'Nutrition is the foundation of health and wellbeing'
Over the last decade I (Nutritionist, Josie Shillabeer) have overcome numerous chronic health conditions, including Fibromyaglia, Chronic Fatigue, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD).
At rock bottom I kept searching for the answer to three key questions:
Where do I begin?
What is going to make the biggest difference to my health?
Will I ever get better again?
Over 10 years and one heck of a journey later I now have the answers to my questions and I am going to share them with you within this blog post.
Where do I begin?
Your very first step is to speak to your primary healthcare provider (e.g. GP) about the health problems or concerns that you have. Before moving onto to the next step it is important that you let them know about the next steps that you plan to take.
Once you have been seen by your primary healthcare provider the next step is to educate yourself about what you should be eating and drinking each day to support and optimise your health.
Click on the button below to enrol onto our self-guided online nutrition course
Why should you not start with sleep, stress reduction, exercise or supplements?
You may think the answer should be to optimise your sleep, to reduce your stress levels, start exercising more or to try taking a multivitamin. However, while all of these can be very beneficial to your health they are not the first place that you should focus your time, money and attention on.
You will struggle to get optimal sleep without optimal nutrition, you will struggle to reduce your stress levels without focusing on a balanced diet, exercising is great if you are choosing the right type for you and nourishing your body optimally and a multi-vitamin should be there to help supplement your diet, it is not there in place of a balanced diet.
Therefore, from over a decade of trying to find the answer to where do I even begin...the answer is to educate yourself about what optimal nutrition is and how to introduce it into your daily life.
Click on the button below to enrol onto our self-guided online nutrition course
The best way to learn about good nutrition
To educate yourself about how to improve what you are eating and drinking to help optimise your health and wellbeing you have three choices:
Search the internet, books, podcasts, videos, etc.
Speak to a qualified Nutritional Therapist.
or enrol onto 'Nutrition: The Corner Pieces'.
1) Start by enrolling onto Nutrition: The Corner Pieces
If I was at the start of my health journey again I would do all three. I would start with option 3, enrolling onto 'Nutrition: The Corner Pieces'. This is because it is the cheapest way to access the foundational information you need to start optimising your diet.
By the end of the course you will have a much greater understanding of the phrase 'you are what you eat', you will know what you need to do to quickly, easily and effectively to introduce a balanced, whole food rich diet; and you will know what are the next steps you need to take to continue building your health puzzle.
Plus, Nutrition: The Corner Pieces has two modules that focus on reviewing your own health status and food diary; one at the start of the course and one at the end of the course. The information that you will get from doing the activities within these modules is what you need to take with you to your Nutritionist or other healthcare provider.
After completing Nutrition: The Corner Pieces you may feel that you no longer need to see a healthcare practitioner as you have got the results you are looking for. However, if you would like to continue optimising your health and wellbeing you may want to seek the support of a qualified Nutritional Therapist.
Click on the button below to learn more and enrol onto Nutrition: The Corner Pieces
2) Speak to a qualified Nutritional Therapist
Seeing a Nutritionist can be very helpful for taking your diet to the next level. By seeing a Nutritionist after learning about and implementing the basics of healthy nutrition (from Nutrition: The Corner Pieces) they are able to provide you with more advanced education and adaptions. You will also know by the end of the course what your biggest challenges are when it comes to implementing a healthy diet long-term and they can provide you with the support you need.
Additionally, Nutritional Therapists are trained to look for the root cause/s of your ill health and can use their specialised knowledge and private testing to support you.
While you can see a Nutritional Therapist first you are likely to spend a lot of money learning the basic information that you can easily and cheaply access through 'Nutrition: The Corner Pieces'. Plus, this free's up Nutritionists from educating their clients about the foundations of a healthy and balanced diet, leaving them available for the more advanced and specialised support that they are so great at.
If you would like to find a qualified Nutritional Therapist click HERE to view our practitioner directory.
3) Search the internet, books, podcasts, videos, etc.
The internet and books can be an amazing place to find nutrition and lifestyle education and advice, however, it can also be a minefield.
There is so much information available to you, provided for free, by top healthcare practitioners from all around the world. For example, you are currently reading this blog post now with the aim of finding answers to your questions.
