Blog – Ginger Bailey, Founder

Weight Loss Medications: Miracle or Mirage?

One of the most common questions I have been asked lately is my opinion on medications for weight loss like Ozempic. Many new medications for the purpose of weight loss have been approved by the FDA and are now on the market. More are forthcoming soon. But are they a good idea? Should people be taking them? As many of my clients are seeking help with weight loss, this is a topic I have been following rather closely.

Weight loss medications like semaglutide have become increasingly popular.

The reality is that obesity has become a major problem not just in the US but around the world. For many people, losing weight isn’t as simple as cutting back calories or exercising more. The idea of having a simple pill or injection you can take to help you lose weight sounds like a wonderful solution to a difficult problem. But is it really? The answer is maybe…and maybe not. Let’s get into more detail.

What medications are FDA-approved for weight loss?

Bupropion-naltrexone (Contrave)
Liraglutide (Saxenda)
Orlistat (Xenical, Alli)
Phentermine-topiramate (Qsymia)
Semaglutide (Wegovy)
Setmelanotide (Imcivree)
Terzepitide (Zepbound)

There are a couple other medications many people have heard of that are also being used for weight loss but weren’t initially designed for that purpose. Ozempic and Mounjaro are two of the main ones. They were created as medications to help with diabetes management, but weight loss was found to be an effect of the medication and they have started being prescribed for that purpose. However, the FDA has not currently approved them for the express purpose of weight loss.

How do these medications work?

Not all of these medications work the same way, but the newer medications are specifically designed around hormone signaling. These medications target the hormone that increases satiety and decreases the rate that your stomach empties. This helps reduce hunger signals and allows people to feel full sooner.

This is not a new idea. For example, bariatric surgery, which has been around for decades, also works by resetting hormone signaling more than it does caloric restriction. The purpose of these new medications is to help with hormone signaling without needing to do an invasive and risky surgical procedure.

Do they work?

These newer medications have been found to be quite effective for weight loss…for as long as people are taking them. Read that last part again, because it’s important! The unfortunate thing we have found is that if people stop these medications, their weight usually comes back even after making lifestyle changes. A lot of people think they can start taking the medications to lose that stubborn extra ten pounds, and then go off it once they have succeeded. The problem is that medical literature isn’t supporting that. So far, studies have shown us that once people stop taking the medication they end up regaining the weight. That means, in order for these medications to have a lasting effect, they must be taken perpetually. While that can be beneficial to your waist line, it may be extremely detrimental to your wallet. And, as you will see, it can have unintended side effects to the rest of your body.

My experience working with people has been in line with what the research is telling us. So, while medication can work, it means committing it to it for the rest of your life in order to keep weight off. It’s not quite the convenient short-cut people think it is.

Should I try taking them?

This is the main question people ask me. It’s not a simple answer, however. The reality is that all medications have side effects. While these medications appear relatively safe right now, they haven’t been around long enough for us to understand what the long-term implications might be. In five to ten years from now we might discover that they are causing severe damage to the body, but it will be too late for those that have already been taking it.

We do know that in the short-term, people taking them tend to lose a significant amount of lean mass — i.e. muscle — which isn’t the kind of weight most people are looking to lose! This is particularly important for athletes, martial artists, those who work physically demanding jobs, people who enjoy outdoor recreational activities, and the elderly…all groups who need muscle in order to live the lifestyle they want! In other words, while weight-loss medications can help you look fitter on the outside, they may actually decrease your physical fitness in certain key areas.

Also, if you want to keep the weight off, you will likely have to commit to taking them for the rest of your life. While some people might be okay with doing that, it might not be practical. Supply issues have been a major problem for people trying to take them. The demand has increased to the point that these medications can be difficult to obtain. Many are also very expensive. If someone loses their health insurance, they often can’t afford them anymore. We also don’t yet know the effectiveness of the medications if people go on and off of them. Will they work the same way the second time, third time, etc?

When is medication warranted/recommended?

Despite these issues, weight-loss medications aren’t always a bad idea. Like I mentioned before, obesity is a complex problem. Some people have a much more difficult time losing weight due to their genetic makeup. Some people are not able to lose enough weight with diet and lifestyle modification alone despite intense effort. Some people, even after making positive lifestyle changes for months, still aren’t able to lose much weight. This isn’t an issue of will power, character, or even strategy. It’s simply genetics.

These people are the ones most likely to benefit from trying medication.

It is, however, an intervention that should NOT be used prior to trying lifestyle modification because of the aforementioned risks. The same goes for bariatric surgery. Bariatric surgery should be reserved for people that have tried all appropriate diet and lifestyle modifications, medications, and the combination of both, and were still not able to achieve the weight loss that was needed to improve their health.

Medication is generally not an intervention I would recommend for someone that hasn’t tried everything possible with lifestyle modification first, because the cost, risks, side effects, and unknowns are so high. In my experience, the benefit to these medications likely won’t outweigh the risk.

The practice of medicine is all about risk and cost vs. benefit. The reality is that medication comes at a high cost, and there are risks with it. So, this is a decision that has to be made on an individual basis for each person. The important thing to understand is that medication is not a shortcut. It’s an intervention that comes with major downsides and shouldn’t be treated lightly. In some people, the benefits can outweigh both the cost and the risks, but not in everyone.

Why Lifestyle Modifications Matter

You might be wondering why lifestyle modifications are even important if they don’t always result in weight loss. That’s a valid question! If you think about it, your weight is merely your relationship to gravity. When it comes to pressure on joints, this can be a legitimate consideration. But people’s overall lifestyle patterns have more of an impact on their health than the number they see on the scale. Making lifestyle changes can have a significant impact on how someone feels even if they don’t lose a lot of weight. Many people who adopt a tailored nutrition and exercise program notice a major improvement in their energy level, quality of sleep, athletic performance, sexual performance, and even how well they can function. Having healthy lifestyle patterns can also keep biometric measurements (lab values) in check even if the person is still technically overweight.

Do you prescribe medications for weight loss?

At Salt Lake NutriCoaching we do not prescribe medications, however if your doctor has prescribed them for you, we can help you make the lifestyle and eating changes necessary to get the most benefit from taking them. While the long-term studies aren’t available yet, quick weight loss is associated with a loss of bone and lean mass, and a decrease in metabolic rate. Here at Salt Lake NutriCoaching, we can help create a personalized strategy for counteracting these side effects, enabling you to build muscle and bone mass instead of losing it.

Is there any value in working with a Registered Dietitian if I still decide to take medication?

