Yeah. And what's cool about that is that that was something that was posted at least five or six years ago. And I remember, I remember when I posted that and how I started seeing it show up on other people's feeds and people had taken the quotes and turned it into a meme and you know, rightfully given me the credit for that, which was pretty awesome. But then every now and then I would get somebody sharing it back with me and saying, hey, I saw this on so and so's website or I saw this on so and so's feed. And, and, and really it truly is amazing. You just never know the ripple effect of putting your message out there and whose lives it will positively impact. And here we are, you know, five or six years later, you're now within our mentorship community. And, and I know that you've been benefiting from the, the wisdom, the collective wisdom of our community. And you're here to share with others your wisdom that you've picked up over the years of running your practice. So what I love to do is maybe start there. You know what, what prompted you to get into the health and wellness space?

So the reason why I am, what I'm doing today is my personal health struggles, my family's health struggles. So those were the catalysts and they were the reason I went down into the rabbit hole of Google University, where I was left frustrated, not getting answers. And that's the reason I was like, okay, no, this cannot be it. I personally was struggling with weight loss. I was having hormonal issues, my husband was having autoimmunity, my kids were having allergies.

My.

My dad was having, was struggling with cancer. And that just left me frustrated. And you probably, I'm not sure if you know, but I was a physical therapist in my first career or I would say past life now. So that. And I was like, okay, I know healthcare, but I did not find my answers or I was not even close to getting my answers for my family and myself. And because healthcare does not equal to wellness, which I learned it the hard way. And so what I did, Sachin, was when I did not get answers in the Google, I was like, okay, that is not going to be enough. So I went back and I did my master's in Functional Medicine and Nutrition from University of Western States. And that, I can tell you, was one of the biggest decisions that we made. And I'm so grateful that I made that decision because that just opened the world of opportunities for me. That just opened the world of wisdom and knowledge for me. That is the only program that I will also tell my listeners is the one that is affiliated with Institute for Functional Medicine. So the curriculum is just weaved around all the imbalances, so the students get a lot out of it. And that is what I got out of it, was all the knowledge that came with it. And that after that journey, I went ahead and got my certification done from cns and that followed by founding my practice back to basics and all that. What I have found, my practice with is the thing that was missing when I was looking for answers. What I did not find is what I founded my practice in. So I just want people to know that it's not scary, it's not difficult. Like the myths that people have. It was a difficult journey, but I'm so happy that I'm here today sharing it with all of you.

That's awesome. It takes a lot of courage to go back to school, especially becoming a physical therapist. That's a lot of schooling in and of itself. And then, you know, just the drive, the mother's drive and the wife's drive and the daughter's drive to be the best that she can be, to, you know, be there for her family. Right. And I think there's something to be said about that. And thankfully, if you're listening to this, you don't have to go back to school like Niti did. You can hire her, and she can help you, you know, on your journey towards health and wellness and the things that we're missing. So that brings me to my next question, is what did you find was missing? So, you know, there's so many places that people can go to get information. Lots of books, lots of podcasts. It can almost be overwhelming. But with all that information that was out there, what did you feel was missing from the formula for wellness for people to get healthy?

So the number one thing, like I said, I founded my practice with things that was missing, and the number one thing that I found missing was getting the answers. Like, for example, I. I was told that you have to be on elimination diet. I was like, okay, that's fine, but what does that mean? Okay, you have to remove gluten from your diet, you have to remove dairy from your diet. But how would that translate in practical life? Okay, I'm a vegetarian. If I remove gluten, if I remove dairy, what else is left in my meals? How do I prepare my meals? So all those struggles, what I do now, Sachin, is in my practice. I give them handouts as to what exactly they should be looking in the grocery stores. Not just words, but I just give them images. Okay, this is what you need to pick. I feel that just remove is not enough. When we replace it with something healthier, that's where. When we are able to provide that toolkit, that is what the clients are looking for or the answers they are looking for. And that way, they are not overwhelmed with all that information. There is no lack of information in this world. In fact, that is way more than what we need. So instead of being overwhelmed, making it simple, making it practical, making it sustainable is what I do in my practice. And that, I feel was lacking when I was looking for answers. So that is what my approach has been. Back to basics.