The only problem is not everything that you read is true, safe or effective. Therefore, these resources should be used alongside support provided by training, qualified and insured healthcare professionals.
When choosing who to listen to, do not follow them blindly. Check that they are a credible source of information, look for reviews, ask them about their qualifications and do not rush into something, thinking it will be a quick fix.
You can find some really great blogs, websites, charities, podcasts, documentaries, books, etc over at THP Recommends.
Screenshot of THP Recommends
Click on the button below to learn more and enrol onto Nutrition: The Corner Pieces
What is going to make the biggest different to my health?
When I was in the depths of my ill health I was desperate for the ladder that would come and save me. I had limited time, energy and money so I had to think hard about what was going to make the biggest difference to my health. Should I see a practitioner, should I buy a specific supplement, should I buy organic food, should I join a yoga class? The options seemed endless and I never knew what would make the biggest difference.
However, I quickly found that no one thing was going to make THE biggest difference. Instead, lots of smaller health changes when added together had the biggest impact on my health and recovery.
Just like that ladder I was looking for, it turned out that each health supportive change was like one wrung of the ladder. One by one, step by step, I made my way out of the depths of the hole I found myself in.
What order should I focus on my health and wellbeing?
From my personal and professional experience the order in which both you and I should look to focus and support your health is as followed:
Speak to your primary healthcare provider (e.g. GP or specialist).
Learn about the foundations of Nutrition (Nutrition: The Corner Pieces).
Start to focus on rebalancing your circadian rhythm and your sleep. Aim to wake up, eat and go to sleep at the same time each day.
Introduce a slower or more gentle type of movement or exercise into your weekly routine (e.g. walking, yoga, Tai Chi, swimming, casual cycling).
Focus on having more time for rest and relaxation (e.g. 15 minute breaks, slow evening routine).
Reduce the number of toxins in and around you. Chemicals that can have a negative impact on your health are all around you, some are unavoidable but others are within your control. Check out THP Recommends for our top recommended products, from personal care to food and drink.
Seek the support of a healthcare professional. I am still undecided as to who would be the best person for most people to go to. In my personal opinion I would see a Kinesiologist, because I feel that they have had the biggest impact on my health. However, depending on the imbalances within your body you may want to start by seeing a Nutritionist, Herbalist, Chinese Medicine Practitioner, Osteopath, etc. Click HERE for our practitioner directory. If you want help in choosing the right practitioner for you, get in touch and we will try to point you in the right direction.
Focus on other important areas that can help to optimise your health, including rejuvenation, play, purpose and community. You can find out more about these HERE.
Continue building your health puzzle and do not be afraid to start the whole process all over again. It is really important to go back to what you have learnt before and revisit the information and advice.
Building your health puzzle can take time, and while this worked for me it might not work for you. Do not attempt to do everything all at once, choose one area to focus on first or take small easy changes from each step.
Click on the button below to learn more and enrol onto Nutrition: The Corner Pieces
Will I ever get better again?
The short answer is it depends! I was told time and time again by various people that there was no cure, there was no longterm hope, and there was no chance that I would recover from each of my chronic health conditions and yet through ‘rebalancing’ my body I have been able to get better.
The answer to the question will I get better all depends on the root cause/s of your ill health.
You could have nutritional imbalances (e.g. Vitamin D), hormonal imbalances (e.g. testosterone), pathogens (e.g. E.coli), heavy metals (e.g. cadmium), structural issues (e.g. hernia), genetic SNPs (e.g. BRCA), energetic or emotional imbalances (e.g. trauma) and more.
Some of these can be removed, some of these can be rebalanced and others may not have a solution at this moment in time. The level to which they can be removed or rebalanced is also a factor impacting how much you will get better by. Therefore, it depends.
To start gathering the information you need to understand the potential root causes of your ill health speak to your primary healthcare provider (GP) and complete the health and wellbeing review as part of 'Nutrition: The Corner Pieces'. To continue searching for, removing and rebalancing these imbalances leading to your ill health it is highly advisable that you seek the support of numerous healthcare providers (some of which you can find here) over a number of years, until you feel that you have reached good or optimal health.
Click on the button below to learn more and enrol onto Nutrition: The Corner Pieces
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