Absolutely! While you likely can lose weight by taking medication alone, working with a registered dietitian can help you to learn how to eat in a healthy way to help minimize bone loss, muscle loss, and achieve the best outcomes possible from using medication. Think about it this way: if you are trying to build a house, why try to only use one tool instead of all the tools available? You will be able to build a house faster and better if you use hammers, screwdrivers, saws, etc. instead of only using one.

Losing weight can prove to be a frustrating journey, but that’s why we at Salt Lake NutriCoaching are here to support you. Whether you’re looking to lose weight, increase energy, treat diabetes, solve a gastrointestinal issue, or just eat and feel better, we can guide you in making impactful changes that will make you feel better and improve your quality of life.

— Ginger Bailey

SOURCES:

Brown S. Should You Take Ozempic When You’re Over 65. Very Well Health. Published July 27, 2023. Accessed April 21, 2024 at https://www.verywellhealth.com/ozempic-muscle-loss-older-adults-7565314#:~:text=While%20muscle%20mass%20declines%20naturally,mass%20while%20taking%20these%20medications.

Burton AR. Wegovy /Weight Loss Drug Risks and Considerations – Need to Know. Floridamedicalclinic.com. Accessed April 21, 2024 at https://www.floridamedicalclinic.com/blog/wegovy-weight-loss-drug-risks/#:~:text=Muscle%20wasting%20and%20skeletal%20bone,out%20regularly%2C%20including%20strength%20training.

Endocrine Society. Bariatric Surgery. Endocrine.org. Updated January 24, 2022. Accessed April 18, 2024 at https://www.endocrine.org/patient-engagement/endocrine-library/bariatric-surgery#:~:text=Studies%20show%20that%20bariatric%20surgery,appetite%20and%20regulates%20glucose%20metabolism.

Farhana A, Rehman A. Metabolic Consequences of Weight Reduction. [Updated 2023 Jul 10]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Accessed April 21, 2024 at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK572145/

Harper C, Pattinson A, Fernando H, Zibellini J, Seimon R, Sainsbury A. Effects of obesity treatments on bone mineral density, bone turnover and fracture risk in adults with overweight or obesity. Hormone Molecular Biology and Clinical Investigation. 2016;28(3): 133-149. Accessed April 21, 2024 at https://doi.org/10.1515/hmbci-2016-0025

Ida S, Kaneko R, Imataka K, et al. Effects of Antidiabetic Drugs on Muscle Mass in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Curr Diabetes Rev. 2021;17(3):293-303. Accessed April 26 at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32628589/

Margo J. The Alarming Twist when using Ozempic for weight loss. Financial Review. Published July 21, 2023. Accessed April 21, 2024 at https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/lighter-but-fatter-the-ozempic-paradox-20230718-p5dp5w

Maselli D, Atieh J, Clark MM, et al. Effects of liraglutide on gastrointestinal functions and weight in obesity: A randomized clinical and pharmacogenomic trial. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2022;30(8):1608-1620. Accessed April 18, 2024 at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9335902/#:~:text=The%20mechanistic%20underpinnings%20of%20liraglutide,delay%20correlated%20with%20weight%20loss.

Prescription Medications to Treat Overweight & Obesity. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. niddk.nih.org. Accessed April 18, 2024 at https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/weight-management/prescription-medications-treat-overweight-obesity

Rubino D, Abrahamsson N, Davies M, et al. Effect of Continued Weekly Subcutaneous Semaglutide vs Placebo on Weight Loss Maintenance in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: The STEP 4 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2021;325(14):1414-1425. Accessed April 19, 2024 at https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33755728/.

US Food and Drug. FDA Approves New Medication for Chronic Weight Management. Published November 8, 2023. Accessed April 21, 2024 at https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-new-medication-chronic-weight-management

Dealing with Diabetes: How to Change Your Eating Behavior

Several years ago the nurse from my physician’s office called to tell me my A1c was high and that I should reduce my sugar intake. I listened and decided that one way I could do this was to quit adding sugar to my breakfast cereal. Easy, huh? Well, not really. I had always added a little bit of sugar to unsweetened cold cereals (shredded wheat, toasted oats, bran flakes) and oatmeal (I typically added brown sugar), so it was a bit of an adjustment and the change didn’t happen overnight.

Change is hard! If you have never heard of the stages of change, I’ve outlined them below.

Precontemplation—In this stage, you are unaware that there may be a problem.

Contemplation—You know that change is needed, but you are still thinking about it.

Preparation—You are getting ready to make a change. Some changes require several steps before the actual change can take place.

Action—You are making a change in this stage.

Maintenance—The change is now more of a habit, but sometimes relapses happen in this stage.

So, using the stages of change outlined above, here is how my sugar change worked.

First, I didn’t know there was a problem. Before the nurse called me, I was in the precontemplation stage of change. I had no idea that my blood sugar was high. After I learned that my A1c was in the prediabetes range, I moved into the contemplation stage of change. Now I knew I needed to make a change, but I was mulling over how I might reduce my sugar intake.

I knew I could do it in 2 ways. The first way was to reduce the amount of sugar I added. The second was to eliminate the sugar addition entirely.

For me, it made the most sense to just quit adding sugar.

With this decision, I moved to the preparation stage of change. To prepare to take action, I got rid of my sugar shaker. I knew it would be easier not to add sugar to my cereal if it required more effort (i.e. going to the pantry to get sugar out of a larger container to add to my cereal). With the elimination of the sugar shaker, I moved to the action stage of change or in my case, inaction. I no longer added sugar to my cereals and learned to accept that my cereals weren’t quite as sweet as I would like them to be. Once I continued this change for several months, I moved into the maintenance stage of change and for me, I’ve been at this stage for several years. I never add sugar to my cold cereals and only rarely do I add just a bit of brown sugar to my oatmeal when the fruit isn’t quite sweet enough.

Do I miss it? Yes and no. On my cold cereal, the answer is, “not really.” Maybe that’s because the bran flakes already have added sugar and I love shredded wheat. With oatmeal, the answer is “yes.” I do miss the sugar, but I have adjusted to having oatmeal that is less sweet. I typically add fruit (blueberries, bananas, raspberries, or peaches) and try to have a bit of fruit with eat bite.

Did making this change reduce my A1c? Yes! Between 2015 and 2017, my A1c went from 5.8% to 5.5%.

Most people underestimate how difficult it is to make a behavior change, even a simple change. When discussing options in making an eating behavior change, people think “that won’t be hard,” but in fact, it is incredibly difficult. Why? Because the change typically involves a whole lot more than the desired change.