I Love that. And so it sounds like you're taking information that might be readily available. Right. But you're teaching people how to practically implement it for themselves. And being a vegetarian myself and being gluten free and trying my best to be dairy free, so it's not a big part of our diet as well. It's quite fascinating because there are unique challenges that present themselves, especially being East Indian. And gluten is a big part of our diet. Grains are a big part of our diet, of course. And so we're eliminating one of the basic food groups for a certain population, which can get people to shut down. Right. They can mentally shut down or say this is impossible, or sometimes you probably get pushback and saying, well, I grew up eating this stuff or my, you know, my parents grew up eating this stuff and we turned out just fine. Meanwhile, they're in debilitating pain. Right. You know, 50 pounds overweight and succumbing to the idea that getting old means getting sick. So, you know, breaking down some of those, you know, cultural barriers can be somewhat of a challenge, I'm sure. So tell me about the journey that your family went through. So after you acquire this knowledge, practically implemented it. How is your husband's health? How's your children's health of the allergies gone. Is the autoimmunity gone? How's that working out? Yeah.

Yes. Yeah. I'm so proud to say that we actually reversed his autoimmunity and he is officially into remission and he's been in remission for last five years now. And yes, my kids allergies, they do struggle with seasonal allergies once in a while, but it's not year round. They play sports outside all the time. They enjoy the outdoors and they are fine. My father had cancer, but he's a cancer survivor now and he has brought wellness or healthy eating habits, made it part of his lifestyle. In all families, there are personal struggles where not everyone is ready to eat healthy. So we had our struggles, but I'm happy to say that at the end of that he was able to make those right choices. Looking at me, looking at everyone around him. And now I can say that everyone is doing great. Sachin, if you were to see a picture of me and my husband from 10 years ago, I can assure you we will think it has flipped because both of us, we look much 10 years younger than what we used to look 10 years earlier. We lost that weight. The skin is awesome, the face is glowing. So I just cannot tell you all that this journey has given me. I'm just so grateful that I embarked on this journey and I'm your. With what. What all of that has brought me today.

Yeah. You know, one of the things that I love about this, and I'm getting even goosebumps as you're sharing it, is that the people that we want to help the most are the people that are closest to us, that we love beyond measure. And sometimes they're the most challenging people for us to help. So kudos to you because you crack that nut. And you know, many practitioners, including myself, at times struggles with that. You know, my son and wife are very healthy, but sometimes getting my parents to make some of those changes, although they're much healthier and make better choices than they did many years ago, there's still room for improvement. So is there any wisdom that you can offer to get, you know, practitioners like yourself and myself to get their parents on board? Because I would want nothing more in the world than to get them on board and help other people. Practitioners get their parents on board, that's. That's the toughest nut to crack I found. Was there. Is it just a matter of being ready, or was it something that you said? Was that the circumstances that inspired him to take. Take action. Maybe there's more to it than that. And I'd love to know if there's anything you can share with us.

Absolutely. Yes. You are. You are absolutely right. That's the hardest challenge that all of us face. And for me, how I got to that is by being a role model. I did not tell him do this, this, and this, because that's just human nature. The moment we are told or the moment we are instructed, the first reaction is ripple. So I did not tell him. I just went about doing it myself. I was the role model. I transformed my health. And that motivated him to look into how he can incorporate better choices, eating habits, exercise, meditation. So he was doing it partially, but I think that was a cat. And that's how it helped him do what. What he is doing now. So that I feel so. And what I would also like to tell our listeners is just keep trying. Don't give up. It's not easy. But just when you think that, okay, I'm ready to give up, this person is never going to change. You never know when, when that change will happen. So be optimistic and just, Just keep on trying.

Yeah. And it's worth it, right? It. It pays off in the end if you can help the people that you love the most. So it sounds like you've helped a variety of different people. Right. Your father is a cancer survivor, your children with their allergies, your husband with this autoimmunity. In your practice. Now, is there a specific condition or a type of patient that you work with?

Yes and no. So what I work with is achieving wellness, but the answer is no to specific health condition or specific age group. Because in my practice I've seen clients. My youngest client is 10 year old and my eldest client is 72 years old. So there is a varied age group and a varied condition. So I would say no, there is no specific condition. But bringing in wellness is what I do best and that is what I help people with.

Awesome. And then how do people find you? What is the way that they connect with you? Is it through referrals? Is there something specific that you put in place to generate the interest in your practice? How does that work?

So I would give that credit to you, Sachin, because you were the one who motivated me to be posting regularly on social media. And I would be very grateful to you for doing that. Because earlier when the posts I would be like, who is listening to my post or who is reading my posts? And maybe it's not working out and I would be lazy and I would not do it. But I realized that when I'm posting regularly, even though search engine optimization, does it work? Chamber networking does its work. I have referrals from fellow practitioners in the FW area. But people look for assurance. So when they find me, they are going to go on social media and try to find me if this person is active or if this person knows what he or she is doing. So that's where they probably resonate more with me and that's where they find me or they trust me that I can work with this person. So that I think has been really been helpful because I was on Google earlier, I was on IFM earlier, I was on on CNS board earlier, but people were not finding me or they were finding me, but they were not calling me. But now they do call me.

