17 - New Year's Resolutions Part 5: Start with a Healthy Gut

In the 17th episode of the Fitlandia Podcast Christa is joined by Allison Nichols for a discussion on gut health and how it can impact your wellness.

Healing yourself from the inside out

Allison is a holistic nutrition counselor who works with people to improve their gut health and help them break free of the diet cycle, “healing yourself from the inside out” as she puts it. After graduating from college Allison existed on a diet of Kashi cereal, yogurt, and fruit in an attempt to be as thin as possible. Meanwhile she was struggling with horrible digestion problems to the point where her gut began to control her life. She started to notice that no one else was acting like her. Nobody else was in constant pain, or feverishly keeping track of restrooms for future reference. Allison realized what she was doing for weight loss was actually negatively affecting her body. She realized that there’s more to health than weight, and there’s a connection between what you eat and how you feel.

After discovering Mark’s Daily Apple and she began experimenting with a more primal diet, avoiding grains, legumes, and dairy. She didn’t lose any weight, but she noticed that she was feeling better day by day, and eventually most of her digestive issues faded.

“Realizing that I could eat whole foods and foods with fat in them and not gain weight was a life-changing experience.” - Allison Nichols

No One Size Fits All

No one way of eating works for everyone. Respecting the biochemical individuality of each person is something that’s impossible to fine-tune from a company’s broad dietary plan. That’s why people get frustrated because they try one or two diets and they don’t line up with their bodies or their lifestyles. Fitness is a journey of coming to understand your own body and finding a dietary style that works for you.

Through this realization, Allison realized the importance of food journaling, and removing the attachments that she had with food. Recognizing the consequences that different types of foods have is important, and coming to that understanding is a vital step in the fitness journey.

Once she sorted her own digestive and dietary problems out, Allison wanted to help other people break free from dieting. She set out to help others build a healthy relationship with food and start that process from the mind rather than with the body. It’s an uphill battle because in today’s culture of digital entertainment and on-demand gratification, people want instant gratification and instant results.

Fitness is a Journey, Not a Destination

Together, Allison and Christa outline a few tips for long-term success:

1. Everyone is different, finding out what’s right for you is a learning experience.
2. New Patterns. Bacteria in your gut causes cravings, you can reprogram your mind to crave alternatives like exercise.
3. Be a Mindful Eater. Food is comforting, and you can feel better when you eat certain foods. If you’re eating from a conscious place, then it’s okay.

Allison also helps Fitlandians by providing one of the many questions that she asks her clients. Before indulging in a rich dessert, or even eating in the first place, ask yourself “am I physically hungry, or do I just want to eat?” Being able to determine actual hunger and emotional hunger is huge. Sugar, processed foods, and poor diets can muffle our feelings and skew our perceptions of what fullness and hunger feel like. If you are physically hungry, opting for a healthier option is more fulfilling, but the hard part is making those options accessible. If pre-prepared, pre-packaged, processed foods are already there, it’s easy to default to those.

“There’s no such thing as mistakes, only learning experiences.” - Allison Nichols

The two wrap the episode up with a few helpful tips to improve gut health:

1. Slow down your eating experience
2. Hydrate, but don’t drink water with meals
3. Keep a food journal to learn about yourself

Explore more on our site at fitlandiafitness.com and get your free 2-week trial to unlock all members benefits today!