For example, someone might want to start adding a vegetable to his dinners. Sounds easy, right? Well, not so fast. Adding a vegetable at dinner means:

Deciding what vegetable you are going to have
Going to the grocery store
Purchasing the vegetable
Preparing the vegetable
Actually eating the vegetable

Wow! That’s a lot of steps. Behavior change is hard, but it can be done. More importantly, it can be the difference between a life complicated by health problems or one in which your food choices help lead to a healthier life. Making healthier food choices more consistently will lead to a reduced risk of chronic health problems.

When making changes, having support along the way will help. Reach out to us, if you would like guidance and support in making long-term eating behavior changes. We can help you find strategies for moving through each stage of the change process, so that it doesn’t cost an enormous amount of time, effort, or frustration.

Take one small step and reach out to Salt Lake NutriCoaching to schedule your first appointment today!

— JaNae Kinikin

The Answers to the 8 Most Frequently Asked Questions About Prediabetes

Here at Salt Lake NutriCoaching, many of our patients often come to us after having learned they have “prediabetes.” But what is prediabetes? And what can you do about it? These are just a few of the questions our dietitians are trained to answer — before helping you create a plan for what to do next. So, today, let’s demystify the word and the condition by answering eight frequently asked questions about prediabetes.

We’ll start with:

What is prediabetes?

Prediabetes is a condition that is diagnosed prior to diabetes. A diagnosis of prediabetes is a warning that without changes, you may eventually progress to a diagnosis of diabetes. You are also at greater risk for heart disease or stroke. There are no clear symptoms associated with diabetes, so you may have prediabetes and not even know it.

Who is at risk for prediabetes?

Everyone is at risk for prediabetes. In fact, one in three people have prediabetes, but most do not know it. People with prediabetes have higher than normal blood glucose (sugar) levels but these levels are not high enough yet to be considered type 2 diabetes. The current guidelines state that anyone age 35 and older should be screened for prediabetes and diabetes. Additionally, screening should be done for people who are at even higher risk including people with a BMI greater or equal to 25 or Asian-American individuals with a BMI of greater than or equal to 23 with one or more risk factors (see below).

Blood glucometers can help you measure your blood sugar, which is crucial for people with diabetes.

What are some of the factors that put people at risk for prediabetes?

There are many risk factors that make you susceptible to prediabetes or diabetes. These include the following:

A history of heart disease
Having a close relative with diabetes
Having other conditions associated with insulin resistance (PCOS, Acanthosis Nigricans)
African American, Latino, Native American, Asian American, Pacific Islander ethnicity
Physical inactivity
History of gestational diabetes
Hypertension or being on a hypertension medication

How is prediabetes diagnosed?

Prediabetes is diagnosed in three ways:

Hemoglobin A1c Test
Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG)
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)

The table below shows a breakdown of the criteria used to assess normal, prediabetes, and diabetes test results.

Stage	A1c	Fasting Plasma Glucose (FPG)	Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT)
Normal	A1c less than 5.7%	FPG less than 100	2-hour plasma glucose less than 140 mg/dl
Prediabetes	A1c 5.7%-6.4%	FPG 100-125 mg/dl	2-hour plasma glucose 140-199 mg/dl
Diabetes	A1c greater or equal to 6.5%	FPG greater than or equal to 126 mg/dl	2- hour plasma glucose greater than 200 mg/dl

I have been diagnosed with prediabetes, do I need to worry?

Even when diagnosed with prediabetes, many people believe the condition is not worth worrying about. Unfortunately, if you are diagnosed with prediabetes and do nothing about it, you are at increased risk for many health conditions including chronic kidney disease, heart disease, stroke, retinopathy, and/or neuropathy in the hands and feet. Having an elevated blood glucose level also puts you at risk for a compromised immune system, increased time for wound healing, and a greater chance of hypertension.

In short, prediabetes isn’t something to stress about — so long as you do something about it!

Can I prevent/delay progression to diabetes?

Yes. A diagnosis of prediabetes is helpful because knowing this means you can take action to prevent or delay progression to diabetes. This is GOOD NEWS! Weight loss, regular physical activity, and making healthy food choices are all changes that you can make to reduce your chance of progressing to diabetes.

I have been told I have “borderline diabetes?” What does this mean?

Borderline diabetes is another name for prediabetes. But, some people use this term even when they have diabetes. Whether you have prediabetes or diabetes depends on the test results mentioned in the diagnosis section of this post. If your A1c is greater than or equal to 6.5%, you may have been diagnosed with diabetes. If your A1c is between 5.7% and 6.4% or less, you may have been diagnosed with prediabetes. In either case, making changes now will help improve your long-term health outcomes.

Can prediabetes be reversed?

Yes! For some people it is possible that making healthy lifestyle changes now will reduce your sugar level to a range that you will no longer have prediabetes.

The Take-Away

Prediabetes is a serious condition, but it is possible to make changes now that will help you delay or prevent progression to diabetes. To get started, become more physically active, lose weight (if needed), and make more healthy food choices throughout your day. Small changes can go a long way in creating a more healthy you! If you need help in getting started on this journey, please give us a call. Our dietitians can help you manage your weight, reduce your risk of serious disease, and deal with full-blown diabetes if necessary. We are currently accepting new patients and always happy to be of service!

– JaNae Kinikin

American Diabetes Association. Prediabetes: What is it and what can I do? Diabetes Advisor.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prediabetes – Your Chance to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/prediabetes.html. Accessed August 2, 2023.

VenHuizen, Danielle. Prediabetes—Diagnostic Criteria and Health Risks. Today’s Dietitian. Vol. 21, No. 1, P. 44.

Navigating the Wild West of Supplements: What to Consider Before Buying

There are many things to know and consider before buying nutritional supplements to ensure their efficacy and safety.

In a world where nutritional supplements are readily available, it’s important to be well-informed before making a purchase. While supplements can be beneficial, you must exercise caution and understand what to look for to ensure not only that you’re getting the most bang for your buck, but your own safety, too. In this blog post, we highlight factors to be aware of when buying supplements, as well as what to prioritize to make informed decisions.

What to Be Aware Of

Proprietary Blends:

Be cautious of supplements that use proprietary blends as they may hide the actual ingredients and their respective quantities. This lack of transparency makes it difficult to know what you are actually consuming, even if you are familiar with the safety of individual herbs and vitamins. It is common for proprietary blends to have SMALL amounts of the desired ingredient which means you might not be getting the correct dose of the supplement.

High Concentrations:

More is not always better when it comes to supplements. Some nutrients share the same receptor site, which means, too much of one nutrient can cause a deficiency of another nutrient. Getting too much or too little of certain nutrients, can have adverse effects on health.