Yeah, I think you bring up an important point that it's not just one thing that's going to help us. Right. Sometimes people are going to try to connect the dots. So they might see you on the IFM website and they might see others on that same website. But then when they start googling or typing in your name, then they're going to come across certain types of information. So they might see your website, they might see reviews, they might see your social media platform. And I think here's the thing with social media, it's where we can develop a relationship with somebody. So a listing on any website doesn't create a relationship. Right. It just creates a point of interest, but it doesn't create a relationship, even a Google review. Right. It gives people evidence and documentation that you're doing a great job, but it doesn't build a relationship. So I think that it's important for people who are listening to this to recognize that it's important that we have a well rounded online presence and offline presence with the other things that you're doing as well. So keep up the great work. And would you say that there's any pearls of wisdom aside from what I just shared and what you just shared that you could offer people who are maybe struggling with social media? Because I know in the very beginning it can feel like there's crickets, right. And nobody's listening and nobody's paying attention. Were there some mental exercises that you did or what inspired you to keep going? Because it's so easy to give up. And I see so many practitioners doing that. They post for a few days and then they ghost. Right. So this post and ghost strategy and of course that doesn't work very well. So what was your source of inspiration or what kept you going to keep sharing your message?

For me, what kept me going was surrounding myself with like minded people, being in the mentorship community, just hearing from others that this is normal and this will happen, but there is hope. So that is what kept me going. So anyone who is afraid that, hey, my post did not get 50 likes or 100 likes, it's okay, it just, it needs to resonate with just one person. You don't even need a number of people. So surround yourself with like minded people and that, that will make sure that you, you'll keep going with that.

Yeah, I love that and thank you for sharing because you know what we need, all of us, what all of us need is a plan. We need a guide and we need a community. So some of us have a plan, but we don't have anyone guiding us and we certainly may not have a community as well. Some of us have a community, but we don't have a plan or we may not have a guide who's kind of holding our hand through the process. So I love that you bring up the mentorship because that's what we try to provide to our clients is here's a plan for you to put into place. Here's a guide or several guides. We have council members that, that Coach our clients, and then we have a community of people who are, you know, overcoming the same challenges or having the same breakthroughs or perhaps even having the same questions that come up and you don't feel like you're alone. When you feel like you're alone, it's really easy to throw in the towel. So thank you for sharing that. And, you know, when it comes to. When it comes to, you know, your practice, what really motivates you and excites you to continue to bring wellness into your community? I know that helping your family, that's obviously huge. Getting client results, that's obviously very important. But what is it that keeps you so driven and motivated and inspired to continue to push your message forward?

Yes, results, Absolutely. That is family first. Healing my family, that was my number one motivation. And now it's the results that I get. The results does not need to be the lab results. It has to be the hug. It can also be the hug that I get at the end of the meeting instead of a handshake that I would say is success. And that is what drives me. That, yes, I want to get more hugs from my clients. Getting a testimony from my client that because of the health choices or the informed decisions that I am making, my daughter, instead of picking up jello, she. She went to the refrigerator and picked up a cup of blueberries. So that. That listening back from my clients and those words that they have shared is what keeps me driving. Obviously, the lab results, absolutely. Those numbers, when they. When they go down, the. When. When they are able to overcome that brain fog, those digestive issues, that just means so much to me. And it's so gratifying that I'm able to help people. Just when I was able to heal myself, now I can help heal others.

I love that. So I'm going to ask you a question which can be a bit ambiguous, and I want you to just answer with whatever comes up for you. How do you define success? What does success mean to you?

Hmm? Like I told you, success. I would define them as my client hugging me. I would define success as a patient who walked through the door three months ago with brain fog and digestive issues walking out at my exit interview telling me that I'm off the medication. I am. I have cleared my brain fog and is feeling fine. I would define success when, as I said, my client telling me that I am the wellness ambassador for my family now, and I'm going to make sure my family's health is going to be better now on that means a lot to me.

So how do you define success in other areas of your life? I'd be curious about that because there's more to you than the practitioner. Right. You're a mom, you're a daughter. You obviously are a member of your community. So in other dimensions of your life, how do you define success?

In other dimensions, I would define success. Being available to my kids when they need me is success to me. Being able to travel with them, being able to travel with my husband and sharing time with my family is success to me. So I want to have a good work life balance where I'm helping my clients, but I'm available for my family when they need me. And even when they don't need me, I want to be around for them.

I love that. How old are your kids?

My daughter is 18, going to college in fall and my son is 15.

Wow. You don't look like you have an 18 year old, so you're definitely doing something right.