Natural Doesn’t Always Mean Safe:

Some natural substances can have side effects or interact with medications, so it’s important to do thorough research or consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new supplements.

Lack of FDA Regulation:

It’s important to note that supplements do not have to undergo FDA testing for safety and efficacy before being sold on the market. This lack of regulation means that there is a potential risk of contaminants such as lead, mercury, or pesticides.

What to Look for

Third-party Testing:

Third party organizations that specialize in testing supplements can help identify different aspects of a product’s quality. These are companies that conduct various levels of screening to promote health and safety, and to reduce your risk of testing positive for prohibited substances. (This is very important for competitive athletes!)

When looking at supplement labels, you may notice there are two common types: Informed Sports and Informed Choice. Here at Salt Lake NutriCoaching, we recommend choosing an Informed Sport label over an Informed Choice label. That’s because Informed Sport tests every batch of a product before it is released onto the market. Informed Choice, meanwhile, conducts blind testing monthly. As a result, not every batch is tested before it’s released.

There are other types of labels, too. USP labels, for example, confirms that the label is accurate to what is actually in the product. And NSF labels tests for banned substances and confirms that the label is accurate to what is actually in the product. It indicates the supplement has undergone rigorous testing and meets quality standards.

TIP: To find reliable information and rankings for supplement safety, visit websites like Labdoor, Informed Choice, and NSFsport. These websites rank supplements based on safety and quality, helping you make better-informed decisions.

Summary

When it comes to purchasing supplements, being well-informed is key for making safe and effective choices. Pay attention to factors such as proprietary blends, high concentrations, lack of FDA regulation, and potential contaminants. Look for supplements that have undergone third-party testing, carry NSF or Informed sport labels. Supplements are meant to complement a healthy diet, not replace it.

Remember: Nutrients are best obtained through a varied and balanced eating plan that includes a wide range of whole foods. Supplements should only be used to fill specific nutrient gaps. Ultimately, supplements should be used judiciously, in conjunction with a healthy diet, and with the guidance of healthcare professionals. By making informed choices, we can ensure that the supplements we select support our overall health and well-being. And to find out how supplements should fit in with your diet, always remember that you can schedule a consultation with me or one of our other amazing dietitians here at Salt Lake NutriCoaching! We have decades of experience — in both hospital and private settings — with helping people manage weight, address gastrointestinal issues, and improve their performance in sports. I can’t wait to help you soon!

— Emma Wagstaff

Women’s Hormones & Nutrition for Athletes

Women’s menstrual cycles bring about hormonal fluctuations that can result in various side effects and symptoms. While these symptoms may be unavoidable, there are dietary strategies that can help minimize their severity and support overall well-being. In this blog post, we will explore the impact of hormones on muscle development, metabolism, food cravings, gastrointestinal health, headaches, mood, and iron status. We will also provide actionable steps to optimize nutrition during different phases of the menstrual cycle.

First let’s talk about the basics of a menstrual cycle. The average cycle lasts 28 days (ranges from 21-35 days). It is broken down into 2, 14 days phases. The follicular phase and the luteal phase. Ovulation is in the middle of the 2 phases. Having a regular menstrual cycle is a sign that the body is in balance.

Follicular phase

Day 1-14 of your cycle (Day 1 is the day your period starts)
Low hormone phase — your estrogen and progesterone are at a lower level than other times of your cycle
- Exercise can tend to be easier.
- Some studies show that it is easier to gain muscle during this phase and recovery is optimum and quicker
- Your exercise physiology is more like a man during your period as well as a couple days after
- The end of the follicular phase, estrogen begin to rise to prepare for ovulation

Ovulation

Occurs in the middle of the 2 phases
A rise in estrogen → triggers the ovaries to release an egg, preparing the body to potentially become pregnant if fertilized.
Estrogen levels drop after the egg is released.

Luteal Phase

Day 15-28 of your cycle – begins after ovulation
High hormone phase – estrogen and progesterone spike. The purpose of this is to prepare the lining of the uterus for egg implantation
- Exercise may feel harder during the high hormone phase
- Your hormone levels peak about 5 days before your period starts (which would be about day 24 depending on your cycle). This is when period symptoms can occur like cramping, headache etc.
- Most changes in hormones happen at the end of luteal phase

Below is a simple chart to get an idea of how and when your hormones change during your cycle.

Hormones:

1.Estrogen

Impacts skin, bone, heart health, immune function and mood.
Increases sex drive
An appetite suppressant

1.Progesterone

Progesterone facilitates pregnancy
Protects the bone, raises body temperature, alters mood
Reduces sex drive
An appetite stimulant.

Common Symptoms & What to Do About It:

Muscle Development and Recovery:

During the high hormone phase (before your period), making muscle may be more challenging due to the presence of high estrogen and progesterone levels. Estrogen and progesterone have an effect on muscle-cell turnover and protein synthesis. To support muscle development, it is important to maintain high protein intake, especially focusing on leucine and branch chain amino acids (BCAAs).

WHAT TO DO: Consuming protein before and after exercise, aiming for around 25-30 grams post-workout, can aid in muscle repair and recovery.

Metabolism and Food Cravings:

Estrogen influences carbohydrate metabolism, potentially resulting in increased cravings and altered energy utilization. During the premenstrual part of the luteal phase – Your metabolism can burn about 5-10% more kcal (which is about 100-200 kcal). Progesterone can also spike during this time, increasing hunger levels as progesterone is an appetite stimulant.

WHAT TO DO:

When metabolism can increase, incorporating carbohydrates and protein before and during workouts can help sustain energy levels and support performance.
If cravings of processed or sweetened foods occur, balance intake with fiber rich foods, fat, and lean protein (foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, yogurt, meat).

Bloating:

Bloating can happen the days leading up to your period because of the change in hormones. Progesterone and estrogen affect hormones that regulate the fluid in our body. When estrogen and progesterone are high our fluid regulation can be off.

Estrogen increases a hormone known as vasopressin. Vasopressin is responsible for retaining water and making our blood vessels smaller with increase blood pressure
Progesterone also affects our fluid levels. It competes for the same receptor site as aldosterone (responsible for retaining sodium). When hormones compete for the same site the receptor gets overloaded and is not able to absorb all of it.

WHAT TO DO:

Staying hydrated can be beneficial!

Cramping:

Prostaglandins, hormones released during menstruation, can cause smooth muscles to contract, leading to gastrointestinal distress.

WHAT TO DO:

Listening to your body’s cues and incorporating fiber-rich foods, lean proteins, and healthy fats can promote digestive comfort.

Menstrual Headaches:

Hormonal shifts, particularly the decrease in estrogen levels before menstruation, can trigger menstrual headaches.

WHAT TO DO:

Staying hydrated
Consuming nitric oxide-rich foods like beets, pomegranate, watermelon and spinach
Managing stress levels may help reduce the frequency and severity of these headaches.

Mood and Emotional Well-Being:

Estrogen plays a role in mood regulation by influencing serotonin levels (happy hormone). Estrogen/progesterone affect the hypothalamus. One of the hypothalamus functions is to regulate fatigue. The hypothalamus is interconnected with the Central Nervous System – if the hypothalamus is affected it can have an effect on emotion, fatigue, heart rate, and digestion.

WHAT TO DO:

Consume enough Protein rich foods
- Supporting serotonin production through the consumption of branch chain amino acids, particularly leucine, can have a positive impact on mood and fatigue.
Consistent meditation can also do wonders for our mental health.

Iron Status and Exercise Performance:

Heavy menstrual bleeding combined with intense exercise can increase the risk of iron deficiency and anemia. Paying attention to signs of anemia, such as shortness of breath and fatigue, is crucial for athletes.

WHAT TO DO:

Consume iron rich foods such as red meat, dark leafy greens, lentils, beans, and fortified cereal
Consulting with a dietitian and considering iron supplementation may be necessary to maintain optimal iron levels.

Overall Action Plan!

Track your cycle! Understanding where you are in your cycle can help you prepare for PMS symptoms.

Each night for 7 days before your period starts
- Magnesium: 250 mg, Zinc: 45 mg, Baby Aspirin: 80 mg, Omega 3 FA: 1 g
During Training: Ensure carb intake
Post Training: 20-25 g protein within 30 minutes of exercising to help recovery
Eat a variety of nutrient dense foods
Focus on getting BCAA to help mood and fatigue (animal proteins, supplementation)

Conclusion:

Understanding the relationship between women’s hormones and nutrition can empower us to navigate menstrual cycle symptoms more effectively. By tailoring our diet to support muscle development, metabolism, fluid regulation, gastrointestinal health, headache management, mood stability, and iron status, we can optimize our overall well-being throughout the different phases of the menstrual cycle. Remember to listen to your body, track your cycle, and consult with a healthcare professional or registered dietitian for personalized guidance. Here at Salt Lake NutriCoaching, we can help you create your own customized meal plan to help ensure you get the nutrition you need to maintain your optimal hormonal levels. The result? More energy. Better metabolism. And most of all, a higher quality of life!

With proper nourishment and self-care, we can embrace our unique hormonal journey and thrive in all aspects of our lives.

— Emma Wagstaff

The Pros and Cons of Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is all the rage right now, which may make you wonder if you need to start skipping meals for your health.

Our short answer? It’s not worth it.

Do we ever recommend intermittent fasting to our clients? No. Do we think that intermittent fasting is absolutely horrible and has no benefits whatsoever? Also no. But you need to understand what it is and how it works to determine if it is appropriate for you!

What is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting can be done in multiple ways, but it always puts a restriction on the timing of eating. Other diets, like keto, emphasize cutting out certain foods and food groups. Intermittent fasting is unique in that it doesn’t tell you what to eat, it tells you when to eat.

Some people will have eating windows as wide as 8-12 hours, while others might limit their eating to only a 2 hour window. Some people also might incorporate 24-hour fasts every once in a while, every other day, or multiple days in a row. It often looks a little bit different for everyone.

Technically, unless you are waking up in the middle of the night to eat, most of us are doing a version of intermittent fasting while we sleep. There are likely some benefits from this type of fasting. When your body can take a break from eating and digesting food, it has the ability to use that energy for other things like recovery, repairing cells, and more!

By expanding this fasting to longer periods during the rest of the day, not overnight, people are hoping to capture more of these benefits of being in a fasted state. However, this way of eating is usually going against what your body needs, making it a really difficult diet to stick to.

Does Intermittent Fasting Help with Weight Loss?

Most people start doing intermittent fasting as an attempt to lose weight, and some are successful. However, in terms of weight loss, intermittent fasting is not better than just eating in a calorie deficit. Most people that are fasting are in fact eating in a calorie deficit because they are restricting the time period that they are consuming calories.

So, if it works, then what is the problem? Well, let’s define what we mean by “successful weight loss.” Although you might lose the weight at the beginning, most people will regain the weight since intermittent fasting is such a hard diet to stick to. And if you just end up re-gaining the weight back in a few months, is it even really successful?

Is Intermittent Fasting for Me?

If you are having a hard time sticking to intermittent fasting, that makes you normal… congrats! Let’s talk about why this is such a difficult diet to stick to and why I don’t recommend it.

Remember how I said intermittent fasting is going against what your body needs? In order for your body to function properly, it needs regular fuel for energy. Fasting is literally the exact opposite of what your body wants and needs. So, if you feel like fasting is just extremely hard to do, it is because your body actually needs food throughout the day! Imagine that!

I know there are some people out there that can do intermittent fasting correctly and experience the long-term benefits, but this is not the majority. For most people, going long periods without eating can lead to whacked out hormone levels, fatigue, gut issues, overeating, and obsessively thinking about food. Not to mention, the cycle of losing weight, regaining, and losing again has been shown to be really bad for your health.

So, What is the Best Diet to Follow?

The good news is that you don’t have to follow some crazy diet to see results or to be healthy. Rather than dieting, stick to eating regular, balanced meals and always focus on giving your body what it needs, when it needs it. This means…

You eat a solid breakfast so that your body isn’t trying to go full speed without any fuel in the tank.

You are eating at least every 4-6 hours, and checking in on your body regularly to make sure you aren’t missing hunger cues.

You eat before and after exercise (and during, if needed!) rather than doing fasted workouts.

You eat until you feel satisfied. You know you don’t have to stuff yourself because you can just eat again when you feel hungry!

You don’t follow arbitrary food rules. You just listen to what your body needs and honor that.

You look to make your meals and snacks balanced with carbs, protein, and fat for sustained energy and satiety.

It is important to do what works for you and your body. Always focus on nourishing and fueling your body rather than restricting and cutting things out. You don’t have to complicate nutrition by trying to follow a difficult diet!

At Salt Lake NutriCoaching, we can help you figure out what works for your body without putting you on some restrictive diet that will make you miserable and feel like a failure. Our dietitians are all skilled at helping everyone from teenagers to seniors, competitive athletes to weekend warriors, people with health issues to people who just want to reach their weight goals. Sign up for coaching today!