Thank you. Yeah, she gets really mad at me. When we walked into a breakfast this morning and they're like, oh, is she your sister? She got really mad. She was like, no, that's my mom.

I think that's the best compliment you can get.

That that was the best compliment. I was like, she made my day. And she was like.

So what are some of the myths about health that our listeners should know? And maybe even since many of our listeners are practitioners, maybe you can share some of the misconceptions about even building a practice. Let's start with health first, because I know there's lots to unpack there.

Sure. Yes. The biggest myth that I've come across that's prevalent is being healthy is hard. I've also heard eating healthy does not taste good. I've also heard that it will take very long time for me to eat healthy or practice healthy habits, and that will have a positive impact on my health. I've also heard that I've been taking all the medications. Then why is my health not improving? So those are some of the myths. And I've also heard that I've tried multiple diets many times and I know nothing works. So these, to me are the prevalent myths which we need Mythbusters for.

Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people become their own worst enemies with the beliefs that they have. Right. Thinking it's going to be hard, it's going to be difficult, it's going to take a long time. And you know, in all fairness, some people do overcomplicate becoming healthy. Right. I know that at One point, if I look back and I'm totally transparent, I was probably over complicating it for my clients as well. Right. We want to run all these labs and give them all these supplements and put them on the latest protocol. And they're not even chewing their food. Right. They're not even doing the most basic things that they could and should be doing to unleash and really unlock their own inner potential. So that's a big theme for us is how do we simplify things? How do we make things more affordable? How do we make things more accessible? How do we make things more practical for people? And I love that you're doing that back to basics, which is awesome. So what are some business myths that you've had to kind of break through or maybe you can share with other practitioners who may be just a few steps behind of where you are in your journey?

The biggest business myth that I was holding myself was I need to be well connected. I need to know everyone in the DFW area to get referrals. I need to be able to know everyone in the community to get people to walk through my door. I've seen it the other way around. You don't need that many referrals, referral sources. You just need for people to have belief in you, to trust you. So you need to nurture that behavior in people by making them feel comfortable trusting you. So that I feel was what was holding me back and that confidence that, will I be able to help that person? One of my mentors, Sachin, told me that I just need to know 10% more than the person I'm going to help. That just opened the world of door for me because earlier I was like, oh, I don't know at all. I don't know how to read this test. I don't know how I could help this complicated case where I don't think I can help that person. But little by little learned it the hard way that just if I know, if I read the basics, things will change.

Yeah, you don't need to know more than the person is willing to do for themselves. So, you know, it's very rare that people have exhausted all of their options to be healthy. And it's important that, you know, you bring up a really good point, which is we don't need to know everything. We just need to know a little bit more than what the client is, has done or is willing to do for themselves and then inspire them to take action. Because I think that, you know, functional medicine and lifestyle medicine and wellness centered medicine is really all about what the client is willing to do for themselves. And that becomes the ceiling of what's possible for them. Not our knowledge. Because there's so many practitioners, I mean, there's so many books, there's so many resources online that has, you know, it's basically an infinite ocean of, of knowledge and information. But it all boils down to what people are willing to do for themselves. And you know, and I think that once they find a trusted source and resource like yourself and somebody who takes information and makes it applicable and practical for them to implement and keeps it very grounded and basic, I think that's the key to getting these people to become successful in their journeys. So, Niti, what are some last thoughts that you'd like to share with our listeners? Perhaps some words of inspiration to somebody who's listening as a potential client for you or somebody who's listening as a practitioner who may be inspired by your work that you're doing.

The last thought that I would want my listeners to leave them with is just know that there is hope. There is hope in functional medicine, there is hope in functional nutrition. And just know that going back to basics, finding the root cause, just simplifying the process, there is hope to health. And just don't give up with the diagnosis label. It might be fancy, it might not be fancy, or there might be bunch of lab results that come in against against you. But with all of that, there are answers and there is hope to health. So that is what I would leave want to leave people with.

Beautiful. Well, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day and appreciate your knowledge, your wisdom and more importantly, appreciate your passion to serve others. Where can people learn more about you? Where can they follow you?

They can follow me on Facebook, they can follow me on Instagram at Neetis Underscore Nutrition. And my website is Back to basics with number two F x n dot com so there will be link. I'm sure there will be a link. We can leave it in the comment section, but that is where you can. Where people can find me.

Amazing.

Thank you again. Sachin, thank you so much for this platform and thank you for sharing wellness with the world.

Oh, my pleasure. Thank you for taking charge of your community's health and really offering your services with such an open heart. I greatly appreciate it. And yes, we will share in the show notes where people can get a hold of you and how they can learn more about you. And again, thank you again for your time. Appreciate you.

Awesome. Thank you. Sachin thank you again. Have a nice day.