– Jessica Ashton

Resources:

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-health-benefits-of-intermittent-fasting

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-surprising-update-2018062914156

https://www.firsthealth.org/lifestyle/news-events/2022/7/does-intermittent-fasting-work-a-registered-dietitian-weighs-in#:~:text=A%20review%20of%20various%20studies,cholesterol%20and%20fasting%20blood%20sugar.

The Three Mistakes People Make That Sabotage Their Own Goals…and How to Avoid Them!

If you’re like me, you’re ready to leave 2022 for the history books and look forward to the new year and the possibilities it may bring. This is often when we start contemplating our New Year’s resolutions, and what we want the next year to be for ourselves. I know not everyone believes in setting resolutions, because they don’t feel like they are going to meet them anyway and are just setting themselves up for failure. I completely understand this feeling. However, in my experience as a dietitian, the reason people fall short of their resolutions – or any goal, really – is often because they actually end up sabotaging their own progress. Of course, nobody does this on purpose. But in the fifteen years since I became a dietitian, first at LDS Hospital and then in private practice, I’ve seen firsthand how easy it is to make nutrition- and health-related goals harder to achieve than they have to be.

The good news is that it’s equally easy to not sabotage your goals. You just have to know what pitfalls to avoid!

Setting – and meeting – my own New Year’s resolutions is an important part of my life, and something I’m proud of. There are some years that it took me the entire year to accomplish my goal, but I still did it. Even during the pandemic! I find resolutions to be an excellent way to focus on what will really help me to feel happier and more fulfilled. So, how to avoid the pitfalls that cause people to give up on their goals? I’ll teach you some secrets that I have learned over the years that have not only helped me, but helped my patients achieve some amazing things.

Pitfall #1: Setting unrealistic or unmeasurable goals to begin with.

Every January, people say their goal for the year is to lose weight. It’s perfectly understandable. Unfortunately, setting this goal is essentially setting yourself up for failure. To be clear, this isn’t because weight loss is impossible! It’s because there are simply several issues with how this goal is set.

The first issue is that resolving to “lose weight” is totally unspecific. How are you going to determine if you meet your goal? How much weight do you want to lose? How much weight is it healthy to lose? Chances are, that wasn’t thought out or determined.

Secondly, weight loss may not be something people have complete control over. Some people, due to genetic, health, or lifestyle factors beyond their control, find weight loss to be much more difficult than others. That’s why setting goals regarding behaviors that will support weight loss is far easier to accomplish, measure, and ultimately stick to.

For example, you could set a goal to do a specific amount of exercise each week or day. Or you commit to eating breakfast daily. You could commit to changing a habit that isn’t healthy, like eating in front of the TV or starving yourself one day only to binge the next.

Here’s a personal example. My friends and family know how I am absolutely not a morning person. But one year I had this ludicrous idea that I was going to wake up at 6:00 AM to go exercise before work so I could get it done for the day, and then get to bed earlier. Yeah, guess how many days that happened? A big fat zero!! It sounded great in theory, but in reality, it was not conducive to my life or how my system functions. So, instead, I focused on making sure I was getting enough sleep each night since that is what I was really struggling with doing consistently. I have figured out how to work my exercise into my routine at other times in my day, and it’s fine! By changing my goal from something unrealistic for me, and pivoting to something that I could actually accomplish, I was able to make a big difference in my own health.

Pitfall #2: Being too rigid or restrictive

Have you ever heard of a fixed vs. growth mindset? Someone with a fixed mindset hates making mistakes. Because making a mistake is equal to being a failure, and they don’t want to feel like a failure. People with fixed mindsets tend to fall prey to what psychology calls “thinking errors.” One example of this might be the “all or nothing” mindset. If you eat one “bad” food, then your diet is ruined, and you might as well give up. It’s very black and white thinking. Another example would be “Fortune Telling.” You are making negative predictions of the future before it has happened. This could look like, “I have failed at every other diet I have ever done. I’m just going to fail at this one too, so maybe there is no point in trying to eat better.” As you can see, these types of mindsets don’t allow you space to learn and grow. All they do is make you feel guilty and bad about yourself.

In my professional opinion, guilt is a useless emotion when it comes to your health. It keeps us stuck in the victim loop, as you can see below:

The fixed vs growth mindset, and how the former will sabotage your goals, but the latter will help you reach them.

Sometimes we have an intention, we create a plan, and then…it just doesn’t work. Sometimes we run into barriers we never anticipated. Or maybe our circumstance changes. Or maybe we come to the realization that our plan wasn’t very realistic in the first place. None of these things make us a failure. That is an unhelpful title to own. What it does mean is that maybe it’s time to go back to the drawing board and come up with a new plan. Scientists do this all the time. We call it the scientific method. Even if tests prove their hypothesis wrong, they have learned something, and often it’s more valuable than the thing they were intending to accomplish in the first place.

Even if you identify with the fixed mindset, you can always move into a growth mindset. You just have to give yourself permission to learn from your experiences rather than beat yourself up for them.

Here at Salt Lake NutriCoaching, we help our clients do this all the time. Many people I work with have been effectively brainwashed into feel guilty for eating certain foods…or for eating at all! Most of the time they are being unnecessarily restrictive with themselves in the first place. And that is sending them headfirst into the victim loop.

For example, if you were to tell yourself, “I’m never going to eat sugar again,” I promise that all you are doing is setting yourself up for more painful learning experiences. Being overly restrictive doesn’t allow for balance, or allow you to flow with the ever-changing landscape of life.

Pitfall #3: Giving up too soon

I have talked about this concept in other blog posts, but it’s one of the most common things I see people let get in the way of their success. We live in a world of instant gratification. Essentially, everything we want is now at our fingertips. As a result, we have forgotten how to be patient, especially with ourselves and with the process of change. We want those results now. But accomplishing goals and making changes isn’t the same as ordering something on Amazon that will magically appear at our door the next day. We tend to want that return on investment (ROI) immediately.

When that happens, people tend to feel discouraged. That’s because they are ignoring the amount of benefit they are receiving, since it isn’t yet proportional to the amount that has been invested. I often draw this diagram for people:

How most people quit on their weight goals too soon just before they start seeing a return on their investment.

When we set something like a New Year’s resolution, or a health-related goal, we are in essence investing in ourselves. I would argue that it’s the most important thing we can invest in. Because the benefits we reap then translate into the rest of our lives, to our community, and eventually the world.

I have done a significant amount of study about motivation and behavior modification, far past what I learned in school. While education is a large piece of what I do, helping people implement what I am teaching them is a bigger piece. These three pitfalls are the most common things I help people work past. So, if you want to achieve any health-related New Year’s resolutions this year, but are worried that it could be difficult on your own, please come see me! Whether it’s managing your weight, boosting your fitness, increasing your energy, handling diabetes, or resolving an issue with your health, you deserve to get some extra help and love. After the last three years, I think we all need a little more of that.

Wishing you happy holidays and very Happy New Year!

— Ginger Bailey

Understanding the Difference Between a Dietitian and a Nutritionist

Dietitian, nutritionist, gut health expert, health coach, certified nutritionist – the list goes on and on. There are a lot of titles out there, some more legit than others! It is essential to get your health information from a qualified professional, and it is also important to remember that there is a lot of false information out there.

Most medical professionals recommend looking for someone with the title “dietitian,” “registered dietitian,” or “registered dietitian nutritionist,” “certified dietitian,” or “licensed dietitian.” Only certain people who have passed through a lot of rigorous schooling and credentialing can call themselves a dietitian. All of the other titles are really meaningless – anyone with any level of education (or zero education) can call themselves a nutritionist or use one of these other unprotected titles.

What is a Dietitian?

Dietitians are legitimate food experts, with more nutrition training than other healthcare professionals. In fact, even doctors receive very little nutrition education and often need to refer patients to a dietitian for nutrition concerns and coaching.

The path to becoming a dietitian is not a cakewalk. Dietitians must earn an undergraduate degree, and then many continue on to receive a master’s degree as well. In fact, in the coming years, it will be required for dietitians to have that level of advanced education. A 1200+ hour internship is another requirement before becoming a registered dietitian. This is similar to a medical residency where dietitians are trained in clinical nutrition, community nutrition, and management. This means you spend time in hospitals, WIC offices, schools, private practices, state offices, etc. doing all sorts of different nutrition work.

Finally, before becoming registered as a dietitian, you have to take a challenging exam that covers anything and everything related to nutrition. Once you can finally use the title of “dietitian,” you still are required to do many hours of continuing education to keep your license.

Dietitians are trained in a number of areas, but just like other professionals, many choose a specialty. Examples include prenatal nutrition, sports nutrition, weight management, diabetes management, nutrition for kidney disease, etc. Finding a dietitian with a lot of experience and knowledge in whichever area you need is super important to make sure you are receiving the care you deserve!

In other words, dietitians know what they are talking about. Yet sometimes people are still inclined to listen more to the random guy at the gym than to a nutrition professional!

What is a Nutritionist?

Nutritionist is a title I see a lot, but this also applies to other health related titles like health coach, nutrition expert, etc. First of all, let me say that if someone holds the title of “registered dietitian nutritionist” they are a good resource. But without the “dietitian” part… I would stay away.

Nutritionist is a term that anyone can use. There is no special education or experience necessary to call yourself a nutritionist. Even you, the person reading this, could yourself one if you wanted!

Does this mean that everything a nutritionist says is false? Not necessarily. There are a lot of well-educated people out there who aren’t dietitians. Sometimes, nutritionists are doing their best to share good information, but just lack the background and training.

Put it another way: All dietitians are nutritionists. But not all nutritionists are dietitians.

Should I See a Dietitian or Nutritionist?

Most doctors recommend seeing a dietitian for all of your nutrition needs. This is the best way to ensure you are getting accurate, science-backed information. It might seem like nutritionists can offer results quickly, but that does not mean they are promoting safe practices or ones that will be sustainable in the long run.

At Salt Lake NutriCoaching, we try our best to match people up with a dietitian that has experience and training in the area that you need help with. We also know the importance of building strong connections with the people we work with, so with different personalities and approaches to counseling, you can always let us know if you would like to visit with someone different within our practice!

There doesn’t have to be something “wrong” with you to see a dietitian. Good nutrition information can be hard to come by, and since all of us have to eat every day, it is a good idea for everyone to see a dietitian, even if it is just for a quick check-in. Following a healthy and intuitive eating pattern that consists of yummy food and no restrictions can make all the difference in your life. As dietitians, we want to help you fuel your best and feel your best! Come see us!

— Jessica Ashton

Want to Lose Weight and Feel Better? Here’s Why You Need to Eat Breakfast

You have probably been told since you were a little kid that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Maybe hearing it makes you roll your eyes, but there is actually a lot of truth to that statement. Yes, all meals are important, but eating a balanced, healthy breakfast can be extremely beneficial!

Why is Breakfast Important?

Okay, first let’s think this through… you have just been asleep for 8ish hours and haven’t eaten anything in at least that long. That is a pretty long time for your body to go without any fuel in your system and it means you start your day in a calorie deficit. At that point, if you skip breakfast, you are expecting your body to function at 100% with a depleted fuel tank and that usually doesn’t go over well in the long run.

Whether you are wanting to lose weight, improve athletic performance, manage a chronic health condition, improve your overall health, or anything else, the key is giving your body the nutrients that it needs, at the time that it needs them. This helps your body feel safe, protected, and comfortable which can then allow it to function at full capacity, and let go of excess weight it doesn’t need.

Eating breakfast can also help to regulate hormone levels, including your hunger and fullness hormones, making it easier to listen to your body and give it the appropriate amount of calories. Eating regular meals and snacks throughout the day, starting with breakfast, helps you avoid getting overly hungry to a point where you overeat and feel sluggish or even sick!

What About Intermittent Fasting?

But what if you are doing intermittent fasting and your eating window doesn’t start until later in the day? Well, my blunt response to that is to throw intermittent fasting out the window 🙂

Intermittent fasting is working against your body’s needs because it is not providing you with the calories and nutrients it needs, when it needs them! If you are following a diet like Intermittent Fasting and are unable to keep up with it and keep falling off the bandwagon, let me let you in on a little secret- it actually isn’t a lack of willpower! That is just what happens when you fight against your body- it eventually takes over to get you back on track.

What if I am Not Hungry in the Mornings or if Eating in the Morning Makes me Feel Sick?

One of the most common rebuttals I hear to eating breakfast is that people don’t feel hungry in the morning, or they feel sick after they eat. This is usually because your body has gotten used to its eating pattern and when you have ignored hunger signals in the morning for such a long time, your body literally gives up on sending them to you! It might just take a little bit of time to make it feel normal again.

Still, it isn’t fun to eat when you aren’t hungry or when you feel sick and nauseous. Here are a few tips that you can try out in the mornings to minimize that sick feeling and stimulate hunger signals:

Start with liquids- they tend to be a little easier to get down on an empty stomach, especially when you don’t feel like eating food. This could include chocolate milk, Carnation Breakfast Essentials, a protein shake, a smoothie, a liquid yogurt, etc.

I talk to clients so much about listening to their bodies, but it is also important to remember that if you haven’t been properly taking care of your body, it might not be giving you the most accurate signals. After a little while of “resetting” your system, you should be able to better rely on those cues!

Try splitting up your breakfast and doing a little bit when you first wake up, followed by the rest an hour or so later.

Eat what sounds good to you. Eating something is better than eating nothing, and as important as it is to balance meals, just start somewhere!

What if I Workout in the Morning?

Having a bunch of food sitting in your stomach can make for a not-so-fun workout. BUT, think this through again… your body has been without fuel throughout the night and then you are about to put it through an intense workout without any fuel in the system. Can you see how that might stress your body out?

The foods that you choose to eat before a morning workout can definitely have a huge impact on your energy levels and how you feel during exercise. The closer you get to exercise, the more carbs you should eat- and the less fat and protein. If you are rolling out of bed and heading straight to the gym, you might want to try out one of these high-carb snacks to get a little bit of fuel in your system:

Dried mangos
Banana
Applesauce
Chocolate milk
Fruit juice
Toast with jam
Pretzels
Crackers
Fruit leather
Fruit snacks
Canned peaches

With not a lot of time to fuel before exercise, you might also consider bringing a high-carb snack or sports drink with you to keep your energy levels up during your workout. And remember, eat a full balanced breakfast when you get back to make sure you are giving your body the nutrients to recover and get stronger!

What Does a Healthy, Balanced Breakfast Look Like?

Take some time to experiment with your breakfast and make it fun, but focus on choosing a starch, a protein, and a fruit. Throw in some healthy fats too! Ultimately, it is best to eat breakfast within 30 minutes of waking up, but you might need to ease into things and give your body the time to adjust.

What is your next yummy, balanced breakfast going to be? Bon appetit!

– Jessica Ashton, MS, RDN, CD

There’s More to Feeling Good than Losing Weight

I want to preface this whole post by clarifying that, while losing weight can make you feel better, it’s simply not the end-all-be-all when it comes to better health.

I’m going to get a little personal for a minute if that’s okay, because I think my story is something that a lot of people can relate to. Remember 2020? For most people, it was an incredibly difficult year. For me, though, 2022 has been even harder. I was able to take some fun trips this year, but I’ve also found myself confronted with some of the most difficult challenges of my life. As a result, my weight has slowly but surely climbed through the year which I can’t say I have been happy to see.

As a dietitian, part of my job is to help people determine the cause of their weight gain. So, I took a dive in “Lake Me”. At first, it was had to figure out what was going on, because I really hadn’t changed much. I broke my foot earlier in the year and have had a few injuries to work around. But even then, I did a great job of modifying and finding ways of staying active. I have never been someone that does a lot of stress eating, and it didn’t seem like my eating habits had changed significantly either.

Nevertheless, I knew something was off. For my body, I have found there is about a five-pound range within which I generally feel great, and can do what I want to do. (Side note: this range isn’t even the “recommended range” for my height, it’s above that.) But most of this year I have been sitting higher than my comfortable range.

Some of the major things in my life that have been causing the most stress and difficulty are finally in the rear-view mirror now. So, I decided it was time to get back to more ideal self-care. My initial thought was that if I could drop a bit of the weight I have gained, that I would start to feel better again. So, I did what a lot of people do and started tracking my weight and my food more specifically, all the while paying attention to how I felt and how my body looked.

What I learned what not what I initially expected.

What I have quickly started to realize is that my weight has little to no correlation with how I am feeling otherwise. There are days when my weight is up, my body fat (according to my scale) is up, but I look better and feel better than other days when my weight is technically lower. There are many days when I ate fantastic the previous day: I met all my nutrition goals, and according to the math I “should” have lost weight, but I didn’t lose any at all. There have been some days that I ate a hamburger and the next day my weight was down.

I was born with eight congenital skeletal malformations (that I have found) and have a genetic connective tissue disorder. As you can imagine, pain is something I have become very familiar with. One of my major motivators in having healthy lifestyle habits is to keep my pain in check. But here’s the interesting part: even my weight doesn’t necessarily correlate with my pain. My right knee was in almost constant pain for three solid years. My weight fluctuated quite a bit within that time. By the time I finally solved the knee pain, my weight was significantly higher than it was when the pain started. I have been told by knee experts that every pound of body weight puts four pounds of pressure on your knee. So, the extra weight theoretically should have made my knee pain a lot worse, and yet I got rid of the pain without losing any weight at all. Now, I’m not saying that losing weight can’t improve knee pain because there are many cases that it does.

My point is, whenever you are dealing with pain or health issues, it’s not all about your weight!

Hollywood and Madison Avenue have essentially brainwashed people into thinking that their worth, their happiness, their health, their beauty, etc. is determined by the number on the scale, when in most cases it’s rather arbitrary. This lie that people have believed and internalized is unfortunately causing a lot of unnecessary unhappiness and stress. It is however, selling a LOT of products and making some companies very wealthy.

With holidays and the new year right around the corner, many people set goals for themselves to lose weight. While this isn’t necessarily a bad goal, it honestly might not be the most important one. Furthermore, if you have been working hard to improve your eating and lifestyle patterns and you haven’t accomplished your weight loss goals, or haven’t seen the progress you wanted thus far, it also doesn’t mean you are failing either, or that it’s “not working.” I often see people give up on the positive things they were doing, simply because they didn’t see the immediate results they desired on their bathroom scale. Which means they are wasting all the valuable investment they had made. When if they just kept going, they would have hit the ROI (return on investment) point.

It looks like this:

In the few weeks that I have been able to focus on my health again, I haven’t lost a significant amount of weight, but I feel significantly better than I did before, so I know I am moving in the right direction. My energy level has improved, my pain is now under control, and my body feels better as whole. Right now, my main focus is on taking the time to get my stress level back to a healthier level. Which means getting more sleep, taking more time for activities I enjoy, doing fun things with my kids, meditating more, etc. I have not yet hit my own ROI, and I still have a way to go to get to where I want to be. But I know that if I just keep committing to self-care, the rest will come with time, because it always does.

This is possibly one of the most important things I have learned from my own experiences and from working with thousands of patients over the years. If you give your system what it needs, you will feel better.

If you want to feel better, but don’t know how to properly eat or fuel your system, please come see me. I can help! I believe that everyone deserves to see a dietitian and would benefit from working with one.

Happy Holidays!

— Ginger Bailey

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